NZILANI: Finding her father's love

Not many days go by that I’m not swept away suddenly and unexpectedly to a remote African village, led by a scampy little girl contentedly celebrating the juices of a mango tree. These moments catch me off guard, but they reveal the impact of Nzilani: Finding Her Father’s Love. Whether attempting to picture myself, my own now-adult children, or the children I serve in ministry here in the comforts of First Christian Arlington Texas in such a “worlds away, poorest of poor” upbringing such as Pauline endured, I am repeatedly struck by Pauline’s realization at an impossibly young age: when we truly accept without reservation God’s holy call upon our lives – I mean, really get it, that we’re special and whole just as we are, and wholly touched by the Holy One – nothing is impossible. That I might personally understand and accept this and encourage it in God’s beloved children is now perhaps my life’s work. Pauline’s story should be an impossible one. In fact, when one meets Pauline first at a church event speaking with her husband Mark on global missions, such as was my privilege, and then reads her book, each page turn becomes a “Wait, now how did she get here?” But here we are, reading a story that is still being written as this unique ministry couple faithfully chooses to be rooted in God’s abiding love, painfully pruned, and active in producing wondrous fruit. I can barely comprehend all the impossibilities God made possible in Nzilani: Finding Her Father’s Love, but I am thankful for the partnership between God and Pauline Mwanzia for their daily inspiration in my life. (“For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37)

As a young father of two boys, I recently I set out on a journey to re-discover fatherhood, who a father really is and what is expected of them. To help me on this journey, a friend recommended a book by Pastor Simon Mbevi, titled - Dad is Destiny. As you read Pauline’s story in this book, you clearly see the centrality of the father-figure in shaping the destinies of children, families, societies and generations. That shaping can be great or worse, for Pauline’s case, we can only say – But God! It was Dr. Kevin Leman who one said this, “A woman’s relationships with her father, more than any other relationship, is going to affect her relationship with all other males in her life –her bosses, coworkers, subordinates, sons, husband, brothers, pastors, college professors, and even Hollywood movie stars… There is no single relationship, that isn’t indelibly stamped –for good or for ill – by the man known as Daddy.” Wow! A mouthful statement, right? Well, I have known Pauline as a colleague for many years and I continue to know her, her husband, her son, and her daughter and generally her family members, closely even now. I can say this without any fear of contradiction that by the grace of God, Pauline has overcome all the barriers anticipated in Dr. Kevin Leman’s quote above! Despite the odds, courtesy of her Daddy, and by the grace of God, she has lived to tell her story so that many of us affected and impacted (negatively or positively) by a father figure, may learn and greatly benefit from her story. Suffice it to say, all this notwithstanding, in her book Nzilani, emphasizes, the great mother power, and her “love-glue” that continues to hold families together. Her story is narrated with simplicity and explicity. As would be with our African cultural oral stories, it is now Nzilani’s turn, and all of us around the fireplace, are welcome to soak in this story, that literally confirms her walk with God from GRASS to GRACE! While reading it, I perceive her cry is that all of us, who are privileged to be parents, should never forget what one unknown author once observed, “Our children are living messages, we send to a time and place we will never see or be” Yours, Pauline’s friend, Mr. Charles Kilonzo. (Charles is the Managing Director at Live Studios Media Ltd, a top-notch advertising and media productions company, based on Dennis Pritt Rd, Nairobi, Kenya)