From a shepherd to a student

I was raised in a family that didn’t have a lot of money. In fact, at times having food on the table each day was not possible. About three years ago, my older brother and I were attending primary school, and were candidates to enter high school. The high school charges each pupil a fee, and I wondered where my parents would get the money since it was so difficult to meet basic daily needs. I was so worried about the financial situation that I felt I had to end my education. I was discouraged, but deep inside I felt that “enough was enough” with regard to financial problems.

I went home and informed my dad about my decision. He was surprised, as he knew me as a bright student and had never expected this from me. He advised me to continue with my studies. He told me that God is the provider and would care for me. I loved his encouragement, but deep down I was convinced the situation was hopeless. So I stayed at home without going to school for the next month, and was employed as a shepherd boy at my neighbor’s homestead.

My parents were not happy. My father, who was employed as a day laborer, had always dreamed that my brother and I would achieve more in life. And here I was, doing work that didn’t “hold water” in my father’s eyes.

My father was aware of a Christian Science branch church in Nanyuki, Kenya, since he did night security at the buildings near the church hall. In fact, one of the Christian Science practitioners in the town was my father's best friend and had introduced him to the church. My father started bringing home copies of the Sentinel, and I read them during my free time, after I’d gotten the sheep back to their owner that day. I became interested in the powerful testimonies of people who were healed through Christian Science.

If it were not for the spiritual ideas I learned, I might still be a lost young man tending sheep.

One day my father asked my brother and me if we would like to join the Christian Science church. We answered that we would, and from then on we started attending Sunday School. Though I was not very consistent in my Sunday attendance because of my work hours, I dearly loved Sunday School. I even started reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, on my own. This passage especially stood out to me: “Fear is the fountain of sickness, and you master fear and sin through divine Mind; hence it is through divine Mind that you overcome disease. ... Fear, which is an element of all disease, must be cast out to readjust the balance for God. Casting out evil and fear enables truth to outweigh error. The only course is to take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God’s image” (pp. 391–392 ).

After I learned this, I sincerely prayed to cast out all my fears. I felt deep in me that I needed to go back to school, and when I told my father, he was thrilled about the idea. I went back, worked hard, and at the end of the year, I sat for my National Examination. When the results came out, I saw that I had passed and earned a place in one of the best high schools in the country. I did not panic or fear about where the school fees or any other requirement would come from.

In Sunday School I had learned to lean on God, who is the source of all good. And I knew that my God—whom I reflected—cares for me. The church team in Nanyuki helped support me by talking with me about the allness of God’s abundance and supply. They assisted me in acquiring some supplies required for my joining high school. And to my amazement, we had visitors come to our church from another country, one of whom offered to pay my fees. I gratefully accepted that offer, and I was able to go to my high school joyfully and happily, with all my needs met.

I can never thank God and Christian Science enough. If it were not for the spiritual ideas I learned, I might still be a lost young man tending sheep. As part of my gratitude to God, during the holidays I usher in church, and help clean and arrange the church hall. I always make sure everything is in perfect order before the service.

Now I am in the last year of my studies in high school. I’ve seen how Mrs. Eddy challenged hopelessness when she insisted that no one has to be governed by a material view of life, which involves limitation and lack. In Science and Health, she writes: “Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply,—to manifest His power. Man is not made to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not subjection. He is lord of the belief in earth and heaven,—himself subordinate alone to his Maker” (pp. 517–518 ). I’m so grateful to have proved my dominion through Christian Science.