Volume 32

He heard his captors trying to decide. “Should we give him a long-sleeve or a short-sleeve?”they debated. But the terrified 23-year-old with his hands tied behind his back had no idea what they meant.

The choice made, the rebel commander called for a knife and axe, turned to John Ochola and ordered him to lift his face. With blinding speed and a deft hand, the man cut off most of his nose, sliced away his upper lip, and severed both ears. Bleeding horribly and weeping from the shock and excruciating pain, John was forced to place his trussed hands on a small piece of log. With one swift blow, the left one was cleaved from his wrist. John pleaded with his captor to spare the right hand so he could at least earn a living, but the commander showed no mercy, except for inflicting only a “long sleeve” — amputation from the wrist, not the elbow. Left with two bleeding stumps, the young captive was released to face the shambles of his life.

Literally, John is the face of a brutal, 21-year civil war that has scourged northern Uganda with murder, mutilation and mayhem. More than 50,000 children have been abducted, almost two million people have been chased from their homes to squalid, crowded camps, and a whole generation has lost its culture and identity.

John’s only crime was being mistaken for a Ugandan soldier. Making matters worse, a traumatised young abductee from the same village lied and told the rebels John was with the military, prompting the savagery. Immediately after the attack, the maimed and broken man lostall hope. His face was mangled, he had no way to support his new bride, Grace, and her friends were pressing her to leave him because he was “ugly” and unable to care for her. As pressure mounted, Grace’s parents removed her from John’s home — against her will — because he couldn’t finish paying her wedding dowry. Only when friends pooled some money was she returned to her grateful husband.

John says the only way he got through his ordeal was through the love of Grace and his steadfast faith in Jesus Christ. “I took a lot of time meditating on why someone would do this to me,” he told me during a recent documentary shoot. “I realized a normal human being couldn’t do that. Besides, God calls us to forgive. Second, I learned I couldn’t change the results, so I consoled myself by abandoning the whole idea of anger and revenge because it doesn’t help.

“Forgiveness has set me free,” he added. “Before, I wanted to mutilate the young man who lied about me. Now I’m at peace.” So much so that John has tried to find the man who cut him. “I would tell him, ‘I have forgiven you, so do not fear me.’ I want to show him love and welcome him home from war.”

Today, John and Grace have three boys and he hopes to eventually find an office job. Meanwhile, he sells jerry cans of water to construction workers for use with cement, delivering the loads on his bicycle. Grace digs sand for those same workers and, together, they get by. Their life is hard, but it testifies to the lasting power of love, forgiveness and perseverance.

In nearby Sudan, peace talks between Uganda and the rebels inch toward a final settlement. Drawing on a cultural commitment to reconciliation, the government has already given the rebels a blanket amnesty for all crimes committed. Though we can scarcely fathom that mindset, John and the vast majority of Ugandans support the pardon passionately, citing the need to heal the nation.

“Forgive us in the very same way we forgive those who sin against us,” Jesus taught us to pray (Matt. 6:12.) Few of us can offer that prayer comfortably. But forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. It frees us from bitterness, heals us of pain, and stops us from fixating on those who hurt us, even when they spurn our mercy. So as we remember the example of John — and Jesus — may God give each of us the love, wisdom and strength to put the give in forgive.

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article,