Mahanaim Revival International Ministries (MA.R.I.M.) was established in 2005 at KYAKA II Refugee Camp in Republic of Uganda. It was founded by the visionary Bishop Joseph Rukesha as a small counselling ministry, when he found himself in this refugee camp as himself a refugee too.
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He and his fellow refugees experienced many challenges and hardships of life. The hope of many people was cut off. They were discouraged because of their strange new status of life as refugees. Some had lost family members.
Most had lost their own properties in their own countries. Now they were dependent on people in a strange country. This fact caused some people to harm themselves and even to kill themselves. Many didn’t wish to continue living, facing this kind of challenging life. Others involved themselves in using drugs so that they would not have time to think about themselves. .
This became the main burden of this man of God. Witnessing the tragedies which were happening, he zealously and compassionately approached those that felt that their hope was cut off. He tried to encourage them and build them up again by having hope in the living word of God. This ministry of counselling was successful! Many people’s hearts were touched and helped by the word of God. Every day they attended fellowships and prayer meetings in the small tent which was built by the man of God for the counselling ministry. The number was increasing day by day!
The members of this fellowship declared that the fellowship could be turned into a church. This way they could celebrate religious ceremonies such as burials, marriages, and the Lord’s Supper. Hence, M.A.R.I.M. was established! It started under a tree. In fact, that tree was the first shelter of the church, for the tent was no longer enough to large enough for the growing congregation. After that a building was built which needed to be enlarged year after year as the number of members grew continuously. etc.
After a while the church became a living source of water which restored and strengthened many people’s spiritual lives. This caused a large number of people to join the church day by day. Then it spread in various Ugandan districts and even crossed the border of Uganda into the Republic of Kenya. There M.A.R.I.M. church branches were also established! In 2015 Bishop Joseph Rukesha accepted an opportunity offered by UNHCR in its Refugee Resettlement Program to be brought to Nashville Tennessee in the USA. Together with his fellow minister Reverend Pastor Ruhimbya Mirama, Bishop Joseph established the M.A.R.I.M. Church in Nashville Tennessee in November 2016. (Pastor Ruhimbya Mirama and Bishop Joseph hard already worked together establishing the church in Uganda.) In the USA they are focusing on non-English speaking African communities. It’s difficult for these immigrants to attend American churches because of language barrier. Many decide not to attend any American Church. These two men of God are committed to touch and reach out to these communities. Has it been successful? Now many people gather and worship together using the local African languages which is easier for them to understand than English. Hence M.A.R.I.M. Church was established in the USA, in the State of Tennessee, the city of Nashville, having been recognised as a non-profit organization with a 501(3) approval in 2019.