Following the Call to Kenya

Rob Lewis tells us why he’s going to Kinyago Dandora Schools in Kenya.

“I am not eager to go to Kenya, but I will out of a sense of duty.” This is what I recently told Ginger Palm, president, CEO of the Kenya Children’s Fund and spiritual mother of the Kinyago-Dandora Schools in Nairobi, Kenya.

I realize that duty, obligation and obedience have been largely expunged from our religious vocabulary for fear that our religion will harden into a moralism devoid of grace. But I am also aware that love often begins with duty, and that love can be the consequence of doing the right and good and joyful thing.  To obey is to love.

Ginger listened quietly as I explained myself, and encouraged me to pray for a vision of what God wants for me in Kenya. “And pray for a specific call from God for this trip,” she added.

I am grateful for Ginger’s confidence in God’s desire to bless me with a call. I don’t doubt that I will have a vision and a specific call, but it might not come until I am in Kenya, and maybe even after.

Until then I proceed with caution, and out of a sense of duty.

Until then, I rely on the call of others.

I can follow their call because I trust them. And I see God’s love in them, the love by which God allures (or calls) all our hearts to himself.  As I listened to Ginger talk about the school, and her love for everyone associated with the school – from children, teachers, cooks, and cleaners – I realized I had received vision and call enough. I have received a summons, or, as David Brooks puts it, doing what “my circumstances are asking me to do.” (The Summoned Self) Sometimes, the call is contained within the need and the work. And in the people doing the work, like Ginger.  That’s good enough for me.

Look for more information regarding the All Soul January 2020 trip to Kenya. And check out our KDS page at https://allsouls.com/all-souls-in-kenya/