The Diocese of Texas announced today that it has established a fund for the Ahimbisibwe family. The Rev. Israel Ahimbisibwe, his wife Dorcas and five-year-old son Jay were found murdered in their west Houston apartment February 2, 2015. “The fund will help to defray funeral expenses--returning bodies to Uganda if that is what the family wants--and to establish an educational fund for the two sons, Emmanuel, 17, and, Isaac, 19,” said Bob Biehl, diocesan treasurer. See http://www.epicenter.org/giving to make a donation or mail a check to The Episcopal Diocese of Texas, 1225 Texas St., Houston, TX 77002 and note Ahimbisibwe Fund on the check.
Police have not released a cause of death or any indication of motive for the murders. The bodies were found Monday after repeated attempts by church members to contact the family went unanswered. Ahimbisibwe had failed to show up for church services on Sunday.
A prayer vigil at Holy Spirit, where Ahimbisibwe had served and taught Christian education in the school, filled the church Monday evening. Across town, at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, where Ahimbisibwe was vicar, a diverse congregation of more than 150 friends and parishioners gathered to remember the family. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Bishop Andy Doyle led the Redeemer congregation in prayer and asked for people to share their thoughts about the family. One young girl remembered Ahimbisibwe praying for her Girl Scout troupe, a mother wondered how she would tell her five year old child that his best friend was dead and another prayed for the “gift of tears” because she “felt frozen” by the tragedy.
A University of Houston student who had worked with Ahimbisibwe in campus ministry talked about the plans they had made. “There was so much we wanted to do and Israel was so excited about it,” he said. Yet another spoke of the desire Israel and Dorcus had for their sons’ educations. Others gave thanks for having “a priest who was so full of love and knowledge.” And others asked for prayers for Emmanuel and Isaac and for the family in Uganda who were just learning of the tragedy.
Additional prayer services will be held Tuesday evening in Austin at 6 p.m. in Christ Chapel at the Seminary of the Southwest (501 East 32nd Street, Austin, TX 78705) and at the University of Houston in the chapel of the A.D. Bruce Religion Center (3800 Cullen Boulevard, Houston, TX 77004) at 7:15 p.m.