“They overcame him [Satan]
by the blood of the Lamb [Jesus]
and by the word of their testimony…”
Revelation 12:11
“I was born and raised in Kenya, East Africa. When I was six years old, my parents loaned me to my uncle’s family to be their “cow boy.” My aunt and uncle were advanced in years and were in the process of adjusting to an empty nest. They therefore needed someone to live with them who would take care of house chores and their cows. In return, my uncle sent me to school. Though I had grown up in a non-Christian home, my uncle’s family was different. My uncle’s daughter-in-law Rachel was a Sunday school teacher at a nearby church. She invited me to go to Sunday school with her kids and I loved her wonderful and animated ways of teaching Bible lessons.
Week to week, I attended Sunday school with my sister-in-law’s children and learned quite a number of Bible stories which later on became instrumental in my conversion experience. I must mention that there were other factors that drew me closer to Jesus. Two of those factors were the love of my pastor and the quality time that my Sunday school teacher spent with me. On Saturdays, James, Rachel’s co-teacher, played soccer with us, and helped us practice Christian ethics in all we did during the week.
I recall that my pastor was known for the love he had for people of all ages. He was literally loved by the whole community. In fact every Christmas Day both rich and poor would converge at his home for a big meal. It was an annual event that I always looked forward to because it had lots of food, fun and fellowship. The love the Christians shared with each other was definitely a witness to the non-Christians in the community.
Though I continued to attend Sunday school and Church for six years, I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. I simply tried to earn my way to heaven by doing the “right” things when in the first place I had not given my heart to Jesus.
The times that I spent with both my Sunday school teacher and my pastor left a lasting impact on my heart that the Christian life was not boring, but fun and fulfilling. Before I was a teenager, I was ready to make a decision to follow Christ despite the peer pressure I encountered. I am thankful for the Christian influence I had. Without it I would not have committed my life to Jesus.
This is how I actually gave my life to Jesus.
It was after a regular Sunday worship service that my pastor asked me if I would consider becoming a member of his Catechism class. I knew right away that attending the class would guarantee my baptism at Christmas time but my heart would still be full of sin because at this time I had not accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I therefore requested the pastor to give me a week to think about the matter.
As I walked home from church that Sunday afternoon, I realized for the first time that I was a sinner and that I needed Jesus to cleanse me from sin. I was thirteen years old and I could not resist the wooing of God’s Spirit to salvation. It was probably around 1p.m. when I looked up towards heaven and said a prayer of repentance. After prayer my heart was flooded with the joy and peace of the Lord and I somehow felt lighter than usual. As a matter of fact, I hurried home to share the good news with my family. The following Sunday, I joined the Pastor’s Catechism class.
And this is how Jesus called me into the ministry.
Shortly after I accepted Christ as my Savior I attended a church camp meeting. The guest speaker spoke about God’s call to the ministry. He said, “God is calling you.” And the Holy Spirit took those words and personalized them for me. In response to the message, I made myself available to enter full-time Christian service, praying that He would see me through elementary school, high school and Bible College.
I graduated from Bible College and became a youth pastor/worship minister after a three-month internship program. I do not regret having asked Jesus to come into my heart and entering into His service. Today, I love Jesus more than I did that Sunday afternoon when I gave my heart to Him. I am following Jesus as He leads me a step at a time. My life verse is Matthew 6:33, ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.’ I praise the Lord for His mercy and grace and for His faithfulness in my life and ministry.”
