by By Tohru Inoue
“What do you do?” I get asked at conferences.
These days I write, I tell stories of what I see God doing here in East Africa. It doesn’t seem as glamorous as the leadership role I stepped down from years ago, but I still get stuff done.
Five years ago, when there was growing civil conflict in Ethiopia, I wrote a story about relief efforts. Soon after, $5,000 came in towards that work. Hey, that’s pretty good!
Another friend was doing translation work in the North. I wrote about that and $11,000 came in. Now we’re getting somewhere!
My friend Moses* works in a tough area of Kenya. In years past, it has been a target of terrorist attacks. His former organization evacuated and relocated him to a different town after a church attack over a decade ago. But Moses found commuting from his new home to serve the same hurting community, hard. The organization wasn’t going to allow him to go back though, so he respectfully stepped down. “I’m going back, just pray for me,” he recalls asking.
Moses and his team have continued to serve that community. They’ve got a project going. I know his project has been running out of funds though, and it may run out as soon as this year. “Put in a request with our team to cover your story,” I wrote him. I was thinking we could help raise funds to keep it going. Now, in the request form, there is the “call to action” dropdown menu with three choices: more workers, funds or prayer. With his quickly dwindling funds I fully expected him to select, “funds.” But he just wrote asking for prayer.
You know, it’s folks like him who grab me by the collar and shake me until my faith wakes up again. It’s folks like him who put me in my rightful place — who remind me that they’re not waiting on me for a miracle; they’re waiting on God. They believe He can do all things.
All of Moses’ hope is pegged squarely on God, the only one who can get things done. “I’m going back in, just pray for me.”
I shared all this at a conference in an evening service… A gentleman came up to me the following day at a lunch with the church elders. Hearty chicken casserole and broccoli salad was on the menu. He said he and his family prayed for Moses during their evening prayers. As he turned to get his food, my eyes unexpectedly welled up. Moses wanted prayer and that’s exactly what he got. And maybe he got yours as well. And if I’m getting people to turn to God, maybe I’m still getting something worthwhile done.
*Moses name changed.
Tohru Inoue serves as a missionary with SIM Kenya. Read more at https://tohruinoue.substack.com/
