It’s a story of hard work and determination, of strong
faith, and of God’s perfect timing.
Moses Ochieng is the third oldest in his family of 9 children. Before finishing his 8th grade year in 1999, both of his parents passed away when Moses was only 15 years old. After the death of his parents, there was no way he could get the school fees necessary to continue his education in high school. He moved to Nairobi and began taking manual labor jobs to earn some money, always hoping, at some point, he would be able to go back to school. The weeks and months turned into years. He worked hard and kept a good attitude, trusting that God was in control of his life. His younger brother managed to move on to high school and eventually teacher’s college with the help of a friend. Even Moses’ two younger sisters received a chance to join a school for orphans in Mbita called Christ’s Gift Academy. With the help of CGA his sisters received a good education, performed very well academically and went through high school on sponsorship. One sister is currently joining a University in the U.S. while the other is finishing her 3rd year of high school.
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| Moses in his 2nd year at Mbita High School |
Because of his family’s relationship with CGA, in 2007,
Moses was invited to come back from Nairobi and work as a volunteer at the
school. He was the “errand” boy riding a
bicycle into town to photocopy exams, pick letters and packages from the post
office, deliver lunch to our nursery class, escort sick students to the clinic,
help serve in the kitchen, cut the grass or whatever else was needed. It was not easy work and he was paid
virtually nothing, but he always had a smile on his face and a kind word for
everyone he met. It was difficult for
Moses to see children much younger than him moving on to high school, including
his younger siblings, and he wondered if his time would ever come. He began sharing with his close friends his
dream of going back to school, and after many years of prayer, God opened the
door for him in the year 2009 at age 25.
CGA agreed to sponsor him to attend a local secondary school. He was so happy that he didn’t mind riding
his bicycle to school about 4 miles from home, but then again, he was used to
riding the bicycle a lot by that point.
Some days it would rain, and he would have to walk to school because the
wheels wouldn’t move on the muddy roads, but he was determined to do his
best. He would stay up late studying and
wake up early just to try to keep up with his classmates who were 10 years
younger than him. He was behind in
subjects like Math because of the long absence from school, but he knew he
could make it. With his strong desire,
he quickly rose to be the 2nd best student in his class of 110
students.
Moses did very well in his first two years of high school,
but he felt the school he was attending was not competitive enough, and also
wanted to attend a boarding school so that he would have more time to
study. He was given the opportunity to
attend Mbita High School, one of the best boys schools in the province. Once again, he started off behind the other
boys in his class, but set his sights on catching up.
In November 2012 he finally finished secondary school at the
age of 29. But one of the best parts of
his story was still to come. When the
national exam results were released throughout the country the next February he didn’t get his results, even
though everyone else did. For some
unknown reason, there was a problem. He
went to school to check on the issue multiple times and made calls to the exam
board and the district education office.
Even with such disappointment and incredible anticipation, Moses did not
lose hope and kept his faith, believing God would make a way. Finally, two months later, he received his results… he was among the top 15% in the country! He was so excited, but there was still another problem. He couldn’t get his official transcript and leaving certificate from school because his whole class was charged extra money to pay for damage that was done in school the previous year. Even though most of the other boys hadn’t been able to get their documents, Moses decided to go to school and inquire anyway. Fortunately for him, the teacher in charge told him that because he was such a disciplined student, he would waive the charge for him and give him the necessary documents. Moses just praised God for what He had done.
So even though Moses was the last one in his school to find
out his results, he was one of the first ones to receive his official
documents!
During this process of waiting for his results, Moses began volunteering again at CGA. He began assisting teachers by helping struggling students with math. He's now teaching a few classes in both math and social studies. Even though he receives no pay, he has stayed dedicated to his service. He shows up for every teacher meeting and devotion time. Moses has a fabulous servant's heart!In June, Moses applied for the CGA Post-Secondary Scholarship.
In his application, Moses wrote about how CGA has helped him in life:
“CGA is like a home. Spiritually, I have grown by being rooted in the word of God.
Socially, I have developed responsibility.
Academically, CGA has sponsored me making me to successfully
finish Form 4 and giving me hope.I thank God for CGA because I would have not had hope in life!"
He excelled in his application and during the interview, and was selected as one of the 10 scholarship recipients. He looks forward to studying education so that he can teach History and/or Business in high school.
God is faithful and we are excited for what the Lord is going to do through Moses.
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