It all began in September 2009 at Nakuru College where I met Laura, a young lady who had been with the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle (MCSPA). Laura explained to me about these missionaries and invited me to visit them at their different missions in Lodwar Diocese, Kenya.
At that time I didn’t know anything about missionaries except for what I had learnt at school. Laura encouraged me and told me that if I became a missionary, my generosity and love would reach far in helping others.
After completing my studies in 2012, I contacted Josephine Amuma and she invited me to visit the MCSPA mission in Turkana. I was eager to know who they were and why they had come from far away to live with people in the middle of the semi-desert.
When I reached Lodwar, it was another adventure for me because there were no sealed roads to go to the mission, only the dirt tracks that the missionaries used to go to the different villages. I finally reached the mission of Nariokotome. I was left speechless at how the missionaries had come from so far to help and yet I was not even aware of what was happening in the northern part of my own country! I did not expect to see what I saw at that moment. It impressed me so much that I decided to choose to live this kind of life with the members of the MCSPA so that I could help others by caring for them, and starting from my own country.
I was moved at how the missionaries were carrying out their tasks and apostolate with generosity and love and to whoever that came knocking on the door for assistance – some solution would always be found! I marvelled at how they had turned a semi-desert land into a lush garden, and showing that, with patience and perseverance, vegetables and fruit can grow in a semi-desert like Turkana!
Seeing people without much water or food to eat or clothes to wear opened my heart to share all that I had and love others as God has loved us without choosing; real love does not expect anything in return.
I was touched, and I said “yes” to joining the MCSPA missionaries who had come from different parts of the world so that I could serve freely the people of God. I believe that God is calling me to serve all his people. It is through that kind of love that life can be changed and all this starts with me. It doesn’t matter how much one does but it is the love that one puts into doing that really matters.
I am now living in Ethiopia and I give thanks to Laura and all those who have showed me the way to go out and love as God has loved us.
Esther Kerubo,
Apprentice MCSPA
