Responding to God's Call

A new year always comes with resolutions and while some remain unattainable, there are those that I embark on with vigor and at the end of a given year I actually feel proud of the various achievements. I am not sure I have resolutions for this year – well, maybe not articulated, but they are obviously there – but I do look forward to a fulfilling year. I am back today after a break that was characterized by a painful ailment that resulted in me losing two teeth in a span of a week! I do not remember a time in my life when I have been in so much pain. Oh, that brought on one resolution: no sweet delicacies in my mouth and let’s see …. Still going strong with the resolution (there! I do have a resolution) though it has been difficult to sip my Kenyan tea or coffee without sugar but I am sure I will get there … by end of July perhaps?

Anyway, this morning as I stirred myself up from an unplanned long break, the words of Isaiah 6:8 came to mind: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me.”

My greatest desire this year is that God would use me in ways I have never thought possible. This is my prayer: that He would send me. I have just finished reading the Acts of the Apostles and what stood out for me was the willingness of the apostles to be used by God to preach the Gospel. Isaiah 6:8 holds a very special place in my heart because it is this very scripture that the Lord used to stir me up to His purpose in 1996 when I made a commitment to reach out to young people and work with them towards righteousness, holiness and their God-given potential. I did not know what I was responding to then but this year will be 17 years since that date in August and looking back, I have no regrets whatsoever. Serving God has provided me a fulfillment that I never thought possible. While the path has been strewn with pain, disappointment, loss, grief, frustration, rejection, overall, I have had such a fulfilling life. I could never exchange it for anything.

Here am I. Send me. It all begun in Nyeri with the youth who formed the Christian Reconciliation Team for the Youth (CRTY as we affectionately referred to ourselves). During my break I have had opportunity to recall the fiery meetings held in my office as the young people passionately discussed life issues that affected them. For some reason the Lord reminded me of the trip we made to a remote place in Nanyuki where we donated building material to a Maasai family. For some reason, I have kept remembering the night we sat around the bonfire and one by one the young people laid bare their hearts. There we were, in unknown territory, in God’s presence and we freely shared our lives, our plans, our thoughts, our dreams, our fears, and then we prayed. It was a long dusty trip but by the time we got back to Nyeri the team that had traveled had bonded in immeasurable ways. I also remember the youth camp we held, the first of its kind, and how the faith of the young people moved God to show up in a very special way.

Two years later the Lord sent me to Daystar University where a team of young people were part of the peer counseling club. I remember the trainings, the skits in chapel, the one-on-one conversations, the prayers, the laughter, the tears, and when I see how some lives have turned out, I am glad I answered to His call.

Two years later I was packing again. This time the new assignment was at the United States International University (USIU) and unlike the previous two places I stayed here for exactly four and half years. USIU has a unique touch to it. The peer counseling meetings and the one-on-one sessions brought me into contact with a diversity of young people, both Christian and non-Christian, and the Lord gave me a great opportunity to pour my life into their lives. It is amazing when I meet some of the young people and they remember in detail the discussions we had and even more so when those that were totally averse to the Christian faith now passionately profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every USIU student with whom I interacted will remember the 15-year plan – some loved it and others hated it – but now as the years have gone by and I meet some of them, they have been quietly ticking off the list on their individual 15-year plan. While at USIU God gave me an opportunity to work with the youth at Parklands Baptist Church and the Peer Counseling Ministry was birthed.

Life after USIU changed even as I had a totally different assignment which gave me an opportunity to work with medical students from the University of Nairobi and Moi University. And years later, as if going full circle, God has sent me back to USIU in a different role, and has also opened doors for me to mentor young people from all walks of life. People often ask me, “Where do you get these young people?” and “How do you know them?” and to be honest, I don’t have a direct answer. All I know is that when I responded to God’s call years back and He laid it upon my heart the need to reach out to young people, it is He Who has continued to order my steps and drawn the young ones to my life.

Inasmuch as I have poured my life into the young people’s lives, it is important to mention that I have been greatly enriched by the young people too. In the darkest period of my life, it is the young people who rallied beside me, with most pledging support, love, compassion, and consistently praying with me, and assuring me that they would stand by me. I cannot begin to tell how much the support of the young people has propelled me to still trust in God, to believe that His plans for me are good despite the turn and twist of events. Who ever thought that “kids” I had literally walked with right from high school would rally by my side and urge me on in the faith? And most recently when I lost my dad, there they were again, offering a love so pure, so undeserving for me.

And here I am at the beginning of 2013! What more can I offer God except to continually respond to His call in my life: “Here am I. Send me.” When I look at my past life I have been greatly privileged, and now more than ever I realize that pouring one’s life as a Christian into another’s is the best gift one could ever offer to God and to others. I am a willing servant and now more than ever I choose to trust God’s leading coz He has never led me to a place where He has not used me to fulfill His greater purposes. In responding to His call this year, I believe He will open up gates for me to walk through: gates into individual lives, families, communities, and nations. And as He opens up these gates for me I sincerely pray that I will not forget my role as a servant coz that is who I am in His Name. I also pray that I would not hold myself back but that I would be willing to partner with Him in every way possible so that I too can experience His eternal riches and excellent grace. I want more of Him and He can only be found in the lives that He brings my way.

I am looking forward to Him sending me. How I pray that I would be able to hear Him, to listen to His Spirit and respond to Him as He urges me to hold that young hand, to hug, to love, to cherish, to encourage, and to motivate so that the young life would count for something in this generation and beyond.

My quiet prayer: “Here am I. Send me Lord. I know not what lies ahead but I do know that You have already gone ahead of me and it is with this confidence that I step out into the new year, 2013!”