Issues of reconciliation are complex, multi-dimensional, contemporary and historical. But they have their roots in the Bible.

The Gospel of forgiveness, stemming from the prayer of Christ on the Cross “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing” when he was suffering cruelly at the hands of his tormentors, provides for us Christians the basis of all reconciliation. If Christ can pray that prayer, as a victim, then we can all pray that prayer. And if we know we are forgiven by God and can practise forgiveness as a lifestyle, then we can also be the mediators of forgiveness to others, either as facilitators or participants in the process. Christ has given to us a “ministry of reconciliation” (see 2 Corinthians 5.17-21). That reconciliation is in context between God and man – and we are mediators of that. But it is also in essence between man and man.

Christ didn’t wait for his persecutors to feel their guilt and come to him to ask for forgiveness. As a victim, still feeling the pain of their inflicted suffering, He took the initiative to ask God to forgive them.

In the complex world of atrocities committed by groups and individuals against others, is there a place where those caught up in the conflict, either as perpetrators of violence or the victims of it, can find a place of reconciliation? In the tortured stories of age-old conflicts, corporate pain and continuing hatred and fear, resentment and blame, is there a place to find reconciliation?

As far as God is concerned, does the corporate guilt and pain caused by nations, tribes, clans and individuals in history go away once the participants have died? Does God overlook the sin? Does He forget the sin, as if it doesn’t matter any more? Does He turn a blind eye to the continuing consequences of past sin and conflict?

I am glad to say that many modern followers of Jesus are at the forefront of community reconciliation. Sometimes they are looking for ways of putting into practise the principles of reconciliation in contemporary situations – like the Israeli-based ministry Musalaha that arranges camps for young Arabs and Jews to live together and learn about and from each other what are the causes of hatred and violence that divide their two communities. Another of my friends ministers on “Healing the wounds of ethnic conflict” in situations of recent war and tribal conflict, like Ruanda, Congo and Sri Lanka. She seeks to help victims and perpetrators to bring their pain and guilt to the Cross and from there to find a place of forgiveness and reconciliation with each other.

In my own situation I have led, or been part of, small teams to many nations where we have needed to repent of the sins of our nation during our colonial period, when we indulged our corporate greed, often with violence, at the expense of poorer undeveloped nations. I’ve also been involved with teams that have gone into some of the world’s trouble-spots to “stand in the gap” to seek a place where representative groups could be reconciled as a way of beginning the process of ending conflict.

Others have concentrated on dealing with the heritage of the slave trade – both in West Africa and in the Americas. Another of my friends has led teams to walk in yokes and chains in many nations and to repent for the sin of slavery. Sometimes those walks provoke as much antagonism as they do empathy. But how is the church going to tackle all the modern forms of slavery?

There are others involved in facilitating secular reconciliation between corporate entities, using lessons learned from legal processes and calling this “peacemaking” – another biblical term! (see Matthew 5.9). I know a group of ex-military officers who are engaged in a range of reconciliation ministries, with church and governments, seeking to redress what they see as the consequences of past military decisions.

When we look at the world, who is there who can in Christ’s name help resolve some of the conflicts occurring in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq? We may not see the atrocities and the reason for them as coming from Christian sources, but when we look at history we often see that decisions and actions taken by some Western nations have directly led to the settling of old scores by current-day inheritors of the pain and consequences of those decisions.

The nation of Armenia is one that has its modern-day identity rooted in the genocide it suffered in 1915 at the hands of the Turks (before Turkey became a modern-day nation state). As it approaches the 100^th Anniversary of that traumatic time, how will it respond? Various nations have either sided with Turkey or Armenia in solidarity. How will that play out in 2015? What other potential flash points are there around the world?

The need for reconciliation is everywhere. Some want to debate the theological issues and the biblical rationale. Others want to engage merely at the political level in diplomacy, whereas others will only engage when Christians are involved.

For those involved in prayer, however, we know that the only way to defuse the antagonism caused by past hurt and blame is through humbly standing in the gap, confessing the sin, repenting and seeking reconciliation representationally between those whose first loyalty is to Christ, and secondly to tribe and country. Repentance and reconciliation is also the way to defuse the stronghold of evil that has been created in the places and among the people who have suffered or been perpetrators.

Over the years we have seen some amazing answers to this kind of prayer. Situations have changed overnight, conflicts have ended and nations have changed. Is everything perfect? No. Is there more to do? Most certainly. Just as individuals have been reconciled, so can communities. Ultimately it is at the Cross where it begins - and ends!

Brian Mills,

IPC Senior Advisor

May 2013

Another word from Brian Mills about a recent reconciliation between Kenya and the U.K.:

I hope you have seen press reports in the past couple of days detailing the British Government's decision to recompense those Kenyans who had taken the Government to court over atrocities committed against them during the Mau Mau uprising, when British rule was still in place. The fact that the Foreign Secretary has admitted the culpability of the British at that time is a huge step forward.

If you haven't seen this, then I expect you can Google it - it was in most of our daily papers and on the BBC. The world's media has covered this story in many ways. Google: britain-issues-unprecedented-apology-colonial-era-kenyans

The lady Caroline Elkins, quoted in this report, had written a book on Kenya which was one of resource books for us.

You may remember that a small team of us were in Kenya last July to engage in repentance over these same issues, and at the time or just after a group of Kenyans took our Government to court. I believe what has happened at governmental level over this issue is fruit from what happened last July. Praise God with us.

At the prayer gatherings of our team, we regularly pray for different needs. During one of those gatherings we felt urged by the Holy Spirit to share and encourage you with the events that took place on May 31^st, 2009, Global Day of Prayer, at Alexander Battenberg Square. Probably most of you, who saw the stage, the cameras, the advertisement, the media, and everything else, ask yourselves the question, “How do you organize such an event and how much does it cost?” To speak the truth, we had only 10 euros to deal with the expenses of the whole event!

THE SQUARE:

At the end of 2008 we researched the prices of all services that we had to use in order for us to organize the Global Day of Prayer 2009 in Bulgaria. So, at the end of 2008 we calculated the budget and it seemed like we would be able to collect the money needed until the end of March next year. However, when the end of March came, we had only 10 euros in the ministry bank account!

The month of May was filled with different public events because of the election campaigns at that time, and we could not find a hall for the Global Day of Prayer. However, we did not cease praying and seeking God. At one of the prayer gatherings, God directed us to the Alexander Battenberg Square. The square where used by the former communist leaders for their speeches. Unfortunately, when we called the City Hall and explained to them why we needed it, the first responses were very negative. We gathered again and devoted time to pray about this problem. We felt the Holy Spirit said to us that this square would be needed not for us, but for the Lord. We went to the City Hall to talk to them again and boldly said the square was needed for God. After looking into some folders, they gave us permission to use the square! And that is not all! It was ordered that all incoming and outgoing streets were to be closed.

SECURITY:

The next step was to provide security. We made an appointment with the main police department where we described the size of the event. According to the inspectors, we needed 50 policemen. But, we didn’t know that they would have to be paid by the hour. When we calculated the sum for all of them, it amounted to 1,500 euros. One of the inspectors asked us if we had included such expenses in our budget. Having in mind our 10 euros in the bank account, to answer with a “Yes” would be a lie. We said we did not have it right now, but believed we would. He warned us that if we did not pay on time, we would be prosecuted. We signed the contract and the policemen were assigned to show up at the square from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the 31^st of May 2009.

STAGE:

Now, we needed a stage for the event. After meeting the owner of a music company, the offer amounted to 5,000 euros for a stage, illumination, and so on. After asking believers in this field of business, they assured us this was a very good offer. However, the amount looked too impossible compared to our 10 euros. We appointed a second meeting with this owner and made it clear why exactly we needed it. The man immediately reduced the amount to 1,500 euros. Of course, we accepted the offer right there. Our agreement was to provide half of the money in 5 days (until Thursday, 5 p.m.) and the other half was due after the event.

It is important to note here that we, the Global Day of Prayer in Bulgaria, or our juridical representative – the Restoration Mission foundation – are not sponsored neither by the main office of the Global Day of Prayer, nor we receive any assured money every month. All local events are paid by the local churches and what we get as a donation from friends of the ministry.

Since we would never expect, such an amount, we brought the case to God in prayer. On the fifth day, Thursday, we still had only those 10 euros and had no idea where we would find the stipulated money before 5 p.m.

Later that day the owner of the company called us to confirm the appointment. Of course, we confirmed. At 12:00 p.m. one Bulgarian church from Spain donated 400 euros without knowing our need, or its amount. At about 4:30 p.m. a friend of ours came to the office and told us God led him to donate 350 euros!  So, the day and the time for paying the stipulated half of the price were kept with our paying the 750 euros.

MEDIA:

In the meantime we made advertising posters and flyers that we handed out and posted all over Sofia. The Christian website, www.bibliata.tv, offered us to broadcast the event live. In order for this to happen, they needed cameras and a fast Internet connection, which we arranged with the Christian “865” Studio in Bulgaria.  After this offer we started thinking about ways to broadcast on the television as well. To broadcast a non-Orthodox event during prime viewing time, Sunday evening, was quite a challenge, even if we had the means to. We were informed that in order for us to do that we needed about 20,000 euros. Standing in faith, that God was leading us to this action, we set up a meeting with the representatives of a TV channel and after long negotiations the price was brought down to 500 euros…

So, on the 31^st of May, 2009, the Global Day of Prayer in Sofia, Alexander Battenberg Square, was broadcasted full-length.

TIME:

Talking about the time I’m not talking about the weather, although several days before the event and several after were very rainy. As a matter of fact the weather broadcast for the 31^st of May, 2009 was also very dark, but we had very sunny day.

Right before the beginning of the event, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., one of the policemen came and informed us we had to finish no later than 7:30 p.m. That, of course, was impossible, having in mind our contract for the square included the whole day until 12:00 a.m. and the negotiated time with the police was until 9 p.m. Again, after negotiating for some time, they agreed to stay until 8 p.m. The presenter and I made a quick decision to shorten the program by 30 minutes. However, shortened as it was, things were going slower than the scheduled time. At 7:50 p.m. I looked at my watch to see how we were doing with time. One of the speakers had to go out and invite the people to take part in the Lord’s Prayer before the final song. The leading man asked me what we should do. I made a sign to continue. The speaker went out on the stage, shared a few words and led those present through the Lord’s Prayer, then left the stage. When he left, I looked at my watch to check the time again. It was 7:50, again! Astonished, I took a look at the leading man and met his bewildered gaze about what time it was. At the same time the worship leader, who had his work scheduled down to every last minute, asked me what time it really was. We definitely understood God had stopped the time, so that everything we had in the program could be fulfilled. After this great moment of realization, the band started singing the song “God Save Bulgaria”. During that song we saw the policemen take off their hats, and one of them even came to me and asked how he could be informed about our events and when the next one would take place.

Two days after the Global Day of Prayer, we received two donations, which completely leveled the negative numbers in our account and we managed to cover all of the expenses on the contracts. To cite a man, who heard this testimony, “The contract is always different when God is on the stage, rather than backstage.”

May the glory be to Him alone. Amen!

Philip Rashey and the BG GDOP team.