Forgiveness:The Road to Reconciliation

The world was wrenched with the story of the 1994 killings of nearly a million people in the East African nation of Rwanda. TIME magazine reported that a depth of evil had overtaken that land, so searing to the soul as to be virtually incomprehensible. Rwanda's gaping needs captured the world's imagination, so that countless people went there to help. Refugees fled to camps just beyond Rwanda's borders, and the world's great humanitarian aid organizations followed. As the refugees returned home - many of them with their houses having been taken over or destroyed by others, and none of them allowed to have jobs for six months-it became clear that, despite the overflowing prisons and the attempt to bring to justice those who had murdered in the genocide, the deepest need of the whole population was to find some way for forgiveness to happen, and for reconciliation to take place. The Pilgrim Center for Reconciliation is a Christian outreach ministry based in Edina, Minnesota, dedicated to healing the broken heart of the world. It was founded by The Reverend Dr. Arthur A. Rouner, Jr., following his 40+ years of pastoral ministry. In 1996, the Pilgrim Center, in partnership with World Vision U.S., developed and initiated a healing/ reconciliation ministry among Church leaders in the blood-soaked countries of Rwanda and Burundi. FORGIVENESS: THE ROAD TO RECONCILIATION is the story of the Holy Spirit's work, through the efforts of a small, three-person team from the Pilgrim Center, in an intimate retreat ministry with African church leaders. Through their participation in three-day retreats, Hutus and Tutsis alike experienced the balm of forgiveness and restoration, empowering them to "pass on" this spirit and manifestation of reconciliation throughout their own families, churches, and communities.

Arthur Rouner, founder and President of The Pilgrim Center for Reconciliation, Edina, Minnesota, served in pastoral ministry for over forty years. Since 1982, Dr. Rouner has made numerous journeys to Africa to help with famine relief, water resources, orphans, and currently, reconciliation efforts in Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, and Uganda.