Olive Karuchi

My name is Olive Karachi. I’m a born again Christian. I am in my late 40s. And I enjoy life in Jesus Christ. I was born in a Christian family. My mother is a retired church elder, and she taught me Christianity from childhood. She took me to church school. I was brought up in the Presbyterian Church. It has all been well.

When I grew up, I joined the youth. A friend of our family, who was a youth member, went door to door calling teenagers to come to church. First, he was calling us to come and play football. After playing football, we could join hands and he prayed for us. Then as we continued, he started picking us on different days to pray. After that, we joined the Fellowship, and we became his members in our church in 1996. We have a strong team that we connect to now. We have that fellowship all ourselves that is called worship 96. It is a strong fellowship that I love so much. They are my church friends, and we still do things together.

When I joined the youth, there was a certain day that there was a fellowship in our reverend’s house. The son invited us to go to their house. By this time, he was inviting us to go and eat mandazis because his mother had prepared mandazis for the people that were going for the fellowship. Since he was our friend, we said we’ll go there until midnight, then we leave. When you went there, the fellowship was so fiery, the spirit of God came in a special way.

I have seen him working miracles in my life. It has not always been easy, but every time I call on God, I’ve seen him doing great things in my life. And I believe even a “No” to God is an answer. Because he gives me what I deserve, not what I want. And I thank God for that.

And have also been in the church leadership and joined the Boys and Girls Brigade that is in the church. That is for children between 13 and 17 years old. After that I became a teacher in the Boys and Girls Brigade, and it has been a good journey that I’ve been working with boys and girls of that age. The many challenges that they face in life has made me read the Bible more. It has made me learn many things, even ask from outside, so that I may be able to mentor them. We have become friends and we’ve worked together with them in this journey. I thank God for that calling that He gave me, because it is a ministry that have been serving and it has been good doing it.

I’ve served as a Deacon of the small cells that we have in church for quite some time. It has not been easy dealing with adults like it was when dealing with these small ones. If you tell a child what to do, they will do it. But adults sometimes they just look at you and tell you they are busy or anything. But I thank God because he has always given me grace. It has been lovely. It has been enjoyable.

I am a chef by profession. This is a course that I took after high school. I also do my own outside catering. Where I got the courage to do this was through a church leader that was leading a ladies group. She told me that she can see I have a gift of catering. And she gave me an opportunity to do it in the church. I did it until I felt I can do it even for other people.

This is what I’ve been doing for a living, and I’m happy because I do what I love. I’ve worked in different places, like in Kikuyu Hospital. Now I work at Villadise Tours and Safaris, where I meet so many different people coming from far. Being helpful is just a blessing to other people. Sometimes I ask myself, “How do I become a blessing to others?”

There was a time I was thinking, “Why did you call me to remain single my whole life?” My whole life I wished I did not get saved, and maybe I could have taken another direction in life. I was giving up in trusting in God, in following God, but at some time God spoke to me and told me, “I didn’t call you to get married, or because you are married or anything, whether married or not married. There is a promise for you, and there is life everlasting.”

And I came back to Jesus. I was just low. I was not as active as I used to be. But then I thought about it, and I thought about God and so many things that He has done for me and my family, and what I have been doing for others. Parents are happy because I mentor their children. I have two girls that I mentor that are so close to me. I usually stay with them in my house. One was sick last week, admitted in hospital, she had some growth in her uterus which was removed. She is recovering. I’ve taught her to trust in God, have held her hand and we worked together. Not because I know, but because God has enabled me to do so.

When I trust God on anything, I love the way I mentor these girls, the trust they have in even their parents, and they see that this is a ministry that God has put in me. I do it to the glory of God’s name. And I believe with God, I’m going far. I’m going to do so many things because He’s holding me by His right hand. He is all powerful. And He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. It is only to trust in Him, only to work with Him whether things are good, whether things are working well.

He is a faithful God.