Pastor Emmanuel Sitaki

History of ERM (Evangelical Revival Ministries)
 
Pastor Emmanuel Sitaki Kayinamura is the founder and President of ERM. He was born in Ngoma-Butare in Rwanda, Central Africa. Emmanuel's family religion was conservative Roman Catholic. Emmanuel grew up in the country of Rwanda, a country that has been historically divided. In 1959, Rwanda experienced the first genocide among the two main tribes. There many people killed, and those who were able to escape this massacre were exiled to the surrounding countries, such as Burundi, Congo Kinshasa, Congo Brazzaville, Uganda, Tanzania and some fled to Europe, to Canada and to the United States. The population of Rwanda consists of three tribes: Hutus, Tutsis and Twas (Pigmy).
 
In 1982, Emmanuel received the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior and became a true Christian. This was in a different evangelical church than his family; "It was really hard for me, I was persecuted by my family because they were in a different church than me. I was beaten and often kicked out the house, but thank God because those circumstances helped me to grow up spiritually", says Emmanuel.
Emmanuel is married and is the father of two children, Noella and Daniel, one adopted orphan (a relative); Jacqueline. He's also financially responsible for 9 other orphans (all relatives) of the 1994 genocide.

After the independence of Rwanda in 1962 the successive governments continued to be divisive in their political practice. For example, in 1973, some who were continuing their high school and university studies were given death threats and many of them fled to the surrounding countries. It was at this time that several of Emmanuel's older brothers and sisters left the country, some fled to Burundi and others to Congo-Kinshasa. The existing government of Rwanda at this time was trying to eliminate one tribe while giving the other all the power and privilege.  It was during this same year that the government of President Habyarimana (Rwanda's president before the genocide) instituted a national policy of regional “balance” prohibiting minority children from pursuing further educational studies. Given this segregationist and divisive policy imposed upon the population, the ruling tribe considered themselves sovereign and the rest were squelched, no longer having a political voice or country of their own.
 
Being in the minority and thus hindered from pursuing further studies in Rwanda, in 1982, Emmanuel was obligated to pursue his high school studies in a different African country, Congo Kinshasa. He finished his high school studies and obtained his diploma in General Education in 1988, he then began college studies at the university of Kinshasa graduating with a BS degree in Computer management at the Institute of Statistics in 1992.
 
" I am a survivor of the genocide, and experienced some horrific events on returning home to Rwanda right after the genocide had taken place." Emmanuel said.
 
In a 90-day period beginning in April 1994 one million people (children, women and men) were killed during the genocide in Rwanda. 
 
" 35 of my close relatives were killed during the genocide, but through a miracle God protected my mother and I.  I was attending school in the Congo and returned to Rwanda in April 1996 to find only my mother and 9 orphans left alive. I found out that during the genocide my relatives had been buried alive in a mass grave, I had to make the arrangements to have them reburied officially. But God has given me a forgiving heart; I have forgiven those who killed my relatives, as I am an evangelist preaching the good news of salvation and repentance."
 
“ In 1996, while I was thinking about the situation in my country, and how as a Christian I can be used by God to help those in need, God touched my heart, and gave me a vision. While I was asking myself how would I take care of my 9 Orphans, God showed me a way to help the other orphans in Rwanda. The Orphans need host families, an education, medical care, and  financial support.  Bringing the Orphans and Widows together helps to meet these needs. I was working with the United Nations Development program in Rwanda from June 97 to March 2003; I was able to get some projects financed by UNDP for Orphans and Widows. God showed me that it would be possible to help them become financially stable if this program could be further developed. From that vision was born the ministry ERM (Evangelical Revival Ministries).”