Pastor  Nkurikiye Fredederic by his own admission, lived a bad life before 2011 when he attended the metamorphic community transformation program in Bujumburra, Burundi. His life was without order, nothing was planned, and chaos was his normal disposition and experience. He, his family, and his village lived in extreme poverty. He recalls that he would work for money but still didn’t have enough money to feed his family. That was also the experience of most people in his community.

But the Nkurikiye committed the time and effort to being mentored by the metamorphic team, and things began to change. His business began to prosper, the community began to see transformation and his church was radically transformed also as they embraced a new way of thinking.

To Nkurikiye’s credit he didn’t just change as many before him had done. He recognised that many people change only to go back to their old ways, their old habits and practices. Nkurikiye decided to be transformed, to become a new creation, a new leader, a new husband and the results were and are amazing.

He embarked on a journey to create holistic development in his community with immediate results. The community responded positively and began to partner with the church to make their community a better place for everyone.

Nkurikiye and his team have started two businesses, a shop and a brick making business that today employs dozens of people. They also conduct regular training for people that want to start businesses, including refugees that come with nothing. One of their initiatives has been to teach people about budgeting and cash flow, a concept that most business owners are hearing for the first time.

As a church they have also created temporary crisis accommodation and they ensure that everyone in their community has shelter and food.

In this fast growing community on the outskirts of Bujumburra, everybody has heard about Nkurikiye and his church and everyone has benefitted. The clinic that they have set up to help those with HIV has now been expanded to help people with other issue and they are partnering with the government on many infrastructure projects.

This has been and is a great example of holistic development that is driven by the church but for the benefit of all people.

Nkurikiye Fredederic is true metamorph – he has risen above change and its challenges and has bought transformation to a generation in his local community!