This is a testimony of how God turned the life of Emmanuel around

Greetings from the coastal town of Lambert's bay. I would like to share a story of one of my brethren whom I met while walking with the cross with a close brother of mine. Well, I was recently in touch with him thinking that he was in Manguzi, only to discover that he now lives in New York city. Anyway, this is is his story. The same story is also available here on our blog in French for our French speaking audience. Merci beaucoup.

This is my testimony in the Lord. I would like to begin my story with one of my favorite verses in the Bible which comes from, Romans 8:28. It is says, “…, moreover, let all things work together for good to those who love God…”. My name is Assani Byumbuka Wapami, Emmanuel. I was born in the Democratic Republic Congo to a tribe known as the Mubembe people from Fizi Zone. I was born on Christmas day, in the year 1965.

I sometimes consider myself as fortunate, to be born in a Christian home considering that Islam was a dominant religion within our community. At age 12, I became a born again believer and was baptized and that is when the name Emmanuel was given to me. Since then I have spent the most part of my life serving the Lord in a youth movement called “Christian Education and singing in the Choir”. I am married and a father of four children, three boys and a girl. In 1988, against all odds, I was awarded a State Diploma and from there I worked as an archivist at the Diaconia Hospital in my hometown in Fizi. In 1994, I had successfully completed a scholarship to study Theology from the Faculte Evangelique de Banqui/Bangui Evangelical Graduate School of Theology”.

During a holiday in 1997 my family and I decided to visit the DR-Congo in great surprise where I hoped to return to Bangui to continue when suddenly, a tribal war broke out once more. As I have said above, “all things work together for good to those who love God and remain faithful to his word (John 8:31-32), our Lord Jesus Christ will fulfill or fulfill his promise (Jeremiah 29 :11-33). In 1999, my family and I also fled the war to a refugee camp in Tanzania. It was there that life became more difficult for us as a family so much so that in 2002 we made the decision to go to South Africa. By the grace of God we began a prayer cell, that later became a Church called: “Christ King Harvest Centre”, I was chosen to lead this group of believers. Later during my stay in South África, I moved to Durban, where I searched for greener pastures.

In January 2023, my family and I also left Durban for Manguzi. In Durban we were in the UNHCR program. If I remember well, it was in the month of October, that I met Henri and Bradley walking towards the town in Manguzi. Bradley greeted me in French after I said was from the Democratic Republic of Congo and also had a chance to talk to Henri who later invited me to some brethren to fellowship at a church in Manguzi. They left us with a pamphlet and invited us on Sundays to Fullgospel Church. Thank goodness we were together for a period of three weeks because it was there that we got to know Henri and his family together with Bradley. Soon after that Henri and his family left for Port Elizabeth but still we remained in contact until this day.

Recently, I moved to New York city with my family and we are actively involved in the church there. We pray that the Lord will guide us during our stay here.