"Something Big Is Coming"

“God is so, so good! Kenya is right around the corner, and the feeling I have inside since the beginning of this journey has only intensified. Something big is coming. I feel it in my soul.”

This was Maria’s* Facebook post just two weeks before leaving for Kenya with her teenage daughter, Leann*, on their first-ever mission experience.

Six months earlier, during a Sunday morning service, Maria heard an announcement about a short-term mission team forming for Kenya. Immediately, she sensed God’s unmistakable prompting: Go.

After attending an informational meeting, she knew God was calling both her and Leann to take this step of faith.

But almost instantly, doubts followed.

How would they afford the trip? Was it safe? How could God possibly use her?

Still, they pressed forward — faithfully attending team training meetings and preparing to serve vulnerable children at a 3-day Bible camp hosted at AfricaHope Kenya.

Then God began providing.

Financial support arrived in unexpected ways, leaving Maria in awe of His faithfulness. As the team grew closer, both she and Leann began discovering their role in ministering to more than 100 children from marginalized rural villages.

Yet the questions never fully disappeared.

“Are you really hearing from God? What difference could you possibly make?”

Maria refused to back down.

Then, just two days after posting, “Something big is coming”, every mother’s nightmare unfolded.

“As I was out with my boys, I got a phone call that Leann had been in a car accident,” Maria recalled. “I didn’t freeze. I didn’t panic. But the prayer that came out of me was unreal.”

She rushed to the scene.

“Upon arriving, I first saw the damage to both cars, but didn’t see my daughter. Then, suddenly, I saw her lying on the sidewalk, waiting for the ambulance. My heart sank.”

Could this be the “something big”?

No. God had something even bigger planned.

Remarkably, Leann’s injuries were minor. In the ER, she boldly told the doctors:

“I’m going to be fine…I’m going to Kenya in two weeks!”

And she did.

Just over two weeks later, Maria and Leann stood on the AfricaHope campus, surrounded by laughing children eager for hugs, handshakes, and high-fives.

Then came the moment Maria will never forget.

“I was standing in the grassy field outside the dining hall, encircled by giggling children, when suddenly the noise seemed to fade away,” she said.

“Then it felt as if the earth stopped spinning, and I was standing there alone. I could sense God’s presence all around me — almost like a physical embrace — and He spoke these words to my spirit: ‘This is why you are here, to be in this moment. Here in Kenya, you’ve experienced life full of love. I have so much better to come for you.’”

Yes, something big was happening.

Maria, Saruni, and Leann

By the end of the week, Maria and Leann had formed a special bond with one of the young girls at camp named Saruni*. They soon asked if they could support her family through the Family Partners program.

Today, through supporters like Maria and her family, Saruni’s family is receiving ongoing support and being empowered to thrive in their remote Kenyan community.

For Saruni and her family, hope for the future is now within reach.

And for Maria and Leann, faith became something deeper than words — it became something lived.  What began as a simple step of obedience became something far greater than they could have imagined.

Sometimes the biggest moments of faith begin with uncertainty, questions, and fear. But when God calls, He is already preparing the way — not only to change the lives of those we serve, but also our own.

That’s big!

*Names were changed to respect privacy.