How does a war-scarred country like Rwanda, struggling back from the recent history of the worst genocide since Hitler's "Final Solution" and Chairman Mao's "Cultural Revolution" reintegrate 50,000 confessed and convicted murderers? What is to keep the past from repeating itself, even if in reverse, when just under the surface of society are so many broken hearts and whispers of revenge?

This story, and its aftermath in Rwanda, have been honestly and compellingly told in a recent film, "As We Forgive ," directed by Laura Waters Hinson, and narrated by Mia Farrow. I saw it at the Oak Street Theater in Minneapolis this May, as part of a series of releases. Only an hour long, don't expect it to make the usual commercial cineplex theater circuit. But many churches, institutions and organizations are finding ways to order it and host it. Check out the website at http://www.asweforgivethose.com/?page_id=15

To know more about this story, and what we all might learn from it, check out the full text of my film review at Download as_we_forgive.doc. And for any scholars of Classical literature out there, I'd love to know your take on my comparison of The Oddyssey and the gospel. Did I get it right? Why or why not?

Mathew Swora, pastor

Emmanuel Mennonite Church