Pastor Theogene Niyonshuti of ADEPR Church has become a favourite for many. His inspiring transformation and, specifically, the ‘street tone’ and language he uses in evangelism is what has acquired him his many followers. 

Before he became a pastor, Niyonshuti formerly lived on the streets. This, however, was neither how his life started out nor was it how he saw it taking shape, considering he came from a well-to-do family.

But the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi marked the sudden turn of events in is life.

"I was born in a rich family in Kigali. I was always driven to school and back home in a private car, I was not even able to shower myself until the age of 10 because it was done by our house-help. When we would go upcountry during the holidays, children would approach me to listen to how people from Kigali speak,” he recalls.

Pastor Theogene Niyonshuti of ADEPR Church.  Photos: Courtesy

After the Genocide, a larger portion of his family was killed, and this is when everything changed for him.

"The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi left me with nothing. My family, friends, and fortunes were all gone, apart from an aunt who was even old, and that is how I found myself on the streets,” he narrates.

On the streets, he was introduced to drugs and smoking. He would spend his time taking marijuana and going to nightclubs, as well as carrying out a number of illegal activities in different parts of Kigali.

And for 10 years, this is the life he lived, until 2005 when he decided to accept Jesus Christ as the Saviour of his life.

This sudden transformation, Niyonshuti asserts, happened when Jesus Christ revealed Himself to him and led him to repentance.

"I was in a nightclub and the Lord revealed all the acts of my life in my mind, and I started recalling them in a very unusual way. How I lost my parents, how I got pulled into drug addiction, indulging in sexual immorality, among other things. This happened in a bar located in Nyabugogo Bus Park,” he recalls.

Niyonshuti and his wife.

The revelation, he says, touched his heart and he approached one of the believers and asked him to help him repent.

"It was not normal. Normally in bars, I never got those kinds of thoughts, but when they came to my mind, I noticed a change in my life and went to look for a person who could help me heal,” he adds.

Approaching one of the believers he knew for the first time was intimidating, but according to Niyonshuti, God spoke to that person and ordered him to go and help him repent.

Becoming a pastor

Niyonshuti started as a choir singer, and after some time, he was nominated as the head of the prayer room at ADEPR Muganza in Nyabugogo. The leadership in the prayer room gave him more time and interest to read the Bible, after which he became an independent evangelist. 

The couple met in church. 

From an independent evangelist, the National ADEPR Clergymen then appointed him as the church leader of ADEPR Muganza, which also allowed him to become a pastor. It is in church that he met his wife and they started a life together. 

This marked the beginning of a transformed life for Niyonshuti, from a drug addict to a pastor preaching the Gospel in Rwanda’s capital.

Reaching out

Today, Niyonshuti and his wife have 12 street kids under their care, including two girls who are taking TVET classes. Some are taking driving lessons and others attend normal classes.

"I found them on different streets. It is in my annual programme to train 12 youngsters each year in a vocation, and when they are done, I send them to find work and also look for others to train. I live with all of them in the same house, and I was inspired by the impact God had in my life, that is why I want to impact others.

"I lived in different places in Nyabugogo and Kimisagara, and when I got a driving permit, I became a driver, which is also still my occupation today. I am a driver and a pastor, and the money I get is the one I use to help those kids,” he says.

However, after getting saved, the father of three did not forget his former comrades, whom he says are still compelled by the bondage of alcohol and street crime. Every month, however, he visits them and preaches to them.

"Each month, I go with my wife to visit them, because I know all their locations. I tell my wife that they are my family, we go with food so that we can entice them to hear the Gospel and leave the streets. On a positive note, after these interactions, more people get saved and leave the streets to start a normal life,” he highlights.