Strategic Training and Development Solutions
Othaya, Kenya
My name is Simon Macharia and I live in Kenya, Africa. I was born in the early 70s to James Macharia and Jane Waruguru Macharia. My mom passed away when I was 6yrs and my dad when I was 28yrs. My mom used to attend Church every Sunday and she would take us with her. I am not sure whether she was saved or not because I was young then. My father never attended Church until the last 10 or so years old. The good thing is that God used me to lead him to Christ and he testified about Jesus till he died.
After the death of my Mother my siblings and I stopped going to Church. I lived this way until I was around 20 years old, when I went to live with my elder sister who attended church, so I accompanied them to their local church. I was not attending church because I loved God, I just did not want to be the one left at home.
I slowly developed a love for singing hymns and listening to the word that was being preached. In the course of time I came to the conclusion that Jesus is the savior of mankind. I was confused thinking salvation was not for people in life but that it took place after died. God opened my eyes to the fact people are saved here on earth while alive. Jesus died on the cross here on the earth, in life, for our sin now, not just when we get to heaven. After I got past this confusion the devil had me convinced that salvation is not for the young; that you should wait until you were forty years old or more before getting saved. I got to thinking I want to enjoy life a little bit first. But God had His hand on me and the Holy Spirit continued to convict me of my sins. He should me I was lost and with no hope without Jesus. I looked at my future and for first time I saw, darkness, emptiness hopelessness, etc. and at that time I decided to accept Christ into my life. I was alone in my room and I got out bed and knelt down on the concrete floor and I asked Jesus to save me.
I received Christ in October 1994. This new faith brought such a great joy and peace into my heart. I spent much of my time praying and reading the Bible. I loved attending Church services and the fellowship of the believers. In December I went to visit a friend of mine and on my way back from the visit, seated in a public vehicle, I heard a voice speaking to me. I had read in the Bible and through some preachers that God speaks to his people. I had not experienced this before. The voice said to me " You will never succeed doing what I have not called you to do. I want you to serve me as a Preacher". The voice was authoritative, assuring and comforting. Right there in that van I surrendered to God's plan and purpose for my life. None of the other passengers in the van noticed what was happening.
As my faith continued to grow I joined a Pentecostal Church. The church had very few members and though I was a new member, the Pastor requested me to serve a Sunday School Teacher and later as a translator during the services because he preached in English. One day the Pastor came to visit me at my home. He informed me that he had a message for me. He told me that as he was praying God revealed to him that he had called me and wanted him to anoint me for ministry. God was using him to confirm His calling upon my life. I also shared with him on how God had spoken to me. He prayed with me and we agreed that we would continue to pray for God's guidance.
My family members were not pleased with because of the path I had decided to take and be in Ministry. One of them even told me that I was a disgrace to them and that I would become the most useless person in our family. I was discouraged seeing that my family was against me. Its only my dad who stood with me even though he was not saved at that time. As a result of this I spent much of my time in the presence of God praying and reading His word.
Around that time I became very ill with Meningitis and I was rushed to the hospital in a very bad condition. I was admitted and was in a coma for about 5 days. The doctors and family friends had given up on me but against all odds God raised me up and healed me. My healing was miraculous because one doctor told me that I came from very far to regain my recovery. My healing caused my family members change their attitude towards my ministry. For the first time they acknowledged that I was God's servant.
Because God had manifested Himself in a great way through my illness, my commitment for the ministry was greater. God opened doors for me to minister in our cell groups, open air meetings, local schools, and later in our main services. My opportunities to minister broadened when I was appointed the prayer coordinator and later chairman of the Othaya Sub-county Pastor's Fellowship.
In 1997 I met my wife and we were in courtship until we were married September 1999. She endured many physical problems early on that led to complications to conceive. By God's grace she did finally conceive and carried the child full term. Our baby girl was born but my wife developed problems due to a foreign object that was left in her womb during delivery. Our baby was kept in the nursery due to my wife's condition. The nursery did not have proper heating that resulted in our daughter becoming ill and a few days later she died from exposure to the cold.