Apostle James Mabwa of Victory Gospel Apostolic Ministries is a true testament to the saying, ‘Every successful person has a story’.
Speaking to Emmanuel Mwashumbe on Radio 47 on Story yangu segment, Mabwa narrated his life journey which evoked emotions.
Born in Kakamega in a monogamous family of eleven children, Mabwa is the seventh born in the family.
He describes his background as humble, noting that despite the large family, they lived in a two-roomed house consisting of a sitting room and their parents’ bedroom.
According to him, the sitting room turned into the childrens’ bedroom at night with every child having their sack as bed and blanket in the cemented house.
“Sisi tulikuwa tunalala sitting room. Tulikuwa tunaingia kwa gunia. Hiyo ndiyo blanketi na matress. Ukiumwa na kitu huwezi jikuna inabidi unapinduka tu,” he started.
At that time, Mabwa notes his father was a Newspaper agent in Kakamega County, distributing the paper throughout the County.
Despite that, Mabwa notes life wasn’t a bed of roses. He states they only had one meal a day and that was supper hinting his parents never received enough income to cater for their needs.
“Mchana ni ujitetee ukule mapera,” he highlighted.
Schooling seemed like a privilege to them and not a basic need as it should be. He was the highly educated in the family having reached Class seven.
“Mimi nilifika darasa la saba nikaachana nayo,” he pointed.
His life on the streets
Life took a tragic turn when his dad passed on when he was only seven years with his mum at 38 years.
He found himself on the streets as a street kid commonly referred to as chokoraa due to extremely tough situation at home.
Mabwa notes he received an heroic welcome from existing street children.
Stationed at Kakamega streets’ near Franca hotel and the current Western star hotel, he unfortunately says that life on the streets was not so different from home.
“Nikajipata chokoraa. Maisha ya nyumbani na street haikuwa tofauti kwa sababu nyumbani unaingia kwa gunia na street pia unaingia kwa gunia,”he sadly stated.
The struggle to get what to eat was real as begging also proved a hurdle at times. He therefore turned to street dustbins which at times availed rotten food but since he had no option, he was forced to eat.
“Ukienda kwa pipa unapata chakula. Nakumbuka siku moja niliokota mandazi ukivunja hivi inatoa vitu kama mahakamasi lakini lazima ule juu utafanya nini,” he told Mwashumbe.
He started abusing drugs emphasizing that fights was frequent amongst street kids.
“Nilijifunza kuvuta gum, ikafika mahali nikaigopa lakini bangi nilijaribu kuvuta kidogo maisha yakawa magumu. Wakati mwingine unapigwa na mnashinda mnapigana.”
His mother at one point tried her best to get him back home.
According to Mabwa, she paid his fellow street children to forcefully return him home but their efforts proved futile. He notes running to save his stay on the streets and he eventually succeeded.
Later after the incident when he was just 10 years, he became sturdy appearing as the head of the street kids. He continuously beat them up but still had to deal with the tough street life.
He recounts one kind incident from a Pastor who rescued him from eating filthy foods from the bins.
“Alioniona nikiokota chips, akaninunulia chips akanipa na akaniachilia nikaenda. Hiyo kitu sijawahi sahau hadi leo.”
In 1987, a white missionary who had a church in Kakamega and often came to the streets to preach to them led him to his salvation.
In September same year, the preacher came to offer his sermon as usual and made an altar call that saw the beginning of his journey with Christ since he got saved on that day.
Life after Salvation.
Mabwa notes he followed the preacher to his Pentecostal Church and stayed with him. The Missionary returned him to his mother and suggested he goes back to school.
He was taken back to school where he returned to Class Seven where he had previously dropped out.
However, lack of school fees affected his studies.
“Nilifukuzwa shuleni juu ya school fees lakini ilibidi baadaye nifanye mtihani.”
Being chased away from home
Mabwa notes his siblings and his mother ganged up against him and he was thrown out of their home because he left his mum’s Pentecostal Assembly of God (PAG) church to attend the missionary’s Pentecostal Church.
He left and went to stay with another Pastor who handed him a bicycle, encouraging him to join the boda boda business.
Here, he was to carry passengers and earn a living.
He notes every ride from Shirere to Lurambi would grant him Ksh 5 although the Pastor charged him Ksh. 100 for renting him the bicycle.
“Kufikisha hio 100 haikuwa rahisi,” he added noting that the Pastor’s wife one day chased him away after declaring they could no longer host him.
He then sought for help from another man who granted him a bicycle but this time charging Ksh 50 daily for renting him the bike.
He rented a mud house near a Chang’aa base costing Ksh 150 per month and went ahead with ferrying his passengers.
His house had a stone as a seat, one sufuria, one plate and one cup.
His life struggles continued. At some point, he couldn’t afford to pay rent and was forced to return the bike and move out.
His turning point
After leaving the residence, he went to look for a job at a Church.
Luckily, he landed a watchman role blended with other roles.
He was in charge of cooking for children and ensuring the Church compound’s cleanliness during the day while at night he resumed his job of being a watchman.
Unfortunately, all his effort and strive for financial freedom were thwarted since he never received any penny for his hardwork.
“Hiyo pesa sijawahi ona mpaka leo…Kiongozi wa Vijana siku moja nilipoenda kumwomba mshahara aliniambia nipande juu ya mti niambie kila mtu nimenyimwa mshahara,”he remembered.
His mum came looking for him urging him to return home and he gladly accepted.
At that time, his mum was vending porridge and Githeri.
He resolved to doing menial jobs for survival.
“Nilikuwa naenda nalindia mtu mtoto napata chakula, nafyekea mtu boma
Somebody would later grant him Ksh 200 and with the permission from his mum, he started hawking chapati in Kakamega with his main stage being Mumias stage.
The business came with its fair share of challenges recounting moments he dealt with heartless customers.
“Siku moja mtu akanimwagia uji nikimwitisha shilingi tano ya uji.”
As days went by, life started blossoming. He graduated to preparing chapati from one small packet per day to a bundle of wheat flour per day and he would make from around Ksh. 5,000 per day.
However, Cholera outbreak in Kakamega killed his business.
“Watu wa health walikuja wakamwaga uji yangu yote na wakatupa chapati zangu, nikashindwa cha kufanya tena.”
He married and learnt how to work in the matatu industry as a tout.
“Ikabidi nianze kazi ya manamba lakini kazi ya manamba ilikuwa ya ngumi kila wakati nikawachana nayo.”
Entry into Ministry
In 1990, Mabwa started preaching before opening his own church, Victory Gospel Apostolic Church in 2,000. He notes being the sole congregant in the Church for three months.
“Nilikuwa pekee yangu kwa kanisa, naimba, napiga makofi, naitisha sadaka, natoa halafu naiombea, naichukua naweka kwa mfuko hallafu naenda nyumbani.”
Further, he hilariously recounts how he got his first congregants who gradually grew overtime.
“Mtu wa kwanza alikuwa mlevi. Aliokoka akaenda nyumbani. Jumapili iliyofuata mke wake akaja kanisani kushuhudia mume wake hajalewa wiki mzima.”
He later rented a mud house as his church and today, Mabwa owns churches with one located in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
He teaches netizens on the importance of patience asserting that God eventually comes through for His faithfuls.
“Kwa Mungu kuna kungoja. Maisha haijafika mwisho. Inachukua muda lakini mwisho utabaki kufurahia…Leo niko na nyumba, gari, niko na kwangu na watoto wangu wamesoma,”Mabwa concluded.
