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Community and Societal Development

How can cross-cultural development workers help communities and societies thrive by following godly principles?

Posts tagged conflict
Reflection: Tales from Ethiopian War Zones

by Ron and Carolyn Klaus

The authors share a story about a young man whose tribe had been attacked, his farm burned, and a close relative killed. Without any outside encouragement, he walked into the attacking tribe’s territory. Their leaders encircled him in a threatening way. “Wait,” he said. “Before you do anything, I have something to say. I want to tell you that I forgive you. And I want to ask your forgiveness for the things that members of my tribe have done to you.” He said it first confused the attackers. They could not understand what he was saying. Then, once they grasped it, their hearts melted. They laid down their weapons and began a conversation on how the two tribes could make peace.

Ron also shares that It it helps to realize that God is more interested in executing justice than we are, and will inevitably do so, if not in this world, certainly in the next. Therefore, when we forgive, we are not minimizing the hurt, pretending to forget it, or giving up on getting restitution. We are merely transferring our case into God’s court.

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