the vilest offender...

Two days ago we learned that the peace talks have flopped and that fighting has resumed. It is so disheartening that the Acholi people have yearned and ached for peace for 20 years and once again, peace has been averted. The main reason for this is that the Acholi want the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop charges against Kony, but the ICC has refused. The western definition of peace and justice is violently clashing with that of the Acholi.

A desire for peace and pardon took on new meaning for me on Sunday, when, along with 300 Acholi, I sang the hymn "To God be the glory." The line "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives" was all at once illustrated to me more clearly and more puzzlingly.

Images of people I know visit me; a woman whose face has been severely disfigured at the hands of the LRA, a young former abductee who remembers how to smile only when he dances, a woman who during 8 years of LRA captivity gave birth to 3 babies. I cannot think of a more vile offender than Kony and yet, the Acholi deeply desire to see him pardoned. They believe that his death cannot restore the 20 years of suffering he has forced on them.

I have much to learn about theology and the Acholi people are continually teaching me.

Haley