Serving The Needy

I do not know a man or woman who followed God wholeheartedly, burnt all the bridges and risked it all to join God’s mission and ever regretted. My story is not different; I have tasted of His goodness, His amazing love and have no regrets too. My journey has been of discovering how God has always been ready and willing to use any soul that has been laid down for the Gospel. I have now realized that if I ever chased anything, other than serving as a missionary, I would have settled for less and my life would have yielded little of what it was meant to and is capable of. This is my purpose and I was made for this.

I had thought missionaries live from donations and gifts, that all they do is walk around with big Bibles preaching to people, that they lived in bushes with people of less civilization. It happened that my definition was not only wrong but also inadequate. My little knowledge and experience on the subject were to blame for that kind of thinking.

After mission exposure, about two years of being discipled and of interaction with missionaries from different backgrounds serving in different parts of the world, I discovered the many options available to me to be part of God’s global mission. It didn’t take long for me to see exactly where I was perfectly suited. I wanted to go to the ground and live and serve the unreached people, those who have little or no access to the Gospel. By this time, I knew much about who the unreached people groups are in my country and had some statistics, including where they were found. I still remember one evening after a weird conversation with my neighbor that I went back to my room, closed the door and really prayed to God and made a commitment to step out anytime He told me to. Two hours later, I got an opening for me to move to Northern Kenya. It took just two hours for my prayers to be answered!

At the time, I had recently graduated from the university with a degree in Education Science. The schools in Northern and North Eastern Kenya had serious shortages of teachers especially for mathematics and science. Being a mathematics and chemistry teacher, I immediately got a chance. All along, my contact in North Eastern Kenya was a Somali, a radical Muslim. I didn’t know the exact place I was to go but I knew for sure that I needed to be there and that God would lead me to the right place where He wanted me to serve, therefore, I gladly went.

I grew up in a big town just outside Nairobi and I was used to the good life in the city. I enjoyed the finest of Kenya at home. I did not let that blind me to the reality that there were people in my country who needed to hear the Gospel and it was not up to them to come to Nairobi where there are Christians and many churches. I realized that it was the responsibility of people like me to take the Gospel to them. Finally, I made the long journey and I was warmly welcomed. I was quick to adapt to the climate and food so I settled and made a few friends. God placed all kinds of people on my path who helped me at different times till I stood on my feet.

The new area was like a different country to me, where even now meeting someone who is not a Somali is very difficult, where everyone is a Muslim, where there has never been a church and no Christians at all. All one hears are people glorifying their religion, people to whom religion is more important than life itself and who will do anything in the name of their religion. The land belongs to pastoralists who struggle to meet some basic needs and where no streets are tarmacked. Yet, despite all these, God deeply loves these people. He created them and He desires that they find Him. He cares about them even when the Church has turned a blind eye to their urgent need for the Gospel.

My thoughts were: Can these people accept Christ? Will there be churches in these places? When will the King be worshipped by the Somali people? Over and over again, God reminded me that there was hope, because finally He had sent me there to do something about the situation and to evangelize and disciple them. He reminded me that He had adequately equipped me to do it and that He was with me and for me. I agree with God that I will see His kingdom established in North Eastern Kenya.

Up to this time, I have settled there and I work using my skills and profession to access the community. They now treat me as their own, they are well aware that I’m a Christian and they don’t have issues with that. I have found purpose in reaching the unreached with the Gospel through my profession. There is a lot to be done as far as the Gospel is concerned and that requires the joint effort and partnership between the local churches, mission agencies and all other Christians working in such areas in one profession or another. God is scanning churches and countries to see who is ready and willing to join Him in His business of evangelizing the unreached. It is an adventurous journey deserving of your life and your skills.

Will you join me to be coworkers with God?

***Peter Kale (not his real name) is a missionary serving among an unreached people group in Northeastern Kenya