Relatives and friends of the 148 Christian who were slaughtered by Islamic terrorists last week at a Kenyan college are struggling to forgive those who heartlessly gunned down their loved ones.

According to The Associated Press (AP), Cardinal John Njue, the archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya, visited a morgue where some of the victims’ bodies are being kept and urged grieving Christians to look to Jesus for the strength to endure the aftermath of what was the worst terrorist attack in that country since the U.S. Embassy bombings in 1998.

The incident took place on April 2 when four terrorists from the al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab organization stormed into a Christian prayer service, killed some worshipers and took others hostages. The gunmen then moved across campus, shooting all non-Muslims and giving religious sermons as they went along.

By the time police arrived on the scene, 142 students were dead along with three security officers, two university security personnel, and the four gunmen. Another 104 people were injured, some of them critically.

Now the grim task of claiming bodies has begun.

“Many family members have described, sometimes bitterly, the death of a child in the Garissa slaughter as not just an emotional blow, but also the loss of an ‘investment’ into which they had poured money and hopes,” the AP reports. “Making it to university is a big achievement in Kenya, where many people don’t get opportunities that open the way to a financially secure life.”

Students who were once the rising stars of their villages are now coming home in coffins.

“Take courage and do not give up,” Njue told relatives while sitting under a tent at Nairobi’s Chiromo Funeral Parlor. “These are the challenges that come in our lives. Some of them are most probably too heavy … heavier than we can be able to bear, humanly speaking. But let us try what we can.”

He expressed hope that the Garissa attack would become a “moment of re-examination” to improve security for all Kenyans from terrorism but also wished for the beginning of a “process of compassion” toward the perpetrators.

“We pray then for all those who are concerned with this,” he said. “We are not dealing with animals, we are dealing with human beings … If this were to happen to them, I don’t think any of them would ever be joyful.”

Evelyn Wakholi, who lost her 18 year-old daughter Milly Yonbo in the attack, was touched by the Archbishop’s words.

“The Bible says: ‘Do not judge,’” Wakholi told the AP. “It’s painful, but what can we do?”

Milly’s aunt, Josephine Shiyuka, said she was trying to forgive the people who slaughtered her niece like Jesus forgave those who crucified Him. Perhaps those who her Christian faith dictated forgiveness for the killers, noting Jesus Christ forgave those who crucified him. She is praying that those who helped the gunmen might have a change of heart and give up their violent ways.

“If they’re living, they still have time to change,” she said.

Leaders of al-Shabaab appear to be unrepentant however, and are threatening to make Kenyan cities “run red with blood.”

Meanwhile, the entire country is in mourning with some saying the images of the slaughtered Christians lying face down in pools of blood in the halls of the university will haunt them forever.

“As a nation, we should never let this happen,” said Martin Otieno, 29. “We just can’t.”

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