Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

Well, here’s our first book of the month! Whether you’re here in July or come along later, feel free to add to the discussion.

For those unfamiliar with the book, it is the true story of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The Hutu president was killed by other Hutus because of his good relation with the minority Tutsi tribe. Apparently Rwanda has endured this type of ethnic hostility two other times in the 20th century, but the 1994 genocide was the worst. Over a million Tutsis were killed in just 3 months. Radio broadcasts urged Hutus to kill all the Tutsi “cockroaches” or “snakes.” There were efforts to burn birth certificates and pretend the Tutsis never lived in Rwanda.

Immaculee (a Catholic) went into hiding in a Hutu Protestant minister’s bathroom for 3 months with 7 other women. They all had to stand for 3 months. Food was scarce–she lost nearly half of her body weight, and weighed just 65 pounds when she finally was freed to a UN refugee camp. She literally prayed for 3 months. In the bathroom, she listens as a Tutsi mother is murdered; her helpless infant is left to die, torn apart by dogs. Following this atrocity, Immaculee describes a spiritual experience of forgiving the killers. I posted an excerpt on my blog at http://www.mormonheretic.org/2010/06/27/a-horrific-tale-of-forgiveness/

Some other fantastic spiritual experiences: she describes praying for 7 hours as killers hunted for her inside the minister’s house. It reminded me of the story of Enos. She describes her father giving a speech to worried Tutsis in her neighborhood. His speech seemed a bit like a cross between Captain Moroni’s “we will defend our families”, and King Lamoni’s pacifism. The violence she describes is disturbing, but her story is a spiritual treat. Does anyone else have anything that impressed them?