Why Forgiveness?
Life can seem like a series of betrayals, from the stranger who cuts you off in traffic to the loss of relationships when a divorce happens to the ultimate sense of abandonment and betrayal when a family member dies. One of the fundamental challenges of humanity is how to deal with these betrayals. Do we stuff our pain and numb out with addictive behaviors? Do we store up and rehearse our injuries, becoming bitter, angry, and in many cases physically ill? Or do we do what it takes to work through our pain and come to a place of acceptance and healing?
At World Forgiveness Initiative, we say that forgiveness is the one process that can heal all the large and small betrayals of life and restore a deep and authentic experience of freedom, power, and joy to our lives. We know this from our personal experiences and the experiences of hundreds of others we’ve spoken with or read about.
World Forgiveness Initiative is committed to making a global difference by working with world leaders to bring forgiveness tools to interrupt age-old conflicts, not just between individuals, but between communities, nations, and cultural groups.
Our Vision & Mission
OUR VISION
The radical transformation of people, communities and the world through a bold new model of forgiveness.
OUR MISSION
We provide state-of-the-art programs, services and tools that create freedom, power and joy for all.
We promise that by 2030, all people are choosing and experiencing the freedom, power, and joy of forgiveness.
Our Initiatives
Creating Awareness – This initiative focuses on providing events and programs designed to spread the word about World Forgiveness Initiative and about forgiveness as a source of freedom, power and joy. The core event in this initiative is our free, one-hour Forgive & Live event. This event introduces World Forgiveness Initiative and distinguishes common misunderstandings about forgiveness that get in the way of our freedom, power and joy.
For the rest of this year, our main focus for Creating Awareness will be promoting the book The Forgiveness Habit: An Action Plan for Healing Ourselves and Our Planet. We have free teleseminars scheduled. Jo Ann Rotermund is available to speak, to be interviewed on radio and television, and lead workshops. Contact her at info@worldforgivenessinitiative.org.
The shortest path from hurting to healing and happiness
Whether you’re in pain from the past or just want more for the future, forgiveness is a practice so joyful and liberating you’ll
want to make it habitual. But anger, isolation, blaming, judgment—these destructive reactions thrive without forgiveness and are part
of a victim mentality that prevents our living life to its fullest.
You can get there from here.
The Forgiveness Habit supports a growing consciousness about what keeps us from being truly free. The author’s own struggles
with her past, her relationships, her resignation about the future, reflect the ordinary desperation of feeling stuck no matter what
you try. Now converted to forgiveness as a way of life, Jo Ann Rotermund offers us a clear and hopeful path from victimized to
vitalized, a transformation so powerful you’ll want to share it, too.
You’ll discover the:
- historical and personal confusion over the role of forgiveness in health and well-being
- three destructive habits that keep you stuck and unhappy
- three healing practices that make forgiveness simple, natural, and virtually automatic
- transformative power of forgiveness to bring freedom, joy, and unity to our lives and our world
"When my beautiful daughter, Catherine, was murdered, I spent 12 years raging and lusting for revenge. Forgiveness is what healed
my mind, body, and spirit. The Forgiveness Habit provides all the tools you need to reclaim your inner power and have joy you never
dreamed of. It is the perfect antidote for today’s angry, fear-and-victim-filled world."
Aba Gayle, Internationally-known forgiveness speaker and teacher
"This book is very special…It a gift to you from God. You are reading these words right now because God, or your soul, or intuition has
guided you to do so. That is the way God works in our lives. As Jo Ann Rotermund so correctly states, blaming, being right about it,
and negative judging simply keep you locked in suffering. Unfortunately, it is such a part of life today that you may hardly even notice when
you are being that way. Gratitude is a powerful first step in moving beyond such unconsciousness. Taking the time to express your
gratitude several times a day every day for everything in your life causes you to see yourself, other people, and the whole world with
the eyes of your heart rather than through your incessantly busy mind. Then you can see and know that all of God’s creation, everything,
is sacred. That is even more to be grateful for and allows you to see the interconnectedness of all of life, or our oneness, as Jo Ann calls it.
How can we hate others when we understand we are so interconnected? In South Africa we have a term we use, ubuntu, which says that I find
myself in you. A person is a person through other persons. We are meant to live in a delicate network of interdependence.
Following these precepts, forgiveness can become a way of life for you, the kind of life God wants for his children. Suffering is then
transmuted, offering you the opportunity to grow and evolve both emotionally and spiritually. Filled with love and joy, you are then ready
to bring healing and love to the world. That is my wish for you. I recommend this book to you and invite you to eagerly incorporate its
wisdom into your life."
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop emeritus
The Forgiveness Habit will be available to be shipped to you beginning September 3 for a donation of $17.95 for the book and $6.50 shipping and handling, a total of $24.45, to World Forgiveness Initiative. To donate now and thereby order your book, click here.
Providing Education – When people begin to realize that practicing forgiveness can bring them freedom, power, and joy, the next question we hear repeatedly is, "How do we forgive?" This initiative provides experiential trainings such as our Forgiveness 101 Workshop and teleconferenced book studies that educate people about forgiveness and provide take-away tools that support the practice of forgiveness in everyday life.
Strategic Planning for Forgiveness Globally – Although our primary efforts are aimed at raising awareness and providing education to individuals, we believe that it is critical to our mission to also address the institutionalized non-forgiveness in our cultural, political, and social structures worldwide. Therefore, WFI is working to bring together like-minded world leaders and partner organizations to create a coalition that will design and take strategic actions to spread forgiveness globally.
Our History
Jo Ann Rotermund studied and practiced forgiveness in her own life for several years, with transformative results. Through natural conversations with her daughter Jennifer Rotermund, the two saw a need for transformative forgiveness to be available to every person on the planet. JoAnn, Jennifer and a small group of friends founded WFI in 2002. Two years later, on January 18th, 2004, World Forgiveness Initiative was officially launched as a federal 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington.
Our Core Team
Currently, World Forgiveness Initiative is an all-volunteer organization.
- JoAnn Rotermund: Co-founder, Volunteer Executive Director, President of the Board
- Jennifer Rotermund: Co-founder, Volunteer Managing Director, Vice President of the Board
- John Miller: Board Member, Volunteer Staff
- Jana Hagen: Board Member, Volunteer Staff
- Valerie Andrew: Board Member
Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Honorary Board Member
Contact Us
World Forgiveness Initiative
116 NE 194th St
Shoreline, WA 98155
(832) 633-1565
info@worldforgivenessinitiative.org
World Forgiveness Initiative is a federally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.