A Mighty Work of God in Mombasa

By: Anthea Kotlan, Recipient of the Christ Alone Grant 2024

All Saints Church, Conroe, TX

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
This was the theme verse for the women’s retreat in Mombasa, Kenya, where I had been invited to help lead and speak. In the months leading up to the event, I meditated and prayed about this verse. God had so much more in mind than I could ask or imagine.

What should you do when you encounter wrongdoing in your church? How should you respond?

Elema, a woman at the retreat, stood up, shaking as she hesitantly shared, “We were planning to leave our church next week unless we receive a different message from the Lord here.”

We sat quietly with the weight of this statement.

If you leave a church where Elema lives, there is likely nowhere else to go. Muslims surround these women on every side.

Then she continued, “There have been broken relationships, a lack of trust, and now betrayal from our leaders. Your message about forgiveness, not taking offense, and expressing lament made us think again. Your stories are our stories.”

The twenty hours of flight travel across the world, followed almost immediately by the twelve-hour journey from Nairobi by Jeep, proved to be challenging. However, that moment with Elema would have made all the hardships worthwhile, had I only seen this happen. But God is generous, and He moves in abundance.

I witnessed God do amazing things for these precious Kenyan women, like changing their perspectives, turning their anger into forgiveness, and showing them that the enemy works in similar ways worldwide. God showed them and me how to live our lives based on what we know to be true about God and not how we feel in the moment.

By the end of our time together, God had revealed how He faithfully orchestrated every detail of this trip. He made supernatural connections at every turn, encouraging all of us to come to a place of vulnerability. As our team shared our stories, we discovered how much we had in common as sisters in Christ. God held us and empowered us to remain steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in His work.

None of this would have been possible without your prayers and support.