by By James Katelo
My name is James Katelo, and I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, currently leading a Church fellowship from my home in Gabbra land. I am married and together we are blessed with one child. My journey to faith, while difficult, has been a testimony of God’s mercy, patience and power. It is a testimony of how God can transform the most broken life.
I was raised in a Catholic home, but later converted to Islam. Looking back, I can confidently say that I was spiritually lost. I was a thief and struggled with sexual immorality; in addition, my life was filled with confusion, guilt and emptiness. Despite my predicament, I was constantly searching for peace and the truth.
When I was a Muslim, I attended a Catholic school where I was required to participate in Christian activities. Even though I followed these activities outwardly, my heart remained far from God. However, through it all, God was speaking to me.
One night, I had a dream in which I saw a pastor handing me a letter. It was a strange dream and I dismissed it as another insignificant dream, just as many that I had had before. Interestingly though, the next day at school, our teacher instructed us to go and pick a letter from a certain pastor. When we got to where the pastor was, he gave us a letter; the scene played out just as I had seen in my dream! The pastor told us something that has stuck with me since then. He said: “There is another letter being written in heaven.”
That moment changed my life. I was struck with the reality that God was making a personal call to me. I immediately gave my life to Jesus Christ, left my former sinful life and began walking in faith.
New life
When the Lord saved me, I started going to church regularly. One of my memories from this season, was the surprise I felt every time I saw people crying during church services. At the time, I couldn’t help but laugh. There was an elderly man, in particular, who cried loudly while praying to God. My friends and I were perplexed, as we had never witnessed anything like it before! One day as we were leaving the church, one of my friends suddenly fell down without anyone pushing him. I was filled with fear in that moment but God reminded me of the story of Hannah who cried out in deep sorrow as she prayed for a child. That experience opened my eyes to the sincerity and depth of the kind of prayers that moved people to tears. I began to understand that encounters with God could move people in ways that words couldn’t explain.
Freed from immorality
In my younger years, I came across as a cheerful, handsome person, who loved the ladies and the ladies loved me. I was constantly chasing after girls, a habit that persisted even after I gave my life to Christ. Every day I would be spotted with a new girl; at this point, I was not even doing it in hiding. All the people around me knew about this weakness.
On one occasion, an elder told my mother, “This son of yours will one day bring a child home.” My poor mother was dumbfounded. She called me and warned me to “stop running after random girls”, adding that I should seek respect. Her words may have not had the intended impact at the time, but they silently kept tagging at my heart.
I eventually started seeking God earnestly. This led to me praying, repenting and turning away from my life of lust.
A truth that we must not overlook, is that sexual sin is stubborn: at the onset, it appeared that I had conquered it. However, it returned even stronger! After resisting it for a while, I found myself back to chasing after ladies. This time, every time I had sex, I felt deep remorse and begged God for forgiveness, only to find myself falling once more; I was caught in a vicious cycle of sexual bondage.
One night, at a wedding in my village, I met a girl that had been my classmate in primary school; we danced, and had a good time together. Our fun ended with us going home together and having sex. This sin had a tight choke hold on me. The next morning, a conversation with a friend shook me.“You know that girl you were with? She is living with HIV!” he said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, I felt my world caving in: my head was reeling and my knees caved in. In addition, my body trembled as the fear of death loomed over me. I wanted to go to the hospital, but fear held me back; what if people found out? I was so ashamed that I locked myself in my room and contemplated suicide.But God In the midst of my confusion, there was a voice of reason. A friend advised me, “Wait for a year. If you see symptoms, go to the hospital. If you do not see any symptoms, then thank God.” I took his advice and turned away from sexual immorality. I chose to intentionally live in the fear of God. In turn He helped me grow in my prayer life, to flee from sexual sin and to begin seeing ladies in the light of God’s Word. It was not easy, but I allowed God to transform me.
Years passed and I eventually discovered the truth: the girl did not have HIV. God had used my friend’s warning to save me from destruction. Today, I am not the same as I was before. I am a new person. I have learned that the lust of the flesh brings destruction, but true repentance brings life.
A life for God’s service
Though I faced persecution, even from within my own family, I remained committed to following and serving Jesus Christ. I am excited to say that today, by His grace, two members of my family have come to faith just because they have seen my testimony and witnessed my ministry.
Now, as a pastor in Gabbra land, I am intentionally preaching the Gospel, praying for the sick and actively making disciples. God has confirmed His Word by performing miracles, answering prayers and changing lives. My past may be tainted and uninspiring, but I know that God has chosen and sent me to proclaim Christ, to shepherd His people and remain grounded.
My testimony is a story of God’s faithfulness as displayed through my life.“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has passed away, and the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
James Katelo pastors Peniel Christian Fellowship in Bubisa, Marsabit County.
