WHO ARE WE?

It started for James in 1987

As a college student, my spiritual growth took off when I became a part of a campus ministry group. Every three years, the organization sponsored a missions conference at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Illinois between Christmas and New Years. A group of five of us drove up to attend Urbana ’87, where the opening speaker was Billy Graham. Other well known speakers gave messages throughout the conference, and the last night, a call was issued to us 18,000 students to go to the foreign mission field, if possible, or at a minimum, support financially. Thousands of us stood to answer that call.

At age 59, I finally have the opportunity to fulfill my commitment made 37 years ago. I have gone on a couple short term trips related to missions, but until last summer, I never felt that my travels were God’s response to my commitment. The story leading up to our involvement with In His Hands is as divinely led as my trip into the swamp back in 2010. If you don’t know about that one, here are a few links to news footage!

https://www.today.com/news/rescuer-lord-led-me-missing-girl-wbna36497665

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-who-found-nadia-bloom-god-sent-me/

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/nadia-bloom-rescuer-james-king-tells-gma-god-10369170

Anyway, our family has supported Kenya Hands of Hope for several years, and are friends with the founder and director, Bill Goff. My 17 year old son, Garrison, has been friends over the phone with a couple of the orphans. 

Last year, during one of Bill’s updates, I heard about a 7 year old girl in a village starving to death. I had a problem with that. She was a member of a congregation of a Church of God in Kenya. Then, an 11 year old starved to death several months later. Now, I have a big problem.

 Matthew 6 says that God feeds the birds, so we should not worry about what we eat. Does God not care for these orphans? Is He not capable of caring for them as He cared for the prophet Elijah, who was fed by ravens, or the children of Israel, who were fed manna?

 I was later studying Jeremiah 17, and then the answer came. The one who trusts in man will be cursed, like a dry shrub in the desert. The one who trusts in Yahweh will be like a tree planted by the water. The kids had not been taught to trust in God for their food! Though we had contributed money, no amount of money can teach the kids to trust God. Garrison and I made our plans to join Bill for a trip to the orphanage in the Kisii County village of Sengera, about 6 hours from Nairobi, Kenya.

 

AN UNLIKELY ENCOUNTER IN AN UNLIKELY PLACE 

June 2024, Garrison and I stood in line in Atlanta to board our flight, first to Amsterdam, then Nairobi. A young Asian teen girl stood in front of these two tall white guys, and noted I was carrying a Bible. “Are you Christians?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Kenya.”

“We are too! Where at in Kenya?”

“Kisii.”

“We are too!” she excitedly replied.

I asked, “What are you guys going to do in Kenya?”

“We are a Christian ministry to widows and orphans and are going to help an orphanage.’

“WE ARE TOO!” I replied, excited, but not totally surprised. I realized, at that moment, that God was at work again, leading us on a new adventure.

We met her mom, Michelle, the director of In His Hands ministry and got contact info. Several days after being in Sengera village, we arranged travel to the site where Michelle and her team would meet us and give us a tour of the orphanage they were building. During the tour, I had many questions, and sensed that I would be returning as the missionary who would be overseeing the standing up of the Kenya operations.

After much prayer, dialogue, and fasting, I knew that I could only confirm it as God’s call if my wife, Diana, agreed. Though she said she would follow me anywhere, I needed to know that she also felt called. For many months, she had a reluctance, rooted in her feelings of inadequacy. One evening, driving home from a trip to Texas for Feast of Tabernacles, she put on a recent message from Jonathan Cahn that was supposed to be discussing some bad omens for the US, but the first 45 minutes, it was God’s message to Diana about answering God’s call. Before the message was even ended, Diana turned to me and said, “Yes, I am saying YES to God’s call to Africa.”

Our backgrounds and references were checked, and we met with the board of directors of In His Hands. Numerous calls with Michelle had answered many of our questions. The offer was made, and we accepted the call to be the next missionary team, bringing our family to Kenya. We plan to go after the inauguration of the US president in January, and return in time for Feast of Tabernacles 2025. We are open to go for a year following that tour of duty, as God leads.

All of our support for the 9 months adds to about $30K, which doesn’t cover the expenses at home (rent, minimal auto insurance), but, if I am to expect God to feed the orphans as the birds of the air, it will be up to Him to move money to take care of the expenses.

I have a lot of loose ends at home, such as my tree business, our belongings, and our two older sons, who will be staying back to serve God as young adults. This blog will keep you updated on the adventure. Feedback directly to me will be valuable, such as “need more detail” or “need less detail” or whatever. This blog is for you!