I have now completed eight days on the mission field. Every single day God has gone way and above my expectations. To use a baseball analogy, every day had been a home run. But life is not always going to be home runs. Days nine and ten on the mission field would bring about my first setback. But in the midst of it, I know that God is always able to take a bad situation and cause something great to come from it.
Not counting Segera Mission, I was scheduled to teach God’s Word on 14 days, at 8 different locations. Most of my itinerary had been coordinated by Bishop Isaac. About four months ago, as Isaac and I were planning out this conference, I was given the name of “Tom Smith” (that is not his real name; out of love and forgiveness I am protecting his real identity) as someone who could host a conference for me in the area of Bungoma in Kenya. I had Isaac meet Tom face to face. That meeting went well. So, I approved a 2-day conference at Tom’s church.
I knew that Bishop Isaac oversees many churches throughout Kenya. And I could have easily chosen another one of the churches that Isaac oversees for those two days. That would have been a ‘safe’ move. But my heart was to reach out beyond the churches that Bishop Isaac knew. One of the topics I am teaching heavily in Kenya is that we all serve the same Lord Jesus Christ. That God has designated Jesus as head over the entire church. As a step towards putting this into practice, I reached out to an unknown church sponsored by Tom.
One of the things I noted while in Kenya and Uganda is that none of the churches have signs out front. I never knew what denomination a church I was teaching at was associated with. Nor did I care. I never asked anyone any questions about what they believed or what they didn’t believe. My only concern was if they would like to hear more about what the Word of God says. I was here to teach the Word of God, to anyone and everyone who wanted to listen.
When Jesus Christ gathers us home, he isn’t going to separate us into denominations like we are practicing here on earth right now. We are all going to be reconciled as one body of Christ, and we will all live together. My goal is to do what I can to see that become a reality now. Everyone who has confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead is part of the body of Christ. We are all on the same team. We are serving the same Lord Jesus Christ. Why not act like it?
When all of the pastors from the churches that would be hosting me at conferences met at Isaac’s house on Thursday, April 4th, Tom joined us. After praying and sharing hearts, we discussed the budget. Isaac and I had worked together with all of these pastors to determine how much money I would need to give each one for the conference they would be hosting. I would be giving Tom $450 to cover all of the expenses for his 2-day conference and crusade.
Isaac explained to all of the pastors present, including Tom, that they must give an account for every shilling they spend and return any money back to me that they do not spend on their conference and crusades. If they did not choose to be honest with the money they were given, it is unlikely that either Isaac or I would support their ministry in future endeavors.
Two days later, Tom showed up at the conference I was doing at Kimaeti and asked if he could have his $450. I wanted to make sure I had a witness to verify everything that took place when the money was exchanged. I told him that it would have to wait until later on when he, Isaac and I could meet at Isaac’s house. Later that evening, I handed Tom the $450 in front of Isaac.
The conference at Tom’s church was scheduled to run from 9:30 am to 11:30 am each day. And then an afternoon session from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Then a crusade until 4:30 pm. Tom told us that he was expecting 350 people to attend the conference. That, along with the crusade, is what justified the $450 budget. He had been given well over a month to arrange for the location. He had been calling himself a pastor, so we assumed the location would be at the church he was the pastor of.
The afternoon before his conference was set to begin, Isaac receives a text message. Tom said that an emergency had come up and that he would be dropping by Isaac’s house in the evening to explain. We waited for his arrival that evening. He did not show up. We have no idea what the emergency is.
The next morning Tom sends a message saying the conference would start at 10:30 am instead of the original 9:30 am. Later he changed the time again to 11:30 am. We had invited Simon Mutisha Waswa to attend. Around 11:00 am Isaac gets a call from Simon. He has arrived at the designated location for the conference and explains that there is no one there and that the doors of the church are locked.
We attempt to call Tom, but he does not answer or respond to our phone calls. Isaac and I proceed to drive over to the area where the conference is scheduled to be held. We try calling Tom several times while driving there but are unable to reach him. However, Simon is able to get a hold of him and Tom provides Simon with directions to the new location of the conference.
We are able to locate Simon in town and he hops in our car. Things are about to get interesting. It has become obvious to us that Tom does not want us to show up at the conference I am scheduled to teach at. Why else would Tom ignore our calls and not make any attempt to give us directions? Tom has no idea that Simon is with us. We decide not to let him know. He will find out soon enough when we crash the party he seemed intent on keeping us away from.
A guy on a motorcycle meets us at a main city street. We follow him. These arrangements are necessary in Kenya when you are going somewhere for the first time. As far as I know, there are no street signs in Kenya in any of the rural housing areas. Google Maps doesn’t work. So when you want to get somewhere for the first time, someone needs to meet you on the outskirts and lead you the rest of the way.
We arrive. It isn’t a church. It is a house with a white tent set up next to it. Tom meets us outside and pretends he is glad to see us. “Welcome to my home,” he says. “Please!,” I think to myself. But I go along with it and follow him into the house. He sits us down in the living room and leaves us there for a while. I’m pretty sure he has gone into another room and said something like, “They’ve shown up. Now what do we do?”
When he returns, I motion him over to me. “What is going on?” I ask. “Why did 
the location change? Where are all the people?” I had only seen about 12 or 15 people inside of the tent when I had walked by it. We were expecting 350.
Tom comes over to me and tells me how sorry he is, but that it wasn’t his fault. He explains that yesterday the pastor of the church decided not to allow him to host the conference there. In last minute desperation mode, he decided to rent the tent and move the conference to his house. Regarding the lack of people, Tom tells me that most of the people sided with the pastor and have now refused to participate in the conference.
I am quite disturbed by all of this and Tom knows it. He gets down on one knee and begs for forgiveness. I’m not sure what to say. I think about the 12 to 15 people in the tent. They are here. “Let’s make the best of this,” I tell Tom, “I am ready to teach.”
This situation has put me into an intense renewed mind challenge. I need to do my best to forget what has happened, why it has happened, etc. and focus on the situation as it exists. Perhaps these 12 to 15 people are eager to hear God’s Word. I mustn’t disappoint them. What Tom has done is not their fault.
Tom motions for me to walk with him to the back of the house. Another man is there waiting for me. He introduces himself as a pastor and then proceeds to give me a glamorous endorsement of Tom. He finishes his speech by recommending that I sponsor Tom. “I will pray about it,” I reply. I am pretty sure that Tom has paid this guy to say these things about him.
Soon afterwards it is time for me to teach at the conference. I walk out to the tent. By the time the praise and worship team has finished, my mind has been renewed. I step out to the podium and teach God’s Word with the same vigor and enthusiasm as in previous conferences. The small group is made up mostly of men. There are one or two ladies.
We then break for lunch. The food is low quality and there is no bottled water. 
After I finish eating, I am escorted to a small dwelling behind the much larger house. Tom’s wife has joined us, along with a few other people I don’t know. Isaac, his wife and Simon are not invited. It is clear that they have chosen to shelter me from my confidantes in order to convince me of something. But I go along with it. I’ve got God with me. I can hold my own.
The apologizing begins again, along with a reiteration of the same story I already heard. I ask Tom why he didn’t contact me yesterday when this ‘blow up’ with the church pastor occurred so we could work together to form a solution. He hangs his head down and doesn’t respond. “I’m sorry,” he finally says, “It’s unfortunate that the pastor reacted that way. After that, I just tried to make the best of the situation.”
I go back to the tent for another session of teaching God’s Word. After the afternoon session has finished, I am escorted to a portion of the yard where four chairs have been set up. Tom has brought two guys over to talk to me privately. Isaac had left to run an errand. His wife is told by Tom that she is not invited to this meeting. He instructs her to sit far away from us so she will be unable to hear our conversation.
The two guys begin by asking me to partner with Tom help jumpstart his ministry as a pastor. Then they talk about how much they have enjoyed my teachings. They want me to make copies of them so they can distribute them to other pastors. As they are saying this, the Lord reveals to me the heart of these three men. All three of them are working together to use me. In their eyes I am a commodity and they view my teachings as an opportunity for them to make money.
I listen for a little while longer and then I can’t stand the deceitful conversation any longer. So, I tell them that I need to go for a walk. I get up and walk outside the gate of the home and continue walking down a dirt road while intensely praying. It can be taxing to the mind to fight off evil spirit influence and I needed to become refreshed and rejuvenated again by the power and love that can only come from the true God.
I stand and watch a group of kids playing soccer in an open field. After about 15 minutes later I see Isaac driving up in his car so I hop in. We drive back to Tom’s. Twice after my arrival, Tom has invited me to spend the night at his house. The first time I said that I would think about it. The second time the Lord clearly revealed to me that it would be an absolutely terrible idea to stay there. So, I politely said, “Thank you for the invitation. But I would like to spend the night at Isaac’s home instead.” Tom is very disappointed but backs down from his offer.
As we are driving away, I tell Simon and Isaac that I would like to talk to the 
pastor of the church where Tom had said the conference was supposed to be held so we can find out the truth as to what really happened. Simon knows where he lives. We stop at a restaurant close to that location. I order “fish and chips” for dinner. While we are waiting for it to arrive, 
Simon investigates. I nice gentleman brings water and helps me wash my hands. What we find out from Simon when he returns is that the pastor has been out of the country for the past several months!
I wake up at 4:00 am the next morning and am unable to go back to sleep. My heart is greatly bothered by what has taken place. So, I begin to pray. As I am praying, I change the focus of my thoughts away from the ‘Tom fiasco’ and dwell on the many wonderful things God has brought to pass during my first 8 days in Kenya. God had opened so many doors that resulted in so much fruit! I change my mind to think about that rather than the one ‘bad’ event that happened with Tom. It works. I have regained peace within and am able to go back to sleep.
The adversary always wants us to focus on the negative things in life, rather than the positive. I am sharing this story about Tom for two reasons. One, to let you know that when we are serving the true God, life isn’t always going to be like Kimaeti. There will be rough roads ahead as well that we will have to deal with. Secondly, I want to alert future missionaries to these schemes, that seem to be all too common in Kenya and, from what I’ve heard, other third world countries as well. We need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. To walk in wisdom so as to avoid getting trapped by these snares.
After breakfast, Isaac and I are sitting outside on the lawn drinking tea. Simon and some other pastors arrive. They have much more information to share with us about Tom. Evidence upon evidence is given to further prove the true intentions of Tom, which was a total scam operation.
My old man nature wants to cancel the second day of the conference, get what I can of my money back, and move on. I am uncomfortable facing Tom again. But I know the right thing to do is to return. Although the group is small in number, there are pastors who will be there waiting to hear God’s Word. I mustn’t disappoint them.
As we are traveling there, Isaac advises us not to confront Tom until after the morning session has completed. I agree. Before any words are said about this, I will teach the Word of God to the small group who has come to hear the truth. After the morning session has completed we will deal with Tom.
That morning I am inspired to teach something I had never taught since I have 
been to Kenya. Nor would I teach it again. It is a teaching that shows two possible roads for man to choose from. Either we will choose to follow after the riches of this world. Or else we will choose to follow after Christ and live for him. I share many verses such as Matthew 6:19-21 and Luke 16:13 that tell us we cannot serve both God and material wealth.
I teach the record in Acts 8 where Simon the sorcerer plots to use the power of God as a means to make money. Peter harshly confronts him in verses 20-23. Tom needs to hear this, but he is not in the audience. He walked out of the teaching early on and has not returned. But those that are present are listening quite intently to what I am saying. And the message is getting across. As I look across those seated in the tent, many are wide-eyed. They can see that what I am teaching is truth. And that it is very applicable to this particular moment and time.
After I finish, we eat lunch. Then I wait. And wait some more. And wait some more. Tom and some of the others have retreated to a private place away from me. Later I am told that the pastors were pleading with Tom to return back the money I gave him except for the actual amount that he spent for the conference.
Finally, Tom and the pastors return to where I am in the living room of the house. Tom explains to me again that he is sorry, but that the $450 I gave him has been spent. He hands me a piece of paper that has this written on it:
- Pulpit stage 10000 for 2 days
- Full Instrument 15000 for 2 days
- Chairs 2000
- Food 6000
- Tent 5000
- Transportation (Chairs and pulpit) 4000
Shillings converts to American dollars by dividing it by 100. So, these expenses add up to $420. I let him continue with his explanations. He again mentions that he had talked to the pastor yesterday and that the pastor canceled at the last minute. I listen patiently until he has finished. When he is done, it is now my turn to speak.
I look at Tom and point out the following, in front of all of the pastors who are in the room:
- The conference and crusade were never going to be held at that church, and you knew that. The pastor has been out of the country for months. And you have never been a member of that church. (Tom stares down at the ground. He is shocked that I have this information. I know a lot more.)
- The instruments that are being used for this conference were not paid for. They were loaned to you to use for free by your friend, Geofrey Barasa.
- If you rented a pulpit stage, where is it? Let us drive to where you rented it from and verify that you made that purchase. I know that this stage rental never took place. A few days ago, you told one of the pastors that there was never going to be a crusade.
- Why did you tell some of the pastors that I gave you only $250 instead of the $450 that I actually gave you?
- You told me that this is your house. That is not true. This house belongs to your relative.
- I was told that you left a Korean pastor in his hotel, leaving him stranded there, because he didn’t give you the large sum of money you asked from him to put on a conference.
- You call yourself a pastor, but you are not a true pastor. If so, where is your church? I point out that he did not show any signs of being a church leader. For instance, during our conference in the white tent he did not at any time stand in front and address the group. Not even once.
I then explained that because no money was spent on renting a stage and no money spent on renting instruments that there could not have been more than $100 or $150 spent for this conference and that I would like the balance returned to me immediately.
Tom then argues that he did rent a stage and the instruments and that he would provide phone numbers as evidence. One of the pastors interrupts him and says, “That is enough Tom. We all know what the truth is. Please discontinue down this path of denial.”
The room gets very silent. Tom is deep in thought. Finally, I look at Tom and say to him firmly, “Either you return the money that you owe me. Or else I am going to report this to the police.”
I was very serious about this threat and had every intention of following through with it. I know that Romans 12:19 instructs us not to seek revenge. It wasn’t about that. I didn’t hate Tom or wish anything bad to happen to him. My motivation was to stop him from continuing to scam missionaries over and over again. One of the things I had been informed about early that morning was that Tom has a history of conning missionaries.
He isn’t the first. A few years ago, a man named Benjamin Oruka scammed a missionary from Japan out of more than a thousand dollars. The missionary from Japan reported it to the police. But in the end, Benjamin was freed from all charges. Sadly, I just saw a poster on Facebook where is he is again hosting a conference for missionaries. My heart is to help missionaries avoid these scam artists so they can put all of their time, money and energy into the people of Kenya who are truly hungering for truth.
After pondering my challenge for quite a while, Tom agrees to return $100. “I can get that for you tomorrow,” he says. I had been told by one of my insiders that Tom had not yet converted the $450 of American money that I had given him. He had borrowed some shillings from a friend to cover the expenses of the conference. But what was I going to do, demand a search of his bedroom for the money?
The pastors, including Isaac, seemed satisfied that Tom had agreed to pay back $100. I knew that Tom owed a lot more. Beyond that, I had not heard any verbal confession from Tom regarding the list of accusations I had made against him.
I tell him that he will need to return $100 to me tomorrow and an additional $50 prior to my departing Kenya for the USA a week from now. And that I will also need him to verbally confess in front of this group of pastors that everything I have accused him of is true.
Tom looks down at the ground and thinks long and hard. Then he says, “Everything you have said about me is true. And I will give you the $100 tomorrow and the remaining $50 before you leave Kenya.”
We are now finished sorting this out. But it has taken so long that there isn’t enough time remaining to do an afternoon teaching session. It begins to rain, so we stay inside. I decide to tell a few American jokes to lighten the mood. Then I look over at Tom. He is sulking. I have pity on him and go over to him. I tell him that I forgive him for what he has done. He thanks me.
Soon afterwards, Tom comes up to me and explains that his wife is in a back room crying. He asks me if I will talk to her. I said, “Yes” and he then leads me to where she is. I wrap my arms around both of them and pray for them, that they will seek the true God and endeavor to serve Him for the rest of their life.
Soon afterwards the rain stops, and we migrate outdoors. I say my goodbyes to the various pastors. Some have traveled from lengthy distances. I find out later that Tom refused to pay the return transportation costs for one of the pastors that had attended. I also discover that he never actually put up the posters advertising his conference that I had spent $75 on.
Tom never did return the additional $50 to me that he had promised to do in front of that group of pastors in Bungoma. He continues to call himself ‘Pst Tom Smith’ on Facebook. You would never be able to tell based on what he posts on Facebook that he would treat real men of God the way that I and the Korean pastor were treated.
The following morning, a pastor named Calistus Wesonga knocks on the door where I am staying at Isaac’s house. He has traveled all the way from Mateka on his motorcycle, a 40-minute journey. Calistus attended the fellowship the previous day at Tom’s. He got uplifted by what I taught and wanted to hear more. I look at him. He is very nicely dressed with dress pants, dress shoes and a nice shirt and tie. In contrast, I am wearing gym shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops. I wasn’t expecting a visitor. But one thing we have in common is our love for God and desire to reach people with His Word.
Calistus shares his heart about his ministry, which is to the rural areas of Kenya. I am impressed, knowing that all of the ‘fake’ pastors hover around the cities where the money is. Calistus has chosen to minister in areas where there is no money. The people are very poor there. His only motivation for going there would be to reach people who are hungering for truth. He is my kind of guy!
Calistus extends an invitation for me to visit and teach in his rural area during my next visit to Kenya. I put my arm around him and tell him that it sounds wonderful. That I would be praying for our Lord Jesus Christ to open the door for me to do just that. Isaac hands him a few of the Bibles I had purchased in the Swahili language as a gift to take back with him.
Then I invite him to come to Butere on April 13-14 to hear me teach again. I tell him that I will pay for his transport to and from the meeting. A big smile comes to his face as he says, “Yes.” I hand him the money, thank him for coming by, pray for him, and send him on his way. All was not lost during the Tom conference. I have touched the heart of this man.
Calistus does show up for the Butere conference and he brings two other Christian leaders with him. I am able to minister to them, along with a large group of people there, with a much wider range and substance of my teachings than what I was able to do at Tom’s. God is always able to turn lemons into lemonade. I am sure that it was part of God’s plan for me to meet this great man.