OUR JOURNEY MY LIFE HIS STORY
As a young boy growing up at Hands during its formative years, there was one thing I saw and knew for certain — that the love for Jesus and the love for the vulnerable are akin. There was no separating the two in my adolescent mind. That was so real to me that I knew where I stood with Christ by my proximity to the poor and vulnerable.
Prior to joining Hands at Work, I had been sent by my church in Kenya to South Africa for a church plant. While serving in this church, I met some people from Hands and got connected. Many years earlier, there was a prophecy spoken over my life that I would serve children who need the love of Jesus.
“My prayer and desire is to be like one of the Care Workers that care for me.”
In Exodus 34, verse six, God describes himself as merciful and gracious and slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Over the past six years with Hands, I feel like I've been able to get to the heart of the Father. To get to know on a deeper level those truths that He says about himself of his love, his grace, his mercy, his faithfulness, how he is slow to anger. I've got to know his compassion and that his heart is to bring healing and to bring restoration. He doesn't look away from the suffering and the pain.
My first involvement with Hands at Work began with a short term team in 2014. My son, Devon, had left home a few months prior to this trip to serve for one year with Hands at Work. My wife and I thought it was important to see what he was doing as he was already talking about staying on for longer than a year. My wife Kathleen and I travelled to Zambia and South Africa with another son and a niece. For three weeks, we visited multiple communities, seeing first-hand the work going on in these countries. It was in the community of Mulenga that I believe God captured my heart to get involved. I didn't know it at the time, but it was in that time and place that I think the words of Isaiah 58:6-12 came truly alive for me.
One of the things that turned my life around was the experience of Holy Home Visits. I met Christ at home when someone visited me and shared the gospel. It was through that time that I gave my life to Christ. Then I joined Hands at Work where we say that our foundation in building relationships is Holy Home Visits. God did it for me, and now He’s calling me to do it for other people
