"God's story in my life"

When I met Ben, the first thing I said to him was, "I can't wait to hear your story!" He humbly replied, "I do not have a story. My story is God's story in my life".

Ben Mwangi was born in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya in abject poverty. They had nothing. Living in a 10x10 shack on a dollar or two per day, Ben said that in his earliest life he did not know that he lived in such poverty. But when school started it became apparent. He could not attend school, even though it was public school and free. Free still meant you had to buy school books and shoes and uniforms. Such luxuries were not even a slight possibility. He remembers the realization that there was an "us" and a "them". The "them" had shoes and shirts and went to school. The pervasive feeling was that there was no way out and no hope.

Ben said very quickly the devil, the one who "steals, kills and destroys", stepped in, tempting to relieve the helplessness by stealing. Stealing from "them" provided goods to sell and bought shirts and shoes. Gangs were formed. All he knew in the slums was trash.

One day Ben remembers his mother taking him by the hand to a church - a church that would later be called the Compassion Church. It was the first and only time his mother was in a church. She left him there. I don't know for how long, but he was a little boy standing against a wall with a group of children having his picture taken. Several months later Ben heard he had a sponsor from Austin, Texas and life began to change.

He was educated. He came to know Jesus personally. His family benefited. He graduated from primary school, high school and entered University studying physics. Compassion International invested in him. They saw leadership potential and he entered the Leadership Development Program. It is said that Compassion's LDP has the reputation of securing an automatic job and the job would be one rare, something unheard of, something that would make a difference.

Compassion International's byline is "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name." They are in their 58th year and in 26 countries. Ben challenged us to hear the Lord call to be the voice of the voiceless. Quite fitting for our Bible study girls... all year long through The Truth Project, Amos, and Radical, we've been listening to the Lord calling to us. We have a summer to process and ponder the Lord's words. We begin in September a radical year: radical study, radical prayer, radical giving and radical going.

Ben used this verse to describe God's story in his life:
... and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61: 3