Finding Forgiveness in Africa

Ever since I read, as a child, about Corrie ten Boom forgiving a Nazi guard in The Hiding Place, I’ve been a sucker for forgiveness stories—especially in the movies. The Green Mile, The Straight Story, The Spitfire Grill, The Mission, and even the end of Spider-Man 3, where Peter/Spidey forgives the Sandman/Flint Marko for killing his beloved Uncle Ben.

But the most powerful stories of forgiveness are the real ones as often depicted in documentaries. Martin Doblmeier’s The Power of Forgiveness and Laura Waters Hinson’s As We Forgive are both near the top of the list—especially the latter, which explores reconciliation in Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 genocide. I was in Rwanda two years ago and saw some of these stories myself.

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