Left To Tell

Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

By Immaculée Ilibagiza (w. Steve Erwin)

Overview:

Left to Tell is an all-too-powerful memoir recounting the author’s harrowing survival during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Hidden for 91 days in a tiny bathroom with seven other women, Immaculée endured unimaginable fear, loss, and isolation as nearly a million people, including most of her family, were brutally murdered. Through prayer, faith, and inner strength, she overcame hatred and despair, eventually emerging with a heart full of forgiveness. Her story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of faith and forgiveness in the face of unspeakable horror.

Favorite Quote:

“The killers were like children. Yes, they were barbaric creatures who would have to be punished severely for their actions, but they were still children. They were cruel, vicious, and dangerous, as kids sometimes can be, but nevertheless, they were children. They saw, but didn't understand, the terrible harm they'd inflicted. They'd blindly hurt others without thinking, they'd hurt their Tutsi brothers and sisters, they'd hurt God-and they didn't understand how badly they were hurting themselves. Their minds had been infected with the evil that had spread across the country, but their souls weren't evil.
Despite their atrocities, they were children of God, and I could forgive a child, although it would not be easy. . especially when that child was trying to kill me.
In God's eyes, the killers were part of His family, deserving of love and forgiveness. I knew that I couldn't ask God to love me if I were unwilling to love His children. At that moment, I prayed for the killers, for their sins to be forgiven. I prayed that God would lead them to recognize the horrific error of their ways before their life on Earth ended-before they were called to account for their mortal sins.”