l Kenya l From the Son of a Poor Farmer, To the Local Branch Manager of NAKUMATT
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August 16, 2009 |
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 John Ouma Ochieng
I was born in Kisumu (the third largest city in Kenya), near Lake Victoria in the year 1954. Due to my family's poor economic situation, I couldn't enter middle school, so I studied agriculture at the National Youth Job Training School instead. But getting a job was very difficult, even after I finished my studies there.
In 1984, I left my hometown and headed for Nakuru. There, I made every effort to survive. As I worked diligently, I was able to lead a stable life. But in 2006, the company I worked for faced financial difficulties and shut down its door. So I got a store in Kisumu and started my own business. As my business stabilized, I extended the business to freight delivery.
I was Catholic at the time, but I asked one of the staff who was Christian to introduce me to a pastor who would be willing to lead a prayer meeting at my business. Through this opportunity, I accepted the Lord, and each Sunday morning, before we started working, my staff and I worshipped together. Not fully understanding about how to truly keep the Sabbath Day holy, I thought I was doing my best.
The Business Collapsed In a Moment
During the year 2007, the business seemed to prosper, but as time went on, the situation got worse. But I couldn't figure out the cause. Finally, the situation got so bad that I couldn't even afford to pay my rent. No matter how hard I looked around me, I couldn't find any help. Then in June 2008, due to failure of reimbursement of bank-loaned money, I had to sell the store by auction.
The shock at that time was beyond expression. The increasing amount of debt brought great pressure to my family, and my children experienced severe poverty. My staff, after suddenly losing their jobs, all fell into despair. I couldn't help but feel depressed each day.
I Stopped by Nairobi Manmin Holiness Church
In September of last year, I met up with someone I used to work with and asked for help. He felt so sorry for me, and he introduced me to a warehouse guard position at Brand Imports (Food importing company).
One day in November, on my way home from work, I spotted a sign that read: Nairobi Manmin Holiness Church. My heart was pulling me toward it, so I visited the church on Sunday. After Sunday morning service I was overjoyed and my heart was at peace, and I looked forward to the Evening Service message. The lecture on the book of Job that Bishop Dr. Myongho Cheong preached was such a precious message that helped me to rediscover myself, and tears ran down my face. I realized that up to that point, I had been living a meaningless life, stuck to myself with pride. I was so ashamed of my Christian life where I wasn't even practicing the basics, such as keeping the Sabbath and paying my tithes.
Prayer and Worship Transformed My Life
From then on, my life was completely turned around. In addition to keeping the Sabbath, I attended the Daniel prayer meetings each day and tried to find God. And at the workplace, I started each day by praying along with my co-workers each morning.
And watching Manmin Magazine on GCN (Global Christian Network) during Friday night services gave me such comfort and strength, because I was able to hear testimonies of people who overcame difficulties through deeds of faith trusting in God alone.
I felt my faith growing each day. At times, I was left with no money after paying the monthly rent and tithes, but I kept sowing for God's kingdom. While listening to a message about "Blessing" during the New Year's Day service, I made up my mind to get over my difficult situation and glorify God. I prayed with faith and strived to obey God's word while having firm hope in my heart.
In mid-March of 2009, after Bishop Dr. Myongho Cheong returned from the Manmin Central Church in Korea, Dr. Cheong emphasized in his message titled, "The God Who Answers and Blesses", that we have to find the root cause of each of the problems in our lives by looking into ourselves and thoroughly repenting. I immediately bowed down before God, repented, and prayed fervently. Bishop Dr. Myongho Cheong prayed for me with the handkerchief that Dr. Jaerock Lee prayed upon.
A Blessing That No One Could Imagine
 With my staff at NAKUMATT
On June second, this unexpected thing happened. A supervisor I once worked for moved the heart of the CEO of the company I was working for, and the CEO appointed me as manager of the local branch of Nakumatt. Nakumatt is a large store with 19 branches in Kenya and a branch in Kampala, Uganda, Kigali, and Rwanda, with over 2000 full-time employees.
Trudging through life's difficulties, there were times I had no hope. But by the holiness gospel and Dr. Jaerock Lee's fervent prayer for us, my family, and all my staff members are enjoying happy lives. On top of that, our company's difficult problems have all been solved.
Because the CEO of NAKUMATT is Indian, we work on Sundays. But through the Salt and Light Mission Team (the mission team established to evangelize to those who work on Sundays in restaurants and department stores), I intend to try my best to evangelize to my staff. I want to thank God who poured overflowing blessings upon my life, and who gave me the strength to overcome the difficult times in my life.
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