Otieno Oguok is a new Resonate Global Mission leader working in Nairobi, Kenya. In this letter to you, he shares how God called him to this city and gave him a vision for spreading the gospel.

My entry into Nairobi shattered my dreams.

I grew up in a village, but I always had a fascination with the city, its promises, and possibilities. My father died shortly after I was in high school. He was our family’s only breadwinner. With dreams and aspirations, I boarded a Nairobi-bound bus, pursuing the promise of a job in the city and expecting to help out our family.

My uncle invited me to stay with him. He lived in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums. I joined my uncle in the slum and began the search for work. I couldn’t find a job, but I never gave up, although many days I wanted to. I didn’t have a degree from college because I couldn’t afford the tuition. I only had a high school education. My faith in Christ was being stretched while I desired to work and provide for my family.

Poverty kept me and my family within its chain for many years. This is the same story that many young people echo in the slums of our city. With no college education my life would be confined to being a casual laborer in companies that exploit people who live in the slums.

For many years, the city provided nothing but broken dreams. Then I had an idea. What if I showed up every day at my church, simulating a work day? 

I started to arrive in the morning and left toward the end of the day. My pastor took notice of my discipline. After several months, he invited me to serve as the youth leader and later appointed me as an assistant pastor in that small congregation of 15 adults and 12 children. By God’s guidance, I eventually became the lead pastor of our local Pentecostal church.

In the midst of ministering among the poor, God opened an opportunity for me to receive a scholarship to further my studies. After 12 years of painful waiting, God was fulfilling a dream. What joy! What a celebration for me and my family! “God has finally remembered us,” I said. 

Since then, I’ve earned a master’s in urban mission studies and am currently pursuing a PhD in theology. I’ve trained grassroots leaders who live in informal settlements and slum communities on how to integrate faith and life in the city.

The Lord has been good. What I have experienced through these open doors eased my pain and strengthened my resolve to work for the transformation of Nairobi so that the city can facilitate good life for all.

But God’s mission in the city is too great for one person, one organization, or one faith community to fulfill alone. We need one another. We need local groups to come together. We need leadership to be formed and connected. We need relational bridges across the city but also between churches, partners, and cities around the world.

That’s why Resonate partnered with you and local Nairobi organizations and churches to form the Nairobi Transformational Network, a network of ministries who are dedicated to working together to build God’s kingdom in Nairobi.

Among the hardships in the city, God is using our work and relationships to bring forth social and spiritual renewal of the city of Nairobi. The dreams, gifts, great talents, and abundant resources are being called forth, celebrated and shared. My experience of extreme pain and suffering in the city has been redeemed by Christ to become a source of compassion and commitment to usher in the fullness of the gospel of Jesus in the city. 

As the Nairobi Transformational Network Coordinator, my role is to accompany, catalyze, and connect individuals, churches, organizations, and communities to love our city and work towards making it livable, sustainable, and life-giving to all the people of Nairobi. I do not do this as an outsider but as one whose life has been nurtured and shaped by this city, as an active insider who has experienced God’s deliverance. I see the city of Nairobi as God’s gift to us to love and steward for His own glory.

Thank you for walking alongside your brothers and sisters in Nairobi—we are so grateful for your partnership.