 Good evening, happy holidays and welcome to the nest. My name is Maureen Waititu and in this show we always bring you real stories from real people in order to inspire, inform and educate you. Tonight is not different because we have a lovely, beautiful guest who is here to give her testimony on how the Lord has been leading her in philanthropy work, in love and something in between and more. And before we meet her, I'd like you to watch this short video and we'll be right back, so don't go anywhere. There have been many different things written and said about marriage, from the sweetly inspirational to the hilariously cynical. But what many of them have in common is that they sound like they express a universal and timeless truth, when in fact, nearly everything about marriage, from its main purpose to the kinds of relationships it covers to the rights and responsibilities involved has varied greatly between different eras, cultures and social classes. So let's take a quick look at the evolution of marriage. Pair bonding and raising children is as old as humanity itself. With the rise of sedentary agricultural societies about 10,000 years ago, marriage was also a way of securing rights to land and property by designating children born under certain circumstances as rightful heirs. As these societies became larger and more complex, marriage became not just a matter between individuals and families, but also an official institution governed by religious and civil authorities. And it was already well established by 2100 BC, when the earliest surviving written laws in the Mesopotamian Code of Ornamu provided many specifics governing marriage, from punishments for adultery to the legal status of children born to slaves. Lovely, we are so happy to have you here on the nest. And this show is about to get very interesting. My guest is a beautiful woman, a woman of God, a wife, a friend and a philanthropic woman who is giving what she has to the community. And you all know that's the greatest service to God. She's here to tell us about love. Why are we going wrong? As young people, what's happening? Is it that there are too many choices along the way, but she's going to tell us about her journey from, I think, and if I'm not wrong, 29 years ago. But let her introduce herself and get to talk to you. And I hope you'll be inspired by the end of this show. Rebecca. Yes. Karibusana. Thank you, Mary. Please take this opportunity to say hello to our guests and just introduce yourself. Hello. Good evening. It's a good time here to come and greet you and share my testimony and also the goodness of the Lord and to give God the glory. My name is Alevan Rebecca Wajiko Witao Wakihio. I am born again. I love the Lord Jesus Christ for loving me and saving me. I am a mother to two children, three children rather, patients who has given us to grandchildren. And Joy, hello, Joy. Mommy is coming back home. And Shalom, who lives in heaven since last year. And it's such an honor to get permission from my husband, Dr. Leverett Kehio, to come here and to speak to the nation, so receive greetings from my family. Wonderful. Wow. It's just amazing how you express yourself and speak to the world with so much elegance. And we are very honored to have you here on the nest. And thank you for taking your time. During this short period you're here in Kenya to come and talk to the youth. Thank you. So you've mentioned Shalom. I'm so sorry to hear that Shalom is in heaven. But before we come to what it is today, who is this girl? Rebecca, where was she born? How did she grow up? Like just a bit about your background. Yes. Rebecca was born and raised in a scapiment village, Memutoni, on your way to Nakuru. There is a village down there, beautiful viewpoint. That where I was born and raised in a family of five. My dad, Geshinkawa Jogona, a Mau warrior, raised me up with one reg. And he used to say, disability is not inability. And so that's why I grew up. And I enjoyed village life. And now, having gone abroad and coming back to the village, my prayer and my passion is to make the village a better place for those who live there. Yes. Yes, that's what it is. Wonderful. And it's really amazing to remember where you're coming from so that if God blesses you with resources, opportunities, a chance to let the community you live with share their gift of where you come from, I think there's no better blessing. Wonderful. So, Rebecca, how was your childhood? Like, in terms of, where did you go to school? What did you study? Or the way till where you will meet the love of your life? That's a good question. Of course, growing up in a escarpment village in Rari, in Kiyabu County, I went to escarpment primary school. Nice. That's where I went to school. And then I went to, after I finished, I did very well. Yes. And I was admitted to Senior Chief Koinange High School. Oh, nice. That's a good school. So I went to Senior Chief Koinange High School. Actually, I remember the time that my dad gave Shinga, with one leg, the day he was taking me there with the Mabati box. We were going on this car pathway, and these vehicles were zooming and were blowing dust on us. And my dad, with his crutches, and me carrying the Mabati box, my dad said, and then my dad was saying, do come again. Don't worry. There is no gate that God does not know. And my dad graciously took me to Senior Chief Koinange High School. Thank you, Senior Chief Koinange High School. And for four years, and of course, every end of the month, they come and give you a slip to go home when you have not paid the school fees. And I remember I would pray. And I would ask the Lord, even if I'm chased to go home, my dad doesn't have a car or no shabbat to sell. And I would go and talk to the principal. And I would ask them, please allow me to stay in school. I have no fear to go home. And they would allow me to do that. And for four good years, I would go to Mr. Gatieri's office. Thank you, Mr. Gatieri. And I would ask him to allow me to stay in school. And I would stay in school. And for four years, for those of you that are struggling with school fees issues, I just want to encourage you, don't give up, because God comes at the right time. For four years, I had a balance of school fees. And I could not get my certificate. But I prayed. Prayer changes everything. I prayed to the Lord. And praying fasting went to Karuna Forest, prayed and fasted. I went back on Monday. And I went to the office. I said, I've come for my certificate. And she went now. He said, you know, I'm on board of the directors. We sat together. And we started to cancel some debts. And one of yours was for you, Rebecca Gashiga. And then I said, praise the Lord. And that started my journey of being able to leave the village, because in my village of escarpment, many girls, they have babies out of wedrock. And for me, because I was able to get out of the village and to go to Senior Chief Kondange High School, I was able to intermingo with all the other children from the parts of Kenya. And I realized, yeah, I don't have to live like that, like my people in my village. These are from Nairobi, Kisumu, everywhere. I was able to intermingo and kind of like open my mind. And that's why I went to school. Then I enrolled in a college here. Started working at Kayuyu on River Road. And I went to a college to do Secretariat. Thank you, Uncle John, for helping me go do that little thing in one of the Devonsha College. Then I was able to, my husband engaged me. We were going to Bagadro Church. He engaged me, was going to leave Kenya. And he left a ring. And he went to America for Bible school. And that's when we started writing long lighting, all these letters in courtship. And when I went to the US after our wedding, I was able to join a Bible school. And then after joining a Bible school, I went to nursing school. And the reason I went to nursing school was after I came back to Kenya after I had left. And what I saw in the village, I was like, I got to do something here. One of the things I saw after gone, I saw this little boy using the palms of the hand and the bottom to walk in the village. I had my two children, a patient in Shalom. And I thought, actually, it was a goat, because it's a dirt road. And this young boy was using the palms of the hand and the bottom of his. To scoot. To scoot. So I inquired, whose child is that? What's wrong? I couldn't believe. So I was able to intervene, brought wheelchair for that child, took that child to a disabled school. And my trip back to the US, the Lord was like, you are the Esther here. You are the Esther here. And when I went home, I went to nursing school because I wanted to know how to do medicine to take care of people like Joseph. His name was Joseph. So that's how I ended up founding Kehoe International Ministries. It's a ministry named after my son, Shalom. And in a registering organization in the US, you have to have a name. And all the names we wanted, they were all taken. So we suggested Kehoe, which is my son's middle name. And whoever was registering for us, he said yes. So I was pregnant with Shalom. And we registered the organization. And we named it Kehoe International Ministries. And it was bad. The ministry was bad. Shalom was born. And that's why when people tell me, sorry about going away to my son, I say, it's OK. Because it's only God who can orchestrate something like this. How can a mother carry a baby? And at the same time, you carry a vision. You buy the vision to help other people. And we use Shalom's name to describe what we are doing. As for salvation, hate for healing, hate for ability, hell for love of Jesus, hell for obedience to Christ, and hell for multiplication. And so it's an honor to be here. And that's my education. And also education by living life. I think that goes beyond the book education. Because what is in my book is real life stories. And living in community, you learn education, which cannot be found in books. It's very true, very true. Wow, that's a lovely, lovely explanation to so many things. And I'm very curious about the love of your life. You said you met, engaged, you left. And he managed to get you to go to America. If you can just tell us a bit about how you met him, how you felt about it. And in it, I'd love to know when maybe God came into your life. And because I heard about this prayer for a young girl, you know, going to fast and tell the school, hey, could you connect those two for us so we can understand? Yes. My transformation happened when I was 12 years old. Those of you from Moutoni and in Rari's application, those days we could go to sing, like choir, you go this Sunday school, you go compete with the other one. And this one Sunday, we were going from my village to the other village to compete singing. And my way back to the village, this one, that girl from Matadia, one boy, one boy, I greet you, thank you for leading me to Jesus. She said, you know, Shiko, they call me Shiko. You're a very good girl. But if you don't have Jesus in your heart, there's no amen for you. And so I asked her, what can I do? So that I can be assured that I'm going to heaven. And she said, you can pray a prayer with me. And I remember like it's right now, Maureen. I kneel down on a dirt road, Rari somewhere, trees all around. And she read me Sena's prayer. And she prophetically said, what you have received today is hope. Not only that hope, you as it's for everyone who's surrounding you. And sure enough, that hope is the one has become the hope of that community because the children that we have educated, they are often from those children who are standing around me that day that I asked Jesus to come into my heart. And then when I finished high school, now how I met Patrick, I came to Nairobi and we started going to Bagadiro Church. And I became the youth secretary and he was a youth chairman. And of course we would pay each other, we would be under the tree, we would pay each other so that the youth can go to witness about Jesus. And of course I would remain, me and him would remain. And so we would add up, we are just like two of us, you know, brother and sisters in the Lord. I love how you, you're like this little girl and I can see you falling in love years later. I love it, I love it, yes. So we would play each other and we would go knuckling the doors and witnessing and telling people about the love of Jesus, how much he loves us, how cares for us and giving hope. And time came when he needed to go to the U.S. for further studies. And that's when he decided to ask me if I can be his wife. And I remember very, very well. He had to report to our bishop, Dr. Armstrong Chege, that we are no longer now in Christ, the love of Jesus. We are developing another love, you know, we are developing another love. And he proposed to me. And the reason why I wanted this Fanta in soda. Yes, yes, please. So he took me to New Stanley Hotel. Yes. And he bought me a samosa, this is a samosa. Yes. There was one other in this one. Yes. And a Fanta, almost used a, almost his salary. Yes. Because he took me to New Stanley Hotel. Yes. Because he wanted to please me, you know. Yes, yes. And he asked me, would you marry me? And I said, he said the Lord has spoken to him. And that's why it's very important when you are trying to get in married covenant to know that you know that the Lord has spoken to you. Yes, yes. And not just for or for anyone. Because I was like, okay brother, you, God spoke to you. Me too, God needs to speak to me. So I told him, I want the Lord to speak to me also. Yes, yes. So I asked him to give me time to pray. Prayer, very important. Very, very important. Because we have a God who hears prayers and he has us prayers. Yes. And took time to go to Garuda Forest again. Me and my friend Elizabeth, thank you Elizabeth. We prayed and I came out there and I was able to tell him, yes, you're going to be my covenant partner for the rest of my life. Yes. And the rest is history. And the rest is history. Yes. Wow. I know you have a book. Yes. And I can say it's written, Dear Linda. Yes. I remarkable love story. And it is inspired by the letters that your husband was sending you. Could you walk us through this book and the components of it? Yes. So Dear Linda is a compilation of our love letters. During COVID, of course, even here in the nation, everything was shut down. So you have time to clean up and all that. And so my Dear Linda found this letters which have been saved for several years and he just handed it to me. And I sat down and I started reading them. I could not leave where I was reading them. And I was whipping, reading these letters. And I would feel our heart, what we were telling each other, especially his letters to me, the bright groom, the bright groom, the bright groom, his love letters to me. I was crying. And as I finished reading them, I had a lot of me put these letters in a book because they will inspire young men and young women who are looking for love. And they will inspire the church, the bride of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ to prepare the church for the return of the bright groom, Jesus. Because he was in the Narrow States of America. I was in the continent of Africa. He was telling me, I am coming for you. And he came for me. And he came for me. We had a date, 1994. And we had a beautiful wedding. So this letter is our passion to one another. We were not texting. I have the actual letters written in a pen with a beautiful handwriting. And I put it together and it has continued to inspire everyone who gets hold of this book. Whether married, whether single. Even if you don't have a crisis, your Lord and Savior, I am telling you, you've been inspired so much because it's for God to love the world that he gave. This letter is because of giving love. Giving love to one another. And my prayer is that the nations of the world will be impacted with our story, his story. And so that our generation does not have to error. Exactly. In chasing for love, does not to error in loving the Lord. Our generation can know how much, how much we are loved by the Lord. Like he loved me that much. And he still does. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. The smile on your face, the glow tells it all. And I feel like this is so important, especially now in our current living circumstances, the world being a global village, thanks to so much access to social media. You look left, you see a person who looks good, you look right. You see a person who looks better, you look forward. Somebody who is taller than the other one. Like maybe you can touch on that considering how your love happened at that time. It doesn't mean that social media really is not giving this kind of love. But what is different then and what do you feel you both did right? Well, of course we were in the church. So we found one another in the church serving the Lord and loving the Lord. We had a higher calling in such a way that when we were wanting one another, we already had found hope. We have already anchored our lives in a God that loved us so much. So we had already known our identity. We had our identity who we are in Christ. And that was able to help us set a foundation of this love relationship. Because if it was not the foundation of Christ, I don't think we would be where we are because of the many things that we have gone through, the challenges of life for these 29 years. So in our generation, I do believe we need to find a foundation, a foundation of knowing who I am because I knew who I was. Even though I came from a village somewhere, from a mud house somewhere, it did not define me. It did not define me because I knew who I was in Christ. And that's why when it came to me and told me God has spoken to me, I was like, I need to hear from the Lord too. So I think finding a foundation in God, then our generation can be able to have a good love relationship because it's a covenant. It's a relationship. It's a commitment. When the spouse comes, they come as a destiny helper. And that destiny has to be done in unity, in covenant. So when you don't have a relationship with Christ, we are celebrating Christmas in a few days here. And that is Jesus. He's our hope of glory. And He loves you and me. And before you find the love of a notary man, like the way I found the love of Patrick, I had already found the love of Christ in me, the hope of glory. So my prayer and what I can give my generation is find the love of God. As you celebrate this Christmas, maybe you're struggling with love. It's not working right. Maybe it's a marriage that is almost, there is an a rocky place. Maybe it's time to remember your samosa and your phanta. And then as you find that, you go to those basics. Where were we when we met? And for our generation, maybe we stop texting a lot. Maybe we do face to face. Maybe write a letter. Let them see your heart writing. Yes, yes. I agree. Let them see your heart writing. Let them feel you. You're real. The online dating can be very tricky. Get to know this person. Because you could only be seeing their faces. You don't know how they smell, how they look like. You don't know what says them up. Get to know this person after you find the foundation of celebrating Christ in Christmas. Then you can be able to have somebody else who is stranger from you come in your life. Because when that person comes in your life, your life changes all over again. And you don't want it to change just for a day. It needs to be a long time. Because as the Bible says, only death needs to do as part. Exactly. Not the lack of money. Not little fights here and there. It's only death needs to do as part. So that's what I would like to encourage my generation to find hope. Especially this Christmas, as you celebrate, it's the Christmas, it's Christ. It's Christ, Christmas, Christ. And it's for God so love the world. And me and you, that He gave His only son that whoever believes in you should not perish but have everlasting life. And that's me and you. And when you love Him, He will bring the perfect lover to you. I love that. I love that such a timely message. It's really lovely to see such kind of love. And I love how you've connected it to Christ. I love how you've connected it to the bride and how we must prepare ourselves so that Christ can come for us. So we're going to take a very short break. And when we are back, I would love to know more about your philanthropy. And if you're comfortable with it, you can tell us about how it was born. I know Shalom has a lot to do with it. And a bit of Shalom and how you got here. All right. Absolutely. Great. Viewers, I'm so happy. I have not seen somebody glow so much after being, you know, in almost 30 years of marriage, loving Jesus and also celebrating Him and doing His work accordingly. So don't lose hope. There's still good men out there. There's still good women out there. And the secret as we've heard from Rev is that you have to hide in Christ and they have to hide in Christ so that you can find them there. Okay. Don't touch that. I will be right back.