Grandpa Boldly Forgives 7-Year-Old Athena Strand’s Alleged Killer in Heart-Wrenching Facebook Post: ‘Hate Is a Powerful Force’ By Billy Hallowell for Faith Wire
The grandfather of a little girl who was abducted and murdered last week has published a heartbreaking Facebook post offering forgiveness to the purported perpetrator.
“A friend just asked me the other day if I believe God speaks to people. I happen to know He does, as He is speaking to me now,” Mark Strand wrote. “This flesh, this man that I am, is angry and I want 5 minutes alone in a cell with the psycho that took our Athena away from us.”
He continued, “But there’s a soft gentle voice in the back of my head telling me I need to forgive him.”
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Strand is the grandfather of Athena Strand, a 7-year-old whose remains were found Dec. 2 after she went missing from her dad’s Texas home two days earlier.
Tanner Lynn Horner, a 30-year-old FedEx driver, is accused of killing the little girl and is held on $1.5 million bond, according to Fox News.
“This flesh man hopes he remains blind and deaf to the message of salvation and never sets foot in the same heaven that I know in my heart my darling Athena resides in now,” Strand continued. “And yet, that gentle voice persists. Why, you ask? Because Hate is a powerful force that will take root in your soul.”
He went on to say God wants to protect people from hate, calling it a “gateway for evil” in the world today. Then, Strand clearly explained who that “soft gentle voice” is in his heart and mind.
