Sierra Leone: People Cut up – forgive torturers
"Sierra Leone has become a foretaste of hell for hundreds of thousands trapped in the West African nation's gruesome civil war. Although the fighting officially ended in July 1999, atrocities continue in some areas. Half of Sierra Leone's people have been displaced, and the country has the world's worst child mortality rate. Perhaps as many as 3,000 people have had limbs randomly hacked off.
In one camp for amputees, Moktar, a member of Sierra Leone's Muslim majority, heard from Christians about Jesus' command to forgive those who persecute and abuse you. Moktar decided that he would forgive those who had sliced off his right arm and ear. Then he met the man who had tied him down, along with the one who did the cutting. Their consciences stricken, they offered Moktar money to compensate him for his loss. Moktar refused. Instead of perpetuating the cycle of violence and vengeance, however, Moktar simply forgave them."
(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 191. 2000, paternoster Press, )
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