(Here at the Willow Creek GLS hoping to get some tips for our Operation Christmas Child team)
April 6, 1994 – the plane carrying the Hutu president of Rwanda
was shot down and violence to wipe out the Tutsis ensued. Hutus went door to
door slaughtering and over 1 million were murdered. Immaculee’s family was all murdered except for one brother
but she has committed her life to peace.
It is a great joy to be part of this event. Each of us need these leadership
principles in one way or another.
The genocide was a terrible experience but the lessons I
learned were invaluable. I learned to forgive but more importantly I learned
the joy of forgiveness. I learned
forgiveness is possible in any situation.
I begged God to help me and I began to understand the beauty of letting
go. It is a gift to have faith—to
know when you can’t He can.
Another lesson was to realize whatever God tells us, He is
right. He taught us the greatest
commandment is love. In our
country we failed to love one another so when I think what can we do to stop
wars I realize acting in love in my own life will bring change.
Genocide started in 1994. I was home on holiday from
college. I somehow knew when we
heard the president was killed that we were going to be killed. God had prepared us. Politicians were behind the hatred.
BBC Radio reported the killing of entire families. My parents were people who helped
others in any way they could. As
children we didn’t like that—we wanted new things for ourselves. People came to my parents to ask for
advice and would bring them gifts for all they had done for them. I want to remind you to be thankful for
the people in your life you love.
The second day after the genocide started, my father had a
rosary in his hand and said, “Do not be scared; fear is our worst enemy. If the government has planned this,
they will kill us. Let’s take this
as a chance God is giving us to repent of our sins so we can go to heaven.” I was sent to a neighbor from another
tribe who was a Protestant pastor.
Not everyone from the other tribe was killing people. I was the only daughter so they sent me
alone to the neighbor who showed me a tiny bathroom and told me to stay
there. Then he brought 7 more
people to hide in that tiny space.
I learned complaining doesn’t help. We had to be absolutely quiet. I started to feel anger and fear. They put a radio outside the door where we were held and I
heard them directing that everyone be killed. They gave an order to search every house. I felt that it was over and I was going
to die. Then I heard a voice
telling me to appeal to God because He is almighty and I chose to turn to God
and asked Him, “If you are there, don’t let the killers open the door of this
bathroom today.” After that I fainted and 5 hours later the neighbor came and
said they came and searched every room and opened suitcases. They came right to the bathroom but
then told the pastor, “You couldn’t hide these people,” and the searchers
left. I knew God was real and He
heard me. From that moment I
decided to believe in God even when I didn’t understand. I asked the neighbor to give me a Bible
and I started reading. I was
reading to understand.
When I read, “Pray for your enemies,” I would close the
page. Then I’d open again and read
about forgiving and close it again.
I took my rosary and when I prayed the Lord’s Prayer and came to the
line, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,”
I couldn’t pray it. I’d pray from
morning until night but I still couldn’t pray that prayer so I started to skip
it. One day I felt God was telling
me this prayer was not man-made and I shouldn’t try to edit His prayer. For the
first time I went on my knees and poured my heart out in surrender and asked
Him to help me forgive.
As I read about the crucifixion and how Jesus said, “Forgive
them, Father, for they know not what they do,” I started to realize I needed to
pray for my enemies and not be like them.
I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders.
I started to learn English when I was in that bathroom and I
had the freedom to think about my future.
We stayed in that bathroom for three months. The first night we came out I found out everyone I left
behind was killed. I wanted to die
but I remember feeling the hand of God reminding me my journey was still here.
You don’t know how long that journey on earth is but God was
telling me however long my life was it was His gift and I needed to decide what
to do with it.
To love and do something beautiful became the goal of my
life. I left Rwanda in 1998 and
live in New York City. The
greatest gift of all this was to know I can hold onto God in all I do. This enables me to remind you—whatever
you might be facing, remember there is always hope. Let nothing scare you or impart any fear.
I went to the prison and offered forgiveness to the man who
killed my family. There is so much
freedom in letting go—so much joy.
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