[Singing] It was one Friday evening, I came from school, and I heard the guns and I found myself inside the middle of the war. I turned, see people are getting shot. And I looked behind people being killed, and I didn't know what to do.
I was just waiting to die. And I was, “God, if you help me here, I will follow You. ” They used to go and get young boys and turn them into militia, into military, to become soldiers.
And so I decided to leave the country. My mom needed to find us a safe place for us. We went to this refugee camp, and I remember every single night, Mom would always make us pray for a miracle that something good would come.
In one year, I lost two of my brothers and they left me over 12 kids that depend on my income. And I've received some lessons from people. They find me house, help me to buy a car.
They taught me how to drive. People have saved me. You know, everyone needs service.
And if it's coming out of love, then you can definitely feel it. When you walk into this community, you just feel like you’re part of that family. We have seen a lot, where we come from.
War is the affliction, the pain. If you are stranded and you have nowhere to go, God answers prayers through people. One day my uncle came to my apartment, and he was taking me to a store.
We were at the checkout and he said, “Call this card and find out how much we have so that we know if it will be enough. ” I heard a voice behind me. “I can pay for your groceries.
” I turned. Now is one lady. Then she called me.
She said, “Okay, I am home with my husband. Please come and visit us. We have dinner.
” And I felt okay. Maybe I belong here. When we think about Christ-like service, we think about bringing happiness to people.
We think about putting the family together. And I think maybe this is why God saved me. I used to go to the hospital translating in Keronhi, in Swahili, Kinyarwanda.
I’d help refugees finding housing, applying for citizenship, green cards, jobs. And I think the way I see it, it's like I'm trying to give back. I think being around this environment has been helping me slowly get back to home because we can't forget where we come from.
We can't forget that we're a family no matter what. We have this relationship with pretty much all the member of the community. When there is new people coming in, they will come and say, “Moses, we have new family from Kenya and we may need your help.
” And what I do, it's just an invitation. Invite people. They will come.
We eat, we drink. That’s it. And when we share the message, “God loves you.
God knows you. ” They, “Oh, I was about losing hope. But God is there.
God knows me. God loves me. ” Then from there, we—the conversation start and we start explaining about how to become self-sufficient.
We can show you how to ride a bus. We can show you how to find a hospital, clinic. This is how we cook.
It’s how we turn on the stove. And people, “Oh, America is a nice place. ” I've been a refugee and I know what people think when they come up here.
Maybe we're not going to find other African or people that would share the same language. They lost the sense of hope. So when they come and they meet people like me and other people in the community, they have this sense of they belong here.
The happiness, the joy, the way they feel—that changed their life, that changed their life. And they are happy with their families and. .
. It’s like a big hope that we give to people. And people have changed.
