An Absolutely Incredible Story!
Immaculee's Journey of FaithLast week our St. Rita 8th grade students were invited to attend a talk at nearby St. Barnabas Church. Since I have an eighth grader at St. Rita I decided to be one of the chaperones. The talk was given by the beautiful woman from Rwanda pictured in the front row in the above picture. Her name is Immaculee. Her story was so moving that you could hear a pin drop in the church when she spoke.
She spoke about her horrible experience of having to hide for her life during the Rwandan genocide. She told the kids a story about how she was forced to have to live in a tiny bathroom with 7 other people in order to try and stay alive. But her story really began when she enthusiastically described in detail what happened when they (the enemy) finally came to search the house where she was hiding. I of course can not do her story justice, but I hope to highlight for you the miracle she encountered.
Immaculee described the day they were raided. She said the soldiers looked everywhere for people hiding. They looked on the roof of the 4 bedroom home, in the attic and walls, they looked in suit cases for babies, and they searched each room thoroughly. Then, one of the soldiers was about to put his hand on the door handle of the bathroom they were in when he turned to the home owner and said, "Forget it, I trust you," and walked away. It was unbelievable!
The story does not end there. Immaculee told us that she had a family whom she loved very much who died during the genocide. Before they died her Father insisted that Immaculee go away to find safety in another area, which she did, but before she left her father gave her a rosary. Immaculee said she was so frieghtened during her 91 days in captivity that all she could do is pray her rosary for strength. She prayed 12 hours a day! She believes that it was this prayer that saved her life and the lives of her friends. A true miracle!
I believe in her story. I myself have had supernatural experiences that absolutely can not be explained. Have you ever had a miracle take place in your life? Maybe you shrugged it off as coincidence, or maybe you have never experienced anything like that? Well I have, and let me tell you...there is no going back once you witness a miracle. Immaculee now spends her life going around the world and telling her story as a witness to her her faith in our Mother. Her life has forever been changed. Because of this experience she says she can no longer tell a lie, deceive, or hurt another person's feelings. She has been converted! Once a person is shown the light they must live in the light. Her days of darkness are over and now she can rejoice!
She was the happiest person I have ever met. She walked up to me and threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug and a smile. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a walking, talking, breathing saint. I drove 4 boys to the talk that day, and on the way back to school I said to them, "do you boys pray?" They all looked at each other and said, "no not really." "Do you know why don't pray?" I asked, "because you don't need to!" "That's right, in this country and especially where we live, you have everything you need; freedom, clean water, food, clothes, an education, nice place to live, car, etc, but where most of the people in the world live...they have to pray; for safety, food, work, freedom. This is something you boys will probably never have to know. But someday you will want to pray, you will need to pray, but until that day, pray in gratitude! Those of us who have been given so much should wake everyday and thank God. So why don't you try that for the rest of Lent?" I asked them. I know I am!
To read more about Immaculee and her incredible journey of faith, visit her website at: http://www.immaculee.com/
She spoke about her horrible experience of having to hide for her life during the Rwandan genocide. She told the kids a story about how she was forced to have to live in a tiny bathroom with 7 other people in order to try and stay alive. But her story really began when she enthusiastically described in detail what happened when they (the enemy) finally came to search the house where she was hiding. I of course can not do her story justice, but I hope to highlight for you the miracle she encountered.
Immaculee described the day they were raided. She said the soldiers looked everywhere for people hiding. They looked on the roof of the 4 bedroom home, in the attic and walls, they looked in suit cases for babies, and they searched each room thoroughly. Then, one of the soldiers was about to put his hand on the door handle of the bathroom they were in when he turned to the home owner and said, "Forget it, I trust you," and walked away. It was unbelievable!
The story does not end there. Immaculee told us that she had a family whom she loved very much who died during the genocide. Before they died her Father insisted that Immaculee go away to find safety in another area, which she did, but before she left her father gave her a rosary. Immaculee said she was so frieghtened during her 91 days in captivity that all she could do is pray her rosary for strength. She prayed 12 hours a day! She believes that it was this prayer that saved her life and the lives of her friends. A true miracle!
I believe in her story. I myself have had supernatural experiences that absolutely can not be explained. Have you ever had a miracle take place in your life? Maybe you shrugged it off as coincidence, or maybe you have never experienced anything like that? Well I have, and let me tell you...there is no going back once you witness a miracle. Immaculee now spends her life going around the world and telling her story as a witness to her her faith in our Mother. Her life has forever been changed. Because of this experience she says she can no longer tell a lie, deceive, or hurt another person's feelings. She has been converted! Once a person is shown the light they must live in the light. Her days of darkness are over and now she can rejoice!
She was the happiest person I have ever met. She walked up to me and threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug and a smile. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a walking, talking, breathing saint. I drove 4 boys to the talk that day, and on the way back to school I said to them, "do you boys pray?" They all looked at each other and said, "no not really." "Do you know why don't pray?" I asked, "because you don't need to!" "That's right, in this country and especially where we live, you have everything you need; freedom, clean water, food, clothes, an education, nice place to live, car, etc, but where most of the people in the world live...they have to pray; for safety, food, work, freedom. This is something you boys will probably never have to know. But someday you will want to pray, you will need to pray, but until that day, pray in gratitude! Those of us who have been given so much should wake everyday and thank God. So why don't you try that for the rest of Lent?" I asked them. I know I am!
To read more about Immaculee and her incredible journey of faith, visit her website at: http://www.immaculee.com/
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Joyce, keep writing. I love reading all of your excerpts. They all come back to the same message - how blessed we are and how thankful we should be. Thank you for writing for us!
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