I have just finished reading From Genocide to Generosity by John Steward. It is a book about the Rwandan genocide(s) and the subsequent struggles for healing, forgiveness and reconciliation, as viewed by a compassionate, experienced Australian NGO program manager. 

John relates his own story and the stories of many Rwandans with whom he became close, and who related their stories to him through translators. Although the book differs for obvious reasons in tone from first-hand accounts like Immaculee Ilibagiza’s, the stories Steward tells are compelling in their own right, yet in different ways.

I was arrested by one story in particular, in which a woman (Mama Deborah) related a dream she had in which she was told that “…the path to heaven passes through your enemy’s house.” If there was ever a forceful statement made about the absolute requirement to confront one’s pain and forgive enemies, that was it. I spent a good deal of time staring at one of the crucifixes we have in our house aware of an emerging realization that the message of the woman’s dream was very much the message of the cross. 

Steward explores healing, forgiveness and reconciliation with realism light on ideology and strong in practicality. As an experienced NGO person, he remarks at the outset that all NGOs can only work with the willing. Healing, forgiveness and reconciliation are open only to those ready, willing and able to embark on that journey. It is clear from the stories that such readiness is not universal, does not come easily, intuitively or inexpensively (cf. Bohoeffer’s notion of ”cheap grace”). For those who are capable however, the benefits are explosive and enormous. 

As I read the part of the book that dealt with “identificational confession” I was reminded of Simon Wiesenthal’s book The Sunflower which dealt with a similar tale of the Jewish Holocaust of WWII, in which the identificational confession of an SS officer was not accepted. The second half of Wiesenthal’s book contains responses by leaders from different religions, cultures and backgrounds, explaining what they might have done, and why. Readers are left to sort out for themselves what they would’ve done had they been in the same situation.

I was also put in mind f Terry Roberts’ book Forgiven, which is about forgiveness and reconciliation as experienced by the mother of a mass murderer. My wife and I met Terry in person a year or so ago and heard first-hand what she relates in her book. Not only is forgiveness and reconciliation extraordinarily difficult for victims, it is even more so, if that can be imagined, for families of perpetrators and perpetrators themselves. The outcomes in both case are profoundly liberating and redemptive. 

Although his enthusiasm was palpable, I found myself wishing Steward would relate less how wonderful the PDW, HWEC, PRAY programs were and describe more of their structure and content so we could see how these things worked. That was apparently not the purpose of the book, so I went on to do some research. The website www.rwandastories.org had been hacked by the time I got to check it out, so I didn’t get to see the resources used in Australia. 

I was impressed by Steward’s even-handed description of European and church complicity in the genocide. Institutions will always be comprised of saints and sinners, and in this situation, nothing was different. I am reminded of Chesterton’s comment that Christianity has not been tried and found wanting – it simply hasn’t been tried. Not by everyone, anyway.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to explore the challenges to healing, forgiveness and reconciliation in the wake of massive injustice.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.