i mentiond in my last post that I had finished translating another book, so this is just to satisfy any curiosity which that may have aroused. If you have been following me for a long time, you may remember that back in 2013, 2015 and 2016 I reported on an African family separated by the war in Rwanda who were finally, after several years, reunited here in Switzerland.
The posts were Perseverance Rewarded, When life becomes a fairy tale, Book launch and Book launch: Postscript.
My friend Josêphine and her husband Désirė described their traumatic experiences and adventures in a book published first in German as Auf der Flucht getrennt which I translated into English under the rather lame title of On The Run (see my blog post Synopsis of On The Run in 2016 – ISBN 978-3-7407-1525-0, available as paperback or Kindle edition from https://www.amazon.de/dp/374071525?tag=lovelybooks-rdetail-21).
A few months ago, friends who had spent many years as missionaries in Africa asked me if I would be interested in tackling a book that had just come out in French, with another story from Rwanda. Once again, it’s a Christian testimony by an amazing woman. The title in French is Pourquoi je leur ai pardonnė, and is also available from Amazon (ISBN 978-2-8399-2477-6) for those of you who read French. The autthor, Apollne Dukuzemariya, has also given a TV interview that can be viewed here https://dieutv.com/videos/1451-talk-shows/1163-ciel-mn-info/78277-pourquoi-je-leur-ai-pardonne. The English version will hopefully be published later this year. Here’s the synopsis:
Rwanda1994. Pastor’s wife Apolline Dukuzemariya is beaten andg butchered by militia who leave her for dead in front of her children. Physicians doubt she can survive with an open skull and without suitable treatment; her life hangs on a thread, while murderous raids contnue daily even inside the hospital. Despite all odds, she holds onto life.
Eventually, Apolline is able to get to Europe on humanitarian grounds thanks to the intervention of long-time mssionary friends. The long slow healng process allows her opportunity to reflect, read and pray. Today she is able to talk about the inner workings of her soul and spirit that led to this miraculous outcome.She also describes her childhood, her vocation to become a nun that turned out so differently, her marriage and the events that prepared her to face the indescribable. Far from being a chronicle of the genocide, this book is the story of a woman’s spectacular resilience and those who accompanied her on her journey, making her triumph possible. A first-class testimony to the power of forgiveness in a generation that, more than ever, needs reminding of what it means to forgive.
“I AM NOT SCARRED BY MACHETES.
I AM MARKED BY THE LOVE AND POWER OF GOD”
catterel 
What extraordinary courage. Genuine forgiveness is beyond all strength !
Certainly beyond mere human strength. This is why this testimony is so amazing and moving.
Beyond human strength indeed. I will certainly look for it when it is published. Thank you for sharing this with us. We, who live such sheltered lives, really do need to know what goes on in the rest of the world.
A book about an individual who almost died during this horrible event, and it not chronicle, in some form, the genocide, interesting. Is this another similar to Immaculee Ilobagiza’s book “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust”? Rwanda is one of those human experiments where things went from bad to horrendous, to better, to great in quick, real time.
I haven’t read Immaculée’s book, but I think these stories are bound to have similarities. What is incredible is the way these women have found a way to forgive the unforgivable and the power of their Christian faith.
I got a chance to see her up close and personal at a conference, after her book was published, and the Public Television broadcast in the U. S. What came across personally was representative of what I read in her book. The power of real faith is always awesome to me.
Great opportunity, inspiring person.
Great opportunity. Very inspiring.
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