People occasionally ask me “why are you going to Kenya, Brother Neville?” Heck, even my Dad did and wasn’t initially at all supportive of my first trip.

And, to be honest, it’s a fair question.

After all, we’re moving “home” to Olive Branch. We have children, grandchildren, and our second great-grandchild is due soon. I’ve spent a lifetime moving—from my dad’s transfers with General Motors, to twenty years in the Army, to ministry appointments that sent us from one place to another. Twenty-seven moves in all. Most people would look at this season of life and assume it is finally time for me and MLWC to settle down. (BTW – MLWC is ‘My Lovely Wife Cathy’)

In many ways, they’re right.

Yet Kenya won’t let me go.

I’ve struggled to explain that over the last few years because it isn’t the result of a strategic plan. It isn’t because Africa is somehow more important than Mississippi, Tennessee, or any of the other places God has sent us. It isn’t because I think God only calls people to faraway places.

The best way I know to describe it is this: There are some things in life you simply can’t not do.

You may resist them.

You may postpone them.

You may argue with God about them.

You may convince yourself that someone else is better qualified.

But eventually the call remains.

For me, that journey began years ago. Looking back, I can see moments when God was quietly preparing my heart long before I understood what He was doing. Then, in 2013, I first sensed a call toward Africa. In 2017, after years of wrestling and uncertainty, I felt God say something remarkably simple: “Just say yes.” It startled me, and it certainly startled my District Superintendent, Billy Owen, when I literally shouted into the phone, “Yes, Billy, the answer is yes. Whatever it is you’re calling about God just told me to say yes.”

It wasn’t a detailed five-year plan.

It wasn’t an explanation.

It was an invitation.

And like most invitations from God, it required trust more than understanding.

I said yes, but after 20 years in the Army my instinct was to take charge and move out. Looking back, I realize I understood the mission, but not the deeper purpose behind it. Good work was done, and important things were accomplished, but God wasn’t finished teaching me what “yes” really meant.

During all of that I met Katherine, a young woman who had heard God say, ‘Africa is home.’ One thing led to another and she went “home,” and started a ministry focused on special needs children. I joined her Board of Directors shortly thereafter and in 2023 ended up in Kitale Kenya.

Then came “the” moment. We were flying out from Eldoret to Nairobi in preparation for our return to the States when it happened. The airplane had lifted off and I was looking out the window and crying. As the ground steadily dropped away I heard God again. He was pretty direct. “Stop” he said. “You’re going the wrong way. You’ve got to go back to the children.”

        Not because I had all the answers.

               Not because I knew what the future would hold.

                       But simply because God was making clear what obedience looked like.

The children of Purposefully Made Ministries had somehow found a permanent place in my heart, and God was making it clear they were not simply part of my story—they were part of my calling.

I’ll be 69 this December and the older I get, the more convinced I become that many of the most important decisions in life happen this way.

        They aren’t driven by ambition.

               They aren’t driven by guilt.

                       They aren’t driven by the desire to accomplish something impressive.

They arise from a growing awareness that God is calling us toward something we cannot ignore without becoming less than who He created us to be. Scripture is full of people like that.

        Moses couldn’t not go back to Egypt.

               Nehemiah couldn’t not rebuild the wall.

                       Paul couldn’t not preach the gospel.

They all tried, at one point or another, to explain why they were the wrong person for the job. Yet the call remained. I think every Christian needs to discover that kind of purpose.

        Not necessarily Kenya.

               Not necessarily ministry.

                       Not necessarily something dramatic.

But something.

        A place to serve.

               A people to love.

                       A burden that won’t go away.

                              A ministry that keeps tugging at your heart.

                                      A need that, whenever you see it, moves you to action.

In church we often talk about finding God’s will as though it were a hidden treasure map. We want detailed instructions, guarantees, and certainty. Most of the time, God seems to work differently. He places something on our hearts and patiently waits for us to say yes.

My prayer as a pastor has never been that everyone would go where I go or do what I do. My prayer is that every person would discover their own “can’t not.”

        The thing God created them for.

               The place where their gifts, passions, experiences, and God’s calling come together.

                       The thing that makes them come alive.

                              The thing that keeps showing up in their prayers.

                                      The thing that, despite every excuse, every obstacle, and every attempt to look the other way, simply won’t let them go.

Why? Because I have learned something over the years: The happiest Christians I know are not necessarily the most successful, at least by the world’s standards. They are not necessarily the wealthiest. They are not necessarily the most talented. They humble me because they are simply the people who found the thing God was calling them to do and couldn’t not say yes.

For me and MLWC that happens to be Kenya. Since God gave me my “can’t not” to support Purposefully Made Ministries in Kitale, Kenya, MLWC had her own “can’t not” moment. Now the suitcases hold three more quilts that she’s poured all her love into for some precious children (these three make 13). So, we’re off to Kenya.

        Not because we have to.

               But simply because we can’t not.

And I am confident that somewhere in your own life, God is whispering (or maybe shouting) your own ‘can’t not’ in your ear. And let me be clear – if the “thing” you’re sensing is:

        “I Have to” –  that’s an obligation.

               “I Want to” – that’s a preference.

                       “I Can’t not” – THAT is a calling.

Moses didn’t have to go back to Egypt. Paul didn’t have to preach. Cathy and I don’t have to go to Kenya. Yet there comes a point where obedience becomes the most natural thing in the world because anything else would feel like turning away from who God has made you to be.

So, in my best Opa mode let me give you some advice. Don’t try to figure everything out first.

Just say yes.

Be blessed today my friends! And remember God loves you and so do I.