GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Banza Mukalay has spent his life as a champion for refugees. The pastor is now an American Citizen, but he was originally born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He came to the United States after spending 15 years at a refugee camp in Tanzania.
Mukalay leads the Restoration Community church, a relatively small congregation housed inside Wesley Park United Methodist Church in Wyoming. He started the church in 2013 as a place other refugees could come to hear the word of god in their native tongue, since Mukalay speaks 5 languages.
One of the congregants in the pews for years was Patrick Lyoya. Both Lyoya and Mukalay fled Congo in search of safer lives. Mukalay said he always appreciated Patrick's presence, and merely by showing up consistently he provided an example for other young refugees to look up to.
"Refugees are all over the world, not only in America," Mukalay said. "We are connected. We call and talk to each other and we chat. People have called from everywhere asking about what happened to Patrick."
Mukalay says his last conversations with Lyoya were about the future. Banza said Patrick was working to provide a good life, working his jobs to provide for a family, and Mukalay had nearly convinced him to sing in the church's choir.
"I love this country even now. I love America so much, but I feel like this is not a place to live if we can be in this situation," Mukalay said. "Young [people], they have a future. They can do something that can help community, church, maybe the entire nation."
Patrick's death has hit him hard, and the racially motivated killing of 10 black people in a buffalo supermarket has him fearful for the lives of all black refugees in America.
"We are good neighbors," he said. "We don’t come here to do something bad. We come here because we are looking for safety, security and our freedom."
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