Kyanzaya’s prayers

In 2021 we hosted 7 evangelism schools across the diocese as part of the strategy of planting 35 new churches in the next 5 years. Rev. Joseph gathered all of our evangelism coordinators together before Easter to envision and train. Part of the training was to send 3 evangelism teams out across Goma which resulted in many coming to faith, many recommitments and a bonfire of discarded witchcraft materials at the end of the day. Those who came to faith were prepared for baptism.

One of the evangelism campaigns was focused in Buhene towards the north of the city of Goma. In Buhene there is a praying woman named Kyanzaya. She is a member of St Trinity parish in town, as in Buhene there are few churches. But every Monday and Thursday early morning she has been gathering people in her home for worship, prayer and Bible study. Kyanzaya has a gift for praying for people and God has used her to answer many peoples’ prayers. As such she has favour with people in her area as well as across the city.

Around 200 people come to her house – and she squeezes in 60 or 70 at a time. As one of the 3 service leaves another comes straight in (see above). She said in April 2021 that she would love for us to plant a church in her area and so we started looking at ways of renting a building or buying a small plot of land. If we find land then the Christians in the area are ready to build the church. 

Soon after the evangelistic campaign there was a flaring up of ethnic conflict in her area over land rights, resulting in 10 deaths. She temporarily stopped the services as people keep a low profile and some families even had to split themselves up for safety. Things calmed down after a few days, but it is still a volatile area.

The great news is that just before Christmas 2021 we were able to buy a plot of land a few hundred metres from Kyanzaya’s house. The faithful believers have already rebuilt the house that was on the land and made it fit for worship. And the first service will take place on February 6th. The local believers are also having an offering thank Kyanzaya and contribute towards some new furniture for her home!

February 2022