LOVE PREVAILS
by Jean Bosco Rutagengwa
BOOK PREVIEW BY ROBERT ELLSBERG, EDITOR, ORBIS BOOKS
“I could sense fear in my fiancée’s voice. Fear as I had never felt it before. ‘They are here; they are surrounding the house,’ she was whispering, her voice trembling. I knew who ‘they’ were: The killers ... I was about to say something when I heard a shot, followed by a scream; then the phone went dead. I screamed with rage, not knowing what to do. Slowly, I got down on my knees and began to pray.”
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These are the opening words of a remarkable memoir by Jean Bosco Rutagengwa, a survivor, along with his fiancée Christine, of the Rwandan genocide that occurred 25 years ago this April. In the space of 100 days, as many as a million people—mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus—were left dead, slaughtered by their own Hutu neighbors with machetes and other simple weapons.
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Jean Bosco’s story begins with a charming description of his engagement ceremony with Christine, carried out according to elaborate rules of Rwandan tradition. But that story ends on a chilling note: “This would be the last time we were all together.”
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Within weeks, in April 1994, the genocide was unleashed. Jean Bosco tells a hair-raising story of his personal survival—a matter of luck, wit and chance that spared him the fate of the victims all around him.
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After escaping to refuge in what would later become famous as the “Hotel Rwanda,” he braved the incredible risk of leaving the hotel to rescue Christine, barely escaping certain death at militia roadblocks along the way.
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Eventually the storm passed. They had survived. And then came the terrible realization—that virtually all their family members and friends had perished under terrible circumstances.
Love Prevails is a gripping and unbelievable story of survival—a vision of the hell that human beings can create for one another. But at the same time it shows the power of love.
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It is a harrowing inside look at what happens when a country is overrun by evil. But it is also a story of faith—an effort to find God in the midst of horror—and of the subsequent struggle to find meaning, healing and reconciliation.
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Jean Bosco and Christine are devout Catholics. Throughout this story we share their efforts to cling to their faith in the face of deepening tragedy and the feeling that “nothing makes sense anymore.”
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We meet other survivors, including nuns and priests, whose faith was similarly challenged. But in the final section, titled “Resurrection,” we see the gradual effort to recover a sense of life and goodness—binding up the wounds of the survivors, bringing judgment to the architects of terror, and rebuilding a new society from the ashes of the old.
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It is impossible to read this book without shedding tears. The stories of suffering and the confrontation with human cruelty are almost unbearable.
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And yet one finishes with tears of gratitude—for a witness to the promise that life is ultimately stronger than the powers of death, and that Love, in all its forms, will ultimately prevail.
“Rutagengwa’s gripping memoir of hope, faith and resilience puts a human face on the unimaginable suffering of the Rwandan genocide.”
- J.J. Carney, author, Rwanda Before the Genocide
“A poignant, harrowing memoir. Rutagengwa’s personal witness to the unfolding horrors of the Rwandan genocide is not for the faint of heart, but even in the shadow of such great evil, it offers moving evidence of something very beautiful—the healing and redemptive power of human love.”
- John Neafsey, author, Crucified People
“Captivating and powerful. As a survivor, I’m proud of Rutagengwa’s ability to tell a story of unimaginable loss that is yet uplifting and inspiring. It’s an unforgettable narrative of the triumph of love over evil, resurrection over death.”
- Immaculée Ilibagiza, Survivor and author of New York Times bestseller: Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst The Rwandan Holocaust
“This is an insightful, honest, heartfelt, and vivid memoir from a survivor of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. This beautifully written account will help all readers understand the world-shattering damage of genocide, and serves as a cautionary tale against falling into fear and hate. It is a story of love against the odds, faith lost and found, and the power of helping others as a way to overcome grief. I admire Rutagengwa’s capacity to carry this history forward with a clear vision of the wrongness of genocide and the magnitude of the harms, while not fostering further hate. Also, his portraits of others were lovely, recognizing the dignity of those killed, and offering dignity and hope to survivors. This is a great book.”
- Lynne Tirrell, Associate professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut
“In this book, Jean Bosco juxtaposes the inconceivable evil that took over the country of Rwanda that he so dearly loved, with the resiliency that is born from an upbringing focused on the values of love, family and community, and are anchored by deep faith. I have never had such a gut-wrenching emotional reaction from reading a book, as I experienced from hearing his story in Love Prevails. The depth of sharing by Mr. Rutagengwa of his moment to moment anguish, terror, fears of what his family and fiancée were experiencing, his resignation to death, questioning whether his prayers were being heard, the decisions he made to save the life of the woman he loved, deeply touched my heart and emotions. Having survived what could only be described as hell on earth, his ensuing journey is beyond inspirational. His quest to give dignity to the death of his and Christine’s family members, giving all they had to shelter and feed those who also escaped this purge, and his efforts to seek much needed assistance for other traumatized, heart-broken Tutsi survivors through the organization IBUKA that he helped to create, is nothing less than heroic. Though successfully building a good life in America, full of promise for himself, his wife and children, his mission to remind the world that following the Holocaust, we vowed to never let Genocide happen again, has begun with writing his story and speaking to groups, but there are many more chapters to be written and I have no doubt that Love will Prevail.”
- Karen Munsell, Manchester NH
“I am just writing to thank you for your deep and honest testimony of the horrors you lived during the genocide, the beautiful love story with your wife, and also the strong Faith and hope you have shown us during all this time.
Even though I lived as a Young student leader the atrocities of the Pinochet dictatorship, I cannot begin to even feel closer to the fear, the sadness and the horror you and your countrymen lived during your dark days in 1994. If that is not hell, I wonder what it could be.
For many people like me, that never have lived something even close to your suffering, reading your words of hope and love is a life lesson that I will never forget. There is always some life to fight for. There are always signs of hope, even in the midst of horror. There are thousands of reasons for which to thank God and life, so many that we are not allowed to feel down or overwhelmed by the insignificant problems of daily life.
I really wanted to reach to you and send you a warm hug, with all my human love and friendship. Who knows if we will ever meet. But, nevertheless, I feel already connected with you and your family, through our common faith in God and humanity.
I wish you the best for you and your family, and I pray to God so he will give me 1% of your heart and bravery to fulfill my mission.”