Yvonne Mushimiyimana, popularly known by her stage name, Sister Yvonne, has touched the hearts of many through her singing. She says that singing for God is one of the best decisions she has ever made in life. People walking up to her, or sending her testimonies of impact through her music, leaves her mesmerised and so she keeps her fire burning for God. She found joy in composing songs about situations that are happening in society, to give people a chance to know God more, irrespective of their distress and agony. The gospel artiste during worship in church. Hearing her melodies is an indication that she was born for this. So far, she has about 30 gospel songs and nine secular songs. Before crossing over to gospel music, she was a secular artiste. When Mushimiyimana joined the music industry in 2009, she was more enthralled with love ballads. While in high school, she composed and released her first song titled, “Icyampa” that her colleagues and teachers loved and played at school, in their offices very often. This was something that encouraged her to make a second song. In 2012, she released her second song dubbed “Agasaro” with a video. It was also given a thumbs up by many who listened to it. She was pushed to do even more, such as, “Ubutumwabugufi” featuring Jay C, “Mwenyura” featuring Gisa cy’Inganzo, “Nyibuka”, “Umutoni wawe”, “Ndabyemeye”, “Birakomeye”, “Ntuzamvamo”, “Icyampa”, and “Ntuzamvamo”. Her journey Mushimiyimana grew up singing in church with her mother and siblings, and with time, she started writing songs as she practiced singing. Slowly, her talent improved. Having been baptised in 2017, she made a decision to serve God, therefore starting her gospel journey. “My first gospel album was titled, ‘A zero’ and launched on November 25, 2018. It has 10 songs like, “Nditanze”, “Twaracumuye”, “Igihe nataye”, “Millionaire”, “Urugo ruhire”, “Ibihu”, “Warabinyibagije”, “ Tabara”, and “Ihangane,” she says. After two years, the songster let out a second album in 2020 known as, “Umusore nkwiye gukunda” that also consisted of 10 songs. These included, “Imva yanjye”, “Nyiringabo”, “Umusore nkwiye gukunda”, “Impundu”, “Yari wowe”, “Ibishwambagara”, “Umugani”, “Mukunde”, and others. She is now working on the third album titled, “Isengesho ry’urukundo”, with 10 songs like, “Mfite inshuti”, “Gumana nanjye”, and “Turagushima”, to name a few. The vocalist describes her music journey as tough, especially when she had just started singing because she needed money for recording and making videos, yet at that time she was a student who didn’t have a job. She is, however, perturbed by the fact that many people don’t believe that gospel artistes should be paid for their songs, as they believe serving God should be free. Her worry is, ‘how can gospel music be supported without finances?’ Mushimiyimana says that compared to secular music, gospel music isn’t that complicated because there are fans that resonate and are touched by the music and come in to support financially, a thing she appreciates and doesn’t take for granted. She has seen God save people through her songs and others give testimonies via social media and radio. “I have heard testimonies from dissimilar people that my songs helped them reform and turn to God, while others got baptised through listening to my songs,” she says. Mushimiyimana has gained true friendships from serving God. And she is wired to keep serving God as she draws many souls to Him. Her songs can be accessed through her YouTube channel, ‘Sister Yvonne Mushimiyimana.’
