A massacre separated three brothers, but the grace of God reunited them. Now, Krystaal exists to share that grace and the love of Christ with the world.

From students to refugees

Fabian Lwamba, one-third of the band Krystaal, remembers the excitement he felt starting college. He wanted to pursue a career in politics, following in his father's footsteps as his brother, Michel, was already doing.

"We wanted to make all this change for our country... because we know what's going on, but we don't really know better. But when we get there, we learn some realities," Fabian explained.

Then the student massacre of 1989 occurred, ordered by President Mobutu Sese Seko in Lubumbashi, Zaire, which is located in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The government came and killed us," said Fabian, who was only a few months into his college career at the time of the murders. "We woke up to a morning where we hear crying friends and neighbours and colleagues and people who came from out of town. In a country that was supposed to educate us, now it's killing us. We don't know what's going on."

A government ban was placed on speaking on the brutal events happening. Fabian, 17 years old at the time, became separated from his brothers, taking part in protests while Michel, 19, returned home to protect their younger brother Aliston, who was 14 at the time.

"In a country that was supposed to educate us, now it's killing us." -Fabian Lwamba

"We just refused to be voiceless, and we went on the street and demonstrated and said 'this really happened,'" Fabian stated.

That was the last time the Lwamba brothers would see each other for eight years.

Separated and presumed dead

The government responded to protestors with violence. "I was trapped in the demonstration, I was wounded in the demonstration," he recalled. He was eventually taken to the hospital, spared from death only due to his father's political position.

Michel and Aliston, meanwhile, sought assistance from the Catholic churches to escape from the Congo into Kenya. Eventually, Fabian was able to travel by food truck to Kenya also, where he was sent to a refugee camp different from that of his brothers. To the best of their knowledge, Michel and Aliston believed Fabian had been killed.

"We didn't realize we'll never see them again." -Fabian Lwamba

"They thought I died in the uprising," Fabian said. "I didn't have any hope to see them again. We didn't realize that would be the last time we would see our parents, we didn't realize we will never go home for dinner again.

"We didn't realize we'll never see them again."

The next several years for all three brothers were spent in refugee camps, housing up to 200,000 people at a time. "We didn't have a choice," Fabian recalls.

Deliverance

After four years in the camps, a group of students who wanted to learn more about the experiences of refugees arrived. Michel, as the camp's chairman, was appointed to speak with them. One of the students, named James, said they wished to share with those in the camp the love of Christ.

"He pulled out a bible and said, 'we want to pray with them, we want to experience what they're going through... God loves you. Sometimes God can close the door and open the window,'" Michel remembers.

That's when Michel says he first truly encountered God.

"There are church-goers and there are believers," Michel said.

"Right there, we'd been almost four years in a refugee camp. We don't know where Fabian is. He's presumed dead, and I told my brother, 'I don't know how long we're going to be here for, but God has the way...' That was the window for us."

Michel and Aliston told their story to the missionaries, and a year later arrived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan after being sponsored by a local church.

Their Canadian arrival was understandably shocking. The first time they saw snow, Michel says, it was a miracle.

"They arrive in this beautiful province, and it's frozen," chuckled Fabian. "The Saskatchewan River is not moving, and it's a miracle that people can walk on water here!"

"The message in that said help is on the way, but to me it sounded more like hope." -Fabian Lwamba

It was this phenomenon that eventually led to the reuniting of Fabian with Michel and Aliston. After Fabian was transferred to a new refugee camp —  remarkably, the one Michel and Aliston had just left — he came across a letter that Michel had sent to his friend Phillip, containing the photo he and Aliston had taken on the Saskatchewan River.

Promptly, St. David's Trinity United Church in Saskatoon mobilized to sponsor Fabian to come to Canada and join his brothers.

"That's the most beautiful Christmas gift I've ever received in my life," Fabian said. "It came with a John Deere hat... and the message in that said help is on the way, but to me, it sounded more like hope."

"A relief of the heart"

The reuniting of the Lwamba brothers was indeed an answer to their prayers. Despite the terror and uncertainty of the past eight years, and the knowledge that most of their family had not survived the massacre and unrest, Michel, Fabian, and Aliston still hold incredible gratefulness for God's deliverance and faithfulness.

"When we got back together, it was a time of both joy and tears, and we remembered how to sing again," said Fabian. "It's been quite a roller coaster of emotions through the journey of our lives."

"It's a relief of the heart... it's an expression of desperation, an expression of love and hope." -Aliston Lwamba

Although an emotional journey, the brothers believe that music and song can reach our souls in a unique way. Part of their mission as Krystaal is to bring that message and connection to those they meet and perform for.

"The praise and worship, the ministry of singing has been an essence of healing to us, and God has used it to slowly bring us to a full recovery," Fabian shared.

Aliston added, "at the same time, it's a relief of the heart... it's an expression of desperation, an expression of love and hope."

With the groups international success in the music world, Fabian hopes that the story of him and his brothers is one that will resonate with others experiencing difficult times. "Our story can be [shared] across this country, to encourage anybody in this land. Whoever is out there thinking it's over, just to tell them that until God says it's over, it's not over yet."

The Bible, he says, is a book telling of refugees, people displaced from their homes and delivered by God, something they can personally relate to but also feel bears importance for all, and especially in the church coming together to aid those in positions of despair.

"Everybody has a story to tell. God is a God of the broken... a lot of people misplaced went to brokenness and then overcame because of the power of the love of God."

"The praise and worship, the ministry of singing has been an essence of healing to us." -Fabian Lwamba

In the midst of the excitement of ministering and the still-present remembrance of the past, Krystaal gives thanks for the lives they've been blessed with in Canada.

"We remember that God has been good to us more than we can even imagine," said Fabian, "Among the few who survived the camp and even the war, here we are, together, in a beautiful place, and the contrast is undeniable."

Krystaal will be performing a special night of praise and worship at Calvary Temple on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in collaboration with Shabach City International. There is no cost to attend.