[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] FW: [CWWC] FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN OPTION

Tue Sep 7 14:19:37 UTC 2021

From: committed-walk-with-Christ at groups.io
<committed-walk-with-Christ at groups.io> On Behalf Of Mr. Ed via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, September 7, 2021 10:16 AM
To: Mr. Ed <pinky14 at abe.midco.net>
Subject: EXT: [CWWC] FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN OPTION

FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN OPTION

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive
them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
<https://link.biblegateway.com/click/24970178.2083/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnY
XRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9TWFyay4xMS4yNQ/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174B0
7a83535> Mark 11:25

Our founder, Brother Andrew, says, "Forgiveness is the very core of the
gospel message. I am a Christian only because God forgave me everything.
There is no other ground on which to stand.not my repentance, not my praying
the sinner's prayer. Nothing made me a child of God except God forgave. And
He did it two thousand years ago through Jesus on the cross. Jesus took all
that sin and nailed it to the cross and He says, 'Now, go, and put it into
practice.'"

Poso, Indonesia is a beautiful place on a central island of the country.
There we meet an elderly, physically weak, Christian mother who shares
through her tears the tragedy that befell her seventeen-year-old daughter
Alfita in 2005.

"My daughter Alfita was so beautiful. She loved Jesus, and she loved to
sing. She loved spending time with her friends. One day, Alfita and three of
her friends were walking to school. They always took a path that went deep
into the jungle, far away from our village. Along the path grew beautiful
flowers and my daughter loved flowers. That day, she and her friends,
Theresia, Yarni, and Noviana stopped to pick flowers for their hair."

The girls were all from Christian families. Three young Muslim men were
waiting on the jungle path and savagely beheaded three of the girls
including Alfita. The fourth girl, Noviana, survived her machete wounds.

The three men were tried for murder in the capital, Jakarta. Noviana and the
families in question had to make witness statements. However, they first
shook the hands of the murderers as a sign of forgiveness. Two years later,
the suspects were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.

The request for forgiveness came from one of the murderers. "It was very
difficult to comply with this request," said the older brother of Noviana.
"But we wanted to keep to Jesus' teaching and because of this, we are able
to forgive. We hope that our step will also restore the peace in our town of
Poso in Central Sulawesi."

The family members prefer not to talk about the day itself. During the
hearing, Noviana again had to see pictures of her beheaded friends and
answer questions by the prosecutors and lawyers.

Alfita's mother was severely traumatized by the murder of her daughter. She
concludes, "All I could do was ask God for His peace, the peace that cannot
be explained, that comes from trusting in Him. At the funeral He gave me
that peace. Even though Alfita was brutally killed, I knew that she was safe
in God's arms in heaven.After that, when I knew God's comfort in my heart, I
was finally able to do as God commanded.so I let go of my right for revenge.
I'm not bitter. I've forgiven the murderers and asked God to forgive them.
I've prayed that they will realize what they've done."

RESPONSE: Today I will confront my own trials and forgive those against whom
I am holding anything.

PRAYER: Pray for complete healing of the trauma in the lives of these four
families in Indonesia.

Provided by Bible Gateway:

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