joseph-gicheru
I remember seeing soldiers coming home after the war in 1945 when I was a young boy. We were scared. We were told that Hitler and the French and British would be coming to Nairobi to have some tea and that we should put out our lamps. The French ended up settling in Isiolo, the Germans in Kilimanjaro, and the British Empire took over our country. That was a big deal—it shocked us all. We used to eat our food in the dark because we were afraid of getting bombed. Later, there was war between the Mau Mau and the British. I was arrested in April 1954 by the British Air Force because I was a Mau Mau soldier. I was detained for almost four years. Death can shake you and leave you in deep sadness. Your blood loses its strength for a while. But God gave me strength, and I was able to bear it. That experience taught me that there is nothing too big to handle. Anything can happen at any time. You have to find the strength in you.

MORE STORIES

Earl Frost

Earl Frost discovered his talent for music thanks to the support that others showed in him. In this audio clip, he shares what he has learned about faith.

VIEW THIS STORY

Tom McGrath

Clearly my father understood his situation: he was dying and there was more pain to come. And yet here he was saying, as if he was letting us in on a secret, ‘All in all, we’re in pretty good shape.’ Was this just the medicine talking? The truth is that I had heard those words…

VIEW THIS STORY

Joe Schneider

I was a bomber pilot in World War II. We were the bombers who were knocking out hundreds of bridges in Italy. We became known as the ‘Bridge Busters’. We had to fly straight and level, otherwise we would never hit a 100-foot bridge. It was very touch-and-go. And we lost an awful lot of…

VIEW THIS STORY

Tony and Grace Naudi

[Grace] You want to get on in the world, you want to be a success, and you think that’s really important. But in the end, that’s not what’s most important. The important thing is to find yourself, to know yourself, and to be grateful for what you have. You tend to exclude the frivolous things…

VIEW THIS STORY

Razanamialy Simone

[W]ith the grace of God I changed. I continue to work as a laundrywoman and now have some savings. My community does not see me as a parasite anymore. I have a good relationship with my daughters. They give me pocket money that I use to buy yogurt. I even managed to improve my house;…

VIEW THIS STORY

Earl Frost

I think my faith grew the most when I left home and came to Boston. I knew nobody. I wasn’t going to church at the time. If somebody wanted to hire me to play the piano at a church, I’d go, but I was looking for money. Don’t play with my money! But they told…

VIEW THIS STORY