Allan Gathoni's Testimony

Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

I was raised by my late grandmother in a small community in East Kenya with 2 relatives that were about 3 years older than I was. We used to go to church but I never liked going. My grandmother and my mom who raised me were both christians, so it was just our custom on Sunday morning to get up and get our ears scrubbed and, once arriving at the church, head off to Sunday school. Sunday school was divided by age groups and someone would come and teach you the Bible. After some time I dropped out since I couldn't see the difference in life even though I was going to church.

When later one of my close relatives died, I was afraid since I was told before that one can go to hell if you don't have Christ in you, and be eternally burnt by Satan. I had a hard time asking for God's help that I won't fall away from the right path or find myself going my own way with no thought of God.

I also happened to meet quite a number of people who needed my assistance since I seemed a church guy; on some aspects on the state of the dead, however, I couldn't help them. I was totally blank; I didn't know anything. I became desperate since I have been going to Sunday school for long but couldn’t answer, and I told my late grandmother  (who was a Christian) about it. She told me to pray to God to help me. This took me some time since first I had no realization of myself.

Brother Allan sharing the booklet Divine Pattern of Life (in Swahili) with a family

After some years I moved on to secondary school. I happened to join an Adventist school even though it was far away from home, and I don’t know what led me there. My main motive for that school was that church schools are safer and I wouldn’t be harassed. There I met Christians who seemed to have the connection with God I longed for to whom I could ask questions. Still, it was somehow boring since every morning, afternoon and evening, the class representative would lead us into a small devotion. Every teacher would offer a prayer before he started the lecture. These people I met told me that the Bible is God's message to us, so I began to gain interest in it after some time since my environment had changed (at the Adventist school I became used to praying and reading the Bible daily, whereas before I only heard prayers and the Bible read on Sunday).

I began to study this Bible they talked about and learnt that it says God created man as a free agent with the ability to choose whether not to follow God’s plan and have a perfect relationship with Him. We chose ours by disobeying Him and this keeps separating us from Him (“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” - Isaiah 59:2). We disconnected ourselves from the source of life but thankfully, He still loves us. He says the wages of sin is death and either I had to die or someone else had to pay. He loves us so much that He sent his deary Son Jesus Christ for the penalty of our sins. He promises that we can have a relationship with Him through Faith in His Son Jesus Christ and would bestow His blessings towards us and more abundantly on Sabbath.

This was so different from what I used to learn for many years as a child. I had a creed in my mind regarding what we used to learn back then. I didn't want to accept this truth about Sabbath and I tried my hardest for months to come to the reality of this new rule of life (keeping Sabbath). My high school teacher, Emmah Akoth, had interest in sharing the good news to those willing. I decided to go to her office one day and she answered all my questions. I had a sudden understanding that I should stop fighting God and follow Jesus. That day I confessed to God that I was indeed a sinner and I couldn't save myself. I asked Jesus to come into my life so that I could start living for him.

I went into the regular church service (Saturday) and during the service the Pastor said, "If you're standing out there and you want to become a Christian, in a few moments we are going to stand to sing, and I want you to step out from where you are, walk down this aisle here to the front and meet me here; we'll pray and ask Jesus to come into your life.” I remember this was after a one week prayer session in school, and he added that if anyone would love to be baptized, they can come up also. Another boy standing next to me said to me, "I'm going." I said,"I'm going too," and I walked down the aisle. As best as I knew, I asked Christ to come into my life.

Later, when I was out of school for three years, I came to a point where I began doubting that experience I had (I believed that God's children didn’t have challenges) because I had not been living my life seriously for God even though I had been baptised. I had lost contact with my teacher (Emmah Akoth) and had to search for it. Back then she had given me websites to check through and sermons for growth; one of them was Maranatha Media, but I didn't have time to go to the cyber and check.

I looked for her through the internet and by the Grace of God one of my classmates had her contact. Praise God!! I contacted her and told her how everything had been in my life and I felt I needed to renew my commitment to God. Later did I know that God was now fulfilling his plan to me (Jeremiah 29:11) and after a week she sent me some books and website of the same Maranatha Media. My first book to read was by the name Identity Wars.

I was blown away since the information I read seemed like it's for me directly. It came at the right time since I was struggling to find the will of God in my life. After reading it is when I realized I had not fully submitted myself to my Maker - some parts of my life I had held on to and this resulted in finding myself stressed and anxious in life. I had lessened my relationship to Him; I didn't seek counsel from Him; I didn't acknowledge Him before and after decisions...in short I was trying to control my own life. I came to a realization that I submitted to God out of fear of being lost; it was due to obligation, or want of something in return. I was not at real rest, peace and joy. I decided to ask Christ into my life again and to control my life, and ever since I did that, my eyes have been opened and I recognize His presence everywhere. Every day since our Father in Heaven has connected me to people of the same mind that we can pray together and they can help in my growth.

 Now one of my biggest joys I have is to know that Our Father cares for us all. A voice came to me asking, "Allan, is there something of a higher level than physical Life?" I came to realize there is. Life is not about waking up, eating, drinking, entertainment and sleep. I am now a radically different person. I learnt to trust in the promises of God which are sure if you attach it with faith. I developed an interest in learning more for my spiritual growth and realized there was a lot for me if only I was ready for it.

During the process of learning, a beloved son of the Father in Christ Jesus by the name of Danutasn Brown tremendously impacted my life in a way words cannot express. We didn't know each other but he had confidence in me, and even now he does. He shared to me that as long as you're willing to be led by God, He will take care of other needs that are basic. We have more we are looking forward to than the temporal things we have. I now know that my life was already planned before my existence and it has been expressed fully by beloved sons and daughters of God (Emmah Akoth, Pastor Adrian Ebens, Danutasn Brown directly) and many more members I've interacted with from the Father of Love group like Ruben, Kevin, Ben, and Malcolm. I don't trust in my own efforts anymore but I believe that God loves me and will use me. I just trust and lean on our Father and want to tell others about Him through the Colporteur ministry because of all the joy and peace He has given me. I won't miss anything good by just submitting to the will of My Father.

A lady I met who I shared with

Christ’s interests is the first and the highest of all interests. This was the biggest lesson I have learnt and it made me have interest on sharing the goodness of the Lord as a Colporteur. One of the main message is sharing the Non-violent character of Our Father and His Son knowing He is the source of our life and His desire for us is life, not death. Currently I work together with Maranatha Media on spreading this message in different ways; door to door, in social media (WhatsApp presentation and group presentation in Zoom), and one on one during services. Christ  has a property in this world that He wishes secured, saved for His everlasting kingdom. It is for His Father’s glory and for His own glory that His messengers shall go forth in His name; for they and He are one. They are to reveal Him to the world. His interests are their interests.

Met her on the road for a few minutes and they bought some for their family

Pray for this brother that he might know God better

I found an immense joy  in knowing the true Father and Son. Their fellowship is my constant solace and comfort. With this kind of comfort and joy, I cannot sleep without sharing to anyone I come across. The spiritual victories now gained, the more consistent Christian life, the deeper joy I experience, are all fruits of following the true WAY, TRUTH and LIFE! I invite people from all dimensions: Come and see! Taste and see that the Begotten Son is a true delight and that His yoke is indeed easy and his burden is wonderfully light!

What can I say? We are all born into the family of Adam, with all of his fear and insecurity, but Christ has made it possible that one can be reborn, admit we are wrong, follow the word of God, and reclaim our position in the family of God – the position He intended for us to have all along. In this family we experience *the freedom of resting in our identity* as sons and daughters of the Creator of the Universe – our Father, our Provider, our Protector, and our Redeemer. When we receive Jesus’ Spirit into our hearts, He gives us His victory and message of hope for the world!

I always pray when going to share the goodness of our Father in any place..... "Father in heaven, please help me to reach the people in this city, I know that you love them and desire for them eternal life. Send your angels to assist me in reaching them. In Jesus name. Amen" Our heavenly Father knows how weak we are.

“Heavenly beings are ministering angels and they frequently disguise themselves in the form of human beings.” {5MR 353.2}

I found and believed this inspiration to be true. It was fully manifested in my life which I would testify to the world that indeed Our Father cares. In as much as we are trying to find peace, joy, and happiness in our lives through various means like job, career, spouse etc., in which I had been trapped, to now realizing that the true and real Joy comes from Our Father who is the source of our lives. Amen

Sabbath School Group that I shared the COG about