From Zimbabwe to BYU-Idaho: Ebenezer Rawanga’s Path of Faith and Preparation

May 2026

Ebenezer Rawanga didn’t grow up imagining college as a realistic option.

He was raised in Zimbabwe in areas where resources were scarce—at times, nonexistent. His parents worked relentlessly to provide for their family. “Poverty is far more complex than people often realize,” Rawanga explains. “It has nothing to do with being unintelligent. . . . We work[EC1.1]ed very hard. The challenge was that the work simply did not pay, and stable employment was extremely difficult to find.”

His mother’s message to him never changed. “Education is the key,” she would tell him. Rawanga took school seriously, even when he couldn’t see a path forward. He studied with a sense of determination. “I just had a strong feeling within me that one day it would happen,” he says. “I thought being prepared and not having an opportunity was better than having an opportunity and not being prepared.”

That preparation mattered.

A turning point came in late 2017, when Rawanga was living in a small town called Bindura. He was doing whatever work he could—construction, selling fruits and vegetables. One day he passed a chapel and saw missionaries outside. Their presence surprised him. “I thought it was a uniform,” he says, because in Zimbabwe school uniforms[EC2.1] are common and religious teaching typically requires formal training. His first question wasn’t just curiosity. It was disbelief: “How can you be a missionary?”

Missionaries began teaching him soon after. Although he had grown up around Christian faith, some parts of the gospel were new—Joseph Smith, the First Vision, and the Book of Mormon. Rawanga was eventually baptized on February 24, 2018. With limited job prospects after finishing his advanced-level studies, he spent much of his time serving with the missionaries, which strengthened his desire to serve a mission himself. Local leaders invited him to serve a “mini mission” for two transfers alongside full-time missionaries, and in 2019 he was called to the Uganda Kampala Mission.

After his mission, Rawanga felt impressed to reach out to his mission president[EC3.1] about education opportunities. Through continued service, leadership, and relationships formed through the Church, he eventually connected with a family in Idaho who helped make attending BYU-Idaho possible for him. “We’re very, very close,” he says. “They’re like my family here.”

Now a junior at BYU-Idaho, Rawanga is majoring in electrical engineering while working toward an even bigger goal: medical school. His hope is to return to Zimbabwe and serve where needs are great. “My plan is to go and help back home,” he says.

As an international student, finances remain a constant challenge, but Rawanga says BYU-Idaho’s three-track system has been crucial—allowing him to work full-time during his semester off to fund the rest of his schooling. He also points to the impact of donors and sponsors. “You may think you’re helping one person,” he says, “but with every international student, you’re helping a lot of people behind them. It’s a big chain of people.”

Rawanga also serves as a Student Leadership Ambassador. In that role, he has participated in settings where devotional speakers and apostles meet directly with student leaders. “These interactions helped me see how intentional BYU-Idaho is about shaping disciples and leaders,” he says. “It has strengthened my sense of belonging, purpose, and responsibility to represent the university with integrity and gratitude.”

For Rawanga, BYU-Idaho has offered more than a degree. It has provided spiritual strength, access to the temple, and mentors who want him to rise. He says, “God does inspire us. . . . It’s like part of the chessboard; He’s moving the parts. He sees our efforts, and He multiplies them.”