Reconciliation Is Refreshing
The most amazing example of reconciliation I ever saw took place in North Vietnam back in the early 1990’s. Vietnam was just opening up to the outside world again and the people were still very emotionally wounded. My husband, Bob, and I lived in Nam Dinh, a town fifty-six miles southeast of Hanoi in the Red River Delta area.
We would occasionally go for a ride on our 110 Yamaha motorbike. Most of the population was still using bicycles as their mode of transportation. Those wealthy enough to have a motorbike had Hondas. Our Yamaha had a different sound to the engine. As if we didn’t attract enough attention anyway by being “American” foreigners. We were like the boogieman who came to town. People would crash their bikes while staring at us as we drove past them!
One day we went for a ride out into the countryside. It was summer and swelteringly hot. As we drove along, we saw a roadside stand with a man seated at a small table selling coconuts. Coconut water is very refreshing on a hot day. We stopped. By then we knew enough Vietnamese to understand the common questions and answer making friendly conversation.
The man seated at the table asked, “Where are you from?” Bob answered in Vietnamese, “We are Americans.” The man’s countenance changed instantly, and his voice got louder and more aggressive as he kept repeating, “America! America! America!”. As he shouted, people came out of nowhere and surrounded us. Glaring at us with arms crossed and hateful faces. This wasn’t going well! I started praying!
The man pointed down to his lap that was not visible due to the table in front of him. Bob leaned over and looked. He saw that both the man’s legs had been amputated! The man pointed again to his lap and shouted in a hateful tone, “America!” Indicating that this was caused by the Americans in the war. Bob started talking calmly and asked him, “Did you want to fight in the war” “NO!”, was his immediate aggressive answer. “Why did you fight?”, Bob asked. “My government made me fight!”, he answered. Bob spoke kindly and gently. “My friends that came here to fight did not want to fight either. My government made them come and fight.” The man’s countenance changed as he considered these words, and his anger began to dissipate. Bob continued talking. “It was not the Vietnamese or American people who wanted to fight. They are the ones who suffered. It was the governments. The people themselves are not enemies. That is why we have come here to help restore and build friendships.”
The atmosphere shifted. The people standing around us started to relax and nodded their heads in agreement. We saw a transformation in the face of the man at the table. As he considered Bob’s words, he began to relax, and his countenance changed again. It changed from one of hate and anger to one of thoughtful consideration and agreement. Then he reached out and picked up a coconut and handed it to Bob and another one to me!
The spirit of reconciliation was evident that day in the hearts of everyone there. We made friends and were refreshed by fresh coconut water! After that, every time we drove by that way and that man spotted us, he would wave us in to talk and then he would offer us another coconut.
Reconciliation is a very beautiful thing. It changes the atmosphere from hostility and aggression to peace, friendship, and understanding. It opens channels of blessing.
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
