Euphrate was born in 1968 to Christian parents. Sadly, the family’s situation changed drastically when his father was killed in the civil war of 1972 and their possessions and livelihood were stolen.These were dark times and things were difficult throughout Euphrate’s childhood.
In 1983, when Euphrate was fifteen years old, he started to attend a boarding school for the first time. A number of the students were hostile but he noticed that the Christian students were different. They offered love and care to the new student, inviting him along to Bible studies. Euphrate became a Christian and the whole direction of his life changed.
Throughout the rest of his schooling and later at university, Euphrate would lead worship teams and evangelistic outreaches. He developed a burning passion to see the youth of Burundi turn to God. He says he wants every young person “to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ.”
In 2001, Euphrate felt called to give up his secular role in the Statistics Institute and to work for Youth for Christ (YFC). Moving from a secure and stable position with a handsome salary to living by faith and pioneering YFC with founder Freddy called for real courage; but Euphrate’s testimony is that God has always been faithful in providing for his family’s needs. He has served YFC for twenty years and is now the National Director of the organisation.