My husband Brian and I met in 2009 and became good friends for over a year before we got engaged. Brian proposed at the Gaylord Opry Land in Nashville, TN, six months after we visited Turkey. One of my prayers, as I prayed for a husband, was that God would give me a God-fearing man that will love me and love my people. I know that God’s calling is on me, and I wanted a husband that would go and do what God has called us to do. God did not disappoint me. He gave me a great man, a man after God, and who loves me dearly and loves my people in Kenya. We got married in 2011 in Houston, and I moved to Florida, where Brian had accepted a manager position with Harbor Freight. We both loved what we were doing for the Lord but knew there was more we felt called to do.
In 2012, we went to Kenya (this was Brian’s first time to Kenya) for our delayed honeymoon and mission trip. While on honeymoon at a beautiful resort, we met two American Navy officers stationed in Malindi, Kenya. Brian had a conversation with them, and they invited us on a road trip to a village where they were volunteering in schools, the community, and in a deaf school.
Our first volunteer trip together.
We had no idea what we were getting into until we arrived at the children’s center. We were filled with compassion and love for the kids, who quickly became our friends. We danced, sang songs, played games and took plenty of pictures. It did not matter that they could not hear us. The smiles of the kids’ faces were infectious, and we were left speechless. We were moved by the compassion the American soldiers had and the fact that they were using their resources to help the children.
God began working on our hearts, and a seed was planted. We didn’t know what was waiting for us in my home town of Kakamega until we arrived. I worked in my parent’s ministry as a mission coordinator for over five years and had organized and led many mission groups to Kenya. When we got married, Brian and I continued working with various churches and organized mission trips to my dad’s ministry in Kenya. We did door to door evangelism, street evangelism, and school visits and evangelism. On this trip, I received a request to visit a school from one of our church members in Kakamega. She was a special education teacher, and she wanted us to visit the school and meet students.
I gladly accepted the invitation and informed the team about the plans to visit Daisy Special School. Even though I grew up in the area, I never knew the school existed. What we discovered during our time there changed everything about our lives. It was an unforgettable experience that transformed their minds and hearts.
The school conditions were poor and in disorder. The school grounds and buildings were in disrepair, and the children’s uniforms were sparse, torn, and tattered for those who had them. Children were grouped into rooms together and merely managed rather than educated. Some children’s needs were simply not being met.
Seeing all of this first hand inspired us to do something to change the situation. It was on this visit the dream that would become UnFinished International was born. We came back home and began the work of registering the organization, and the process was not easy and was met with challenges, but we knew that this is what God wanted us to do. We are so grateful we did not give up because now we are educating 19 children, restoring hope, and breaking the chains of poverty.
