Tony Campolo recently spoke at Desert Vineyard in California and shared how the power of love and forgiveness can bring even lifelong enemies together.
I’m sharing the story below, but watching/hearing it on the video (starts around 28 minutes in) brought me to tears. So feel free to watch it instead.
He shares how when the peace talks began in northern Ireland, he was invited to give an opening prayer for a prayer breakfast where Catholics and Protestants would be coming together to discuss their past and their future.
The night before the prayer breakfast, he took part in peace rally between many of those involved in the process.
The room was divided, Catholics on one side, Protestants on the other — facing one another. He was certain, he was in for a rough meeting.
And then as the meeting began, a Catholic stood up and said, “I’ve done horrible terrible things to Protestants people. I’ve set off bombs. I’ve hurt people. I’ve maimed people.” He looked across to the Protestants and said, “Will you forgive me?”
And in one voice the Protestants said, “In the name of Jesus, we forgive you.”
Then a Protestant stood up and said, “I’ve done the same sort of things to Catholics. I’ve done terroristic things. Evil things. In the name of Jesus will you forgive me?”
And the Catholics responded, “We will forgive you.”
This continued until almost everyone in the room had asked for forgiveness.
And then a man in a wheelchair, without any legs spoke up.
He said, “I’m Catholic. I always hated Protestants from when I was a child. But one day I got in my car, turned on the ignition and a bomb went off and blew off both my legs. And then – my hatred of Protestants turned to a fevered pitch. But I’ve accepted Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has changed me. And I’ve been able to forgive the person who did this to me.”
A man on the other side stood up and said, “I’m the man who set the bomb. He’s telling you the truth. He did forgive me.”
And the man in the wheelchair said, “He’s not telling you the whole story. Two years ago my wife died and I had nobody left in the world — and my brother — my Protestant brother, invited me to come and live with him and has been taking care of me ever since.”
This is what the power of LOVE and the Holy Spirit can do.
It can turn life long enemies into brothers, caring, loving and forgiving one another.
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Watch the entire message from Tony. And a huge HT to Theresa Seeber for sharing the video.
