Bringing Peace and Reconciliation to Sierra Leone With Reference To 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
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Date
2005-04
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
My topic of choice is: "Bringing Peace and Reconciliation to Sierra Leone in Light of
2 Corinthians 5:16-21.
To reconcile is to reunite, to bring back to harmony. Reconciliation implies therefore, that
division has taken place, separation and rupture. Two realities, two persons, two people are at odds, do
not relate well as they should. There is discord, disunity, disharmony; oneness has been ruptured.'
Sierra Leone is one country in Western Africa that has experienced all the above
because of the ten years of brutal war which saw the rebels resorting methods of
unimaginable savagery: killing tens of thousands of people and children, leaving them as
living symbols of terror. Paul's preaching as a source of reconciliation is marvelous; it is,
"one that holds within it the entire Christian mystery: reconciliation of human beings with
God, among one another, and with the whole cosmos."' Paul's preaching of reconciliation,
breaks new theological ground. "He deliberately makes a fundamental correction. He said it is
not God who needs to be reconciled to human beings, but it is human beings who need to
reconciled to God."3 Reconciliation and righteousness, or justification, are terms Paul utilizes to express
what God has done for us through Christ; both are connected with the crucified Christ.' By
focusing on Paul's idea of reconciliation, and looking at the causes and effects of the war on
the people of Sierra Leone, and how the Inter-Religion Council and the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission came in to preach the message of reconciliation, I hope to deepen
my knowledge of Paul's idea of reconciliation, and his reference to "new creation". The
"new" which has come now that the old has passed away locates Paul's ministry of
reconciliation within the new creation, the new way of existence brought about in the death
and resurrection of Christ.' According to Rev. Fornah Usman, a minister of the inter-religions
council, with the "suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, no matter what those guys
("those guys" referring to the rebels) may have done, there is room on the side of the Lord to
forgive them and to bring them back on the road they are supposed to be on.''
This essay is made up of three chapters. The first chapter will focus on the history of
Sierra Leone beginning from its location in the continent, geographical and political divisions,
its natural resources and how it gained independence. The chapter will also at look the causes
and effects of the war on the people of Sierra Leone after independence and the divisions
created as a result of the war.
In chapter two, I will look at Paul's idea of reconciliation, how he faced division in
Corinth, the socio-political and religious situation at the time. It will also look at how Paul's
preaching is a source of reconciliation and the outcome of Paul's preaching. In chapter three, which is my final chapter, I intend to use five to six principles from chapter two, which may
shed light upon how Paul's theology can be concretely applied. Chapter three will deal with
the various movements for peace as a result of the war, the emergence of the Inter-Religious
Council and the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission." (TRC). As a congregation, many
young men every year aspire to join the congregation and these young men have experienced
the bitterness of war. This chapter also makes an attempt to look at how our formation houses
can become places where these young men joining can feel free to tell their stories of the war,
own them, forgive themselves and God. A place they experience reconciliation and begin to
live a normal lie.
I do not intend to depict formation houses as therapeutic communities but
communities that can listen, accommodate and help the young people discern God's will for
them. These people might not end up becoming religious at all but might have benefited after
living with congregation for a year or two. The essay will close with a general conclusion in
which the ideas of the three chapters will be summarized. The ideas and insights that make
up this essay are taken from sacred scriptures, the magisterial teaching of the church, and
from reliable literature on the topic. It is my hope to express to you a vision of a ministry of
reconciliation.
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Keywords
Peace and Reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Sierra Leone