An exemplary peacemaker

Two years ago, in August 2010, 10 aid workers were found killed—execution style—in a remote pass in Afghanistan. One of those killed was Dan Terry, who for almost 40 years had navigated not only the roads but the various factions of that land, forging peace and reconciliation between sworn enemies and helping bring medical care, food and education to many isolated villages.

I’ve just read the galleys of a book due to be published in a few weeks with the bold title: Making Friends Among the Taliban. It comes from Herald Press and is written by Jonathan P. Larson, a friend of Terry’s who has penned a well-told account of this remarkable man.

Larson eschews straight chronology and uses multiple stories to show how Terry overcame barriers and exemplified loving one’s enemies. While we tend to demonize the Taliban (and even more with the recent shooting of Malala Yousafzai), Terry made friends with many of them.

He made a point of drinking tea with shuras (elders’ councils) in the villages he visited and listening to their concerns. He did not try to ramrod his ideas for how to improve the lives of Afghans but let them initiate how to help themselves.

One Afghan called him “more Muslim than Muslims” because of his self-sacrificial service to others. Others affectionately called him Pagal (crazy), which referred to his often fearless faith and weird behavior that helped break down barriers. He was held captive and made friends with his captor. He often intervened in tense situations, using humor to dissolve conflict.

Larson makes clear that Terry had his foibles, and his colleagues in the International Assistance Mission did not always agree with his methods or his failure to follow protocol. His prophetic tendencies often grated on those trying to administer aid.

After Terry died, messages of condolence came from the governments of Afghanistan and the United States and from faith groups abroad. But more tellingly, at his funeral, a “silent throng of drivers and mechanics, welders and farmers, laborers and cleaners, shopkeepers, sweepers and launderers … came in wordless, eloquent testimony.”

He preached peace by living it. He said, “In the end, we are all knotted into the same carpet.” And he showed that “all” included enemies, like the Taliban, as well as friends.

The massacre was denounced by the local Taliban and was likely done by a group funded from sources outside Afghanistan, though Larson leaves that question unanswered. While his death seems so unjust and wasteful, Terry’s story, as told here, is a powerful witness. It’s one worth reading.