MONTSERRADO COUNTY, LIBERIA – The current generation of Liberian leaders has been described as “hateful and selfish” thereby rendering them unable to transform the country. The statement was made by Bishop Kortu K. Brown, church pastor of New Water in the Desert Assembly at a one-day training and awareness workshop for the promotion of Forgiveness Education in Liberia held at the Mother Tegeste Stewart Apostolic Pentecostal School in Brewerville on Thursday, April 10, 2025 under the theme: “The Place of Forgiveness Education in Renewing Communities and Promoting Reconciliation in Liberia” with Liberian Senate Chairman on Education Committee, Honorable Nathaniel F. McGill serving as keynote speaker.
The workshop brought together students and teachers from 25 primary and secondary schools in rural Montserrado County and it was geared towards introducing the concepts and necessity of forgiveness education to the students as a necessary tool for community renewal, the promotion of reconciliation and sustenance of peace in the country. The program aims to promote reconciliation through forgiveness and peace through reconciliation at the community level. The goal of the training and awareness workshop is to engage in the establishment of “Forgiveness Education Clubs” (FECs) in primary and secondary schools across the country to promote reconciliation and peaceful coexistence
Speaking on the need for the country to prioritize the teaching of forgiveness education in schools, Bishop Brown draw his remarks from the book of 2 Kings Chapter 22 verses 1 and 2 which states, “Josiah was eight years when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem… And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left”. The prelate reminded Liberians that for forgiveness and reconciliation to be obtained in the country, Liberians especially the political leaders must firstly, promote righteousness in governance, follow good examples and encourage consistency in their actions, amongst others.
The immediate past president of the Liberian Council of Churches reminded the students that they live in a country that is struggling to do the “right thing” i.e. prioritize reconciliation, rule of law, good governance, fiscal discipline, etc. “Maybe it will be your generation that will change this country because the way we see our leaders fighting amongst themselves all the time, we don’t think they can make it”, he told the students. Bishop Brown asserted that the older generations of Liberians continue to exhibit too much hate and selfishness which has virtually paralyzed the forward movement of the country arguing that a case in point is the senseless confusion at the House of Representative over who should be the Speaker without any regards to the rule of law and Constitution.
The Forgiveness Education program was developed after over a quarter-of-a-century of studying the moral virtue of forgiveness, the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI) based at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA, was convinced that forgiveness is the missing link to the search for peace in any community or country especially a post-civil-conflict society. The laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA conducted over a dozen social scientific studies which demonstrate that as people forgive, they become less angry, depressed, and anxious, and are hopeful of their future. “In other words, people become more peaceful within themselves, making the possibility of peace with others more likely”. It is the contention of the IFI that if we can educate a majority of students in a community in the fine art of forgiving, the program brochure dubbed: “Healing hearts, building peace” asserts, “then that community is likely to become more peaceful in the decades to come as the children enter adulthood and apply forgiveness to family, work, and other community engagements or contexts.”
That basic analysis from the lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison seems ideal to promote healing and reconciliation in Liberia, Church Aid has argued, given the fact that the country has suffered from 15 years of a fratricidal war, two viral diseases, hunger and poverty which have largely paralyzed social relations and created difficulties in the people pulling together to advance the recovery, rehabilitation and development of the country.
It is contingent on the above that Church Aid Inc. (CAI) and the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI) entered into a partnership to promote the teaching of Forgiveness Education in the fifteen (15) counties of Liberia through Teachers’ or Curriculum Guides or Syllabus developed by IFI based on the findings from the University of Wisconsin laboratory for Kindergarten to Grade 12, to guide this instructional process. Bishop Brown therefore appealed to the Education committees of the Legislature, Ministry of Education, stakeholders in education, religious institutions and local communities to join hands with CAI and IFI to make forgiveness education a reality in the country if we must achieve reconciliation and peace, amongst others.
