God has a unique way of intervening in situations that seem to baffle men and bring them to the end of themselves.
When Douglas, a GOA friend and partner, offered to fund and help implement a follow-up mission at Kitere, no one foresaw the divine guidance of God that awaited those that took part in this memorable event. It was like God specifically initiated this mission with some specific people in mind who he wanted us to search out and reach with the Gospel and lots of compassion.
We arrived at Kitere on Tuesday 24th Feb and were received by the local Pastor Jeremiah Ogutu together with other church leaders. After a brief meeting, we all congregated at the local mud and Mabati semi permanent structure that is the GOA Kitere. There we prayed and asked for Gods grace and mercy as we prepared for the mission ahead.
At Kitere primary school where we first visited for an inreach to the students, we spoke God’s word and interacted with the students and teachers. The headmistress, Mrs. Akun, was pleasantly elated when at random; the missioners picked out 4 students and offered to replace their tattered uniforms. It later turned out that one of the four was a child whose mother had been turning up early each morning at the Goa Kitere for morning prayers while the rest were orphans.
Later in the afternoon, during a seminar at the church, the leaders shared experiences and learned that God’s call to leadership brings with it a sense of security and power that should make all leaders confidently serve others without fear or reservations. It was this, they heard, that moved Paul to preach the gospel and start many congregations which he was not afraid to nurture and then leave to men like Timothy as revealed in the Ephesians, his letter do them while he was in prison,
At Kitere Technical, Institute, Brother Douglas used his past experience and skills to inspire the students to excel in this life, leave a legacy and then live eternally through Christ. The outreach to students and teachers also took us to St. Phillips high school where Wycliffe, an orphan, got an opportunity to meet the team and share his experiences.
We found that he, having no one to turn to, survived by studying during the weekdays and doing menial jobs during the weekends in order to get food. He went to the class on sandals and showed signs of fatigue and depression. Wycliffe was staggered by our divine encounter and he cried a lot when the mission’s team invited him for lunch at the hotel where they were staying. The mission team promised to follow up on him and help raise funds for his education and upkeep as a boarder in the same school.
At St. Cecilia academy, the team found a man of incredible love and grace. David, a polio victim whose feet are crippled, runs an academy of 103 children. Many of these children are either total orphans or of single parents who cannot manage to pay school fees for them. David works at his small hotel and from his earnings, pays school fees and gives the children breakfast and lunch.
This was a sobering experience for many in the mission team and they left saying they had met the greatest man in Kitere and who to cap it all, accommodates 12 total orphans in his house in addition to three of his own. David’s impact in the community was further seen in his ability to mobilize and bring all the youths to the church for a youth seminar.
Other outreaches to the community saw Douglas, Sarah and David reach out to two other destitute orphans who they clothed and supplied with food stuffs. These compassion outreaches were crowned with a seminar at the church where Sarah spoke on the compassionate nature of the church. (Proverb 19:17). later in the evening, the film, passion, of the Christ attracted the audience of about 300 people.
The climax of these in reaches and outreaches to schools, institutions and larger community at Kitere culminated with a soccer game at the Moi Institute of Technology. Heavy pains and winds pounded the ground leading to the match being called off. Douglas spoke to the youths and passionately called on them to preach peace, love to all communities, respect to each other and always, like him, remember they will one day grow old but won’t be comfortable as he was now if they failed to respond to the gospel when they were still young
The Sunday service at Kitere saw a revived church respond to a sermon on the Lord’s prayer where the congregation was taught to always look up to God for daily provisions in their lives, honour God’s nature in whatever they do, pray and expect His kingdom to be revealed in their homes, lives, villages and church, living in God’s will by forgiving each other daily as God forgives. The service was later followed by a leader’s meeting where they reaffirmed their commitment to God’s word, love for each other and unity in order to continue serving God and men.
The Kitere follow-up mission succeeded in spreading God’s word and love, reviving failing hearts in the Kitere community. God, working through the few missionaries, reached out to the students, orphans, parents, youths and teachers and through His word opened their lives to the opportunities that exists when they put God first. As a result many opened up their hearts, homes and lives and promised to live for and serve God.
Douglas, apart from helping fund this follow up mission, summed it all by observing that the bottom line, after all is said and done, is that all men, women, youths and children from all backgrounds, be they teachers, students, school drops, smokers and drug addicts, be brought to the point of hearing and knowing of God’s great love, comprehend it and respond to it for salvation. We all agreed.
S N. Njuguna, March 2010 - GOA Sports Evangelism - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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