Catherine Claire Larson, As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda (Zondervan, 2009), pp. 284. $15.99.
Inspired by and building upon the two documentaries As We Forgive (Laura Waters Hinson) and We Are All Rwandans (Debs Gardner-Patterson), Catherine Claire Larson explores the dark hours of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in even greater depth and power by retelling not only the harrowing stories of survival, but the miraculous accounts of forgiveness. The stories she recounts are heart-wrenching, stomach-turning experiences of the absolute worst of human sinfulness matched only by the awe-inspiring moments of forgiveness made possible through the grace of God in Christ.
The effect of this book is to put one's own life in new perspective. When the stories of terror are met with the miracles of forgiveness, one's own experiences of grief, trial and guilt pale in comparison. This is not only a book for those interested in the horror of the Rwandan genocide and afterward; this is a book for anyone who has ever been wronged or has ever wronged another.
Larson leads the reader through seven different accounts of personal experiences. It is difficult to find words to sum these experiences up, except to say that the reader is asked to share with the victims in the horrors of rape, dismemberment, burnings and abandonments. Relatives are killed in the sight of loved ones, fathers in the plain view of their children. Even clergy and officials participate in mass killings of Tutsi people, who they have categorized as "cockroaches." The absolute worst in human nature is on display here. With each story of horror and survival, an accompanying miracle emerges: forgiveness.
What struck me in reading was the fundamental truth that forgiveness is unnatural; forgiveness cannot naturally follow what these victims endured. It is not natural for a girl who has been mauled, raped, and left for dead to grow to offer forgiveness to her terrorizers. It is not natural for a boy who watched his father and family killed by neighbors he knew to turn to them with grace and favor. Forgiveness is an intervention. It is some sort of divine intervention that must enter from another plane of existence. In these stories, it is brought in by Christ himself, who has borne the stripes, the suffering and the death, the worst of all that human sinfulness can bring to bear, and has looked with compassion on us and called for forgiveness from the cross. And forgiveness heals the heart.
Larson provides the reader with interludes between accounts to discuss the meaning of forgiveness. These interludes engage the reader immediately with the challenge to practice forgiveness in his or her own life. They are rich in theological and psychological resource, but their real power is in their juxtaposition to the astounding accounts of Rwandan Christian faith. The reader is transformed by the application of these testimonies in his or her own life. It's not just about Rwanda, its about being a Christian and being forgiven by God "as we forgive those who sin against us."
The principles of the Christian life can be discussed in the abstract, but eventually they must be put into play in the great drama of human history. The Spring of 1994 in Rwanda is such a moment. The release of genocide participants back into their communities over the last few years has produced such a moment. Catherine Claire Larson has captured these moments for you and me. As I read I could see the faces of these Rwandan Christians. You will know them just as well when you read; and you will be moved by their witness to Christ, and the power of His forgiveness.
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