Also by Immacule Ilibagiza,

with Steve Erwin

LED BY FAITH: Rising from the Ashesof the Rwandan Genocide

(also available as a 4-CD abridged audio book)

LEFT TO TELL: Discovering God Amidstthe Rwandan Holocaust

(also available in Spanish and asa 4-CD abridged audio book)

OUR LADY OF KIBEHO: Mary Speaks to theWorld

from the Heart of Africa (also available in Spanish)

All of the above are available at your localbookstore,

or may be ordered by visiting:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.comHay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au

Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.ukHay House South Africa: www.hayhouse.co.za

Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Copyright 2011 by Immacule Ilibagiza

Published and distributed in the UnitedStates by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hay house.com Published and distributed in Australia by: HayHouse Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the UnitedKingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.:www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributedin the Republic of South Africa by: Hay HouseSA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributedin Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.comPublished in India by: Hay House PublishersIndia: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Amy Rose Grigoriou Interiordesign: Tricia Breidenthal Interior photos:Courtesy of the author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or

electronic process, or in the form of aphonographic recording; nor may it be stored in aretrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise becopied for public or private useother than forfair use as brief quotations embodied in articlesand reviewswithout prior written permission ofthe publisher.

The author of this book does not dispensemedical advice or prescribe the use of anytechnique as a form of treatment for physical,emotional, or medical problems without the adviceof a physician, either directly or indirectly. Theintent of the author is only to offer information of ageneral nature to help you in your quest foremotional and spiritual well-being. In the eventyou use any of the information in this book foryourself, which is your constitutional right, theauthor and the publisher assume no responsibilityfor your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData

Ilibagiza, Immacule.The boy who met Jesus : Segatashya of Kibeho /

Immacule Ilibagiza with Steve Erwin. 1st ed.p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4019-3581-8 (hardcover : alk.paper) 1. Segatashya, 1967-2. Jesus ChristApparitions and miraclesRwandaKibeho. 3.Kibeho (Rwanda)Religious life and customs. I.Erwin, Steve II. Title.

BT580.K53I45 2011231.73dc23

2011032851

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-3581-8Digital ISBN: 978-1-4019-3583-2

14 13 12 11 4 3 2 11st edition, November 2011

Printed in the United States of America

For Segatashya,

A friend, a true visionary, and a messenger of God.I pray that one day your apparitions will be

officially recognized by the Church, and that all themessages Jesus entrusted you with will be heard

and heeded by the entire world.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: The Voice in the DarknessChapter 2: Discovering SegatashyaChapter 3: The Visionaries of KibehoChapter 4: Child, Son, Brother, and

Fledgling VisionaryChapter 5: Searching for SegatashyaChapter 6: The Good Doctor and the End

of DaysChapter 7: The End of the World, As Told

to JesusChapter 8: Mystical Journeys and the

Loving Arms of MaryChapter 9: Leaving Home, the Godfather,

and on the Road to BurundiChapter 10: Mission to the Congo

Epilogue: Face-to-Face with SegatashyaAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors

If anyone knows that I ever set foot onearth,

let them also know I am on my way back.

JESUS TO SEGATASHYA

Chapter 1

THE VOICE INTHE DARKNESS

At first I could see nothing at all; I was awareonly of being alone in darkness so complete Ithought it would suffocate me. Then, like a lifelinereaching from somewhere beyond the deepblackness of the night, a familiar voice found myearsa comforting voice, of someone I had lovedand trusted from my childhood. It was the voice ofSegatashya, who, in my African homeland ofRwanda, is known as the boy who met Jesus.

Segatashyas gentle voice drifted to me acrossthe lightless abyss, as if floating upon a calmbreeze. The voice, indecipherable at first, slowlyformed into words, softly whispering, Heaven iswaiting for us all when our time comes to leavethis world, but only if our hearts are clean and

pure.Suddenly I realized that I must be asleep and in

the midst of a dream, because Segatashya had beenmurdered many years before, one of more than amillion innocent victims slaughtered duringRwandas horrific 1994 genocide. It was nowatleast it was when I lay down to sleep that nightmid-November of 2010 so I knew I must bedreaming. But I also knew that if this was a dream,it was unlike any Id had before. What I wasfeeling was as vivid, real, and lifelike as anythingId experienced during my waking hours.

The voice reached me again: Jesus says that wemust prepare our hearts for the end of days. Wewill all die one daywe must not live our lives asthough we are unaware that our time on this Earthwill come to an end. The world itself will end, andthat day is fast approaching. We must repent for allour sins before it is too late. We must ask to beforgiven for our trespasses and find it in our heartsto forgive those who have trespassed against us.We must purify our hearts with Gods love andcleanse our spirits by living a life filled with love

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and charity. We must prepare our souls forJudgment Day. Christs return is near, and the gatesof heaven will open to us only if the Lord judges usto be worthy of entering his kingdom.

The words grew increasingly familiar to me,and I realized that I not only recognized the voice,but I also recognized the specific message. I hadheard Segatashya recite the exact same cautionaryphrases when I was a young girl.

In my dream, I was gliding above the ground asmy heart pulled me toward the voice, which led meout of the darkness and into a golden circle of light.Several dozen people were gathered in the centerof the pool of light, all listening intently to ateenage boy who was addressing them withpassionate urgency. The young man sat on a longwooden bench, with his audience crowding aroundhim. His back was turned toward me so I wasunable to see his face, but I was certain it wasSegatashya.

I first heard him speak when I was 12 years old,and nothing in the world will ever erase from mymemory the rich character of his voice or the

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miraculous content of his messages. In fact, Imcertain beyond a doubt that anyone who ever heardSegatashya speak feels the same wayfor once hisloving words have touched your heart, they arepart of it forever.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR with mymost recent book, Our Lady of Kibeho: MarySpeaks to the World from the Heart of Africa, Ishould explain that Segatashya was one of a groupof young visionaries who had apparitions of theVirgin Maryand in Segatashyas case, of JesusChristin the remote Rwandan village of Kibehoduring the 1980s.

At the time there were dozens of visionarieswho claimed to be having divine apparitions, butin Our Lady of Kibeho, I focused on the eight whowere found to be most credible by the CatholicChurch, as well as by the tens of thousands ofpilgrims who flocked to Kibeho for inspiration.

In essence, the visionaries delivered messagesof love, instructing us on how to live better livescloser to Gods will. They told us that by

following the inspirational advice of thosemessages, our world would become a morepeaceful place, and our souls would be betterprepared for the day when we meet Jesus at theend of our lives and called to account for our timeon Earth.

The heaven-sent messages delivered in Kibehowere, as both the Blessed Mother and Jesus madeclear, of great and immediate concern to everyonein the entire world. They contained warnings forRwanda, for our planet, and for our individualsoulswarnings about the terrible things thatcould befall us as individuals and as a species ifwe did not embrace the pure and loving lifestyleMary and Jesus were offering to us. As Jesus toldSegatashya, the world is in very bad shape andterrible days await usbut, no matter how direthings become, if we pray from our hearts andsincerely perform good deeds, we will find peacein this world and the next.

I was 11 years old when the apparitions beganin Kibeho. The wondrous, mystical encountersexperienced by the visionaries, and the miraculous

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messages they received from heaven and deliveredto the rest of us, have shaped my life in more waysthan I can possibly count. And no visionary wasmore influential to my young mind, my burgeoningfaith, and my long-term spiritual growth thanSegatashya. His unique personal story andincredible interaction with Jesus captivated me asa child, and has kept me happily enthralled eversince. Im sure that once you get to know him as Ihave, you will feel precisely the same way.

Although the Kibeho apparitions are still largelyunknown in much of the world (but I am workinghard to change that), the miraculous events thattook place there radiated across Rwandas farms,forests, and jungles, electrifying my native countrywith such power and intensity that its priests,bishops, and archbishops were forced to stand upand take notice. How could they not? CountlessRwandans traveled for hundreds of miles on foot,and often without food or shelter, just to get aglimpse of the visionaries of Kibeho and to be partof the miracles happening there.

Authorities from the Catholic Church launched a

rigorous investigation into the origin and nature ofthe apparitions, an investigation that wouldscrutinize and dissect every aspect of thevisionaries lives and backgrounds. A Commissionof Enquiry was established, and the Vatican itselfbecame part of the investigation into the shockingsupernatural occurrences taking place in one of themost obscure regions of deepest Africa.

The investigation led by Church expertsincluding top theologians, scientists, physicians,and psychiatrists lasted a full two decades. Andas remarkable as the apparitions of the VirginMary and Jesus were in themselves, to many, thepositive conclusions of the Commission of Enquiryafter its 20-year examination was almost equallymiraculous.

In November 2001, the Vatican, in an extremelyrare decree, approved the apparitions of the VirginMary experienced by three Kibeho visionariesbetween 1981 and 1989. Those three visionariesAlphonsine, Anathalie, and Marie-Clairewereall teenage schoolgirls at Kibeho High School andwere the first visionaries to have apparitions in the

region. The Church officially endorsed worship atthe Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, makingKibeho the only approved apparition site in all ofAfrica. The little shrine at the tiny village school isslowly but steadily becoming a favorite pilgrimagedestination for the faithful from all parts of theworld.

I was beyond thrilled by the Churchs findings.The fact that Mary and her sons messages werereaching out to the world despite having beendelivered in such a remote countryand in a placetouched and tainted by the most evil form of massmurderproved to me that Gods power wasboundless, that His love will conquer allobstacles.

The Vaticans endorsement of Our Ladys shrineinspired me so much that I sat down and wrote OurLady of Kibeho, which was published in 2008. Iwanted the whole world to know about the Kibehovisionaries and their messages of love, hope, andpeace. I wanted the whole world to share my loveof the Virgin Mary. And I wanted the whole worldto travel to Rwanda and visit Our Ladys

remarkable shrine to feel the power and purityof her love in that holy place for themselves.

In so many ways, my wishes have come true. Sofar my book has been translated into more than tenlanguages and, God willing, will one day be readby people everywhere on the planet. Hundreds ofpeople who have read it have made the life-changing journey to the shrine in Kibeho. So manyof them have experienced miraculous healingslike one little boy I know who was healed of bonecancer after his grandmother recited the Rosary ofthe Seven Sorrows in the chapel where the VirginMary sometimes appeared to the visionaries. Ihave personally accompanied dozens of friends onpilgrimages from the United States to Rwanda andhave seen firsthand many transformations of heartsand souls taking place on that blessed groundwhere the Virgin Mother and Jesus appeared to theyoung visionaries.

And yet, mixed with my great joy at havinggiven the world a glimpse of Kibeho, anintroduction to the visionaries, and a sampling ofthe many messages revealed by them, there was a

feeling that I hadnt done complete justice to aparticular Kibeho story that, in some ways, I mostwanted to tell: the story of Segatashya.

You see, although I mentioned and describedeach of the eight main Kibeho visionaries(including Segatashya) in Our Lady of Kibeho, mymain focus in that book was centered almostentirely upon the three original Church-sanctionedvisionaries and their apparitions of the VirginMary. I am very, very respectful of the CatholicChurch and the Vatican and did not want to causetrouble or upset their officials in Rwanda, nor theofficials in Rome, by going into details aboutvisions and messages the Church has yet toofficially approve. The Vatican is very cautiouswhen it comes to recognizing any event that isclaimed by some to be a miracle. Any type of eventdeemed remotely supernatural is methodicallyscrutinized by Church experts before a verdict ispronounced on either its validity or its falsehood.

Among the Vaticans many concerns andapprehensions surrounding the subject of miraclesand apparitions is the highly justifiable worry that

such phenomena could be the work of demons orthe devil himselfthat what may seem like aheavenly miracle at first glance is actually asatanic ruse intended to lead unwary people intodarkness, sin, and damnation.

In fact, because Segatashyas visions had notbeen immediately included in the Churchs officialrecognition of Kibeho, I at first worried thatsomeone in the Vatican or in the Rwandan Churchhierarchy was suspicious of Segatashya and hismessages. But, praise be to God, I was assured thatthe complete opposite was true; in fact, everymember of the Church who was familiar with theapparitions of Kibeho held Segatashya in highestesteem, both as a person and as a visionary.Several of the most highly placed Churchauthorities in Rwanda personally guaranteed methat every vision and message Segatashya receivedwas thoroughly investigated and reinvestigated. Inthe end, no one involved had the slightest doubtabout either the boys sincerity or the authenticityof his encounters with Jesus or Mary.

When I expressed my concerns to one of the

Churchs key apparition investigators, he told me,Immacule, everyone on the Commission ofEnquiry who witnessed Segatashyas apparitions,conducted medical tests on him, or examined hismental state and moral character was absolutelyconvinced that he spoke to both Jesus and Maryand that his messages came directly from heaven.

Most important, every single messageSegatashya delivered, and everything else he saidduring his mission to preach Gods word, bothsupported and complemented the doctrines of ourfaith and never contradicted anything written in theBible. Those are critical conditions that must bemet when the Church investigates supernaturaloccurrences and considers endorsing a visionaryor apparition and Segatashya met thoseconditions with flying colors.

If he met all the requirements to receiveofficial Church recognition, then why wasnt heamong the officially approved visionaries? Iasked.

You must be patient, my child, the officialreplied. It usually takes the Church centuries to

recognize a miracle. Those in charge ofinvestigating Kibeho are beginning by approvingthe first visionaries who had apparitions of theVirgin Mary that only took 20 years, which is asmall miracle in itself. The Church has beenaround for 2,000 years, and it simply doesnt rushto conclusions. Have patience, Immaculeall theevidence Ive seen makes me certain that theChurch will get around to endorsing Segatashyasapparitions and the messages from Jesus andbefore too long, Segatashya will also be officiallyrecognized as a true visionary by the Vatican.

Having said all this, I still must stress thatSegatashyas messages have not yet been approvedby the Church. But I am writing about his amazingapparitions as an eyewitness, a true believer, andout of a deep sense of personal obligation to shareSegatashyas story with humanity.

And hearing from so many highly placedofficials in the Church has made me feel muchmore comfortable in passing along Segatashyasmessages so others can make up their own mindsabout the matter. I am confident that one day the

Church will approve Segatashyas apparitionsand that his full story and the content of his manymessages will then be made fully public. Thisbook is a first step in that direction, and knowingthat others will soon be reading about Segatashyamakes my heart jump with joy.

In my travels Ive met many people who haveboth read and been moved by Our Lady of Kibeho,and Ive taken comfort in knowing that Ive donemy part in introducing the world to the miraclesand messages of the Kibeho apparitions. But itseems that Segatashya was not as content as I was and two years after the publication of my book,he decided to visit me in my dreams to let meknow exactly how he felt.

IN THAT DREAM I HAD ALL THOSE MONTHS AGO , Iwatched from a distance as Segatashya continuedto deliver messages from Jesus to a growingnumber of spectators gathering around him.Segatashyas low, gentle voice was fueled by histrademark earnestness. He was speaking hurriedly,as if his mind was burdened by too much to say in

too little time.For a while I stood on the edge of the circle of

light and silently listened to him speak, my heartwarming to hear his voice once again. Then Istepped into the light and moved toward him,pushing my way through the crowd until I reachedhis bench and could sit beside him.

He was still facing away from me, but I sensedhe was aware of my presence. We had met manyyears before, and I knew he would recognize me assoon as he noticed me sitting there. I also knew thatalthough he had been dwelling in heaven for manyyears, he must be both aware and happy that I hadwritten a book about Kibeho. But for some reasonSegatashya kept his back to me and wouldnt turnto greet me. I had a sinking feeling that he didntwant to look at me.

Finally, I couldnt stand it any longer. I placedmy hand on his shoulder and gently spun himaround. Segatashya! I cried out. What are youdoing here? Youre dead! Why have you comeback to this life? Dont you know that you cantspeak to these people? When they realize youre

dead, they will be terrified of you; theyll run awayand be too frightened to hear what it is youresaying to them!

My heart sank when I saw the expression on hisgentle face. This boy I loved so muchand who,in life, always seemed to have a smile on his lipsdid not look at all happy to see me.

You ask me why I am here? he asked flatly.The reason is simple: if no one else is willing tospread my messages to the world, I must find away to do it myself.

I gulped. My stomach tightened as I realized thatSegatashya was indeed very aware of the book Idwritten about Kibeho, and he wasnt pleased aboutit.

And then, without using words, he looked intomy heart and asked me, Immacule, why have youbeen so concerned about whether the Church givesor does not give official approval to the visionsthat I had while I was on Earth? You know howlate the hour is for humankind; you know that theend is near. Isnt telling my story more importantthan waiting for someone on Earth to give my

words a stamp of approval? Isnt letting peopleknow about the messages Jesus gave to me themost important thing in the world? What is morecrucial than sharing the messages Jesus urgentlywants people to know about as soon as possiblemessages he wants people to know about rightnow, before its too late?

Then Segatashya smiled and said, You know,some messages are so important that they must betold immediately, no matter what. Some things areso important that they just cant wait for approval!

He reached out and touched my arm, and Iawoke with a start.

AS SOON AS MY EYES OPENED I knew that this hadbeen no ordinary dream; it had been a visitationfrom heaven. Segatashya had left paradise andcome to me with an assignment: to tell his storyand share his messages with as many people as Icould.

Without even pausing to turn on my bedsidelamp, I reached for the pen and paper I kept on mynight-stand. In the dim light of early dawn, I began

jotting down the images that were still burning inmy mind from Segatashyas visit a visit thatwould take root in my heart and slowly blossominto the book youre now reading. And while themessages Ive written about may sound brand newto many of you, theyve actually existed since thecreation of the universe. They are messages thathave been ringing loudly throughout the world formore than 2,000 years messages that, if weopen our hearts to them, will echo in our soulsthrough all of eternity.

Indeed, Segatashyas messages can be found inthe words of Jesus as they are written down in theBible. But hearing them from Segatashya himselfis, in many ways, like hearing them straight fromthe lips of one of the Lords disciples, one of thoseblessed apostles who wandered with Christ in theHoly Land during his ministry. I say this because Iknow that Segatashya, like the disciples of old,truly is a boy who spoke to Jesusa boy whomJesus chose to speak to. Also, like the disciples,Segatashya had no idea who Christ was when hefirst appeared before him. Thats because

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Segatashya was a poor, illiterate, African peasantboy who was also a pagan.

Before Jesus appeared to him in the summer of1982, the teenage Segatashya had never beeninside a church, nor did he have any real notion ofwho Jesus Christ was. In many ways, the boysinnocence made him an ideal candidate to receivemessages from our Lord because he asked the samequestions you or I might ask if we suddenly foundourselves face-to-face with him, such as: Why isit so important to love God, anyway? andBetween God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and Mary,whom should I love more? The Bible says I shouldlove you, Jesus, more than I love my parents oranyone else how can you be serious about thatwhen Ive just met you?

Segatashya even went as far as to ask Jesus,Why should I love my enemies like you tell me to,when God doesnt love his enemy, Satan?

This young mans guilelessness and childlikeinnocence when questioning Jesus always warmedmy heart and often brought a smile to my face. Butmost important, the Lords answers to those

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questions became a spiritual map for me, a map towhich I have turned again and again as I navigatemy way through this turbulent world.

Whenever I have faced difficult and challengingsituations in my life, situations that seemed utterlyhopelesslike when I was hiding for my life in atiny bathroom from machete-wielding killersduring the 1994 genocideI have often sought outcomfort in the words of the visionaries fromKibeho, especially those of Segatashya. Themessages Jesus shared with us in the Bible, whichhe shared afresh with Segatashya, can heal ourbodies and hearten our souls and they canprovide us with courage, comfort, and the strengthto transcend even the bleakest periods of personalsorrow and despair.

How I wish that those who are deeply troubledor beaten down by the pain of daily hardshipswould hearken to the comforting words Jesusshared with Segatashya when he was suffering hisown personal tragedy, instead of giving up on life,abandoning faith in God, turning to drugs oralcohol, or even contemplating ending the precious

life God has given themAs the Lord said, Even though you are

suffering like this now, know that I have gonethrough even worse suffering than this before you take heart and do not give up hope. Hold on tome, trust in me, lean on me, and I will carry youthrough your darkness. Hold on to the truth, andI will be there for you call upon me and youwill never be alone, ask and I will listen to you.

Any time I read messages like these, my lifemakes more sense. And while I sometimes laugh atSegatashyas back-and-forth sessions with Jesus,both the questions and answers never fail to fill mewith a great sense of peace, a peace that comesfrom knowing that God is always there for us, Heloves each of us immeasurably, He will help uswhenever we call upon Him, and He eagerlyawaits meeting us all in heaven just as long asour hearts are ready for that meeting when the daycomes.

And that is perhaps the most important messageSegatashya shares with us: that Jesus urgentlydesires us to prepare for the afterlife and make

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sure that our souls are ready to enter heaven.In the following pages you will come across

warnings about dangerous times that threatenhumankind of the terrible and calamitous eventsawaiting the world in the days to come. It is a timeknown as the End of Daysor, as it is referredto in the book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Butthis knowledge doesnt mean that we should live infear or despair, or be discouraged about the future.Jesus told Segatashya that we should not be afraidof the end of the world, but rather be concernedwith how we live our daily lives, for they can endat any moment.

As the young visionary proves to us by example,these times in which we live are times of enormousspiritual opportunity for each and every one of us.Through the messages he shares, we discover howto live our lives in preparation of the day whenwe, literally, meet our maker. And if we takeadvantage of the glorious opportunity that is beingpresented to us, we shall enjoy eternity inparadise. But we mustnt let the opportunity pass as Segatashya said to me in my dream, Some

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things are so important that they just cant wait!The story of Segatashya is a joyous one, and the

messages he shares are healing and redemptive. Iknow that they have transformed my heart andadded great beauty to the way in which I view thislife and the life to come. I hope, with Gods helpand love, the messages found in the pages to comewill do the same for you.

Let me start by sharing with you who I am and alittle about the first appearances of the Virgin Maryand her son in Kibeho. And then it will be my greathonor and pleasure to introduce you to Segatashya,the boy who met JesusI know you will becomelifelong friends.

Chapter 2

DISCOVERINGSEGATASHYA

I first heard the name Segatashya when I was ayoung girl growing up in the tiny rural village ofMataba, in my native homeland of Rwanda.

Most people outside of Africa have never heardof Rwandaor if they have, theyre familiar withit as the place where one of the worlds mostsavage killing sprees unfolded in the mid-1990s.

The Rwandan genocide was a bloodbath ofunprecedented butchery that ripped my native landapart in the spring of 1994. More than a millioninnocent men, women, and children (includingmost of my family and many of my friends) werebrutally murdered in less than 100 days. I havewritten extensively about the causes, horror, and

aftermath of the genocideincluding the upliftingstory of how God miraculously spared my life andsaved my soul through love and forgiveness inthose dark hoursin my first two books, Left toTell: Discovering God Amidst the RwandanHolocaust and Led By Faith: Rising from theAshes of the Rwandan Genocide.

In those first two books I shared my warmestmemories of my blessed childhood. I grew up in avery happy home, where I was raised by my lovingparents, Leonard and Rose; and doted upon bythree caring brothers, Aimable (the eldest),Damascene (older than me by a few years), andVianney (the baby and darling of the family).

My parents were devout Catholics andopenhearted Christians who lived by the GoldenRule of doing unto others as you would have othersdo unto you. Both of them were alsoschoolteachers and leaders in the community, andwell known and respected throughout the entireregion for their sound advice, generosity, and manygood deeds. We lived above a lake in an area thatwas (like most of Rwanda) lushly pastoral,

temperate, and breathtakingly beautiful. Ourvillage was many hours away from any big city,and our neighbors were simple, caring folk whowatched out for each other and were always kindand friendly.

I always felt secure, protected, and cared for,whether I was at home alone or walking the eight-mile trip along forested roads to and from myelementary school. As a little girl I thought myhome and native land was the most peaceful andloving place in the whole world. I hadnt theslightest inclination that long-simmering ethnictensions were brewing in my country thateventually would explode into the horrific eventsof 1994, in which neighbor turned against neighborandfueled by a corrupt and evil governmentthe nations tribal majority (the Hutu) wouldmurder nearly the entire minority tribe (the Tutsi,which is what my family was) using machetes andclubs.

In fact, I felt so safe and happy as a little girlthat one of my biggest concerns in life was makingsure I said enough daily prayers and attended Mass

often enough to ensure that Id be able to become anun when I grew up. For some reason, when I wasa kid (and, as a matter of fact, to this very day!), Iwas obsessed with all things related to God. Thelife of Jesus, the saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary,and just about everything and anything else to dowith heaven above was a constant preoccupationwith me. My tiny bedroom was dominated by myown makeshift shrine, which consisted of a littletable loaded down with statues of the Virgin Mary,votive candles, and picture books of apostles andsaints. My favorite pastime was praying with mybest friend, Janet, or listening to religious storiesespecially in the evening when my homeworkwas done, my chores were completed, and thesupper dishes had been washed and put away.Thats when my family gathered in the living roomfor what I called story time.

Storytelling is a huge part of our culture, and oneof the central activities of my youth. Like mostareas of Rwanda, which is an extremely poor andoverwhelmingly rural nation, our village ofMataba was quite primitive when it came to

modern conveniences. We were connected to therest of the country by a solitary dirt road and apatchwork of cattle paths, we lacked runningwater, and electricity was virtually unknown. So,obviously, there werent any movie theaters orshopping malls for us kids to hang out atmybrothers and I hadnt even seen a television exceptin the pages of magazines. As a result, there werevery few ways of entertaining ourselves betweensunset and sunrise. It was so dark outside once thesun went down that we very seldom venturedoutdoors at night.

In fact, there were really only two sources ofamusement for the family once Dad locked up thehouse after dusk. The first form of entertainmentwas the age-old custom of Igitaramo. Igitaramo isthe ancient Rwandan ritual of gathering together asa family or tribe after the evening meal to talkabout the days events, pass on news aboutrelatives living far away, or just tell good old-fashioned yarns on any subject from local myths towhat was in the Bible.

Given my penchant for God-related tales,

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whenever we gathered in the living room forIgitaramo, my favorite topic of discussion wasinevitably connected to heaven above or, at thevery least, involved the retelling of a popularBible story.

Yet my brothersat least Aimable andDamascene, who were older than I was and notquite as religious-mindedtended to appeal to myfather to overrule me when I pleaded to hear (forthe thousandth time) about how little Davidknocked big Goliath onto his backside using just aslingshot and pebble. Often my father wouldindeed side with the boys and abruptly change thesubject of the evenings discussion from religion tolocal current events, the highlights of a recentsoccer game my brothers had played in, or theprogress of one of Dads many charitable projects,such as the new schoolhouse he was building forthe village.

Our second entertainment option in the eveningswas listening to our battered battery-poweredradio. If we happened to choose that option on aparticular evening, there was never any doubt as to

what program I would insist we all listen to. Idnatter and nag everyone until the dial was tuned into the Radio Rwanda broadcast of the miraculousmessages of the group of young visionaries inKibeho, which was a village even smaller andmore remote than ours, and about 100 miles southof where we lived.

As Ive already mentioned, and as incredible asit sounds, in the early 1980s the Virgin Mary andJesus chose to appear at regular intervals to agroup of teenagers in the rural countryside andpresent them with messages from heaven intendedto be shared with the entire world. The firstmessages were all from the Virgin Mary, and theyflowed from her love for her children here onEarth. The content of the messages was frequentlyinstructional, presenting directions and guidancefor men and women about how to live better, morepeaceful lives that would lead them away from sinand toward Gods light and eternal life inparadise. Marys instructions for humanityincluded urging everyone to pray the rosary everyday to ward off evil; and for people everywhere to

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open their hearts to one another, embrace theirfaith in the Lord, develop a deeper relationshipwith God through prayer and clean living, repentfor past sins, and avoid future temptations.

Some of Marys messages also containedfrightening predictions of the dark days the worldwould be facing in the coming years. She gave theyoung visionaries terrifying glimpses into a futurein which peoples hearts would be dominated byhatred instead of love, and where the planet wouldbe torn apart by wars of religion and naturaldisasters.

The Blessed Mother specifically predicted12years before it devastated my countrythe 1994genocide, in which she said that a river of bloodwould flow across Rwanda unless my countrymenstopped harboring hatred for each other and,instead, filled their hearts with the redeeming loveof her son, Jesus. With that love, she said, thelooming disaster and bloodshed could be averted.Through her visionaries, the Blessed Mother urgedall Rwandans to seek her help to embrace Christslove and forgiveness and that the best way to

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accomplish that was by praying the rosary everyday. Mary said that the rosary was one of the mostpowerful tools in the world to defend us againsttemptation and evil. She pleaded with everyone topray the rosary at least once a day, no matter whatreligion they belonged to, and promised all whodid would receive great spiritual rewards.

Sadly, too few Rwandans heeded Our Ladysadvice, and our country descended into madness,mayhem, and murder just as she had predicted. Ifwe had only listened to the Virgin Maryswarnings when she appeared in Kibeho, thegenocide never would have happened!

AS A YOUNGSTER, I WAS WISTFULLY UNAWARE of thehistoric tribal tensions and hatreds that hadpoisoned the hearts of so many Rwandansapoison that allowed Satan to take root in theirsouls and blindly lead them to commit savage actsof torture, rape, and murder. As I listened to thevisionaries as I child, all I heard was themconveying Gods peace, love, and forgiveness. Themessages from the Virgin Mary that I heard

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broadcast over the radio during our familysevening Igitaramo get-togethers filled me with joyand never, ever frightened me.

I was 11 years old when Mary first appeared inKibeho, and I quickly became familiar with thenames and stories of the first three visionaries:Alphonsine, Anathalie, and Marie-Claire. But itwould be many months before Id hear Segatashyamentioned in connection with the apparitions.When I finally did hear his name (and his voice),the impact on my little heart was so profound Iwould never be the same.

As I mentioned, Ive already written much aboutthe history of Kibeho and the apparitions of thefirst three visionaries in Our Lady of Kibeho. Butfor those of you who dont know the story, allowme to briefly recap what I wrote in order for youhave a better sense of what happened in Rwanda,and in Kibeho, in the weeks and months beforeSegatashya appeared on the scene.

The Virgin Mary first appeared in Kibeho onNovember 28, 1981. The first visionary to bevisited by the Blessed Mother was 16-year-old

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Alphonsine Mumureke, a high-school student in avillage that, as Ive said, was so small and out ofthe way that few Rwandans even knew where itwas.

Alphonsine was new to Kibeho High School.She had grown up in an isolated region of Rwandacalled Kibungo, which was known for its acutepoverty and the widespread practice of witchcraft.Her father had deserted the family before she wasborn, and the girl was raised by her hardworkingand devoutly Catholic mother. AlthoughAlphonsine herself was not particularly religious,she loved the Virgin Mary and prayed to herwhenever she was downhearted or afraid.

Despite growing up in abject poverty,Alphonsine had always maintained a sunnydisposition. When she won a scholarship to the all-girl Catholic boarding school with some 120students, her gregarious nature and cheerfuldemeanor helped her make friends quickly. Evenso, she was often homesick and had troublekeeping her grades up. As she had always done indifficult times, she prayed to the Blessed Mother to

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help her.On November 28, which was an ordinary day in

every other respect, Alphonsine fell to the floorduring lunch and entered into a deep trance inwhich the only thing she was aware of was thewhite, shimmering cloud of bright light slowlyforming in front of her. Moments later, in the midstof that cloud, the startled student beheld the mostbeautiful lady she had ever seen.

As Alphonsine would later recall, the ladyappeared to be floating in midair, and then begandrifting toward her, bathed in a luminous light andmiraculously hovering above the ground. Themagnificent woman was clothed in a seamlesswhite dress, and her hair was covered with a veilof purest white. Her skin was flawless and glowedlike polished ivory, although Alphonsine could notdetermine if the color of her skin was white orblack. The lady seemed to be communing withheaven as the gentle fingers of her slender handswere pressed together in a gesture of prayer.Waves of love emanated from the lady, engulfingthe schoolgirl, whose heart was bursting with joy

and happiness as the beautiful creature driftednearer to her.

In a voice too lovely to be accurately described,the woman revealed to Alphonsine that she was theVirgin Mary, and that she had heard Alphonsinesprayers in heaven and had traveled to Kibeho fromthe Kingdom of God to console her. She told thegirl to address her as the Mother of the Word.

Before ascending skyward back toward heaven,the Virgin urged Alphonsine to deliver a messagefrom her: I want your friends and schoolmates tohave the same faith that you possess; they do nothave enough.

That was the first message the Blessed Motherdelivered in Kibeho.

When Alphonsine regained consciousness, shefound herself sprawled out on the lunchroom floorand staring up into the faces of her concerned andbewildered classmates. When she told them whathappened she was ridiculed, mocked, and accusedof being both a liar and fool. Some said thatbecause she was from Kibungo, Alphonsine waspracticing witchcraft or possessed by dark spirits.

But the Virgin Mary continued to visitAlphonsine, who always fell into such a deeptrance whenever the Virgin appeared to her thatshe became completely oblivious to hersurroundings. One of the local priests was soincensed by Alphonsines claims that he recruitedanother student at Kibeho High School, Marie-Claire, to torment Alphonsine in hopes that the shewould recant under intense peer pressure.

Marie-Claire had a reputation on campus asbeing outgoing and outspoken to the point ofrudeness. She prayed to the Virgin Mary (whomshe loved) but was not big on going to church orsitting around in prayer groups. Perhaps because ofher deep affection for Mary, Marie-Claire wasbound and determined to expose what sheconsidered to be Alphonsines offensive fakery,and she set out with a passion to embarrass andhumiliate her classmate in public.

Marie-Claire recruited other students to join inher campaign to denounce the false visionary,and she and her posse of skeptics would swarmAlphonsine whenever she fell into one of her

ecstatic trances. They would then physically abusethe visionary during her apparitions, yanking herhair, bending her fingers backward, pinching herskin as hard as they could, screaming as loudly aspossible into her ears, and tossing rosaries at her,daring Alphonsine to bless the beads. ButAlphonsine never blinked or flinched, no matterwhat was done or said to her.

Then on January 12, 1982, the Virgin Maryappeared to a second student at Kibeho HighSchool: 17-year-old Anathalie Mukamazimpaka.Unlike Alphonsine, this young woman was a modelstudent and considered to be one of the mostdevout and pious girls at school. Anathalie wasfrom a large and staunchly Catholic home. Sheawoke every morning and prayed the rosary beforeclass, then prayed it again every evening beforebed. She read the Bible on her own time betweenclasses, and was a member of several Catholicyouth groups. She was modest, well behaved, andhighly respected by both students and staff. Butnone of this stopped Alphonsines main detractor,Marie-Claire, from attacking Anathalie as well.

Marie-Claire redoubled her efforts to discredit theVirgins alleged visitations to the school bypublicly ridiculing both young visionarieswhenever they began to have apparitions of theBlessed Mother.

Marie-Claires attacks upon the two visionariescame to an abrupt halt on March 1, 1982, when theVirgin Mary appeared to her as well. At firstMarie-Claire resisted the vision she was having,certain that she was being tricked somehow by thetwo girls shed been persecuting and if thatwasnt it, then she was going insane or beingpossessed by demons.

However, the Blessed Virgins reassuring voicesoon calmed and comforted Marie-Claire, whosuddenly realized that the Holy Mother had indeedblessed her school with her heavenly presence.Marie-Claire grew enormously ashamed of havingtormented Alphonsine and Anathalie, and shevowed to become the Virgin Marys humble andwilling servant, just as the two other schoolgirlshad before her.

To the amazement of both students and staff, all

three of the girls Mary had chosen to becomevisionaries were soon receiving apparitions of theBlessed Mother in the school chapel. Every timeone of them fell into a trance, she would becomecompletely oblivious to her external environment.The face of each girl would light up with joywhenever she found herself in the Ladys presence.Each would speak lovingly when responding toquestions from the Virgin, or when repeating themessages Mary was giving them to share withothers. No one else in the room at the time of anapparition could either see the Blessed Virgin orhear what she was saying to the visionaries. Butthose who were lucky enough to witness anapparition always listened intently to every worduttered by a schoolgirl while in a trance, realizingthat they were eavesdropping on one side of aconversation a visionary was having with heaven.

WORD OF THE MIRACULOUS VISITATIONS quicklyspread beyond the confines of the Kibeho HighSchool grounds. Scores of locals began travelingthe dirt roadmore of a rutted goat trail than a

road, reallythat leads to the school from thecountryside. All were hoping to catch a glimpse ofthe miraculous communications happening withinits walls. Soon hundreds of curious onlookerswere buzzing around the high school trying to listenin on the apparitions. They hung from the metalfence, rattled at the gates, and broke the chapelwindows while clambering onto each othersshoulders and jostling to get a peek of the younggirls rumored to have a direct line to the VirginMary. Eventually, as the hundreds of onlookersturned into thousands of pilgrims, the school andthe local Catholic Church erected a woodenpodium outside of the school chapel so that thevisionaries could have their apparitions in publicfor all to see.

News of the visionaries and the content of theirmessages spread like wildfire, traveling the lengthand breadth of Rwanda within weeks. Reporters inKigali were dispatched from Radio Rwanda andtraveled to Kibeho to record the visionaries asthey communed with the Blessed Motherand, asI mentioned, clips from those recordings became

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regular features on national radio programming.Thats when my brothers and I began squabbling

over what wed listen to on the radio duringIgitaramo. Id insist on listening to every word ofthe visionaries that was broadcast over theairwaves, but my two older brothers were at firstdubious and dismissive of the apparitions.Aimable and Damascene were always loving andaffectionate with me, but they also teased merelentlessly about my growing passion for what Icontinually proclaimed to be the absolutemiracle happening in Kibeho.

Theyre just a bunch of dumb schoolgirls tryingto get attention because there are no boys around,Aimable would snicker, as he pestered our dad totune the radio in to a soccer match.

When I was growing up in Rwanda (and thankgoodness times are really changing!), women,although revered and highly respected as mothers,were all too often afforded little or no respect asindependent, intelligent, thoughtful human beings. Itwas a very chauvinistic society in which basicrights, such as property ownership and higher

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education, were the domains of men. Luckily, myfather and mother were progressive in their viewsand pushed for me to go as far in school aspossible, which eventually led me to university.But male machismo was an accepted role myteenage brothers found difficult to shed, and theynever missed an opportunity to crack jokes about agirl or woman who did anything a man couldnt dowhich at the time included having visions of theVirgin Mary!

Those girls in Kibeho are either drunk orpracticing voodoo, my brother Damascene wouldtease with a chuckle. You know how it is withhigh-school girls, dont you? Theyre worried thatthey wont get a husband after they graduate, sothey want to learn magic to help them catch a manbefore they get too old!

My father would always hush my brothers andlet me listen to the Kibeho reports, even though hewas a well-educated and cautious man by natureand was hesitant at first to believe that thevisionaries were having actual apparitions. But hehad a deep love and respect for the Virgin Mary,

and if anyone showed love and affection for OurLady, as I certainly did, Dad would fully supportand encourage their devotion.

Time will tell if these apparitions are real ornot, Dad would say to the boys. But if theseschoolgirls are helping build peoples faith in theBlessed Mother, we are going to let your sisterlisten to what they have to say on the radio andyou two are going to listen along with her. Yoursports scores and soccer games can wait.

My brothers would groan and roll their eyes,and they predicted that the little shrine in mybedroom would soon be laden with even morestatues of the Virgin Mary. But their complaintsended on a sunny summer day in 1982 when weheard about a new visionary who had arrived inKibeho a boy named Segatashya, who wasreceiving visitations from Jesus Christ himself.

For my brothers, the fact that a boy had becomea visionary suddenly made all the miraculousapparitions that had taken place in Kibeho muchmore credible. And it seemed that becauseSegatashya was the first visionary to experience

apparitions of Jesus Christ, my very tough-to-impress older siblings were won over. It alsohelped that Segatashya and Damascene were justabout the same age.

Well, if its a boy whos talking to Jesus then I guess there just might be something to all thisvisionary stuff in Kibeho, Aimable conceded afterhearing a clip of Segatashya on the radio.

As for me, Id already heard Segatashyas voicea few days earlier on a tape recording played byFather Apollinaire Rwagema, our local priest, forthe kids who attended his weekly childrens Mass.

Father Rwagema was among the earliestbelievers and most ardent devotees of theschoolgirl visionaries. He was also the first personin Mataba to make the long pilgrimage to Kibehoto see the visionaries with his own eyes. He madetape recordings of the visionaries during theirapparitions and eventually made those tapesavailable to anyone in the village who wanted tohear them.

I would listen to hundreds of hours of tapedapparitions over the next couple of years, but that

very first time I heard a recording of Segatashyawill stick with me forever. In Our Lady of KibehoI recounted how a shiver ran up and down myspine when I initially heard the boys gentle voicecoming out of the crackly speakers of FatherRwagemas old tape player. The recording was ofa conversation Segatashya had with Jesus while inthe midst of an apparition about a week before wewere hearing it. Father Rwagema told us that hemade the recording on a sunny day, under a brightblue sky without a cloud in sight then he urgedus to listen closely.

The 200 or so kids with whom I sat huddled onthe floor of Father Rwagemas one-room chapelwere as mesmerized as I was by what we heardcoming from the tape machine. First we heard thechanting of the large crowdthousands ofpleading voicesthat had gathered in Kibeho tohear the visionaries communicate with heaven. Thecrowd cried out to Segatashya, addressing him byname and calling for him to summon a miracle amiracle to give them faith in what they werewitnessing and to help them truly believe in the

apparitions.I didnt know it at the time, but what I was

hearing was the only apparition in which Jesusallowed the boy to both see and interact with thepeople who had come to see him. During everyother vision, Segatashya was aware only of beingin the Lords presence.

Above the din of the crowd, arose the soft tenorvoice of the young visionary as he reverentlyaddressed Jesus: Yes, Lord, I have told themmany times, the voice said. No, Lord, they dontlisten they always tell me they want a miracle.They wont believe that youre talking to me, Jesusnot without seeing a miracle or a sign.

I remember how my heart swelled whenlistening to Segatashya speak that day and howtouched I was by the sincerity and kindness thatreverberated in his whisper-like voice as hepatiently addressed the raucous crowd.

Suddenly a peal of thunder blasted through thetape recorders speakers, and the kids in the roomjumped up in unison. We could hear frightenedscreams ripple through the hubbub of the surprised

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crowd. Then there were some cheers for themiracle that had just happened, followed by thecalming voice of Segatashya as he urged everyonein the crowd not to worry about the thunder thathad struck from out of the blue.

Jesus says you shouldnt be afraid; he wouldnever do anything to harm his children, the boyinsisted. No one here has been injured, pregnantwomen need not worry about their babies, andthose with weak hearts will be well yes, Lord,Ill tell them as you say

Jesus is saying that he gave you thunder so youwould listen to his messages and not ask formiracles that have no meaning because yourlives are miracles. A true miracle is a child in thewomb; a mothers love is a miracle; a forgivingheart is a miracle. Your lives are filled withmiracles, but you are too distracted by materialthings to see them.

Jesus tells you to open your ears to hear hismessages, and open your hearts to receive his love.Too many people have lost their way and walk theeasy road that leads away from God. Jesus says to

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pray to his Mother, and the Blessed Virgin Marywill lead you to the God Almighty. The Lord hascome to you with messages of love and thepromise of eternal happiness, and yet you askfor miracles instead. Stop looking to the sky formiracles. Open your heart to God; true miraclesoccur in the heart.

That was the first divine message I heardSegatashya deliver and, as I said, it changed mylife. That message opened my heart to the essenceof all the messages that would be delivered inKibeho. The simple honesty in this boys voiceinstantly made him my favorite among all thevisionaries.

Less than a week after Father Rwagema playedthe tape of Segatashya for us, my household and theentire village was abuzz with news ofSegatashyas arrival in Kibeho.

Ever since the original three schoolgirls beganreceiving visions of Mary some eight monthsearlier, I had noticed a profound change in most ofmy friends, neighbors, and even strangers passingthrough town. People carried themselves a bit

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taller and walked along the road with more energyand purpose. Women who were weighed down bythe huge baskets of food, washing, or firewoodperched atop their heads (in traditional Rwandanfashion) thought nothing of stopping in the middleof the road to seek out news of Kibeho frompassersby, especially news about Segatashya.

I can remember listening in on many suchconversations from my bedroom window while Ilay in bed reading or was kneeling in prayer infront of my homemade shrine.

I hear that this Segatashya never even heard ofJesus before the Lord made him a visionary, oneof our neighbors said.

A purely pagan boythats what I heard, too!But they say he is a sweet, sweet child andhandsome! But I wonder why Jesus chose him, apagan, when there are so many Catholic boysliving in Rwanda?

The Lord moves in mysterious ways; no oneknows the mind of God. But what I do know is thatSegatashyas mother must be very proud of him I wonder if shes become a Christian now that

Jesus is visiting her son?I could see that I wasnt alone in the favoritism I

felt toward Segatashya. From the very start of hisapparitions, the boy had developed a huge anddevoted following; he had become a star among thevisionaries.

Soon Father Rwagema was organizing townprocessions to honor the visitations Segatashyawas receiving from Jesus. The devoted priestencouraged everyone from his congregation, andfrom every congregation in the area, to join him ashe celebrated Segatashyas apparitions. Ill neverforget those inspiring parades of faith along the dirtroad leading out of our village. Hundreds of ourneighbors showed up for the processions andwould form a long double line behind the priest asthey waited for the festivities to begin.

Father Rwagema would wait for the assembledto settle down, and when he felt that the crowd hadreached a satisfactory level of reverent silence, hewould begin the proceedings. Hed start byhoisting a large wooden cross above his head, andthen, in a booming voice, hed recite one of the

many messages Segatashya had delivered fromJesus, messages Father Rwagema had committed tomemory. For example:

God will never deny you mercy if you have atrue conversion in your heart. Jesus is telling me totell you that life on Earth lasts only a moment; butlife in heaven is eternal. So you must pray.Remember that those who pay lip service to Godand cry out, Oh, Father, bless me! withoutmeaning it from their heart, or repenting for theirwrongdoing, will not go to heaven. It is those whotruly love God and also do His will by performingloving deeds who will be welcomed into theKingdom of Heavennot the pretenders andhypocrites. Remember to pray with sincerity theonly way into heaven is through prayers that comefrom the heart.

And then with a long, confident stride, FatherRwagema would set out toward the end of thevillage and beyond, the cross he gripped in hishands held high, his lips constantly moving as heintoned Segatashyas messages mile after mile:

Christs love for his children is great. God

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doesnt abandon any of His children. He is alwayswaiting for you to say yes to Him and let Him intoyour hearts. On Judgment Day, the Lord will showeveryone their entire lives, and people will knowthat they are the authors of their own fate. God willshow them their lifetime of deeds, and then thatperson will go where they deserve to go. Do notthink God does not see your sins; the Lord seesevery action and knows every thought. Repent;there is not much time left. If you need help to openyour heart to Jesus, pray to his mother to come toyour aid. Jesus wants you to love and respect hismother as you would your own. She prays for allher children and will bestow upon you manygraces and gifts of the spirit, Father Rwagemawould say, reiterating the latest messageSegatashya had revealed from the visionarypodium in Kibeho.

It seemed to me that we would walk most of theday behind Father Rwagema, despite the heat fromthe mid-summer sun that beat down upon us. Wewere often enveloped in a thick blanket ofsuffocating red dust that was raised by all the

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blistered and weary feet scuffling along the dirtroad in unison. But nevertheless, we continued topray and sing until we were parched and ourvoices were hoarse everyone in the processionwas overjoyed to be there.

After we traveled 10 or 12 miles, the groupwould stop for a few minutes to rest and drinkwater. Then Father Rwagema would lead us in asong that Jesus had taught to Segatashya, a song weall knew by its simple and apt title: The Song ofSegatashya:

God, you met me on the road,and you gave me a message

to share with the world.I took it to your children,

but your children didnt listen.What should I do, my dear God?

Please give me the strength and wisdomto carry out my mission,

and help me bring your messageto your people.

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Hundreds of voices would sing that simplerefrain as we turned and began our long walk backto Mataba, Father Rwagema reciting messagesfrom heaven the entire way.

The passion the villagers felt for all of theKibeho visionaries, and for Segatashya inparticular, only continued to grow. Everyonesfaith was on fire. Our wonderful priest would tellus that during his visits to Kibeho hed seenSegatashya, who had no formal schoolingwhatsoever, conversing with priests andtheologians about the meaning and variousinterpretations of the Bible.

This boy never had a days education in hislife, an astonished Father Rwagema would tell us.How could he be discussing scripture and arguingabout the meaning of Bible passages with trainedtheologians unless the Lord himself was notpersonally instructing him on these matters? Thereis truly a great miracle at work here somethinglike this has never been seen in Africa before!

So great was Father Rwagemas zeal for Kibehoand Segatashya that he began leading groups of

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pilgrims on the long and arduous journey to Kibehoto witness the miraculous apparitions themselves.

Because there were no proper roads fromMataba to Kibeho, and because most people in ourvillage didnt own shoes, let alone vehicles, thepilgrimage to Kibeho was made on foot. It was ajourney that took many days and often requireddangerous river crossings, mountainous hikes, andbushwhacking through dense forests. All of whichsounded like incredible fun to my 12-year-oldimagination.

When my dad announced that he was going tojoin Father Rwagema and a dozen or so of ourvillage neighbors on a Kibeho pilgrimage, I begana constant campaign of pestering and pleading inhopes of convincing Dad to take me with him.

My father flatly refused my repeated requests,saying (quite correctly) that I was far too youngand the journey far too hazardous. He promisedthat hed take me when I got older, but, in reality, itwould take many years for me to finally make atrip to Kibeho on my own. And by then I was in myearly 20s, and Segatashya had long since stopped

having public apparitions in Kibeho.But that didnt mean I was prevented from

getting to know Segatashya as well as any memberof my family. In fact, I got to know him extremelywell through my fathers descriptions of hisKibeho trips and by listening to hours and hours ofFather Rwagemas tape recordings of the boysapparitions.

Perhaps more than anything else, what madeSegatashya stand out to me was the company hekeptthe company of the other remarkablevisionaries of Kibeho, who were chosen by heavento spread messages we all need to hear. Its agroup of girls we all should know and love.

Chapter 3

THE VISIONARIESOF KIBEHO

Sometimes when I find myself outside in apeaceful setting with the cool grass beneath myfeet, a soft breeze in my hair, and the suns warmthupon my face, I can close my eyes and beimmediately transported back in time to the longafternoons I spent in our familys backyard,waiting for my father to return home from one ofhis pilgrimages to Kibeho. The memory of theanxious excitement that gripped my preteen heartback then can still make my pulse race today.

The house that my father built was located on theedge of a steep hill overlooking Lake Kivu, one ofthe most spectacularly beautiful places in all ofAfrica. The breath-taking views of the lake fromour backyard mesmerized and enchanted my very

active imagination.Lake Kivu runs along the entire length of

Rwandas eastern border, and Kivus wide,sparkling waters act as a natural boundaryseparating Rwanda from its next-door neighbor,Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo).

Zaire was many, many times larger than Rwandaand to my young eyes, peering across thatgorgeous body of water from the hilltop vantagepoint of our backyard, the thick forests and darkgreen jungles of that country stretched on forever.If it was a particularly clear day, I could even seeZaires highest mountaintops poking out throughfluffy clouds far off in the distance. Those mist-covered peaks shot so high up into the sky, Ithought they must reach halfway to heaven. Iimagined that those lofty and secluded summitswould be an ideal place for the Virgin Mary andJesus to take a little rest break while travelingbetween their home in the Kingdom of God and thevillage of Kibeho to visit the visionaries.

Sometimes Id spend an entire afternoon in the

backyard looking toward those mountains as Iwaited for Dad to return from a Kibehopilgrimage. Id sit motionless for hours, resting ona plush cushion of wild lawn, inhaling theintoxicating aroma wafting over me from mymothers huge flower garden. All the while Id bewondering if Mary and Jesus were actually upthere, and if they were really up there, were theystaring back at me? If so, did it make them happy toknow that I loved them both so much?

I always hoped to surprise Dad when he arrivedhome from his journey by running up to him andjumping into his arms before hed reached ourfront door. But more often than not, it was Dadwhod surprised me by walking into the backyardand catching me staring at the faraway mountains,daydreaming about Jesus and Mary. Hed clear histhroat or start whistling a little tune to let me knowhe was home and waiting for me to give him a hug.

Id throw my arms around my father in welcome,and hed walk with me to the edge of the hill andlook out over the vista that we both loved so much.Dad would then say the same thing he always said

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when we stood alone together in our yard andpeered out over Kivu: Immacule, I dont knowhow anyone could look out at such great beauty andnot be moved by the wonder of Gods handiwork.Did you know they say that God spends His daytraveling around the world checking on Creation,but at night He returns to Rwanda to rest because itis the most beautiful place He ever made?Remember that, Immacule. God sleeps inRwanda.

Id squeeze my arms around him as tightly as Icould and kiss him on the cheek. My father was theonly one I knew who loved God as much as I did,and for that, I love him more than Ill ever be ableto describe.

After a good long look at the lake, Dad wouldsay he was hungry and turn to walk into the house.Before he had a chance to get inside, though, Id bebegging him to start dishing out details about histrip and the amazing things hed seen and heard inKibeho. But Dad was methodical in everything hedid and wouldnt say a word about his pilgrimagesuntil the family had finished our meal together and

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then gathered in the living room for Igitaramo.Only then would he start revealing to us the trulymiraculous events he had beheld in Kibeho.

The first thing Id always ask Dad about waswhether or not hed seen Segatashya. Inevitably,his response to my question was unsatisfying, tosay the least. Oh yes, I saw Segatashya, hed say.But dont start running to get ahead of yourself,Immacule good things come to those whowait.

My father would never be rushed by anyone,especially when he was telling a story. For him, asfor many Rwandans, stories were one of thegreatest teaching tools available to an educator, atribal leader, or a parent, to convey morals andmessages to the young. The culture and history ofRwanda has always been passed down through theoral tradition of storytelling, and in our household,that tradition was alive and well.

When he began his pilgrimage stories, Dadinvariably started off by describing the journeyitself, recounting all that had transpired during thelong miles of weary trudging. To me, those stories,

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often filled with accounts of harrowing hardships,were some of the greatest adventure stories evertold.

Dad would tell us how his group of between200 and 300 village pilgrims ran out of foodhalfway through the journey, was stalked by wildanimals during the night, or became disorientedand lost in a pathless patch of untamed Rwandanforest. Remember, most of these people havenever even traveled farther than one or twohilltops over to a neighboring village to visitrelatives, hed tell us. Heading out on a majoroverland excursion in the unknown is somethingtheyd never planned on doing and some ofthem are getting on in years. Most of them left theirhuts with no supplies at all; the majority of themhad no shoes or even a blanket to sleep on. Theywere completely unprepared for the difficulties ofthe road but their hearts and souls weredetermined to hear the messages from heaven, andnothing could keep them at home, knowing Maryand Jesus were waiting for them in Kibeho.

Then Dad would tell us that no matter how

desperate the situation became for them, thegroups love and devotion for the Virgin Marytriumphed over every tribulation they faced alongthe way. Hed describe how Father Rwagemawould lead the pilgrims in prayer in the eveningonce theyd set up their nightly campsite. Theydkneel together in front of a campfire and pray to theBlessed Mother for help and guidance. And theirprayers were always answered without fail.

On one occasion, after several days of gruelinghikes, the group discovered that they had virtuallyno food at all, but hundreds of hungry mouths tofeed. That night they prayed for heaven to providethem nourishmentand in the morning, theyhappily discovered that some kind soul had snuckinto the camp during the night and anonymously leftthem huge sacks of rice and beans. On anotheroccasion the pilgrims became hopelessly lost inthe dense brush and didnt know which way toturn. They pitched camp and prayed for Mary tolead them to a path or trail. Later that evening, anunfamiliar constellation of stars appeared abovethem and, as it brightened in the night sky, formed

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into the shape of a cross. They took it to be a signfrom heaven and the next morning simply walkedin the direction to which the starry cross hadpointed, and before they knew it they were out ofthe bush and back on the road to Kibeho.

No one really complained about our cuts andbruises, or even grumbled about being hungry, myfather said. After all, we were going to listen toMary and Jesus, and how did our little sufferingscompare to theirs? Dad told us that the more thepilgrims suffered, the more they appreciated whatJesus and the Virgin Mother had endured for us all and the more determined they were to arrive inKibeho with smiles on their faces and joy in theirhearts.

Usually by this point Id be so excited to hearabout Segatashya that Id cut my dad off. Whatabout the boy who met Jesus, Dad? Tell us aboutSegatashyawhat did he look like? Is he as youngas they say he is? Did he really talk to Jesus? Whathappened when he was on the podium? Did he tellJesus that people wanted to see another miracle?Tell us, Dad! Did Segatashya make another

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miracle happen?Dad would look at me patiently and say, The

miracle of Kibeho begins the moment one sets outon pilgrimage with a heart filled with love andfaith. Its not the visionaries who make miracleshappen miracles happen when doubting heartsare converted to hearts filled with Gods love.And it is belief in God that brings love into ourhearts! Faith and lovefaith in the love of Maryand Jesus, and belief that the messages they havefor us are sent from God to save usthat is whatmakes heavenly miracles happen here on Earth.Never forget that, kids.

One of those miracles, my dad added, was thefact that all injuries sustained by members of hispilgrimage on their way to hear the visionariesfrom badly infected blisters, to sunstroke, toseriously sprained or twisted ligamentswerehealed soon after they arrived at Kibeho. Often thehealings occurred after a brief sun shower thathappened at the end of an apparition, when avisionary would announce that Mary was about tosend something to ease the aches and pains of those

who had traveled from such great distances to seeher.

Then, out of a clear blue sky, a brief andcurative rain would fall, mending the wounds ofthousands. Dad would delight in telling us abouthearing 10,000 collective gasps echo through theKibeho hills as hundreds of cuts stopped bleeding,the swelling of wrenched ankles diminished orcompletely vanished, and countless flagging andweary spirits suddenly soared. Any remainingcares or woes weighing down the pilgrimsevaporated in the warmth of the now glisteningsunshine. A million little rainbows were refractedin the million raindrops clinging to the countlessblades of grass growing on the Kibeho hillsasight that inspired every soul that witnessed it.

As the rain stopped and the sun dried theirclothes, the pilgrims stood up as one and joinedhands. They looked heavenward and raised theirvoices together to sing the Magnificat, Our Ladysfavorite hymn, which they sang as a song of thanksand praise to the caring and kindness the HeavenlyMother had just showered upon them her

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grateful and devoted children of Kibeho:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,He has looked with favor on His lowly

servant.From this day all generations will call me

blessed,The Almighty has done great things for me

And holy is His name.He has mercy on those who fear Him,

From generation to generation.He has shown strength with His arm

And has scattered the proud in their conceit,Casting down the mighty from their thrones

And lifting up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things

But has sent the rich away empty.He has come to the aid of His servant Israel,

To remember His promise of mercy,The promise made to our ancestors,

To Abraham and his children forever.

Dads descriptions of his arrivals in Kibehowith various groups of Mataba pilgrims alwayspainted an incredible portrait of national faith anddevotion.

There were thousands upon thousands ofpeople gathered around the village, hed tell us,all of them there to witness the apparitions thatthe Virgin Mary and Jesus had scheduled for thecoming days. The hillsides surrounding Kibehowere covered with the campsites of pilgrims,groups of friends, and entire extended familieswhod made the journey to hear the messages.They came from all across Rwanda, and somefrom as far away as Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, andZaire all of them there to hear the words of thevisionaries, to hear what the Queen of Heaven andJesus wants us to know to receive the messagesheaven want us to carry in our hearts so we canlive our lives the way God intended.

Please, Dad, Id beg, my mind bursting withso much curiosity about my favorite visionary that Icouldnt contain myself. Tell us aboutSegatashya!

My continual interruptions of Igitaramo wouldonly momentarily throw my father off hisstorytelling rhythm. By that time in his life he hadstopped teaching in the classroom and hadaccepted a series of promotions that led himthrough the academic profession: from teacher, toprincipal, and finally to the position of regionaldirector of Catholic schools. All those years in theschool system had given him plenty of experiencedealing with impatient and unruly youngsters likeme.

So after Id interrupt and try to hurry him alongwith his narrative one time too often, Dad wouldsimply stop talking altogether. Hed looked silentlyat me with his most officious school-principalstare until Id promised to be quiet and sit patientlywhile hed tell us about Kibeho in his own wayand at his own pace.

THE FIRST THING DAD WANTED TO RECOUNT aboutbeing in Kibeho was the passion, devotion, andmood of the huge flock of pilgrims he had joinedthere. At the end of every apparition, both the

Virgin Mary and Jesus would tell the visionary towhom they were appearing exactly when theycould expect to see them again. In fact, the HolyMother (or Jesus, if the visionary was Segatashya)would tell each visionary the exact day and time oftheir next apparition, and then those dates andtimes would be broadcast on the radio. Thatinformation allowed would-be Kibeho pilgrims toplan when to make their journey to the sacred site.

As my dad told us, thousands of pilgrims arrivedin Kibeho hoping to be healed from illnesses, orcarrying items they yearned for the visionaries toask Mary and Jesus to bless. Often pilgrims lefttheir home villages with pockets packed full withrosaries that they would hold above their headswhen the visionaries arrived on the podium. Otherswould bring containers of river water, hoping thatthe liquid would miraculously be transformed intoHoly Water during the apparitions.

These were small gifts from the visionaries tothe faithfulgifts that helped create a lovingatmosphere among the entire assembly, my fathersaid. He was really amazed that so many people,

all of whom had made the same long and painfuljourney (or even much longer!) as he had, were insuch loving moods after their arrival.

How often in life can you find a place wherethousands upon thousands of people are pressedtogether in one little area for days on end with verylittle food or water without any bickering orfighting? In Kibeho I scarcely heard a single wordspoken in anger there is just no other place likeit, not in Rwanda, not anywhere!

Dad gushed. The loving presence of the VirginMary and the peace of her son have undoubtedlytransformed Kibeho into a place unlike any Iveseen in all my travels. The loving presence of Godwas felt everywhere!

My father went on to say how dozens of girlsfrom the Kibeho High School joined with otheryoung girls from all over Rwanda to form a vibrantdance troupe. As drummers and other musiciansplayed accompaniment, the young troupeperformed traditional dances in front of the podiumfor hours as the crowd awaited the arrival of thevisionaries.

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The girls began singing songs praising theVirgin Mary, Dad told us. And soon every singleperson sitting in the hills around the podium begansinging as well 10,000 voices rising in unison,all declaring their love for the Blessed Mother, allpraying for Our Lady and Jesus to send down theirblessings.

On the first day of our most recent trip, the firstvisionary to come to the podium was youngAlphonsine, Dad continued, describing hissurprise at her childlike appearance and howmoved he was by the schoolgirls shy innocenceand sweet nature. The crowd roared its affectionwhen she walked to the center of the podium, heldup her rosary, and began leading the assembledmultitude in a prayer to Our Lady.

Dad told us of the silence that descended acrossthe hills when the Virgin finally appeared beforethe young girl while she was in the midst ofreciting a Hail Mary. He watched Alphonsinesface come alive with an expression of puredevotion, as though heaven had jolted her heartwith a million volts of love, and the young girls

face took on a heavenly beauty of its own.I already knew from Father Rwagema, whod

spoken with members of the clergy in Kibeho whowere investigating the apparitions, that when thevisionaries were having their apparitions, theywere oblivious to the entire world except for theheavenly presence in front of them. As Dadexplained to us now, when the Blessed Motherappeared before Alphonsine or the othervisionaries, all they could see was the Virgin Maryhovering several yards in front of them and severalfeet above the ground. The throngs of onlookersstanding in front of the podium were transformed,from the visionaries point of view, into endlessfields of flowers. Some flowers stood upright,appearing strong, vibrant, and beautiful; whileother flowers seemed bent and wilted.

The Virgin Mary had explained to thevisionaries that the flowers represented the peoplewho had come to Kibeho to hear her messages andthe messages of her son, Jesus. She said that thehealthier flowers were people whose faith in Godwas strong and growing, while the sicklier-looking

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ones were individuals whose faith in the Lordneeded bolstering. But Mary always told thevisionaries that she loved all the flowers equally,and her messages of love were intended to help allof those who came to Kibeho to receive herblessings.

As always, Alphonsine chatted with the Virginjust the way you chat with your mother,Immacule, my father said. She called the Virginher mom, and then discussed how herschoolwork was progressing and how she and allthe other girls at Kibeho High School were gettingalong.

Dad told us that on that particular evening,Alphonsine said the Blessed Mother had taught hera song she wanted the world to learn. The songwas so simple and beautiful that when Alphonsinebegan singing it, every voice in Kibeho joined inand sang along with the visionary. The BlessedMother called the song The Children of Kibeho:

I entrust you with my future, Maria,Because you carry the voice of God, Maria.

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I took everything I own, Maria,And I came into your arms, Maria.Look at how I will change, Maria,

Because of the voice of God, Maria.Teach us, your children of Kibeho,

To love one another, Maria.May everyone love you, Maria,May everyone trust you, Maria.Please look at how I shall livefrom this day onward, Maria,

Because you brought the voice of God to me,Maria.

Dad then described how, at the end of her

apparition, Alphonsine fell like a stone onto thepodium floor, physically exhausted and totallydrained emotionally. It was the same with allthose kids, he explained. As soon as their visitwith Mary ended, they fell flat on their backs orfaces. Its a wonder they didnt break their necksor crack their skulls wide open. But it seems thatMary is looking over them like the protectivemother she is. Father Rwagema tells me that

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doctors from the Commission of Enquiry, who areon hand during the apparitions, examine thevisionaries before, during, and after their visionsand they can never find anything seriously wrongwith the children, no matter how contorted theirbodies become during a trance, or how hard theyfall when the trance ends.

Besides the several doctors who were alwayspresent during the apparitions, Dad said that agroup of local nuns was also nearby to care for thevisionaries. Two or three of these nuns wouldhurry onto the podium at the end of each apparitionto comfort the fallen schoolgirland when sheregained consciousness, theyd help the youngsterto her feet and hold her upright while they walkedto a quiet place to help her rest and recuperate.

I remember how my heart went out to youngAlphonsine she was so completely worn-outafter her visitation with Mary that three big menhad to hoist her limp body onto their shoulders andcarry her off the stage.

I looked hopefully at my father as he finisheddescribing Alphonsines amazing apparition,

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folded my hands into a gesture of prayer, andsilently mouthed a single-word plea to him:Segatashya?

Dad held up his arm and turned the palm of hishand toward me like a traffic cop stopping aspeeding car. Slow down, Immacule, well getthere soon enough! He then quickly described theapparitions of the next two visionariesAnathalieand Marie-Clairethat he witnessed on thepodium. Id heard bits of those apparitions on theradio while he was away, but hed also memorizedtwo short songs each of the visionaries sang, oneof which was taught by the Virgin Mary, and Idnever heard it before.

As I said earlier, stories are a very importantteaching tool in Rwandan society, but songs areeven more important because the melody helps thewords of the song take root in both our hearts andour minds. So there was no chance Dad would skipover any song a visionary shared with the pilgrimswhile he was in Kibeho.

The first song was a bittersweet story of amothers suffering that the Virgin Mary taught to

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Marie-Claire during an afternoon apparition:

Most merciful Mother, remind us alwaysThe sorrows of your son, Jesus.

Who among us wouldnt cry seeing the tearsThe Mother of Jesus shed for her only son?

For the thorns they put on his head,She felt it on her own;

When she heard the cross beingdropped into the freshly dug pit,

Her heart jumped and broke in two.Most merciful Mother, remind us always

The sorrows of your son, Jesus!

The next song Dad shared with us was a hymn ofloving devotion that Anathalie sang to the VirginMary. Dad told us that the visionary had beenfasting for quite a while as an act of penancebefore this particular apparition, and she was soweak and tired at the time that her voice barelyraised above a whisper.

I was so moved by the story that I memorized thesong and for years sang it in a tired and exhausted

voice to honor and imitate Anathalie:

We are coming to thank you, Mother,Dear, faithful Mother.

No one has been blessed as you have been.Let everyone raise their voice to praise you,

Dear Mother, most cherished one of theCreator.

All of us except for you were born inoriginal sin,

Only you, dear mother, were bornimmaculate.

All the angels in Gods Kingdom sing yourname in heaven.

Dear Mother, who dries our tears on earth,we love you!

After he recited Anathalies song, Dad stood up

and reached his hands and arms toward the ceiling.Then he arched his back in a full-body stretch andlet out a mighty yawn that echoed through thehouse. I knew what was coming right away; Idseen it before. Often when he returned home from

one of his pilgrimages, hed make us kids wait aslong as possibleour routine of household chores,homework, and having dinner as a family alwayscame firstbefore he summoned us to sit down forIgitaramo. But, as he seemed to be preparing to donow, hed break off in the middle of one of hisstories and announce he was so tired he needed togo to bed immediately.

Dont worry, kids, he said. I just need a goodnights sleep. Ill describe the rest of thepilgrimage later in the week or maybe nextweek if things get too busy.

But before Dad had even finished his yawn, Ijumped to my feet and positioned myself betweenhim and my parents bedroom. Im sure the look inmy eyes and my determined face was screaming,Dont even think about sleeping until you give meevery last detail about everything Segatashya didand said!

My father smiled at my resolve. I dont thinkhed ever seen me act quite so boldly before, andIm sure my passion for Segatashyas messagesfrom Jesus pleased him a great deal.

Its warm in the house this evening. I think wecould use some air in here, he said, and strodepast me into the little vestibule by the front door.He looked at his watch and opened the doortoward him. There, standing in the doorway, asthough hed appeared by some sleight of hand ofmy fathers, was Father Rwagema.

Thanks for coming, Father, my dad said,ushering him into the living room. The kindly priestsmiled and waved to my brothers and myself andbowed to my mother, who immediately headed intothe kitchen to fetch our guest some food and milk.Despite having just arrived home from Kibehowith my dad that day, Father Rwagema lookedfresh and vigorous. His eyes were dancing withenergy, and his face was radiant from the miracleshed so recently witnessed.

I invited Father Rwagema to join us thisevening because Im quite confident he knowsmore about Segatashya than anyone else in thecountry, Dad said. And, of course, I knewImmacule would have more questions about herfavorite visionary than Id be able to answer on my

own.

ONCE FATHER RWAGEMA WAS SETTLED in a chairand my mother had given him refreshments, Dadcontinued with his story.

Father, I was telling everyone about thevisionaries we saw and had just finished recitingAnathalies song, Dad said. Now, Immacule, Iknow youre hoping that Segatashya came onto thepodium after Anathalie, but we waited another fullday before he arrived in Kibeho. By that time, thegathering of 10,000 pilgrims that greeted us whenwe arrived in the village had nearly tripled in size.Thats how popular Segatashya has become in sucha short time frame. There had to be at least 30,000people jammed in front of the podium on theafternoon he was scheduled to have his apparition,and the cheer that arose through the crowd when hefinally arrived was deafening.

Dad shook his head in disbelief as he describedthe moment he first laid eyes upon Segatashya.With all the buildup, I suppose I was expecting tosee someone who was about seven feet tall and

dressed like a prince, but the child who climbedonto that podium looked like hed just walked outof a cow pasture!

Segatashya is a teenager, but he looked nomore than eight or nine to me. He looked evensmaller than the schoolgirl visionaries that hadbeen on the podium before himand to tell you thetruth, I dont think he was much bigger than you,Immacule! You could see that his family didnthave much money at all, that they didnt have muchof anything, and that they were