For sure, one of the greatest joys for me during my stay in Kenya was getting to know Cyrillah. Isaac served as my host during most of my visit and she is Isaac’s mother. Cyrillah lives in a very small house right behind Isaac’s house where I was staying. I made it a point to greet her every day, when possible.
Cyrillah is 104 years old. They do not know the exact day she was born. But they have assured me as to her age. I believe it. She has many wrinkles on her face, arms and other places. But she has no wrinkles in her heart.
When Cyrillah and I saw each other for the first time, she shouted praise and celebration. I was like a long lost missing son who had just returned. We immediately hugged. Then we held hands and stared directly into each others eyes. Her grip is very powerful and she squeezed my hands again and again, communicating the happiness she was experiencing in seeing me.
Finally she released her grip and held both hands out towards me, palms facing toward me. I knew what she wanted. I placed the palms of my hands directly on top of hers. We then slapped palms together many, many times as words of praise continued to pour out of her mouth.
Then we began to talk. She does not know English and I don’t know Swahili, so I had one of her grandchildren translate for me. She greeted me and told me how glad she was to see me. I responded in kind.
I asked her what the secret was to her old age. She told me, “It is the grace of God that has enabled me to live this long.” She isn’t just alive. She can walk short distances. She uses a cane, but needs no help from someone to walk from her house to a close proximity outside. Isaac explained to me that up until she was 94 years old, she was able to walk long distances on her own and did so regularly.
She quoted Matthew 5:8 to me where it says, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.” Isaac explained to me that she has always looked at life with great joy and enthusiasm. And when other people have criticized her or said bad things about her, she has never let it bother her. She knows what God thinks about her and that is what really matters.
She attended the service where I taught at the Kimaeti church on Sunday 
morning. As the praise and worship songs were being sung, her arms swung back and forth, over and over again. She stood as long as she could. In Kenya, the praise and worship time is very long. Finally, she sat down. But her arms continued to move back and forth to the music. And throughout it all, the joy on her face never wavered.
The next morning when I greeted her, she complimented me on how well I had done in teaching God’s Word. It had pleased her very much. “Well, I have been very pleased to know you,” I replied.
I visited Cyrillah again, just before leaving to go to Uganda. I told here where I was going, that I would be gone for three days and asked her to pray for me while I was gone. She smiled and said she would. The next day, while I was riding in the car, God revealed to me that she was praying for me at that very moment. I have never experienced that before. It was really cool.
My last visit with Cyrillah was just before my return to the USA. As always, we are very glad to see each other. At one point in our conversation, Cyrillah begins to quote scripture from Genesis chapter 3. She elaborates on the sin of Adam and the need for a man to come who would redeem the sin that Adam committed and brought into the world. Then she talks about Jesus Christ being that man.
Once she has finished with that topic, she begins to talk about the unconditional love of God. She shares about how important it is for the love of God to be the motivator for everything that we do. Then she turns to me and says, “That is the only reason you are here visiting me right now. And it is the only reason you have traveled to Kenya. The love of God has brought you here.”
I agree. Without the love of God, her and I would never have met. But that’s what the love of God does. It brings people together. People of like-minded hearts and faith. Our fellowship time together is very sweet. And we know it will continue, because we will be spending eternity together.
If I wasn’t convinced before, I have absolutely no doubt that this lady is really tuned in to God. Why do I say that? Cyrillah has been home all day. She was home when I was at the Siloba church teaching about the unconditional love of God. And she was home when I was at the crusade teaching about the sin of Adam. She couldn’t have possibly heard me bring forth either of those messages. And yet, the words from those two messages rolled out of her mouth to me this evening like it was from a tape recorder! There was only one way she could have known about those messages. God had revealed them to her.
Meeting Cyrillah was just one more of the awesome blessings given to me during my visit in Kenya. That is our God. I was faithful to answer His call. To travel to Kenya to teach these wonderful people God’s Word, with all of the love in my heart. No hidden agendas. No selfish ambition. And God responded by blessing me over and over again in ways such as this that I couldn’t have possibly imagined could happen.
One thing I have seen from this trip is that you absolutely cannot out-give God. The more you submit yourself to serving Him and loving His people, the more blessings He gives back to you. And these are just the blessings right now, here on earth. God has eternal blessings in store for us which will be far greater!
I am near tears as I say goodbye to Cyrillah for the last time. At her age, I don’t know how much longer she can live. What I do know is that I will never forget her. The memory of her will always remain in my heart.
A person has many friends to socialize with,
but there is one who loves who stays closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24 REV
Rejoice always;
Pray without ceasing;
In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 REV