Shukurani Ingulima was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and at the age of 10, his parents kicked him out of the house because he was using drugs and stealing. Shukurani was forced to live on the street because he did not have anywhere else to stay. He ended up in Burundi and got involved with a group of drug users. Together they lived on the streets and stole things from people.

Shukurani and his team became a very big threat in the community where they were living. Everybody was afraid of them. Then, one day, he and his team stole a phone, not recognizing he was a pastor.

This pastor sent a group of young people to go investigate and possibly find the person who stole his phone because they knew exactly the place where Shukurani and his team of drug users usually hung out.

When they found Shukurani alone, they told him the person his group had stolen from was a pastor and he should return the phone. The next day, Shukurani came to the pastor’s home and confessed that he was the one who had stolen the phone. Pastor Augustin, a Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM) church planter and trainer full of compassion, shared the good news of Jesus with Shukurani.

Confronted with the Good News of the gospel and grace, Shukurani gave his life to Jesus that very day. The Lord restored the relationship that was broken between him and his parents. “I was able to preach the gospel to my parents—they all thought I was dead but Jesus kept me alive,” remembers Shukurani. Through his testimony, Shukurani’s mother accepted Jesus as her Savior. Shukurani prays constantly for his father to come to know the Lord so his father can be rescued just as he was.