A disabled pastor who enables others spiritually

Kanisius Gacura is a senior pastor of Nyabugingo worship centre based in Nyamirambo. He describes life as an incredible journey that has taken him up and down the different roads of pain, happiness, growth,interaction, love and fear. But he confesses that he is proud of what he is today. He went through sweeping currents of life. Born in 1979, in Luwero Uganda, in a family of three, Gacura, in his childhood, went to church sporadically. One time, he found himself between a rock and hard place when a dangerous snake bit him amidst gunfire during war time in the 1980s. Gacura was tending cattle when he was bitten by a snake. The leg got swollen and the hospitals were not operational. He sat in his bedroom for almost a week after the snake bite, praying and waiting for a healing miracle. It took him days to acquire medication. After months, maggots were oozing out of his leg and his father used pesticides to kill the maggots. His father realized that his health situation was grave so he decided to take him to Bukaragi hospital amidst gunfire. Gacura, now clad in a dark blue suit and a bright yellow tie, explains that after that tragic event, he was attacked by a deadly polio virus which left him crippled. It turned his life into another nightmare. “After diagnosis I have tried to help but failed,” a doctor told Gacura’s father, which drove Gacura in deep thoughts, questioning the presence and love of God. It was painful and as a result he became crippled. “I had to adapt to a new painful life,” he says with a tinge of bitterness. From then he had to start crawling, since his parents couldn’t afford to buy a wheelchair and slowly by slowly, he had to overcome and adapt to a new way of moving. His parents advised him to learn shoe repairing skills, but he didn’t want to join that industry. He became miserable and had multiple long sleepless nights. He saw death coming his way every passing second. He says that he tried to commit suicide three times. On the third time he heard a voice convincing him to become a born again Christian, and after three weeks he had to crawl to church and give his life to Christ. “By that time I felt that God was loving and strong. My pastor, David Seruwagi, encouraged me to read about the miracles in the bible that God has done. This changed my way of perceiving life. I went back to school in 1993. My father took me to an orphanage center in Nakaseke, in the then Luwero district.” He recalls that his pastor was so good to him at that orphanage. He went through primary school without a wheelchair but fortunately in 1994 he got one which eased his mobility. The passion for a better future was a driving force behind his success. After his A levels, Gacura joined Yesu Akwagala Bible College in Kampala, with the motive of inspiring hope to the hopeless. He acquired a degree in theology. He remembers the days he had to climb a hill on his way to the bible school. He had a strong commitment which was unshakable and undefeatable. Gacura later had to move to Rwanda and embark on the long journey of trying to start a church and start a pastoral life: “Today I can visualize the future. At times I get humbled when I see myself; a crippled man preaching and I give God the glory.” His comfort and satisfaction are accompanied with a glowing smile. Since he became a born again Christian in 1997. Pastor Gacura says that God has supplied huge deposits of peace and joy in his life. Today he lives a happy married life and God has blessed him with a beautiful wife and two children. I am happy to say that I am a father. “Jesus has not only changed me and given me love for others, I am a better father, husband, and worker,” he says. The void left by low self esteem and anger has gone. Now a man with vision is to see people who have lost hope transformed, since he has gone through a lot. “I have walked different roads of pain, happiness, growth,interaction, love, and fear. So I take myself as someone who can be used by God to positively impact on the lives of people who feel downtrodden because I have been there.” As he moves from ashes to glory, as a senior pastor, he has a vision to start a bible school, primary school, secondary and an orphanage centre. At the core of his ministry he has a big vision for Rwanda. He admires President Paul Kagame who always urges Rwandans to preserve their dignity. He professes that when God creates a person he deposits a treasure in everybody and people are required to dig it up. Pastor Gacura armed with a degree in theology, currently believes he can stand and encourage those who feel downtrodden. With all the mysterious moments he has gone through, the pastor seems most approachable, most inviting, most available and most human. Ends