The Impact of Christian Union to the Life of a Student
Greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ who is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
This is a life changing story, a dream of a young man comes true not in the field of prosperity or in academia of which many would have gathered to understand the way up to the ladder. But it’s more of a hidden growth and a matter of the heart at the feet of a sweet savior that many may not celebrate. I joined the Christian Union in my second year at Chuka University being born again but as a child in Gods kingdom who needed to breastfeed for growth. Born in a family where one of the parents happened to be a Christian became the gateway to attending Sunday school, [this is a common syndrome in many families and in other cases both parents being left back at home while the same way they send the children to school they are prepared for Sunday school]. Despite receiving Christ four years down the line before joining Christian Union there is no point I can recall of growth in my spiritual journey. In fact sometimes am also fascinated on how I became the youth chair for an entire parish for a whole year without the elementary teachings of Christianity. This accounts for the reason why I joined the Christian union a year later after my admission to the institution. Religiosity had become the enemy of my spiritual growth as I can recall the boosting and the bragging of the church that I used to attend which progressed to this new region of Chuka as the church was located some meters away from the school.
Religiosity and church doctrines have blindfolded many that we no longer boost in Christ who has freely granted to us the gift of salvation that we may gather and fellowship by His name. We have overturn this to praising our own local churches. Every church is now at the race of getting globally and branding internationally yet spiritually we are still struggling and fighting at the local level. Am so convinced that apostle Paul had come to a point that he had to make a decision that despite being a Hebrew of Hebrews and circumcised on the eighth day, he chose not to brag in that but in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 6:12-14.
12 Those men who say you must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew are doing it because they want to make a good show in front of the world. They do this so they will not have to suffer because of following the way of the cross of Christ. 13 Those who have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew do not even keep the Law themselves. But they want you to go through that religious act so they can be proud that you are their followers. 14 I do not want to be proud of anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the cross, the ways of this world are dead to me, and I am dead to them (New Life Version).
I was weak and without knowledge and therefore I perished in every storm that came on my way like a piece of a nylon paper bag carried by every wind. So empty was I; with no intimacy with the so called savior of the world. I was just a follower of a religion and a committed one like a soldier who could lay his life for a battle out of his knowledge. It was until I encountered the book entitled Knowing God Intimately: Being as Close to Him as You Want to Be by Joyce Meyer that served as an eye opener of what really God requires of us. I began working on my faith and attending as many sessions of discipleship that the Christian Union offered of which Faith Foundation Class became my favorite as I had never attended a discipleship class before. This was a new block of my long journey in salvation and I branded it as Anza Fyt (The first Step).
We used to have our services at the school pavilion every Saturday night and Sunday morning as a continuation. There is this one evening as I walked down the path to the pavilion a strange feeling of guiltiness and unworthiness covered my heart and in reality I was not worthy to stand in the presence of the Lord. Turning around I made steps going back, the burden was too big to bear and I couldn’t face Him but the bible says that He’s good and his kindness and mercy endures forever. The third step came with a voice of mercy and I felt encouraged once more that I made another turn towards the pavilion. That night tears just flowed down my cheeks as my wet eyes could not withhold more of it during the entire session of prayers and worshipping. I recall I never even bothered wiping the tears until the end of session prayer was made as it brought some sought of relief.
With the zeal to serve God and the commitment I had shown for the entire year in the things of God in the Christian union brought a new identity and revealed a purpose that I had to serve for a lifetime. In my third year I joined leadership after attending Ezra Conference held by FOCUS Kenya (Fellowship of Christian Union) a body that brings colleges and universities Christian unions in Kenya together. I served as a bible pastor in small group of 7-8 people where we used to have a guide of a bible study prepared by FOCUS. Thereafter in my second semester the third year I was elected as the chair of Commission Committee that mobilized members on partnering with FOCUS and attending the Commission Conference that was to be held on the same year even though that day never came due to Corona virus pandemic.
I wish I could write more of this amazing experience of spiritual growth courtesy of the Christian Union. I have made many milestone since Anza Fyt such that in my last year of academics in campus the discipleship committee could now entrust me with new believers to mentor them and speak in their weekly fellowship where my growth had begun in Faith Foundation Class with topics such as Knowing God. Indeed I already decided to follow Jesus and No turning back. (From the song I have decided to follow Jesus).
Gratitude to the entire African Christian Mission International fraternity for not only believing in me but also the opportunity to serve along with them. All Glory be to God.
