A quiet girl with a strong
voice (story from The Messenger)
Article courtesy of The Messenger (www.emconf.ca/Messenger)
Written by Kent Dueck, ICYA Director
The Christian Church has done so much for victim
advocacy over the years, as it should. It feels like we need to
be talking about how we relate to offenders as well though.
Richard Clouthier, from a local radio station,
called me at home a few weeks back. "I need a recovered
car thief who is over 18 and articulate for tomorrow morning at
9," he said. "That is a tall order, Richard,"
I replied. "Much better than the 15 minutes notice I gave
you last time." An upgrade indeed!
For those of you who don't listen to CJOB,
it is a talk show station noted for its tough-on-crime stance.
So I was worried that the callers, who love to hate car thieves,
would run roughshod over her. The fact that she was a girl seemed
to disarm the callers. The fact that she hadn't stolen a
car in two years helped as well. I could feel an awkward tension.
Callers were used to talking about criminals,
not to them, which works better if you want to just get angry
about some faceless force out there like car thieves. Richard
was careful with her. When the "Why did you do it?"
question came, Rochelle answered in a measured tone. "My
parents were drinking and I was trying to get their attention."
Two callers chided her and lamented the wonderful days of the
"paddle."
Richard turned to Rochelle and asked on both
such suggestions, "Rochelle, would that have helped you?"
Her reply was a quiet "no" to both callers. An aboriginal
woman called in and praised Rochelle for her life change and for
taking responsibility in her life. Rochelle was absorbing that
like she had been desperate to hear it.
On that day Rochelle spoke and people listened.
Rochelle felt bad about what she had done, especially now that
she had a car herself. But what do you do? You can't turn
back time. Redeeming it is what she wants to do now.
As a community we made progress that day. Whenever
you shut up and listen, whenever you sit close enough to a person-even
a person that has done a lot of wrong-you have your position
challenged. Because we heard Rochelle, we ended up loving someone
we were used to hating. Richard gave her a hug as we left the
studio. "That'll be in my top ten this year,"
he said.
As we walked out of the building Rochelle spoke
as if only a small war had been won that day: "Well, I guess
the whole world isn't out to get me." And all because someone
listened to a quiet girl with a strong voice.
We always seem to be reading about another horrific
victimization out there and, understandably, it raises our ire.
On the other hand, what on earth was Jesus doing when he talked
to the thief on the cross? Furthermore, He also prayed for his
persecutors while they were right in the middle of His crucifixion.
I wonder what would happen if the Christian
community began to get closer to all the pain out there. What
would happen if Christ-followers moved closer to people and their
stories? I'll bet we would see something beautiful happen within
us, and maybe all around us.
Kent Dueck is Executive Director of Inner
City Youth Alive in the North End of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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