Once upon a time there was a man, Dave and a beautiful lady, Mary Beth, who fell madly in love. They met one day after Dave asked Mary Beth if she, “want to take a walk on the wild side?” They quickly married and had twins. I happen to be one of those twins.
My parents were not Christians when my brother and I were born. When we were quite young, they met a couple who invited them over to their house for a Bible study. This began a great relationship and soon both my parents learned for the first time what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Shortly after my parents decided to follow Jesus, my dad got a job at International Teams which is a missions organization based in the Chicago-land area. We grew up on their training headquarters. Missionaries would come for several months to train prior to going out on the field. I had the privilege of growing up in one of those houses.
As a little girl, missionaries that came though that I befriended, would bring my home dolls. I remember seeing picture of the slums in the Philippines and hearing words like reconciliation. And wanting to be a part of what God was doing in the world.
As I got older, the passion intensified.
I went on my first missions trip in 8th grade.
It was in the inner city of Pittsburg.
The leader of that trip pulled me aside and said, “Allison God chooses a couple heads out of hundreds to be a missionary, and I believe you are one of those.”
I came home and announced to my church that I was going to be a missionary.
And my heart never wavered.
I participated and led many trips after that across the world and would come home just wanting to go back, but knowing deep down that the waiting was also important.
After graduating from Judson College with a degree in elementary education, I decided to move to Colorado and help plant a church and also teach out there.
While in Colorado, I went to a little town in Mexico. And fell in love. I would weep and pray for that land. With time my Spanish speaking ability grew and I thought for sure this is where I was going to grow old.
Who would have known that I would end up living in Kenya?
To make a long story short, life in Mexico did not work, I ended up returning back to Chicago and teaching for a little bit and the Lord blew my socks off there. Yet all the while teaching in an inner city school, my heart just wanted to be in another country. After two years of teaching in Chicago, the Lord said, yes.
He released me to follow Him across the ocean and away from a classroom.
I originally took a job at AIM to be a real life leader and work in the office. I had been an ambassador leader in the Amazon Jungle in the summer of 2004. And in the summer of 2005 I was the ambassador leader for the Kenya trip.
A week before leaving, I got a call from AIM, asking if I would be the family leader for the FYM program.
I never felt “called” to Kenya, didn’t have a heart for the people, and truthfully wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country.
I called some dear friends and we prayed, none of us felt red flags, so in obedience and stepping out in faith, I said yes.
During the summer of 2005, I saw the Lord work in my heart.
He gave me a God-given deep passion for the people who fill the slums in Kibera.
I knew what my heart was feeling, wasn’t from me.
Then in August of 2005 I moved to Kibera.
My time in Kenya was anything but easy.
I was a “family leader” who thought she knew everything, and learned she really wasn’t impenetrable.
I found myself broken for things that never used to care about.
I learned the importance of discipleship and community.
In early September 2005, I walked down Karanja Road and learned that we lived among an unreached people group:
the Nubi Tribe.
They are a beautiful people, predominantly Muslim.
That day I begun my journey into working and loving Muslims, something I thought I would never do. My time there was completely soul stretching and just as the Lord intended.
And my time in Kenya ended before I had expected.
I returned back to the United States, extremely sick and broken.
And what a cool thing to experience the Lord restoring you and slowly make you whole.
I am now working in the office and doing odd things here and there and am in a season of rest.
What a mighty God we serve!
He gives us all different stories!
