What is it about the life of a Christian that makes it so
unpredictable? Like the wind, one hears it but knows not where it goes or comes
from?
That is the question that lingered in my mind as I
reflected on the twists and turns in my life. As many of you are aware, I
recently got a job in Family Bank. This, coming two years after graduation was
truly most refreshing. Hence, it was expected that I would wear myself thin in
ensuring that this one did not slip through my fingers. However, this was not
the case. I resigned. The stated reason for doing so was going for full time
post graduate studies at the University of Nairobi. However, there was an
underlying reason. Those who know me well suspected it and they are right.
As a Christian, there is that fundamental question that
always begs an answer, “What is God’s will for my life?” During the fourth year
of my undergraduate studies, I obtained the answer. There was this particular
course that affected me greatly. All other courses, I learnt out of a sense of
duty. This one, I learnt out of a sense of devotion. Food and Nutrition
Security opened my eyes to a whole new world. To say that I came alive in that
class is an understatement. It is in that class that a quite but strong
conviction stubbornly settled in my heart. This was what I wanted to spend the
waking hours of my life upon-ensuring food and nutrition security for the
vulnerable populace whenever and wherever. This conviction took me to several
places. All of which I volunteered: Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH),
National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), Academic Model Providing Access to
Healthcare (AMPATH). Judging from this list, banking was nowhere in my mind.
However, the anxieties of this life got to me and I finally gave in to that
philosophy which I had strongly argued against in the past-getting any job that
comes your way. Why? So I can have a meaningful answer to that question that
many use to define others, “So, what do you do?”
I enjoyed banking for a while. That was before that
conviction that settled in my heart two years ago started gnawing and burning
within. Every time I saw those 4x4 land cruisers with red number plates heading
to Lodwar or some other arid land, my heart skipped a bit. Every time I held a
newspaper and read of a looming crisis in the food security of a particular
region, the more anxious I became. When I surveyed my humble library and saw
titles such as “Food and the Poor”, “The Kenyan Maize sub sector performance”,
“Community Nutrition”, “The Management of Severe Malnutrition”…my heart sunk. I
continually became restless in my work and even though I worked hard at it, my
heart was elsewhere. Every evening after work, adorned in dark sharp suits, I
walked in the streets of Kitale, turning a head or two here and there. It was
evident I was the envy of many. Family Bank having a good name among Kitale
folk, my face had become familiar, and thus a nod here and a nod there had
become the norm. To many, I was the young guy in the right place only waiting
for my big break. However, inside, I was the young man lured by money and
watching time fly by as a most crucial task remained unattended.
It is this task that has led me to improve myself at the
University of Nairobi through that field that has lured me from my first year
in my undergraduate studies-Applied Human Nutrition. The good book states it is
not good to have zeal without knowledge (Proverbs 19:2). I have the former in
full measure. I lack the latter and hence my being in Kabete to pursue this
noble course.
The years of my pilgrimage are few and tender. There are
many things that I am yet to fully grasp. However, this much I know. God has
called me to this peculiar task; that I spend myself on behalf of the hungry
and I satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then my light shall will rise in the
darkness and my night will become like the noon day (Isaiah 58:10). Let it be
so.
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