i4give Week Sharing the Message of Forgiveness Across Australia

As an initiative of the i4give Foundation, i4give Week 2022 seeks to engage all faith communities across Australia in a shared embrace of the universal good of forgiveness.

It presents the opportunity to engage in loving and respectful conversations around forgiveness and its power to heal and restore broken relationships, starting within and among faith communities and going out from there to everyone of good will. Letting go of anger, hatred and feelings of revenge builds bridges and leads to healing.

Parents Daniel & Leila Abdallah have created i4give Day as a remembrance of the four angels that were tragically lost on the 1st of February 2020. After the traffic accident that took the lives of their children, Danny and Leila shocked the nation by publicly forgiving the driver involved.

i4give Day is a way to help others who have suffered in a similar way. As well as this, it is a National Day of Forgiveness where you could find someone you can forgive or ask for forgiveness.

The day has now evolved into a week long series of forgiveness activities aimed at showing Australia the freedom found in forgiveness.

Danny and Leila spoke to 96five’s Jess Drummond saying that the message of the week was not just for Christians.

“This message is for the nation”, said Danny.  “It’s a humanitarian message that shares the Christian message.  Churches can talk about the story of Christ on the cross, and the story of a lady called Leila who forgave a driver who killed her kids.  She forgave because of her faith.”

“The week is about raising awareness, but it’s also a conversation around forgiveness and what it looks like, both in our communities and with each other.”

Leila said that practicing forgiveness had been something that she’d done her whole life.

“I come from a big family, where you would fight and make up.  When you learn to forgive and put it into practice, eventually it becomes part of who you are.”

“I know understand why Christ is so persistent about forgiveness”, says Danny.  “We’ve learnt now that forgiveness is more for the forgiver than the forgiven.  Forgiveness helps you and sets you free.

“Forgiveness has put us in the best possible place to get through this valley of grief we’re in; I’m not going to lie, we cry every day, but we’re not angry, bitter or wanting revenge because of those choices.”

Find out more about i4give week at their website.

Listen to the full interview with Danny and Leila in the audio player above.