Independent Church in India is reaching out to other nations as the Lord is leading. For more than a year, we have been working with a humble man of God in the nation of Kenya named Pastor Calvince who has the same vision as ICII – preaching the Gospel and reaching out to the poor and disabled. ICII has been working with Pastor Calvince on Gospel tracts, Bible study books, and children’s books in his language of Luo and other Kenya languages. Through this project, many souls are being reached in Kenya.
Sadly for Pastor Calvince, now age 28, his childhood had been extremely painful and filled with poverty. But through his testimony, the Lord is building a humble Christ-like character that is reaching people for Christ in Kenya. Here is Pastor Calvince’s heart-wrenching testimony:
“I was born in a village known as Kangoje. My Father died when I was three years old. When he died, my mother was pregnant with my sister. We started to face a very rough life, so my mother ended up becoming a prostitute only so she could get my sister and myself one meal each day. After five years of this kind of life my mother died as a result of HIV/AIDS. At the age of nine I started life as an orphan, with my younger sister. After the death of both of my parents we were chased out of our area and I started to live in tunnels with my sister. I became a beggar for food, going to every house. I suffered greatly because my sister and I had to struggle with going to school. As time went on I worked for people as a brick maker, sand washer, and collecting garbage. I was looking for food that people gave to the dogs and from the garbage. When I was 16 years old, a pastor found me as I was collecting food from the garbage for our next meal. Rashid, who had been a Muslim converted to Christianity tried to share the Gospel of Christ with me, but I did not want to listen to him. I was wondering where this God was when my parents died and when I had been suffering without food, clothes, and had to sleep in tunnels. I was feeling rejected and forsaken by everyone including God in this world. After one week, this pastor came again and began to share again about Christ to us. At that time, I came to the knowledge of Christ, and I accepted Christ to be saved. After this things began growing more rough and hard in my life. At the age of 18, God spoke to me four times while praying and through visions that He wants me to minister to my fellow street children. From there I started to preach to the youths on the streets and orphans who, like me, had lost all hope in life. Because of these good works, a well wisher helped me to find a place to live and eventually I got the chance to go to Bible school and become a pastor”.
Here are a few testimonies of how the Lord is using Pastor Calvince and ICII’s tracts and Bible studies in Kenya:
“My name is George Owino Mombassa, I am so much blessed and I got saved through the tracts which Pastor Calvince gave me called ‘Hell is Real’. I had been a sinner taking drugs, smoking and alcohol addicted. One day Pastor Calvince gave me this tract and I thank God that through it I am now saved! Since then, I have not taken any drug, neither do I drink alcohol any longer. I must say thanks to God for the work that Pastor Calvince is doing.”
“My name is Mary Akeyo. I am a young woman who is a teacher at a kindergarten school. Pastor Calvince gave me a Bible study book for children. I want to say that personally when I am going through the stories of that book I get so much blessed and my faith is kept burning just because of that book. Our children are so much happy and enjoying the teachings in that book. I am glad and thankful to God for the work of God he is doing”.
The beginnings of ICII started eleven years ago when the Lord connected Lowell and Kathy Smith with Pastor Britto from India. In the same way we believe that the Lord has connected ICII to the ministry of Pastor Calvince who, just like Pastor Britto eleven years ago, is now struggling with poverty and walking long distances in the extreme heat to reach the lost and hurting. He is doing so much with the small amount of resources he has. In the same way if ICII can help his ministry that currently has no resources, it will grow into something more beautiful and fruitful to reach more masses of lost souls and reach out to the desperately poor in Kenya.
This mid-April, Lowell and Kathy Smith, and Pastor Britto will be traveling to Kenya to do ministry with Pastor Calvince. We do not want to go empty-handed. We want to bless the people there by bringing them the good news of the Gospel and doing outreaches among the poorest of the poor. We want to give food, clothing, shoes, and many things to the suffering orphans, those afflicted with HIV, the widows, the disabled, and the poor and needy. A great need for Pastor Calvince’s ministry is a vehicle so it can reach over 200 more distant remote villages with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ!
