Pastor Vincent Kitagenda Kyakonye together with his wife Kevin Angeline Kitagenda founders of Ransom Ministries Kasana in Nakifuma are leaders dedicated to improving the livelihoods of the members of his congregation who are mostly poor and vulnerable: as well as the surrounding communities. Nakifuma is one of the counties in Mukono District in Uganda. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics the county has a population of about 229,800 people.
It is also important to note that Uganda remains one of the poorest countries. As of 2020 the poverty rate was 21.4% and is believed to have fallen as a result of Covid-19 since the government imposed harsh measures such as restricted movement (air, road and water transport were halted), closure of shops, schools, churches on the population in a bid to control the spread of the virus which in turn crippled the economy and the people living in Kasana in Nakifuma are no exception.
Contrary to popular belief that the congregants are supposed to give the little are supposed to give the little they have; Pastor Vincent believes that you cannot pour from an empty cup. Instead of pestering his sheep for offering he tries his best to provide since most of the people that he pastors run to him whenever they are in need. Majority are single mothers that have been left to raise their children with minimal or no help from their husbands, others are victims of sexual assault, the ill and elderly widows taking care of their grandchildren.
Ransom Ministries Kasana has been in existence for twenty-three years, it was founded on 19th July, 1998. Pastor Vincent together with his wife have taken to looking after a lot of the families in the community; skilling the youth and also providing some basic needs to the congregants. Their month’s schedule includes visits to some of his members at least twice a month. In a month he visits over 5 homesteads within Kasana community on top of all his other responsibilities.
Kevin is a trained seamstress, she makes all types of clothes and is currently learning how to make sweaters. Upon noticing that this could be a lucrative business; decided to start a skill center at the church with some help from the different partners that they interact with. The skill center has 11 sewing machines and the proprietors of this skill center have hope that they will get many more as time goes on. Before the pandemic 34 students were enrolled at the Ransom Ministries Church skill center, as a result of the effects of the virus on the economy some dropped out and as of 30th October 2021, only 10 students are still enrolled for the program. Majority of the parents that facilitated these children can no longer afford the cost involved to take their children through the program.
Pastor Vincent on top of being a teacher of the word is also a farmer. On over two acres of family land he rea and also grows a wide range of crops to support both his family and his congregants that cannot afford to toil for food. A day in his life is taxing, the Pastor is up as early as 6am to go handle multiple issues on his farm, once he is finished, he will ride his boda (motorcycle) to where depending on where he has to facilitate Bible college class that day.
Pastor Vincent Partners with Veritas College International to equip different leaders in the church with Bible Knowledge around the central region of Uganda. The moment his classes are done he will return to Kasana to visit some of his congregants to ensure that they are doing well.
Whenever he gets his salary from teaching at the Bible College, he will take off his tithe, and use the rest to take care of his family and flock in rotations. The people that would have received help from him the previous months will have to wait a couple more months until he is able to return to their homestead for the sole purpose of providing food and basic needs of the different families that he looks after.
On top of trying to meet the needs of his community, managing his farm and running the skill center with his wife Pastor Vincent is a very enterprising man, he is also a member of the Village Saving and Loans Association a SACCOs where he is able to save money which he uses to serve both God and his community. Joyce Namale a member of this SACCO is a testimony of its credibility as she has been able to start construction of her home with her savings over the years.
The order with which he runs his church is very commendable, he documents each and everything about his congregation and knows almost all three quarters of them by name, both the young and the old.
Pastor Vincent and his wife preach the gospel of hard work and live by example. They believe that if they help as many people; most especially the youth within their community engage in lucrative activities and programs such as farming and tailoring they will be able to not only to fend for themselves and their families but also transform their community economically.
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