By Immaculée Ilibagiza, Steve Erwin and Wayne W. Dyer (Hay House Incorporated, 2014)
Left to Tell is the story of Immaculée Ilibagiza, one of the survivors of the Rwandan holocaust that followed the death of the President of Rwanda in a plane crash, in a suspected sabotage in 1994. It started a three months long genocide that left one fourth of the minority Tutsi tribe dead. Immaculée had a miraculous survival along with seven others, hiding in a Protestant Pastor’s secret bathroom. Only one other member of her family survived. It is an incredible tale of horror, hope, faith, determination and survival, and, above all, one of forgiveness.
Hiding behind the walls, just a few feet away from where her family’s murderers were searching for her, Immaculée prayed the Rosary and read the Bible for hours to keep alive and fight her passionate hatred and despair and to learn to forgive. It was then that the true meaning of the Lord’s Prayer touched her. This struggle is heart-wrenching. It inspires us to think how difficult and how sublime it is to forgive. The killer of her family was her own neighbour and family friend who did odd jobs for the family once. The man, like other members of the majority Hutu tribe, had been instigated by the phoney promises and hate propaganda delivered by Hutu politicians over the radio continuously after the plane crash. After the massacre, when she met the murderer, the first thing she did was to forgive him for everything.
In hiding, Imaculée studied French and English with the Bible and two dictionaries. This helped her find a job as interpreter when the U N Peace forces arrived to take control of the situation. Immaculée met her future husband John, a U S volunteer with the UN, during her days as relief worker for the refugees. Today she works as a Peace Ambassador for the UN and motivational speaker, travelling around the world with her message of peace and forgiveness. Her book is a first-hand revelation of the personal, social and political impact of the central theme of Christian faith—forgiveness. Reading the book, one can feel the power of God’s love that brings forth good out of evil. She was awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Reconciliation and Peace Award in 2007. Immaculée wrote three other books based on the Rwandan Genocide.
Quotes from the book
“Try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to pray for the killers. That was a problem for me because I knew that God expected us to pray for everyone and, more than anything, I wanted God on my side.”
“The love of a single heart can make a world of difference.”
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