Please meet an entrepreneur and my friend David Kamanzi from Uganda, Africa. His stories will inspire you!!  #000013

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David Kamanzi – Uganda, Africa

By David Kamanzi   From Uganda Africa

My name is David Kamanzi and I was born in Bushanie to Bishop Elijah Kamanzi who served God.   He raised all of us, we were born nine of us.  And I’m the second born. He was the senior pastor of all the churches in Bushanie, and during the leadership of Idi Amin, my father faced a lot of imprisonment and torture by the regime because they thought they didn’t want Christianity in the area.  So he was in prison and then they came and imprisoned my older brother.   He was kidnapped by the soldiers. And I was left to fend for my siblings. 

And in those days I was 9 years old. I was too young and I also thought I had nothing to give to my siblings. And so I took them to a nearby church member.  Then I had to run away and I ended up in Barra where I lived on the streets and join the group of street boys. And I lived a very painful life, eating from the garbage because I had no food and slept many times in toilets. Yeah, the life was very difficult at the age of nine. That made me be engaged in all kind of drugs and marijuana.  And, I injected drugs in my body to really try to cover up the pain I was going through, because, the more drugs I had the more pain it really gave me. And, you know that I was going on an empty stomach.  So we used to really get drugs so that we cannot feel that we are hungry. We have nothing to eat.

Then after some time this pastor came who used to visit us and share that gospel with us. We asked and he brought us bananas and sapoties. And this pastor, for many years, he kept on coming and we had struggles trusting him because you know we could not trust everybody because all these guys would come trying to beat us up, chase us.  So I thought this man also was up to really trying to cause harm or try to get rid of us. And so I struggled with trusting this man.

And then after some time this man really showed us love. And, I ended up Saved and he asked me to come and live with him in his home. And then that night I had a good bed for the first time, I had a shower that had not had for 9 years. And to cut the long story short, this time was finished, because he had come to Barra to start Barra Christian Center.

And then he had to go back to Nigeria and he left me in this wonderful home where he has paid rent for the whole year and then I see I have this nice home.  Why don’t I go and bring some of the young boys that I had left on the streets. Because up to then I had been going and giving somethings and giving them some bananas.   And so I went and I said for them to come and live with me.    So they came and we stayed together.  We had a meal and shower time.

After some time I thought,   these children don’t need only just meals and whatever I could provide. They needed more than what I was giving them. And then a friend suggested to me to join a school in YWAM, that’s called the D.T.S., “Discipleship Training” where I was enrolled and I did this school in YWAM. And I really learned about forgiveness, and learned about repentance, and learned about bringing the army of God. I learned about knowing God.  I had all these wonderful topics about knowing God. And making Him known. And it was wonderful.  It was a one eye opener to the plan God has for mankind.

And so that’s where I met my wife Esther, she was on staff in YWAM. She had come for YWAM, from Rwanda, after her parents were killed in genocide. Our stories were almost related and we knew that we were coming together. And then we got married, we had been married and then she moved to Barra where she, and we all together have been reaching out to the boys. Now we have 21 children in our home and 20 more in our outreach. We called it our extension program and so my wife reaches out of these girls. To these girls that have babies, thank God.

Recently, we’ve have started a school. David and Le Paris helped us with our roof for our school and we were able to bring all of these babies that the mother had seen them as the unwanted, the rejected and now are having had opportunity to go to school and so we are so grateful. And then I was also introduced to another school by a friend It’s called “New Hope Uganda”,  where I did the history of “How to Change a Family” I knew about the “Heart of God for the Fatherless” and then this has really helped, to prepared us to do what we’re doing.

To cut the story short, then I came to meet David Paris in Kampala when I had come for those days I was organizing a meeting of pastors and leaders meeting. And then a friend from the U.S., Jerry had sent a package through David and Le Paris and then I was getting to know them I had them talk about the school that I thought I needed to attend, and this man, David Paris, was teaching about business.  And we talked about his teachings and topics. And he taught many topics about knowing your business and talking about and tell people about your business. He taught many topics about Writing Your Business Plan, Knowing Your Customers, Satisfying Your Customers. And here I was organizing for this conference, and I thought, we were bringing all pastors, over 800 pastors, to teach them, encourage them in the work of the ministry. And I thought well, this is also a wonderful tool that can be used by the pastors and leaders here because then that church of Christ, we need to grow in all areas.

God has blessed us not only spiritually but he wants us to realize all His blessings. And then he was teaching about work and we realized how God.  One way, we can receive our blessings, God said, “I will bless the works of your hands” We are to tap into His blessings.  And, God expects us to do some work. And that was during when I was home as a minister, we were really struggling and we needed another income and I knew I wanted to do transport. And David Paris helped us connect to a friend had offered to give me a car.  And he wanted me to transfer the car into my name. And so they helped us and I said I want to go and work on my business. I want to go and do what this man was teaching us and so I went and I looked for the jobs. And so I started with my neighbors because then I knew they had children they wanted the transporting of their children to school. So I talked to them, “I have this wonderful car, I can transfer your children to the school” So I did and we’ve been able to make some good money. Many times I transport people from Barra to Kampala from the airport back to Barra. And I love to do this business.

And in my community some pastors they think I am a successful man and but then I tell them I love to work.  I have learned principles of working and being blessed through the works of my hands.   And so I was organizing this conference in July. I want to go and share and talk to the leaders, we always bring together a team from the US. Marty and Rebecca are coming to teach leaders and pastors and we want to bring this business. Teach people about finding something they can do with their hands. If they need God to bless them and how wonderful it is.   How they can do some work above from the ministry, preaching and don’t expect to really receive out from the from the offerings so yeah we were so grateful for what God is doing in in our lives since we met David and Le Paris and the Project of Love, because then it’s like a family that has connected us to all these are the young men.

I get to know other young men who are involved in the business world and when I am starting some area, I call Nelley, I call these guys together.  We contribute, we support each other, we encourage each other in business and it’s a wonderful venture.  I love to do business and we have come to Kampala that day we will be having a conference also will being blessed to have Gary who is going to be facilitating our business class and we are so blessed.