Immaculée Ilibagiza

thumb|Immaculée Ilibagiza, 2007 Immaculée Ilibagiza is a Rwandan-born author and speaker, and a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. She is best known for her memoir Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (2006), a New York Times bestseller translated into fifteen languages, and for her message of faith and forgiveness, which she has delivered to audiences around the world. Ilibagiza was a 24-year-old university student when she returned to her parents' home in western Rwanda for the Easter break in April 1994, and the genocide began. Her father sent her to the home of a Protestant pastor, a Hutu, who hid her and seven other women in a small bathroom for 91 days. She emerged having lost nearly half her body weight and learned that her parents and brothers had been killed. She turned to prayer to survive, telling a rosary her father had given her, and during the months in hiding she taught herself English using only the Bible and a dictionary, which later helped her get a job with the United Nations. She has said that forgiving the killers was a process, and that it took long, deep prayer. Later she came face to face with the man who killed her mother and brother and told him she forgave him. Her books include Left to Tell, Our Lady of Kibeho and The Seeds of Forgiveness, and her story is the subject of the documentary The Diary of Immaculée and the play Miracle in Rwanda. She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame, St. John's University and Walsh University, and she gives talks and retreats on forgiveness and healing. Quotes "The love of a single heart can make a world of difference..." Closing words of her memoir Left to Tell, as quoted on Love and Forgiveness in Governance: Exemplars: Immaculée Ilibagiza Beyond Intractability "...a process, a journey into deeper and deeper prayer." On forgiving the killers of her family. A Survivor's Story: Immaculée Ilibagiza's passage to forgiveness America Magazine (November 23, 2009) "...it is a way of learning lessons from what has happened." On why she wrote her book, in an interview with The Bookseller. Ilibagiza, Immaculée Encyclopedia.com For Tutsi to be able to forgive is an individual matter, at the level of the heart. Forgiving the men who killed my parents and brother was a process, a journey into deeper and deeper prayer. A Survivors Story: Immacule Ilibagiza's passage to forgiveness (November 23, 2009) I still get tempted today about anger if a friend betrays me. I want them to feel the pain that they are causing me. But when I feel that anger that takes away my peace, I beg God to help me. I know for sure that forgiveness is possible. In Rwanda, nobody wants to see what we saw. If things are working, we want them to keep going. I Met the Man Who Killed My Entire Family (August 31, 2017) I came to realize that God never shows us something we are not ready to understand. instead, he lets us see what we need to see when we need to see it. he will wait until our eyes and hearts are open to him, and then when we are ready. he will plant our feet on the path that is best for us. But it's up to us to do the walking. AZ Quotes (May 15, 2021) The love of a single heart can make a world of difference. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) I knew that my heart and mind would always be tempted to feel anger--to find blame and hate. But I resolved that when the negative feelings came upon me, I wouldn't wait for them to grow or fester. I would always turn immediately to the Source of all true power: I would turn to God and let His love and forgiveness protect and save me. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) But I came to learn that God never shows us something we aren't ready to understand. Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. He'll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then, when we're ready, He will plant our feet on the path that's best for us...but it's up to us to do the walking. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) ...I came to realize that God never shows us something we aren't ready to understand. Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. He'll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then when we're ready. He will plant our feet on the path that's best for us. . . but it's up to us to do the walking. Immaculée Ilibagiza. Goodreads (February 2006) They can only kill us once. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) Never refuse any who ask you for help; if your pockets are empty, give them hope. Your every action must be born of kindness, your every word spoken with love. Live as God would have you live, and others will be inspired to do the same. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa. Goodreads (February 2006) Faith moves mountains, if faith were easy there would be no mountains. Immaculee Ilibagiza. Goodreads (February 2006) Instead of negotiating or begging for mercy, [my brother Damascene] challenged them to kill him. "Go ahead," he said. "What are you waiting for? Today is my day to go to God. I can feel Him all around us. He is watching, waiting to take me home. Go ahead--finish your work and send me to paradise. I pity you for killing people like it's some kind of child's game. Murder is no game: If you offend God, you will pay for your fun. The blood of the innocent people you cut down will follow you to your reckoning. But I am praying for you. . . I pray that you see the evil you're doing and ask God's forgiveness before it's too late. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) I realized that my battle to survive this war would have to be fought inside of me. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) The author recognizes the power of the persecuting tribe referring to members of hers consistently as "snakes" or "roaches". This dehumanizing language, she realizes, seeps into the subconscious and makes it easier to forget that fellow humans were created in God's image. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) Author says her father was so diplomatic that when people came to him for solutions, people not only accepted them, but they believed they thought of them. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) This is the same power that I feel propelling me forward into the next phase of my life. God saved my soul and spared my life for a reason: He left me to tell my story to others and show as many people as possible the healing power of His love and forgiveness. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell. Goodreads (February 2006) The more I prayed, the more aware I became that, in order to receive God's true blessing, my heart had to be ready to receive His love. But how could He enter my heart when it was holding so much anger and hatred? Immaculee Ilibagiza, Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide. Goodreads (2008) I came to learn that God never shows us something we aren’t ready to understand. Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. He’ll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then when we’re ready, He will plant our feet on the path that’s best for us . . . but it’s up to us to do the walking. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) The world had seen the same thing happen many times before. After it happened in Nazi Germany, all the big, powerful countries swore, “Never again!” But here we were, six harmless females huddled in darkness, marked for execution because we were born Tutsi. How had history managed to repeat itself? How had this evil managed to surface once again? Why had the devil been allowed to walk among us unchallenged, poisoning hearts and minds until it was too late? Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) We carried on like that through letters and phone calls for the next two years. And things didn’t change when Aimable graduated as a doctor of veterinary medicine. Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) I said the Lord's Prayer hundreds of times, hoping to forgive the killers who were murdering all around me. It was no use-every time I got to the part asking God to "forgive those who trespass against us," my mouth went dry. I couldn't say the words because I didn't truly embrace the feeling behind them. My inability to forgive caused me even greater pain than the anguish I felt in being separated from my family, and it was worse than the physical torment of being constantly hunted. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide. Goodreads (2008) I see thunderstorms around us now, but these are just baby storms,” the psychic told her. “The mother storm is coming. When she arrives, her lightning will scorch the land, her thunder will deafen us, and her heavy rain will drown us all. The storm will last for three months and many will die. Those who escape will find no one to turn to—every friendly face will have perished. Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) Then Jesus spoke: 'Mountains are moved with faith, Immaculate, but if faith were easy, all the mountains would be gone. Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) Later, she said that life would have been much easier and more spiritually rewarding for her if, instead of channeling her energy and time to discredit Alphonsine and Anathalie, she’d stopped for a moment and really listened to the messages. After one apparition, Marie Claire commented that one of Our Lady’s greatest sorrows during her many visits to Kibeho was that not enough people truly listened to the loving advice and counsel she offered through her visionaries. Too many individuals came to the village simply to witness a miracle, and while their eyes and ears searched the heavens for a supernatural event, their hearts failed to hear the messages Mary repeated again and again: love God, love and be kind to each other, read the Bible, follow God’s commandments, accept the love of Christ, repent for sins, be humble, seek and offer forgiveness, and live the gift of your life how God wants you to—with a clean and open heart and a clear conscience. Immaculée Ilibagiza, Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa. Goodreads (2008) Mom, think of all the good things that could happen to us instead of dwelling on what might go wrong," I urged her unsuccessfully. Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Goodreads (February 2006) But I came to learn that God never shows us something we aren't ready to understand. Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. He'll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then when we're ready, He will plant our feet on the path that's best for us...but it's up to us to do the walking.” ― Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/40411.Immacul_e_Ilibagiza The love of a single heart can make a world of difference. Immaculee Ilibagiza Biography. FixQuotes (October 04,2026) Faith moves mountains, if faith were easy there would be no mountains. Immaculee Ilibagiza Biography. FixQuotes (October 04,2026) External links https://www.immaculee.com Category:Non-fiction authors from the United States Category:Catholics from the United States Category:Authors from Rwanda Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Immigrants to the United States