The Life and Calling of a Missionary to Kenya

In this Chapter 11 of Hebrews we see in the 6th verse, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Many folks read this and mentally agree with the scriptures and say, 'Yes, I see what the scriptures is saying', but they only use their faith for salvation. That is to say, they believe that because of Jesus they have a place in heaven waiting for them when they die. That is a wonderful use of ‘Faith’ but none of us should stop there because if we are going to please our Father God, we must use our faith for all that the Lord Jesus has said belongs to us in the covenant.

I remember one time, before I had gone to Rhema Bible Training Center, I was mowing our front yard with a head set on. The Lord spoke very clearly to my heart and said that “none of his children like to walk by faith but all of them enjoyed the benefits of it.” I certainly related to what he was saying and still do today. However the fact remains if we are to enjoy all of the benefits of Salvation and the finished work of Jesus on the cross, then we must use our faith in and towards Him in these last days. The Word of God tells us in Romans 1:17, “For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.

In other words, we must live each day looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father for our daily needs; not matter what they may be or how difficult they may seem for us to be God for. I have personally found that If I have the means to supply my desires by one way or the other then I am not truly using my faith; when I cannot meet my needs and the Lord is the only one who can, then my faith in God is truly being used and I see how mighty He really is and what he can truly accomplish even though my resources are completely exhausted.

In 2nd Cor. 5:6 it says, “Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord 7, for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

I have found that in the life of a missionary I have greater opportunity to use my faith on a regular basis than in my own country, the US. I want to share with you that from the very beginning, what God had called my wife and I to do on the mission field would never been possible for us, by ourselves. Yet with Christ along side of us we could, and have, accomplished our needs and desires for the mission field.

I remember when we were planning on going to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to attend Rhema Bible Training Center after the Lord had spoken to me. We had not sold our home and it was getting closer to the time of leaving for Oklahoma. I had several well meaning folks ask me, “What is your plan B”? When I told them I did not have a back up plan for selling the house in Florida, they looked at me very strangely, like what tree have you fallen out of? I just believed the word that was spoken to my heart, “I want you to go to Rhema Bible Training Center!” I believe then as I do now, that If God calls you to a mission field He will make the provisions if we will walk with Him by faith!

Every week, those same well meaning folks came up to my wife and I and said the same things about another plan or basically, 'What are you going to do if God does not show up?' The answer was still the same as yours must be when you receive direction from the Lord... God will provide!

I remember preparing to go to Kenya in December of 1994. We were making plans to purchase the airline tickets and to get everything else in order. We desired to take along 10 extra boxes with household effects with us, but it was going to cost us, along with the extra suit cases, about $900 to $1000. We did not have this money and had no way of getting it.

I spent some time praying to the Lord about this and had an assurance in my spirit that He had taken care of the desire of taking extra boxes with us. We did everything that we could in labeling, weighing and making sure that the boxes were packed securely for the long journey. What happened next will shock some you because you have possibly never stepped out in faith and believed God this way. We did not tell our friends, our few supporters or even our family. We told God! Then just about 10 days before we were to fly to Kenya, Africa, I received a phone call from a friend and former Sunday School teacher, Sam. He said that he had some good news for us; that someone had just written a check for $1000 and had sent it to us! Praise the Lord, God’s Word works if we will work His Word.

On the mission field “Faith” becomes the way of living for most missionaries who believe that God can and does make a difference in the outcome of every day problems that we face. It becomes very “natural” to us because we are constantly using our faith in God for daily provision, and financial needs as well.

We have had many real tests of faith as we have said, especially on the mission filed of Kenya, Africa. I remember trying to leave Kenya in the year 1995, after we had been on the mission field for almost fifteen months. We were finished working in a local bible college and were trying to go home. Our support for first time missionaries was fluctuating so much that we had to move three times in the fifteen months. We could not stay in Kenya any longer and we could not return to the US as we did not have adequate funds. We were, as some say, ‘between a rock and a hard place’.

We had a decent vehicle that was ten years old, but every time I tried to go some place on a potential trip to sell it, the door closed or the person made themselves hard to find. Well, to make a long story short, I went in to my prayer closet and started talking to my Father. I told Him it was not my responsibility to make this sell happen, that it was His responsibility because He called me and my wife to the mission field. I know that some of you would never speak to the Lord that way, but when I did, there was such a peace, it came just as Philippians says that it would come. After I prayed, I talked to my wife and told her not to pray about the situation any more, that it was taken care of. I did not ask for a sign. I don’t believe in asking for signs, as we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the Word of God tells us. However, a day or two later we went for a walk and when we came back we were just sitting outside and resting before we went in to the house. I happened to look up and saw the most awesome looking formation in the sky that I have ever seen in my life. It looked to me like the Lord had taken his right hand or arm and furled back a large section of clouds, just like we saw in the movie where Moses and the children of Israel walked on dry land after the Lord parted the Red Sea. When I showed my wife, she said did you get anything from the Lord? I said, “I am not sure, but it seems that God said that he had parted our Red Sea, and would part many more for us.” It did not end there. We were going to town the next day for something and we passed by a restaurant that was called the Red Sea restaurant! Unbelievably true, yet we have never seen that restaurant again to this day, and when any work is done in our small town everyone knows about it.

A few days later, God had a man come from a town about two hours away from Nakuru (where we stay) and brought his father with him. He drove the vehicle and we settled on a price. We were on the plane in ten days from the time that I had received by faith the provision of God and had gotten my priorities right and let the burden of leaving Kenya to the Lord, my Provider!