After listening to Immaculée Ilibagiza’s scripture reading on the Hallow App this week, I decided to read her book, Left to Tell, for a deeper understanding of her story. She is a survivor of the Rwandan Holocaust and is known to have an unwavering love for God and an unbelievable capacity for forgiveness.
First, let me start by telling you that the writer of the Forward, Wayne Dyer, deserves an award for his narrative. Never in my life has a Forward made me more excited to read a book, let alone one about genocide. Frankly, I try to avoid books and movies of such tragic topics because let’s face it, being sad isn’t exactly fun, but his promise of what this book will teach me has given me the strength to power through it.
Immaculée Ilibagiza was born in what she describes as paradise. A country so beautiful you would gladly cope with the third world hardships just for the view. Her parents, Leonard and Rose, so pious and selfless, they would give Mary and Joseph a run for their money. Immaculée and her three brothers grew up with an unsurpassed amount of love in their household. Her brother Damascene, her self-declared soulmate. They sounded like the model family in their village, if not for being of the minority Tutsi class.
What I found so interesting was to hear Immaculée explain how similar the Tutsi and Hutu classes were. The Tutsis were supposed to be taller with narrower noses but since so many Hutus and Tutsis had married and mixed genes the differences were hard to tell. In fact, it was not until in school when weekly ethnic roll call began that she even knew what the different classes were. Eventually death lists were created to help the Hutu extremists identify and annihilate the “cockroach” Tutsi class. The first part of this book sets the stage for what hatred’s propaganda can destroy.
When I heard that a genocide survivor would be praying with us on the Hallow App I was intrigued. I told my husband; “I need to learn how she kept her faith because if she can do it then there’s hope for me.”
Tomorrow I will continue reading through humans’ inhumane treatment of each other. I will reluctantly immerse myself in the horror, because as Wayne Dyer promised, “it will change the way you view the power of faith forever.” Let the transcendent experience begin.