Bevalyn's second chance at life

 

For 30 minutes, Bevalyn Kyarisiima’s friends prayed over her as she lay unconscious. All the while, she was going through an out-of-body experience where she could see her lifeless body and hear her friends’ summons, but could not answer. She shared her experience with Samuel Lutwama

 

When you first meet Bevalyn Kyarisiima, 30, she appears like someone who has led quite an eventful life — she speaks with a delightful accent and is very warm and friendly. She smiles and greets me as we settle down for the interview. 

 

She starts by telling me about her passion for jewellery and photography which are her source of livelihood. She is wearing big earrings and bangles that she made herself. 

 

“I have always loved fashion. My mother noticed my interest and helped me to nurture it,” remarks the bubbly mother of two. Yet she has a less glamorous story. 

 

Kyarisiima has had what she termed several ‘demonic ’ attacks, including one near-death experience. For over 30 minutes, she was believed dead. 

 

“My spirit was separated from my body as I ascended to heaven,” she says. “While there, I met God who gave me another chance to preach the gospel,” she says. 

 

She recalls her school days as being dominated by strange attacks which, among other factors, led her to drop out of school. “I was such a bright girl in school until regular nightmares affected my performance drastically,” she says.

 

She later started experiencing sudden blackouts while in class and later could not grasp what was being taught. The attacks would worsen while she was doing exams. 

 

While in S4 at St Paul Secondary School in Makindye, she had a strong foreboding that her life was about to end, but could not fathom why. Kyarisiima had been raised in a church-going family and knew that it was time to seek divine intervention.

 

With the help of her mother, she committed her life to God. But before long, she tumbled off the spiritual trail in pursuit of love and comfort.

 

She fell in love with the man of her dreams, a half cast with whom she had two children. 

 

“As a young girl, I had always envisioned falling in love with a white guy or half cast, so his coming into my life was like a dream come true,” she says. He swept her off her feet and she hoped that he would marry her. But he mistreated her. 

 

After their first child was born, the couple stayed in Burundi. Shortly after the birth of the second child, the relationship ended. The two have not seen each other since then.

 

She had other relationships that brought no satisfaction. “I felt that by having a man around me, I would feel complete, but  none of the relationships I have had has brought me any real fulfilment, ” she says.

 

She chose to immerse herself in looking after her children and helping her mother. 

 

In the meantime, the attacks did not stop. She visited various churches seeking deliverance. She later settled at Worship Harvest Church in Naalya, where she joined a fellowship called G12 meeting to pray on Wednesdays. 

 

On February 9, this year, she felt that she needed to stay with her prayer partner, only identified as Olivia. She prayed with Olivia’s family till the wee hours of the morning. The following day, she woke up with pain in her right arm and asked Olivia’s family to pray for her. Little did she know that they were in for a violent showdown.

 

Later, she was shown a video clip that was taken during her deliverance. “It was scary, it was like a horror video clip,” she narrates.

 

Kyarisiima was told to repent and renounce all her sins, then ask Jesus to be lord of her life. The moment she uttered the words: “ I receive Jesus as my lord and saviour,” something grabbed her from her seat and threw her down. From that time, some forces started strangling her as she gasped for breath.

 

Prayers were intensified, but she felt that her life was ebbing away. Her feet suddenly became cold and her neck became stiff. She could still hear the echoes of prayer from her friends, but felt her spirit was leaving her body. Some of her friends noticed that she was gone, but kept on praying fervently, hoping against hope that God will restore her to life.

 

Her instinct told her that the moment she was out of her body, she was physically dead. She looked at her lifeless body while her friends prayed harder.

 

Meanwhile in her spirit, she was crying and pleading with her friends that she did not want to die. Along the way, they started giving up.  “In my spirit, I saw one of my friends moving out of the room as she emphasised that I was gone,” she says.

Meanwhile, she kept crying while pleading with God to spare her for her children’s sake. “Who is going to take care of my children, since I am both their mother and father?” she cried bitterly. One of her friends noticed drops of tears slip from her eyes. That gave the group renewed strength to intensify the prayer. 

 

“I could see and hear them calling my name, but I was helpless to answer them,” she recalls. Reluctantly, her spirit resigned to what she described as angelic forces. “Suddenly, I saw three strange angelic beings coming towards me; I knew they were angels. In a friendly tone, they told me that they had come for me. I tried to resist them, but they were irresistible. That is how I was taken to heaven.”

 

Somehow, she felt at ease that she was going to heaven, but again the idea of leaving her children behind kept bothering her. 

 

Kyarisiima says the radiance of the face of God appeared: He was gentle. Brimming with tears, I explained why I did not want to die at that time. 

 

“Oh God, I would appreciate to be here with you, but who will take care of my children?” I kept crying. But God was not moved by my emotions as He stretched His hand towards me. Soon, I was seated on His lap, and then I heard Him saying: “I know what you have gone through and I still know what you are likely to go through, no matter what you have done, I still love you because I chose you before you were born.” 

 

Despite His assurance, I kept crying for my children. Then the golden radiance faded into something like a video screen where I was shown the future of my children. In the video, my two children were grown ups and both serving God. God told me that my children’s future is already settled. 

 

He assured me He was not taking me because she had an unaccomplished mission on earth. The voice kept on asking me whether I believed. The moment I said: “Yes I believe,” I was instantly restored to my body. 

 

To my friends, it was a miraculous experience, but for me, it was a new lease of life, filled with a divine mandate. 

Four months since that experience, she is yet to come to terms with the assignment ahead of her.

 

She still goes to her local church, but at the same time, the mandate on her life remains an overriding mission. “One thing I know is that I have to do my Father’s will before He summons me back,” she says.