How God Brought Me to Kenya

Let me explain myself when I say, "I'm here because I believe God called me here."

In December, 2004, I attended a conference in San Diego called Experience Jesus (formally called San Diego Christmas Conference) put on by Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). One year before, I attended SDCC, where I was called by God to go to Sapporo, Japan, for Summer Project (or summer missions). When I went to the EJ conference, I was waiting to see if God would call me again. But this time He did not call me to a Summer Project. Near the end of the conference we were given the opportunity to dedicate one year to fulltime ministry after we graduate. I don't know how, but I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to do so. Everyone had a glow stick taped under their chairs, and as a sign, those who decided to dedicate a year to fulltime ministry lit up the glow stick. If you know me, you would know that I don't usually do things on the whim, but give careful thought to what I do (sometimes too careful and overanalyzing...). So I prayed for guidance, and although I had no idea exactly what God wanted me to do, I felt that He was calling me to dedicate myself to a year of fulltime ministry when I graduate. So I broke and lit up the glow stick.

It's not because I'm a man my words nor because people saw me with my glow stick lit up that I am here. I'm not here by my own willpower or my careful planning. It is only by God's guidance and His purpose that I am here.

Somehow God had put in my heart a burden for Africa. Starting with Invisible Children (http://www.invisiblechildren.com), God exposed me to things that are happening in Africa, and so I began to pray for the people there. It was hard to believe that things like genocide in Rwanda had happened only recently and the same is happening today in Darfur, Sudan. It hurts me when I think about the kids in Uganda being kidnapped and forced to become heartless killers and sex slaves.

There must be a reason God is showing me all this at the same time, I thought. I began to wonder if God had a plan for me to go to Africa, so I prayed that God would send me there if it was His will. I also prayed that God would send me to a developing country where people are suffering due to lack of basic needs and/or corrupt government. God had given me a heart for the poor, and although I didn't know how I could help, I prayed for them, and asked God to use me however He pleased to help them.

I knew God had given me a passion for Africa, but I wasn't sure if it was His will for me to go specifically to Africa. But since He had put in me a burden to serve in a developing country, I began searching for opportunities. Through Peter Czer, a good friend of mine from UCLA, I met Dr. Bob Hamilton. With him, I was able to go to Sierra Leone for week on a medical missions trip (read about it here: http://africa06.blogspot.com). Also through him, I contacted a doctor and a Christian school in Pakistan for a possibility of serving there. Through James Pearson, a good friend and my fraternity brother (who, btw, is currently serving the Lord with Invisible Children in Uganda - read his blog here: http://jamestravels.com), I contacted an orphanage in India. So I started looking into various opportunities to serve but it turned out to be more complicated than I thought. Qualifications and time commitments (usually over 1 year) closed door to many possibilities. I had some prior experience with raising financial support, but raising money for an entire year was a bit overwhelming.

From the start, I knew that spending a year overseas not to earn money but to volunteer and serve God was not going to be simple. But I was not discouraged by the hurdles, because it wasn't something I thought to do out of my own desire, but it was something God put in my heart. If it was His will, I knew He would do it. I prayed that God would provide everything that is necessary for His will to be done with me.

One day my mother told me that her friend (who is also my dentist) knows a pastor who was a missionary in Kenya for 7 years. So my mother's friend arranged for us to meet. When I met Pastor Moon I was only expecting him to give me a phone number or an e-mail address, so I could contact somebody in Kenya. It turns out that he had a little more than a phone number to offer. He wanted his church to send me to Kenya, and fully support me during my stay there! I was blown away (in my mind), and I didn't know what to say.

Then I realized that this was some something I had been praying all along - that God would provide. There was really nothing that I had done to deserve this. I took no part in the planning. I all I did was pray. I prayed to God that I am willing to serve Him, and that He would open the doors. I asked for something I could not do on my own, something I had to depend on God to provide. I believed that He opened the door to Kenya because it was His will. All I had to do was say, "Yes, Lord," and step through the door in faith.

I wonder, after reading thing, if anybody would think that I'm here in Kenya by accident. Could it be by chance that I decided to dedicate a year to fulltime ministry, that my heart would be burdened for the poor, that I prayed to go to Africa, and that I was given the opportunity and the means to spend a year in Kenya? Could it be that I'm just "lucky" (if you think being away from your comfortable life for a year is lucky)? I think not. I believe it was God who purposed for me to come here, and I believe it was God who opened the door, provided the way for me to be here.

Because it was God who brought me here, I will do my best to give glory to Him in whatever I do.