Isaiah was born into a Christian family, but his world changed when his mother died while he was still an infant. His father’s new wife did not love him as a mother should, and he remembers attending Sunday school with a broken heart.

Sunday school was a comfort to Isaiah. As a teenager, he built upon this experience, and he started to memorise the Bible and Christian songs. He remembers his teens as a good time for building his relationship with God. In 1996, when Isaiah was just fourteen, his brother decided to flee to Tanzania. Isaiah decided to join him. The brother did not treat him well and eventually left Isaiah alone in Tanzania. Isaiah needed to be resourceful; he was unable to finish his education, and he developed skills including soap-making and sewing. He survived using these skills and with aid from UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), but life was hard for him with no family support.

Throughout this time, he remained faithful to God, and at the age of eighteen, he started to preach. He also learned the importance of prayer and fasting. In 2005, Isaiah attended Bible School, which helped him develop a heart for serving God. He prayed to God that he might become a missionary in Australia or the USA. Indeed, he had the opportunity to get resettled in the West. However, he felt God saying, “Go (to) your nation and serve me there” – a decision which many thought him crazy to take, choosing a dangerous, poor country over the chance of a new life in the prosperous West.

In 2008, on his return, Isaiah founded United Christians for Evangelism. He felt it was important that those involved should preach without error, and he used the teaching materials from ‘Nations to Nations Christian University’ to strengthen UCE. Through partnership with Great Lakes Outreach, the work has continued to flourish and grow. Isaiah had been through so much in his personal life, and the sadness of this was overwhelming at times. At the end of 2013, he felt God telling him that he had completed his test, and after that time, things totally changed. He is so thankful to God.

Isaiah praises God for the fact that God closed the door to him going to different countries and that his life in Burundi can now be a blessing to many.