Tombstones and Banana Trees - A Book Review

Medad Birungi, grew up in Uganda in the 1960's.  He lived a life of fierce poverty, hate, and fear.  Despite those extreme challenges he grew to understand the power and healing of forgiveness.

At the age of six he, his mother, and his siblings were abandoned by their father.  With nothing, literally, but the clothes on their back, they started over and just barely making a living.  With almost the entire community against them they struggled to survive.  Because of this situation they were lured into the dangerous world of witchcraft.  They constantly lived in a state of fear for their lives.

As life for Birungi unfolds, things seem to go from bad to worse.  As he was beginning to make some progress toward making a better life for himself and his family, his sister was brutally murdered.  His thoughts turned from suicide to making a mental list of nineteen different people that he felt had wronged him and to avenge his sisters death.  His goal was to gain admittance to the army, obtain a gun and kill these nineteen people.

His life changed forever when a Christian choir came to sing at the school he was attending.  From that moment on he felt the power of love, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus.  His life changed in a radical way.

This story chronicles the power of forgiveness.  Forgiveness has the power to change a family, a town, and country.  This truly is a story of revolutionary forgiveness.

I was sent an advanced copy of this book from The B & B Media Group, Inc. for review purposes.  My opinions are my own.  This book can be purchased from David C Cook and World Shine Foundation