The very first time I went to an MCCW meeting, I was given a copy of the new book they were going to read and discuss. On the cover was a pretty African woman, her name, and the title of the book. I didn't even know how to pronounce her name at first: Immaculée Ilibagiza. Little did I know what horrors this woman had endured or the story she had to share in her book Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. The weekend before, some of the women in the group had actually had a chance to meet her, and they had these books signed by her. When I took the book, I only thought it was neat that my book was signed by the author. Now that I've read it, I will treasure this book, and I am saddened that I wasn't with the other women when they met this person of God.
In 1994, I was 10 years old. Bill Clinton was our president, and I vaguely remember watching him say something about Rwanda on TV at the time. What did I care? I was a little kid who was too busy, well, just being a kid. For too long, the rest of the world didn't care about what was happening in Rwanda either. There was a genocide going on, neighbors killing neighbors. Immaculée, a Tutsi, spent 91 days hiding in the small bathroom of a moderate Hutu priest with 7 other women while almost 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. During those 3 months, she prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. And, she learned about forgiveness, and how to forgive. She survived, miraculously, and was left to tell what happened.
I missed the next two meetings of the MCCW while they discussed the first two-thirds of the book due to sick kids and having to pick up our van. I wish I could have heard their takes on the story because I know it haunted me. I will never understand how human beings can be so evil and vile to each other. It hurts my heart. Yet, Immaculée's story has a positive ending in that her relationship with God grew so strong that she could use it to save other people. She can teach us so much about forgiveness, as she forgave her family's killers. That takes courage, and faith, and is something I don't know I could do if I were in her position.
I strongly recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. Those who don't study the past are bound to repeat it, and we can all agree that genocide should never happen - ever. While there is much heartbreak in this story, there is also love, God's love, and it is beautiful.
To learn more about Immaculée, and for more information on how to buy this book, please go to this website:
Showing posts with label MCCW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MCCW. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
http://www.lefttotell.com/
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Our New Church
Wow. We are really getting settled in over here. We have our house picked out (moving in May 23); we put a deposit down on Adam's going-to-work car (an old Nissan Primera to be picked up next weekend); and today we found our new church, which we love!
Originally, I wanted us to attend a local church ministered in Dutch to almost force us to learn some of the language. Adam didn't really want to do that, and now I'm glad he didn't.
The nearest English-speaking Catholic mass for us is located at Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum, about 45 minutes away in the Netherlands (near the NATO Air Base in Geilenkirchen, Germany). Getting to JFC Brunssum was awful. Nearly every road leading to it off of the motor way was closed due to construction. When we finally go on the installation, we were thoroughly perplexed because of all of the one-way roads, especially since we didn't have an exact address to give Jill so she could tell us where to go. It was a mess. But, we did finally find the chapel and make our way in.
We were truly spoiled in Utah. We had been going to a brand-new, million dollar Catholic church about 2 miles away from our house. It was gorgeous and plush and fancy. The church at Brunssum is nothing like St. Mary's in Roy, Utah; but it still had everything you'd expect: chairs with kneelers, an alter, a crucifix hanging at the front, an Easter candle, a music section, and more - everything you need to run a church. We walked in and found our seats.
Now, we had built into our schedule plenty of time to get to Brunssum and find our way to the chapel. We were about 20 minutes early. There were not a whole lot of people in the church. The bulletin we were handed walking in noted that the attendance for last week's mass was 83 people. With such a small community, any newcomers would stand out; and we did. A wonderful lady came up to us, introduced herself as Cathleen, and asked if we were new (Yes.) She started telling us about the church and its programs and I just fell in love. They have a women's group, children's education classes, and a book study!!!!! (I think she saw my face light up when she told me that =) Before church had even started, I had plans to be back at Brunssum on Wednesday and had already been introduced to several members of the women's group.
During mass, well, the first half of it anyways, the musicians were playing and singing traditional music like Grandma and Grandpa and the rest play back home at St. Anthony's parish in Greencreek, Idaho. Cathleen came up to me after mass and was delighted that we knew the 'new' music and were singing it because they didn't know it yet! =) This week the Catholic mass was supposed to be clearing out of the church ASAP as the Polish community would from now on be celebrating their own masses about a half hour after ours. Well, that didn't really happen for us today as another member of the church behind us began asking Adam about his job and Cathleen introduced me to more important people in the parish.
We walked to the car after mass feeling elated and filled with such a positive energy. We have found our new spiritual home, and we already feel so very welcome in this new church. What a wonderful feeling! I can't wait to get involved in all the groups and really start connecting with other people. God has given us such a wonderful opportunity, and we are grateful to have a place where we can continue to worship and be a part of such a close community. Thank you, God! And, God bless you!
Originally, I wanted us to attend a local church ministered in Dutch to almost force us to learn some of the language. Adam didn't really want to do that, and now I'm glad he didn't.
The nearest English-speaking Catholic mass for us is located at Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum, about 45 minutes away in the Netherlands (near the NATO Air Base in Geilenkirchen, Germany). Getting to JFC Brunssum was awful. Nearly every road leading to it off of the motor way was closed due to construction. When we finally go on the installation, we were thoroughly perplexed because of all of the one-way roads, especially since we didn't have an exact address to give Jill so she could tell us where to go. It was a mess. But, we did finally find the chapel and make our way in.
We were truly spoiled in Utah. We had been going to a brand-new, million dollar Catholic church about 2 miles away from our house. It was gorgeous and plush and fancy. The church at Brunssum is nothing like St. Mary's in Roy, Utah; but it still had everything you'd expect: chairs with kneelers, an alter, a crucifix hanging at the front, an Easter candle, a music section, and more - everything you need to run a church. We walked in and found our seats.
Now, we had built into our schedule plenty of time to get to Brunssum and find our way to the chapel. We were about 20 minutes early. There were not a whole lot of people in the church. The bulletin we were handed walking in noted that the attendance for last week's mass was 83 people. With such a small community, any newcomers would stand out; and we did. A wonderful lady came up to us, introduced herself as Cathleen, and asked if we were new (Yes.) She started telling us about the church and its programs and I just fell in love. They have a women's group, children's education classes, and a book study!!!!! (I think she saw my face light up when she told me that =) Before church had even started, I had plans to be back at Brunssum on Wednesday and had already been introduced to several members of the women's group.
During mass, well, the first half of it anyways, the musicians were playing and singing traditional music like Grandma and Grandpa and the rest play back home at St. Anthony's parish in Greencreek, Idaho. Cathleen came up to me after mass and was delighted that we knew the 'new' music and were singing it because they didn't know it yet! =) This week the Catholic mass was supposed to be clearing out of the church ASAP as the Polish community would from now on be celebrating their own masses about a half hour after ours. Well, that didn't really happen for us today as another member of the church behind us began asking Adam about his job and Cathleen introduced me to more important people in the parish.
We walked to the car after mass feeling elated and filled with such a positive energy. We have found our new spiritual home, and we already feel so very welcome in this new church. What a wonderful feeling! I can't wait to get involved in all the groups and really start connecting with other people. God has given us such a wonderful opportunity, and we are grateful to have a place where we can continue to worship and be a part of such a close community. Thank you, God! And, God bless you!
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