Refugee to Archbishop-elect-An Enthralling Autobiography

In answer to many requests from friends and students who know and love him, Archbishop-elect Laurent Mbanda, PhD, has written an enthralling book about his life as a refugee, and the ensuing compassion and desire to minister that began with a story of trust.

There were dangers and obstacles all the way, and suspense for anyone reading this book. Yet his calm nature, intelligence, and the right people in his path, serve to help him.

Each chapter moves Mbanda's story forward and each has its own gem of suspense. He was only about 5 years old when the journey began, setting the stage for the rest of his life.

In 1959, 300,000 frightened and hungry Rwandans were forced out of their homes into camps and settlements. He and his family were among them. Many nights during the next 6 years they went to bed without food.

By then he was 11 years old, tall for his age, heading for 6'5", and always hungry. He wished for manna like God gave the children of Israel every morning. He said, "The Lord will provide!" to himself over and over while searching the forest for food. And one morning it happened.

He asked his mother to boil some water and she reminded him that the forest was barren of food. Faint from hunger, he went anyway. And there, under a tree, was a perfect, round orange pumpkin. He carefully checked it out for a bomb, and finding none, he took it home. It was inspected again, boiled, eaten, and delicious. And young Mbanda trusted God for the rest of his life.

In his autobiography, Mbanda makes his accomplishments sound simple, and for him they were, because he has lived his life with this lesson leading him. "If there is one thing I have learned in my life," stated Mbanda, "it is not to give up-and definitely not to do so too soon."

He had a dream of going to high school, then Bible college. By age 20 he had a plan-to walk 500-miles across the continent to Kenya to go to high school. The day he left his settlement home, his frightened mother walked with him as long as she could, questioning him and begging him not to go. He ran ahead of her and didn't look back.

There were perils, bents in the road and suspense for anyone reading this story, i.e., having to turn around and retrace his steps, being thrown in jail, and much more. Throughout his 500-mile journey and before his Bible training begins in Kenya, it is clear that this man knows and trusts God. The reader is not surprised by his lifetime of strength, wisdom, gratitude, persistence, and humble service.

On April 14, 1984, he married his dear Chantal. Two months later, they left for the United States. Mbanda studied at seminaries Fuller and Denver and earned a Ph.D. from Trinity International University in Deerfield. God and his people provided. They were blessed with three wonderful children: Erica, Eric, and Edwin, who help and encourage their parents, and each other, in all they do. They reside in the States.

The Mbanda's love of children was exemplified when they moved to Rwanda while working with Compassion International. They cared for 28 Rwandan children and raised funds for the needy at Sonrise School-never turning away an orphan in need. In Chapter 11, "Caring for the Children," Chantal and Laurent brainstorm together to find ways of bringing hope and assistance to families embedded in poverty.

The horrors in Chapters 7 through 9- a calling into Africa, facing unthinkable terrors and returning to Africa"-the most poignant and dangerous part of the entire book, are on Mbanda's shoulders. In January 1993, he officially accepted Compassion International's offer to become a program developer in Nairobi. The Genocide against the Tutsi population erupted in Rwanda shortly after. It was the start of 100 days of slaughter in which over 1 million people were murdered and countless others were raped and traumatized. And he stayed, until the end.

Chapter 10, "Becoming Bishop" answers the question of how he became a minister, then a Bishop. Yet a change in this title will be in order this June, as Mbanda will be installed Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda-and its 11 dioceses. He said in his book that he always wanted to be a minister. And to this calling, with humility and trust, he has reached the peak of his mission.