Congolese family band hold concert to raise poverty awareness

The Ntiboneras Band held a concert at the LaHaye Event Space Tuesday, Feb. 13, to raise awareness about the extreme levels of poverty in Congo, their country of origin.

The band is made up of three brothers and five sisters who fled from Congo as refugees, lived in Kenya and are now living in North Carolina.

Lead singer John Ntibonera shared how the Ntiboneras started their band as a way to share the gospel and allow people to encounter God through a worship experience.

The concert was filled with contemporary songs and traditional Congolese and Kenyan music, some of which was sung in Swahili. The band of siblings made it a goal to convey their love for Jesus and combine that with their love for music in a way that joins people of various backgrounds.

Instrumentalist Emmanuel Ntibonera said that the family’s hope is to continue to go back to their home country and minister to their people. Back in March 2017, he started a campaign through the Ntibonera Foundation to obtain 25,000 pairs of donated shoes for the people of Congo and hosted Convocation with Stephen Curry.

“When everything was going crazy (in Congo), when I had no hope, I had to believe and have faith that God is going to deliver me and my family,” Emmanuel Ntibonera said.

The family lived as refugees in Kenya and were unable to go back to Congo for fear of losing their lives. Now that they are in a position to give back, said they use every opportunity they can to lend a hand to their people.

“I didn’t know I was going to be the one to go back and change lives,” Emmanuel Ntibonera said. “I was not expecting that. I thought I was gonna die, I thought that my life would be gone, but God is faithful.”

As worship leaders, the band always makes it a point to remind themselves that their music is more than just a form of entertainment, but a ministry that God has allowed them to use to transform the lives of other people.

Liberty senior and concert attendee Malaika Butler was interested in hearing a different type of worship sound apart from the contemporary music she was used to listening to. Butler believes that being a worship leader is more than just singing and playing an instrument — it is a lifestyle.

“You can have a worship experience anywhere and it doesn’t even have to be with instruments,” Butler said. “It’s literally your spirit just overflowing with praise and adoration to Jesus.”

The soon-to-be Liberty grad attended the Ntiboneras concert live for the first time and went with the expectation of being able to get a glimpse of Congolese culture through music. She first saw them in Christmas Coffeehouse and Global Focus Week’s Taste of Nations but never heard their original music.

Emmanuel Ntibonera went on to further state how nations cannot continue to live comfortably knowing that there are other people barely able to get the necessities of life like food, shelter and clothing.

He said that freedom is a gift and it is a blessing to wake up without the fear of going to war—that is why he and his family continue to minister through music because music brings unity.

“I was running (from Congo), but I’m not running anymore,” Emmanuel Ntibonera said. “Now I’m going back to give back. That’s why we use our platform and our music to spread the love of Christ and at the same time, to change lives.”

With their nonprofit organization, the Ntiboneras have been able to donate supplies to the people of Congo, and are continuously raising awareness about poverty with the hope that one day soon, poverty will be eradicated.

Emmanuel Ntibonera said that students do not have to wait until they have $1 million dollars in a bank account, or until they get a job or graduate to start changing lives — they can start now.

The family band hopes to continue to share the gospel through music. They are also hoping to have more opportunities to give back to Congo and to inspire others to give back to their communities as well.

 

 

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