APPOINTMENT
Walk With Steve Into Missionary Appointment
Pondering The Future
DIVINE DIRECTION
In high school, I began to contemplate the next step for my life. My educational preparation at Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi was tremendous, but what was next? I would frequently struggle with this question late into the night. I had no desire to go to college in America; I wanted to remain in Africa. I was convinced that this was where God’s destiny for my life would unfold. Desperation led to prayer. I needed divine direction.
In April of my last semester of high school my uncle and cousin came to visit us in Nairobi. This was providential. Accompanying them was Richard Roberts the president of Oral Roberts University. I still remember praying with them in the living room of our house after a meal. Such a simple prayer—something to the effect that God would make the next step abundantly clear.
Although I didn’t want to hear the gentle voice nudging me forward, I knew what God was saying. Distress engulfed my heart until I surrendered to God’s prompting. Four months later, I enrolled in Oral Roberts University. Obedience is not always easy.
I struggled my first semester in college. Not so much academically—but emotionally. I longed to return to Africa; at the time I could not see the practicality to my education. Often, I entertained the thought of quitting. After all, I felt called to Africa, not Oral Roberts University. Patience and perseverance? I had to learn what these words entailed the hard way. Thankfully God is so much greater than our inner doubts.
God soon brought the right friends into my life—those with a similar passion and heart for God. Their vision of seeing the unreached changed by the power of God captivated me, primarily because it resonated so deep and true within my own heart.
We would dream, pray, and cry together on many a night—longing for a genuine move of God to sweep the nations and change our generation. Our weekly prayer meetings were intensely focused: conviction, repentance, intercession, and genuine hunger. The foundation for future ministry was being poured into the buttresses of our hearts. These world-changers are still among my best friends. Their faith inspires me.
God radically transformed my life in college teaching me many valuable lessons. Prayer, accountability, and hunger for God became much more than spiritual lingo. They became the earnest cry of my heart!