My wife Nancy and I lived and worked in the United States for eighteen years—twenty years for Nancy. Nancy worked as a nurse, and was also going to school for advanced education in health care management. Then, in April, 2013, FUM began to advertise for the position of principal at Friends Theological College (FTC).
For many years I had cherished and supported FTC, but I’d never thought of wanting to become principal. Yet a number of Friends spoke with me and asked me to apply for the position. I undertook much soul searching and inner prayer—without involving Nancy, because I wasn’t sure how she would respond. Just a few days prior to the deadline, I turned in my application. After the dates for the interview were set, I shared my intentions with Nancy.
Nancy received the news with mixed emotions, just as I had at the beginning. We had many questions to talk over and pray about:
“Now that we’re used to this kind of life, are we ready for a change?”
“We have debts here, particularly for Nancy’s education and for our own development in Kenya—how will we take care of them?”
“Between my teaching position at Columbus State College and Nancy’s nursing job, we are relatively well paid here. With this income we’ve been able to assist our daughter, Ivy, to get a university education in Kenya; we’ve helped both our mothers to receive good health care; we’ve helped the children of our close relatives with their school fees. Will we be able to manage again with less income?”
Many friends—most of whom were Kenyans living in the U.S.—were not in favor of relocation. But a majority of our friends in Kenya were excited, and encouraged us to move forward with the process. I realized that the more we spoke with our friends in the U.S., the more ambivalent I became about the move. So I stopped seeking counsel from people, and turned solely to God’s leading.
After my last interview with the FUM staff, and the FTC board, faculty, students, and staff, Nancy and I became more and more drawn toward making the decision to move back to Kenya. To get started, I went ahead and put in my resignation as professor at Columbus State College. But there was still one more hurdle to overcome. Nancy was in the middle of her program of graduate study. To finish her studies, she would need to remain in Ohio. We knew that living separate lives would be a great struggle.
Still, we came to the decision that I would go to Kenya. On October 14, 2014, I left the United States to take the position as principal at FTC, while she remained in Columbus, Ohio, to complete her studies. God willing, Nancy will be on a plane headed to Kenya on October 10, 2016. This was a tough decision, yet we followed God’s leading. I am glad that God helped us to stand strong and that God is bringing us back together as a family.
~ Robert Wafula is a Friends pastor, a Christian leader, a scholar of religion, a social scientist, and an educator. He is an alumnus of Friends Theological College, St. Paul’s United Theological College (Limuru, Kenya), Earlham School of Religion, and Ohio University. He earned his PhD from Ohio University in the field of Cultural Studies in Education. Prior to joining Friends Theological College as Principal in 2014, he taught comparative religions, anthropology, cultural diversity, and comparative literature at Columbus State Community College and at Central Ohio Technical College. He and his wife Nancy have one daughter and two grandchildren.
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