Corrie ten Boom, Her Story
16. Kimuio
WHILE VISITING A prison in Africa, I heard about a young man who was sentenced to die. I asked to see him, but the prison officials would allow me to enter his cell only if three soldiers went in with me.
The cell had a very high ceiling and one small window at the top for light. It was bare, except for a shelf very low to the ground. Sitting on that shelf was a handsome black African who had one more week to live. I was praying very hard!
I wanted to be able to talk with him as if we were alone, but the soldiers made me uncomfortable. I always reacted that way when I was around men with guns.
As we talked, I learned that the young man's name was Kimio and that he had a wife and children. Kimio knew about the cross, and that Jesus had died there for the sins of the whole world, including his sins.
I asked him if he knew who was responsible for his arrest and imprisonment. He was a political prisoner, and there came into his eyes the darkness of hatred.
"TI can name every person responsible for my being here," he said. "Can you forgive them?" "Nov bean ty "T understand that. Once a man betrayed me and my whole family. Because of his betrayal, four of my family died in prison, and I suffered in three of the most horrible prisons in the whole world.
"And, Kimio, I could forgive that man. Not through my own strength—-never— but through the Lord. The Holy Spirit can fill your heart with God's love, and He
JESUS IS VICTOR 409 can give you the power to forgive. Kimio, I felt so free after I had forgiven that man. You have to die very soon."
"Yes, and I have a wife and children that I will never see again because of those men."
"T understand, Kimio, but you have to come before God. You have to face a righteous God very soon, and you know about Jesus at the cross.
"Jesus said, 'If you do not forgive those who wrong you, my heavenly Father will not forgive you.' So Kimio, you have to forgive.
"You are unable, but the Holy Spirit in you is able. Just pray this prayer with me. 'Thank You, Jesus, that You have brought into my heart God's love through the Holy Spirit. Thank You, Father, that Your love in me is stronger than my hatred.'"
I don't remember what else Kimio and | talked about after that, but I no longer felt the presence of those three armed soldiers. There was the presence of angels in that cell. I learned later that Kimio wrote to his wife: "Love the people who have brought me here. Forgive them. You can't, and I can't, but Jesus in us is able."
Kimio was trapped by the misery of this world, but he learned how to be free.