Rev. Pastor, NDUWIMANA Manasseh

  It is a privilege to present my autobiography to share what the Lord has done in my life.  I do not know what I did to become what I am.  As the Bible says, there is a time for everyone to be born.

  I was born From Christian parents, it was on February 7, 1952. When I came in to this world, my parents gave me this name: NDUWIMANA which means -  that I belong to God. Manasseh is a name from the Bible.

  I am the fifth in my family but, I didn’t know two brothers and one sister because they died in childhood before my birth. My twin sisters who were born after me also died, then, my mother gave birth to four brothers and two sisters. In 1988 we lost one of the four brothers  who was educated.  He was killed by rebels.

  My father was killed in 1993 at the beginning of the civil war that our country is crossing now.  My mother died during the war in 1997. A total of more than 200,000 died during this conflict which lasted until 2006.

  It is God who orients and guides man’s steps. I was prepared for God’s Ministry by the fact that my father attended Bible School and served Friends Church as catechist during his life.   Even though, he had few resources, he did well to send me to school that I started in 1958.

  During one’s life each person has to overcome many traps for which he must give glory to God.   I thank the Lord for the courage He gave me to study in the country of war and insecurity.  In the church there was conflict of drinking juice of the banana or not.  This made a problem in my studying  and it was not easy to finish primary school but, in 1969 I entered the secondary school and finished the life with one teacher for the whole year.

  The secondary School was a teacher training school, For me it was new life because I was with new students from everywhere in the country  and many teachers in our class as life of a boarding-school.   In 1972, The Lord protected my life when the majority of my classmates were killed. I thank especially the Lord. He surely has a plan for why he kept me under His wings, to save my life.

  From 1972 to 1975 I worked as a government teacher in Primary school. It was good to use what I had earned and created relationships with  many other people.  This was the occasion to share my Christian experience with my pupils for three years.

  After that, my God opened the door for me to study in the theological Seminary where I learned strategies to be God’s worker.  The four years I spent there are the key and the foundation of the life I am living now.

  After leaving the Seminary Institute with a Diploma Graduate II in theology in 1979, it was time to get married with a beautiful  teacher girl  with her we started a new life and prepared for the future.  Now, God has given us four sons and three daughters.  Three months after the wedding I worked once more as the teacher in the primary school.   The same year, I was asked to start a job at the Protestant Alliance of Churches at Bujumbura  as the Secretary-Treasurer for four years.

  Then the Burundi Government made a decision to expel missionaries and my Church called me to be its worker. During the period of 1982 – 1986 I was the manager of a technical school. From 1986 to 1992 I was elected as the Legal Representative ( General Superintendent) of Burundi Friends Church where my father was a catechist.

 

  In 1989 I was ordained as Pastor  by  the General Assembly of the Yearly Meeting of Friends Church. In 1993 I started Family Life Ministry and was elected as its Legal Representative.

 

  In June of the same year, I went to Nairobi where I stayed two years.  During this period, I was learning computer skills and it was the occasion to start a worship chapel for Burundi, Rwandese and Congolese refugees.

  At the end of 1998 I came back to Burundi they chose me to be the treasurer of Evangelical Friends International and I also was the teacher of Pastor training.

  In 1999 I started to attend the Great Lakes School of Theology. As we had prayer time with my two classmates, once in the week, I told them what I saw  during the night.   It was my graduation day in which I did not find any of my classmates. Two years after, a leader of Friends Church who came after me decided to expel me from the University and the Friends Church because of conflicts in the Church when I was trying to counsel him and seeking ways to solve problems.

  Then, we started Hosanna Friends Church in 2003 and was recognized by Burundi Government.  When Friends Church Leaders get the information of our new Church, they came and asked what they could do to thank me for what I have done in the Friends Church. They decided to let me go back in the University to finish it. In 2004 I got a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Leadership with a specialty in counseling.

 

  I really did not know what God wanted me to become. When I got a chance to attend Amsterdam 2000 Conference where I met Love Lines Crisis Leader and by them I was able to be in contact with the Love Lines International  Ministry Director, Dan Morsted.

  Now, I praise the Lord for being what I am.  I am glad in Hosanna Church working as the National counselor of especially couples in this country.  To get the strategies from books, cassettes and trainings in the Kampala Conference was a complementary skills that God gave me to do what He wants me to do.

  I do not know how I can get Master’s degree in Counseling,  my age and seven children who want to follow schools are barriers but when I remember how powerful He is and what He has done for me, I take every opportunity to praise Him and stay in admiration.

 

  My life is in His hands. What I know is what I have

seen, heard and read but, the future is God’s secret.

Rev. Pastor NDUWIMANA Manasseh

Bujumbura, BURU

NDI/ AFRICA,

November 26, 2007

E-mail:  Mananduw@yahoo.com

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Banque de Credi de Bjumbura

Bjumbura, Burundi, Africa