Prompt: Share about a time God summoned you to take action. How did you respond?
I have often only known God was calling me to action in hindsight, which we know is 20/20 vision. I didn’t think God was calling me; I just wanted to go on a mission trip with Dave Carpenter, WPC’s former youth pastor, and Moses Pulei.
When I found out that Moses was organizing the trip in Kenya, I thought it would be good for me to go because WPC’s Session had just approved hiring him as a seminary intern. I was to be his supervisor, and the trip would be an excellent way to meet Moses, develop a friendship, and see how he functioned as a leader. So, I registered to go.
Before I left one of the young professionals of the church, who had traveled extensively in Africa filming for documentaries, said to me, “Africa gets into your soul.” I thought that it was a nice poetic sentiment that doesn’t mean much. I went to Africa not thinking about this poetic aphorism. However, at the end of the trip I said to Moses, “We have to bring the people of Westminster to Africa.” On our return to Westlake, we began planning a mission trip to Kenya that would happen within the next year.
Our first project was to put roof on the church in Makobe (two hours north of Mombasa) and to begin building an orphanage that would house 21 girls orphaned by the AIDS virus. The local church was trying to care for them but didn’t have the resources to do so. We agreed to help them finance and build the orphanage. After a director was hired and the orphanage was running, we hired a crew to drill a well, installed a water tank, refurbished the community school next door, built desks for the school, and began sharing our well water with the “ghost town” of Makobe.
The truly miraculous event of the entire Makobe Mission was that the lay people of the church formed a committee called “Baraka,” which means “blessing” in Swahili. They did so without direction, help, or even much encouragement from the pastors. Baraka secured non-profit corporation status. For over 20 years Baraka gave administrative and financial guidance to the Kenyan supervision of the orphanage. In addition, Baraka promised to provide the means for each girl to receive job training or a college degree after high school, a promise which was fulfilled in 2024. Some became seamstresses, hairdressers, teachers, lawyers, TV newscasters, nurses, and more. Many are now married with children and are productive members of Kenyan society. When it seemed life had dealt them a fatal blow, God provided the people and the means for their blessing.
Yes, Africa got into my soul! The evidence that God was calling me to take the good folks of WPC to Africa wasn’t just all the wonderful, uplifting things we helped provide. This calling was confirmed by the local Islamic imam who said, “The curse has been removed from Makobe Village because the Christians from America have come to help us.” Our faith vision is often in hindsight. Mine was, and it was God’s calling.
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