You’ve never heard a story from the Rwandan Holocaust like this. This is a retelling of Imaculee Illibagezza’s struggles. What makes this story so unique is the fact that while you are being told of her horrifying flight from her enemies, you are also being told of her inner connection with her God, and how it increases to the point where she begins to see in the spirit realm, receiving encouragement and instructions from God. Her relationship between her and her God goes from being at HIs hand to being at His face. Imaculee’s private room housed her religious statues and prayer books. When she had to flee for her life, she left them behind. She had to rely on what she had memorized to give her comfort. As her situation grew darker, she needed more than comfort, she needed strategy. Imaculee cried out desperately, without form or patterned prayer. She quoted scriptures, checked her heart for hatred and bitterness, and pleaded with God to be hidden from her spiritual enemy and his devices.
In reading this book I escaped my ordinary, mundane prayer life, my prayer books, religious positions and moved to my heart. I checked my heart for what would hinder my prayers. The book was exciting. Imaculle’s story opened my eyes to things that I could have only imagined without any real form of reality.
The craft of writing is not what attracts you to this work. The story alone is so shocking that you can get away with not having moving sentences and shocking characters. I must admit that without the testimony it would be another story from that time period that you may choose not to read because of the shocking content. The testimony between these traumatic events is life changing. I would recommend this book especially for those who want to know what Christianity looks like in the fire, on the battlefield, in action. If you’ve spent your life surrounded by prayer books, and can barely see the fading light of faith in the distance, this …story, will bring your faith back to life.
Kim S-J
clearcutfaith 