Students Captivated by Stories of Reconciliation Through Forgiveness

Students sprawl on floor and fill chairs

by Barbara Overgaard, Communications Director for The WordFAN

A packed out crowd of students from several nations came to hear Gerrit speak to the Africa group, Ubuntu, at Colorado College on November 2, 2012.  The numbers exceeded the expectations of the meeting organizers but the college students didn’t seem to mind whether they found a seat on the floor or on a chair.

Since the meeting was set a time when Bishop Emmanuel of the Byumba Diocese in Rwanda was in Colorado Springs, he too was able to speak and together with Gerrit they kept the students on edge with their stories of reconciliation, hope, peace and unity through the power of forgiveness.

After Gerrit’s introduction to the group as  “racist turned to reconciler,” he showed a short clip from Final Solution, the movie made about his life. This particularly graphic clip showed the power of hatred to destroy.  Using that as a jumping point,  Gerrit was able to tell stories about apartheid South Africa, as well as how the Lord had used his background there to open doors for teaching and ministering practical reconciliation in Rwanda.

One particularly poignant story that had the students riveted eyes all riveted on him was the story of one of his recent trips to Rwanda where he had visited the genocide memorial.  Down in the cellar where bones of genocide victims were piled high, Gerrit had a moment of feeling overwhelming anger and judgment towards the perpetrators.  Knowing that the next day he would be speaking to some of those very same people in the prisons, he said to the Lord, as he put his hand on one of the skulls with a deep machete gash through the bone, “How can I minister to people who commited such heinous deeds?”

Gerrit didn’t have to wait long for answer. “But Gerrit,” he heard the Lord say, “That’s what you wantedto do in South Africa.”  The crowd at Colorado College seemed nearly as stunned at Gerrit was as he sat in that horrific scene surrounded by bones of so many innocent victims.

Gerrit tells crowd that only through Jesus can true forgiveness be found

The story continued as Gerrit told how on the next day he went to preach at the prison the next day, with newfound compassion and understanding for the men who listened intently to his story. First he shared with a group of 300, and then, much to his surprise, the prison officials insisted that he come back in the afternoon to speak to all the prisoners – 5000 men!  First he had spoken to many leaders — lawyers, doctors, teachers, priests, judges, even a Governor of a state who had participated in the genocide, along with many others.  He relayed how he thought on that day, “What can I contribute? All that I had seen and the thoughts of what had happened made my hair stand on end —neighbor killing neighbor and family killing family.  If God could forgive me, he could forgive these men too.” Many prisoners repented that day and invited us to return the next day for more teaching.

After Gerrit shared, he introduced Bishop Emmanuel who segued into his own personal experiences before and during the genocide in Rwanda and how God led him to forgive the man who murdered his mother, and how that man was set free because he was forgiven and could repent of the atrocities he had committed.

Gerrit could tell a very secular audience that forgiveness like he had seen and experienced first hand in Rwanda is only possible through Jesus.  Many seeds were sown that may bear fruit one day.

Bishop Emmanual talks with members of the Ubuntu group

On the campus of Colorado College

Bishop Emmanuel and Gerrit Wolfaardt