ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 25, 2007
Survivor of Rwandan Genocide Inspires ELCA Global Audience 07-156-LL*
COLUMBUS, OHIO (ELCA) -- Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, told an audience of nearly 1,800 people at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Global Mission Event (GME) that "kindness should come first in our lives." Ilibagiza was a keynote speaker for the event held this summer at The Ohio State University here. The 2007 GME theme was "A New Heaven and a New Earth."
The 1994 Rwandan genocide began after the death of the country's Hutu president. About 1 million ethnic Tutsis were killed. Ilibagiza spent 91 days in hiding with seven other women in a Hutu pastor's bathroom, during which time she discovered God and taught herself English. She is the author of "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust," a first-hand account of her struggle to survive the genocide.
"I wrote this book for my children, who will never know their grandparents. I want them to know that this is who we are and where we have come from," Ilibagiza told the ELCA News Service. In 1998, she immigrated to the United States, began working for the United Nations in New York, and is currently a member of the U.N. Development Program. Since her book was published in early 2006, Ilibagiza has been on a national speaking tour because "God left me to tell," she said.
"There's nothing on the other side without hope. Just be brave enough to have hope and believe in God. My prayer is that people can learn forgiveness and a respect for history. The only hatred I'll allow is hatred of the atrocities that took place in my home," said Ilibagiza.
The GME, an intergenerational event, featured 80 workshops focusing on a variety of topics including HIV and AIDS, sustainable living and global warming. Other keynote speakers included astronomer Grace Wolf-Chase, Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago; theologian and author Vitor Westhelle, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC); and Priscilla Singh, executive secretary, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Women in Church and Society. The event concluded with a service of Holy Communion with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop and president of the LWF, who preached on a number of topics including the war in Iraq, the conflicts in Israel and Darfur, immigration, water privatization and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. LWF is a communion representing 66 million Lutherans around the world.
"A new heaven and a new earth, and a new hope may mean that we have to agitate the system, that we say 'no' to the double standard and that we work tirelessly for a time when pain will be no more and everything will be new. We must reject violence that begets violence," said Hanson.
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Information about the 2007 GME is found at http://www.ELCA.org/gme on the ELCA Web site.
A video news release about the 2007 GME is available at http://www.ELCA.org/news/video.html on the ELCA Web site.
* Lauren A. Lamb is a senior public relations and speech communication major at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This summer she was an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog