As the children of northern Uganda know all too well, monsters really do come in the night.

In a 22-year civil war between the government and rebels calling themselves The Lord’s Resistance Army, more than 35,000 children were abducted and forced to become soldiers or sex slaves in the east African nation. But hundreds are accepting a government amnesty and returning home to the villages they once terrorized with rape, murder and mutilation.

Bending Spears is a powerful, compelling story about the struggle for personal grace and forgiveness, told through the eyes of former child soldiers and their victims. This moving and inspirational documentary chronicles the courageous effort of ordinary people to move beyond the visceral urge for revenge to find lasting peace and harmony.

Among those profiled in the documentary are John Ochola who, at 23, was kidnapped by the rebels who mutilated his face and hands. Despite his disfigurement, John has an irrepressible passion for peace that extends to the very man who changed his appearance and his life forever. You’ll also meet retired Anglican bishop Macleord Baker Ochola who works to foster national reconciliation, even though rebels raped and killed his teenage daughter and murdered his wife with a land mine.

But the most searing and soulful stories are from the abductees themselves who were forced to commit unspeakable atrocities. Abductees like Isaac Ominy, now a mason who’s trying to rebuild his life, one brick at a time; Stella Achan who’s still haunted by memories of killing women and children, including her own brother; and Charles Olara, driven by guilt and regret to become a doctor so he can heal with the same intensity he once used to wreak havoc.

Unflinching, yet unfaltering in its message of hope, Bending Spears will challenge your ideas and change your heart.

Bending Spears is a project with Across Boundaries, which seeks to strengthen civil society and enhance pluralism by promoting dialogue and exchange among diverse groups and populations.