This post concerns Dateline NBC's Children of war in Uganda as seen on Aug.21, 2005. The link to Dateline's website is provided. Children of Northern Uganda flee in the late afternoons to Gulu to avoid being abducted by Kony's army. Up to 25,000 children sleep in Gulu every night and over 9,000 children have been abducted in the last 12 months. This photo was taken by Marcus Bleasdale.There is a name of a charismatic leader who has committed atrocities beyond the comprehension of our American minds. His name is Joseph Kony. He claims to be the voice for God and he crushes the spirit of children to gain their allegiance. He and his cronies capture families and in a indescribably deprived ritual will kill the father before the eyes of the children. Then they will mutilate the mother but stop before she is dead. Turning to the children they demand that they kill there own mother or be killed themselves.
By the time the act is over the children, sometimes as young as 8 or maybe even younger have committed two atrocities that will wipe out hope from their lives as they are introduced to a new darkness in the civil war in Uganda as Kony's soldiers. Not only will the kids feel guilty...no, damned for the murder they will lose all hope of redemption in the life to come because they have offended their ancestors and according to the African worldview, ancestors are often the only hope they will ever have.
There are two major fighters in this war who are focused on saving the children. Rev. Sam Childer runs an orphanage in Uganda and is a born again, bible believing Christian who waits for the day to confront Kony face to face. When asked about the confrontation, Childer simply says he will win. He carries a pistol wherever he goes, a loaded rifle on his lap when driving through suspect territory and brags about when he was growing up he loved to fight. I have nothing but respect for him, for not turning a blind eye to the horrors of what Kony is doing and for saving the lives of countless children in a land devoid of hope after a 19 year long civil war.
But then there is Angelina Acheng Atyam. Her own daughter was abducted by Kony's Army. But she believes there is no way for Kony to ever make restitution for his atrocities, he has simply caused to much pain to make up for himself. All she asks is for him to stop, to ask for forgiveness and she will give it to him. She acknowledges she would be trading justice for peace, but then at least so many lives could be spared either from death or the pain of losing the people they love.
Kony's army even offered her her daughter back in exchange for her silence and she refused. Not because she did not love her daughter, but because she knew she was only one of thousands who had the same pain and so asked, "What about them?" Later her daughter would escape and they would be reunited.
In such brutality I begin to wonder if a nonviolent movement against the civil war would actually work against someone like Kony. I don't know. What I do know is that nonviolence would be the path that remained most faithful to God's call if, and only if, it was not mistaken as an excuse to do nothing. Courage and transformation can take place, and it can happen even when the revolution is nonviolent.
Please pray for Uganda and Rev. Childer and especially the message of peace that Angelina brings to a nation that has forgotten the word.
