E-mail: irhya@faithvancouver.ca

I am originally from Niger Republic in West Africa and my wife Marianne is from Switzerland. I was born and raised in Niger as Muslim. I completed my studies there worked as an accountant and business manager. My work has always been associated with the social help.

Helping others became my call when I met Jesus in 2002 while I was working for an NGO among my people in Northern Niger. Jesus became my Lord and Savior and He put the love of serving others in my heart. I met Marianne in Niger while she was working as Old Testament Bible Translator. After our wedding in Niger we moved to Switzerland where I did a bachelor’s in theology at a Bible seminary. Our 3 Children were born during our time in Switzerland. In 2010 we moved back to Niger to continue OT Bible Translation into my native language Tamajaq.

Following Jesus example, we did social work with people (Matthew 5 and 25) like grain banks and started gardening activities. We came to Vancouver in 2014 to study at Regent College. I finished my MA in OT studies last year. During my time here I came in contact with the First Nation people and their past touched me as I saw some similarities in their suffering with my own people. I am grateful to serve the Lord through Faith Fellowship Baptist Church, by showing His love and the way of salvation to the First Nations in Canada while continuing OT translation with SIM.