I am amazed at the number of foundations and NGO’s cropping up in Kenya. Every other week, I hear of people who have formed a foundation because of a particular cause. I can’t help but imagine that certain Kenyans are looking for the next tragedy around which to develop a cause. Although I don’t have anything against them, I can’t help imagining how many voices want to be heard. It’s a mad race for people’s money, and the most sensational gets the prize!
A few years ago, I would have also clamored for the same attention. As a slowly reforming attention seeker, I couldn’t help but bask in the glory of such attention galore. But life has taken an interesting turn for me. Yes, I will be the voice that won’t be heard.
This holiday, I have been working with girls who are in danger of undergoing female genital mutilation. For many of them, life after FGM will be a teenage mother’s life, a household full of children and the workload of a mule. In a poverty-stricken land, they will not be allowed to dream beyond the homestead, and their voices, consequently, will never be heard.
As I ruminated on the lives of the girls I was working with, I couldn’t help but reflect of the words of Jesus in John 17:25-26 when he prayed for all believers:
Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known to them in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
Jesus’ words offered great solace to me. Although I am uncertain of the path the lives of the girls will take, I am certain that my efforts will have planted God’s love in their lives. I am a deep believer in the power of God to heal the lives of a people entrapped in a dehumanizing culture. As I reiterate, God is able to do far much more than we can ask or imagine.
Above all, Jesus' words continually remind me why my voice should not be heard. If I am to live a servant’s life, then the voices of the girls I work with need to be heard beyond my own voice. Furthermore, when we yearn for our own voices to be heard, we risk failing to let God’s own voice rule the day. I have committed my life to living for Christ, and if ever his voice is not heard above my own, then I risk walking the lonely road. And I never want to be alone.
So that’s why my voice won’t be heard. I want to be part of God’s voice on the face of the earth. It’s not enough to wake up one day and form an NGO to fight for the rights of the girl child. But it’s enough to ensure that one girl comes into the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God is glorified in every facet of my life.
