Rediscovering the Gospel of Reconciliation

In his book, The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen speaks of ministry in a wounded, dislocated world, populated by a rootless generation made up of ‘desperate men’, ministered to by ‘a wounded healer’. In the chapter on ‘Ministry by a Lonely Minister’, Nouwen writes:
Since it is his task to make visible the first vestiges of liberation for others, he must bind his own wounds carefully in anticipation of the moment when he will be needed. He is called to be the wounded healer, the one who must look after his own wounds but at the same time be prepared to heal the wounds of others. He is both the wounded minister and the healing minister . . . (p. 82)
This is an accurate description of the ministry of reconciliation in the church. In every nation where reconciliation is needed, the ‘healing ministers’ are part of the population and they too are wounded. And it is only when they are healed that they can minister healing to others through sharing with them the experience of a healed life. And that is what I will try to do in this paper. The content of this paper is not taken and presented from an academic perspective but rather distilled from the experience of 16 years of active participation in the healing of a broken nation, first as a Christian and preacher and also as a member of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide of 1994.

• Contradictions in the Christian Setting: Flourishing Churches and Festering Wounds
• Failure and success: Rwanda as a case study
• An Autopsy of the Church Failure
• Rediscovering the Gospel of Reconciliation

For more information go to Rediscovering the Gospel of Reconciliation on the Lausanne Movement website.
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