Immaculée Ilibagiza > Quotes

“The love of a single heart can make a world of difference.”
― Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

“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

“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

“They can only kill us once.”
― Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

“...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

“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

“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

“Faith moves mountains, if faith were easy there would be no mountains.”
― Immaculee Ilibagiza

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

“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

“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

“—Nuestro señor dice que dejemos de pedir milagros, —Segatashya continuó diciendo en la cinta—, porque sus vidas son milagros. Un verdadero milagro es un niño en el vientre; el amor de una madre es un milagro; un corazón misericordioso es un milagro. Sus vidas están llenas de milagros, pero ustedes están demasiado distraídos con las cosas materiales para verlos.”
― Immaculee Ilibagiza, Nuestra Señora de Kibeho

“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

“Por favor, Señor, abre mi corazón y enséñame a perdonar. No soy lo suficientemente fuerte como para aniquilar mi odio: nos han hecho demasiado daño; mi odio es muy pesado y podría aplastarme. Toca mi corazón, Señor, y enséñame a perdonar.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo

“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

“Cuando yo es imposible para nosotros cambiar una situacion, el reto es cambiarnos a nosotros mismos.”
― Immaculee Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir Para Contarlo: Como descubri a Dios en medio del holocausto en Rwanda: Cómo Descubrí a Dios En Medio del Holocausto En Rwanda

“However, Roméo Dallaire, the Canadian general in charge of the UN peacekeepers, refused to obey his orders to leave and remained with a couple hundred soldiers. He was a brave and moral man, but he was also alone in a sea of killers. We heard him often on the radio begging for someone, anyone, to send troops to Rwanda to stop the slaughter, but no one listened to him. Belgium, our country’s former colonial ruler, had been the first to pull its soldiers out of the country; meanwhile, the United States wouldn’t even acknowledge that the genocide was happening!”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

“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

“Era inútil, mis oraciones se sentían vacías. Había comenzado una guerra en mi alma, y ya no podía seguir orándole a un Dios de amor con el corazón lleno de odio.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo

“Then Jesus spoke: "Mountains are moved with faith, Immaculee, but if faith were easy, all the Mountains would be gone".”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

“La fe mueve montañas Immaculée, pero si fuera fácil tener fe, ya habrían desaparecido todas las montañas. Confía en mí y puedes estar segura que jamás te abandonaré. Confía en mí y no temas. Confía en mí y yo te salvaré. Pondré mi cruz sobre la puerta, y ellos no podrán llegar a dónde tú estás. Confía en mí y vivirás.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo

“Dios es la fuente de toda la energía positiva, y la oración es la mejor forma de acceder a Su poder.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo

“mis pequeños ángeles que vinieron a mí como flores de Dios.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo

“Mountains are moved with faith, Immaculee, but if faith were easy, all the mountains would be gone.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza

“Primero que todo, debo agradecer a Dios por encima de todos, por ser un Padre maravilloso y mi mejor amigo, mi verdadero confidente... y mi salvador. Has sido mi compañero constante en los buenos tiempos, en los malos... y en los peores tiempos. Gracias, Señor, por abrir mi corazón y permitirme amar de nuevo. No soy nada sin Ti, y contigo lo soy todo. Me entrego por completo a Ti, Señor, que se haga siempre Tu voluntad en mi vida. Sigo caminando en Tus huellas.”
― Immaculée Ilibagiza, Sobrevivir para contarlo