 We've seen him here, we've known him, we've heard of him. But one thing that really stands out above the rest that I'll say briefly is that elder is a Christian and a man who loves God. I believe that sums up everything. At the end of the day it will not be about the position he held, neither will it be about the roles that he played, but at the end of the days what did you do with that which I gave you. And God has given him a privilege to serve as the Chief Justice and the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya from the year 2016 to the year 2021, during which period he also served as the Chairman of the Kenya Judicial Service Commission. Before that he also managed to serve as the Chairman of the National Council Administration of Justice and Chairman of the Council of Law Reporting prior to joining the judiciary where he engaged in private practice for 25 years. It's interesting that I get to introduce my scene in the profession looking at the number of years that he has practiced prior to joining the judiciary and yet even to attain half of that. Having been appointed a judge of the High Court in 2003, he went on to be elevated to be a judge of the Court of Appeal in the year 2012 and he has served as a judge of the three superior courts for a period of 18 years. Elda is a person who celebrated not within the borders, but also internationally having been invited as a keynote speaker in various forums. And in recognition of this service, he's received many awards including the International Commission of Jurists, ICJ, Jurist of the Year in the year 2017, CB Made an Award, the LSK Award for Distinguished Service in the Administration of Justice. And in the year 2016, the head of state then ordered him with the state owner, Elda of the Golden Heart, EGH, for his exemplary service to the nation. Between May and November of 2021, he chaired a team of nine expert reference group consultants that had been engaged by the UNDP to advise on its reimagining governance and peace building in Africa. This was a consultative process whose objective was to articulate issues of governance and peace building framework to guide UNDP's Africa program for the year 2022 to 2025. Finally, but not least, if you are very keen in the news, I believe this was on Thursday, if I'm not wrong, having been appointed the chairman of the task force nominated by His Excellency the President William Ruto, the task force had been tasked with the role of improvement of the terms and conditions of the service for the members of the National Police Service, the Kenya Prison Service and the National Youth Service, which report I believe going by the news and the photos, they submitted the report having done and delivered on the task. Finally, he's an accomplished academia, holding a master's in law and democracy and governance, he's a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London and a recipient of an honorary degree from Dexter University, Ahua, as well as Andrews University in Michigan, all in recognition of his distinguished service and courageous leadership. And all this is possible because he loves and fears God. Amen. Elder, please come and speak to the members present and also those who will follow this session online afterwards. Let's be keen and as he comes there will be a paper going around. You can scan the QR code and register yourself into the Young Professionals Forum. God bless you all. Elda Karibu. Thank you very much Steve and the Council of the Young Professionals for the invite to come and speak to you. The invite came in a way whenever I wanted to review, I could not. Not that I wanted to review but it was brought in a way that I could not review. My son being a member of the council brought the invitation and here I am. We thank God for this program. I'm happy to note that you have come up with a program like this. During our days at your age, we didn't have such a forum. We didn't have such a programs. I guess it's because the times you live in at the moment are diametrically different from our times. And with the communication, it is now easy to engage in quite a number of discussions and presentations. I'm happy to note that you have heard a series of mentorship talks by people I have great respect for. And I'm sure you benefited a lot. You have heard talks on what marriage life is all about. You have heard talks about interview tips. You have heard talks about HR challenges especially. In this time of technology. In our places of work. I was requested to speak on legal practice generally. And how a Christian lawyer can serve with integrity. With that in mind, of course, I decided that perhaps first things first. So that I lay some kind of foundation. Some kind of foundation in the hope. And you can see now I'm asking for a further invitation to come back. And now speak in detail on the legal practice with integrity. Why have I decided to go that way? I've decided to go that way because in legal practice, just like any other provisional practice, there are fundamental principles that govern that particularly when it is by a Christian. So it is important that we understand those foundational aspects of our legal practice. This afternoon or evening, I want to speak about the foundation of the legal practice with integrity. And in my view, this is what I've entitled what matters in life. Shall we pray? King of the universe, we thank you and praise you for the opportunity. You've given us to meditate upon your word. You have taught us that we are in this world, but not of this world. So that as we go on with our work, which you want us to go on with. Because you have told us that we should work. We should work as children of the kingdom. As we have this discussion this afternoon, I pray that you control our faculties. And let everything we do give on and glory to your name, we pray in Jesus' name. What matters in life? If I pose that question and ask all of you to answer, I will get varied answers. Some people say a question like that is relative to how you look at life. As Christians, however, there are matters which rank quite high on our lists of what matters in life. For me, what matters most in life is knowing and always focusing on the big picture. The big picture. And what is this big picture? The big picture for us as Christians is to understand the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The great controversy between good and evil. And deciding on which side you want to be in. What matters most in life is knowing that you cannot be in both sides. You cannot be in both sides. You are either for Christ or you are for Satan. Under the decision to be on Christ's side is not a mere mental exercise. You just don't say I am on Christ's side. What matters that is and say that is enough. What matters in life is to know how the great controversy is playing out in our lives. The great controversy is a battle of wits. It's a battle for the capture of our minds. Satan is using means that Christ cannot use. Satan is using deception. Satan comes up with the various skins. One of which is to tell that we should not be serious with life. You've heard people say you live once. Enjoy your life. Sure. We live once. Enjoy life. There's nothing wrong with that. But in so doing, Satan wants us to lose focus. Satan does not want us to be on our guard. When you are, if you are not, if you lose a bit, you will trip you. You will trip you and you will fall. So what does he do? He uses all means to tell even to tell our senses to keep us not focused and to be involved in other things. I think it was around 1983 or 1984. There was a Catholic bishop who used to write a column in the standard. Thought for Sunday. The old people may know about that. One Sunday he wrote something that caught my attention. He says the devil and his team, his angels came together and said look we are losing the battle to Christ. What did we do? We are losing ground. They discussed about how they are losing ground and some came up, one of them came up with an idea and said look why don't we go and tell the Christians that this story you are being told about Christ is a hoax. Christ is not even there. They discussed and said no, no, no. This is documented, there is no way anybody can buy anything like that. Then they said okay fine. This one tells them that the story you are being told about Jesus coming is a hoax. It is not Jesus who came, it is somebody else. He says no, no, no. They said no, that one they will not buy. Jesus came but he is not coming back. They discussed it and dismissed it also. Then one last one came and said fine, I have a brilliant idea. Let's go and tell them Jesus is real. Jesus came, Jesus will come back. But not yet, there is time. They all clubbed and said yes, that one they will buy. That one they will buy. So we will allow them to do what we want them to do so that they can lose focus and we get them. Why am I telling you that? Because the devil wants us to lose focus. And he is particularly focused on the young people, the young professionals, yourselves and many others. Why? Because you are in the prime of your lives. Because you are the future of our church. Because you are the future of our nation. If the devil succeeds to trip you and get you for example into alcohol, he will have not only ruined you, but he will have also ruined your family. He will have succeeded in ruining your family as well. This is why the apostle Peter is warning us in 1 Peter 5 verse 8. He says be sober and vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a rolling lion seeking whom he may differ. The devil is finding every opportunity to make sure that it rails you and it throws you off balance. We live as we study from prophecy. In the very end of this world is history. We are as it was very, very close to the finishing line. You know that if you are in athletics and you are sprinting, if you lose focus for even a few seconds, you will lose, you will not get the price. So if we miss the point the devil is going to delay us. If you ask the professors and quite a number of them could be here, they will tell you that quite a number of students fail not because they are stupid, because they misread or don't understand the questions that are asked. That is what the devil wants us to do. He wants us to lose focus and then he will delay us. In this scenario, what matters in life is to know who we are. Who we are and what is expected of us. I want to ask you, who are you? Who am I? Who are we? What matters in life is to know that as Christians we are sons and daughters of the living God. In the book of Exodus 19 verse 5 Exodus 19 verse 5 and 1 Peter 2 verse 9 and I'm paraphrasing here they say that you are a special treasure to God above all people. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. That's how Christ regards us. In other words, we are sons and daughters of the king of the universe. We are princes and princesses. Princes and princesses in that kind of position we are required to have even a behavior called you are supposed to have even a dress called different and befitting of princes and princesses. In the great controversy if you are for Christ the Bible says but sit fast to the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6 verse 33 sit fast to the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added to you. Which things? Let us understand the context in which this statement was made. If you read the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 all through to Matthew 8 verse 1 and look 6 verse 17 to 49 you will find the record of the salmon on the mount. This is Christ's inaugural address delivered probably in late summer of AD 29 about midway of the three and a half year ministry of Christ on earth. At this time Christ had just appointed his 12 apostles because of the work that is so that required more hands. The salmon on the mount as the king of the kingdom of Greece or the kingdom of heaven Christ set forth conditions of citizenship proclaimed the law and delinated the objectives of the kingdom of heaven. Every nation every organization in fact if you want to form an organization of even about ten people and you go to the registrar of business names it will require you to go with the constitution whether the rules governing your organization. Christ in the salmon on the mount said the terms, the conditions and also the law that is going to govern the kingdom of grace. The purpose if you read through that from the commentaries it says the purpose in man's existence is that he should seek the Lord if happily he might feel and find him. Most men are engrossed in labouring for the meat which perishes for the water which when you drink you will get thirsty again. Most men spend money for that which is milk bread and labour for what doesn't satisfy. Too often we are prone to make all these material things the object of our search in life in the vain hope that God will be indulgent with us and at the close of life's journey added to our span of life the eternal kingdom. Christ would have us make first things first this is why I said this must have our priorities right first things first and assures us that if we seek first the kingdom of heaven all these material requirements all these material needs will be supplied in accordance with the need of each of us. There is no such a thing as a security apart from God and the citizenship of His kingdom the best kiva for worry is trust in God. If we do our part faithfully if we make the kingdom of heaven fast in our thoughts and lives God will take care of us through the work of our life. If we graciously anoint our heads with oil and our cup of experience will overflow in the good things this is from the commentaries the SDA commentaries Vol. 5 us I mean page 352 young people you are our children you have gone to school you have done well you have done as proud you are young professionals you are the pride of our church we are all very proud of you you are seeking to be successful in your careers and lead a good life that's what we are praying for you that's our prayer for you as our children that's our prayer for you we want you to live in good places we want you to drive good cars but at the end of your journey what will matter in your life will be whether or not your name is in the book of life for entry into the kingdom of God for entry into the kingdom of God you know I have and I will give you a few experiences we have people who have gone round who have had a life and they have come to the end of their life as it was they look back and ask themselves what have I achieved one time I can remember I think this was in the early 90s I had a case I was in private practice I had a case in Kisi with a lead lawyer who was practicing in Akuru we were together in Akuru we had this case in Kisi he was on the other side she asked me to give a lift which I agreed and we agreed we meet at 6 o'clock at a petrol station in Akuru I went there and waited and she didn't come by 7 o'clock she had not come and you know we had to make it to Kisi by 9 o'clock those days there were no mobile phones so I didn't know what had happened I drove to Kisi I went and told the judge I don't want to take advantage of my colleague's absence I was supposed to give a lift we were supposed to meet I went and waited for her she didn't come from the way I know her something must have happened to stop her in short I applied for a settlement for my colleague are you seeing that sometimes a few things I don't know how to put them because you appear to be praising yourself I didn't want to take advantage of our absence I would have taken advantage of our absence I said look I don't know what has happened I don't know and I would have had our case dismissed I said no that is not right so I had joined the case and went back to Nakuru the following day she came to my office and told me Mr. Maraga I'm sorry I kept to you but there's no way I could communicate with you my son felt very sick at night my son felt very sick at night he didn't sleep until around 3 am so when I woke up at 6 I could not be sure it was well and that's why I could not come I understood that straight away no parent could go and leave a sick child behind like that one but this lady made a statement which struck me he says you know if it does not matter what position you occupy if you have no family if you have no family it is a story your life is futile is that not a fact is that not a fact at the end of my life and I'm getting to 73 at the end of my life I will look back and say what family have I brought up whose life have I touched what have I accomplished forget about my academic achievement my work and what but in that work have I touched anybody's life in a positive way that it will enable that person to move forward at the end of your careers at the end of your professional careers whether you like it or not you will come to ask yourself those kind of questions if you are a serious person and you have you care I want to ask you I want to plead with you that get your priorities right get your priorities right in your provisional career you need to get your priorities right we know some of you have no jobs that you can ask me please, tearful please I receive every day about young people who have no jobs you know sometimes you feel like crying with them because you are also helpless we are praying for you that God will open a way for you to get something but as you look for jobs your professionals you think about what you can do I want you to think about what you can do you don't just want to sit idle you are an engineer you are a lawyer you are a business consultant you are looking for a job and nothing has come yet don't just sit there think about what you can do with innovation and prayerful innovation you know you could easily turn out to be an employer yourself you don't need employment you are an employer yourself and you can do that last Sunday I launched a business for a young adventist in Saritzen some of you may have seen it in the media I have that young man's permission to say this this is a young man I found extremely focused the last time I spoke in his church that is about a year ago I spoke and I said look some of you have no jobs some of you have challenges here and there put your challenges to God and pray don't limit God and pray this young man asked me a question he had challenges keeping his faith he had challenges leaving out his faith he had challenges especially keeping the Sabbath in the work where he was when we discussed I told him young man with this one you need to make up your mind walk out of that place and trust that God will find something for you he took up the challenge and he resigned then he decided to do some business he went to Saritzen there was an exhibition he was doing there and somehow he caught the attention of some foreigners he caught the attention of Saritzen management the MD or the chief executive of Saritzen told him look I want you here come and set up your business here he has been there for some time from the look of things he is headed for great things he is a happy man he can worship on Sabbath without any challenge and he trusts in God he tells me that he trusts in God I have no doubt myself that having honored God having honored God God is not going to let him down I want you people to think about what you do in your provisions some of you are in employment even in material positions and we thank God for you some of you are in middle level positions whatever positions you are I know there are challenges some of them relating to meeting deadlines as you think of your great assignments as you think about your success ask yourself as you do these things how does what you do honor and glorify God that's the number one thing that's the first thing that you should think about how does what you do honor and give glory to God at the times you may even find an employer I've been told that many times something sinful maybe once you are an accountant he wants you to falsify the records he wants you to do things which are not straight to cut corners these are all challenges on your integrity on your integrity and this is where I want to ask you to stand for Christ stand up and be counted for Christ you are not going to stand up in vain God is going to see that sacred history presents many noble examples of men whose characters have been modeled whose characters have been built under divine direction men whose lives have been a blessing to their fellow men and who have stood up as representatives of God of the universe among these people are Joseph and Daniel, Moses, Alicia and Paul these are great statesmen Moses was the wisest legislator one of the most faith reformers was Alicia and except for Christ Paul was the most illustrious teacher that the world has ever known I want you to think about these examples these examples are not written therefore just for nothing if you honor God God will honor you in this life and in the life to come and please listen to me God will honor you and lift you and give you success in this life and in the life to come it will not be a walk in the park it will not be a walk in the park some of the challenges that will be there God will allow them to even refine you more and to get you to be even better the story of these heroes of the Bible have given you know it but it's good to remind ourselves none of these people knew what was in store for them the secret of their success as they in their unwavering trust in God they chose to seek first the kingdom of heaven they were not an extraordinary people they were like you and me the only difference perhaps is that they were steadifast they were steadifast and that is how they have they succeeded if you didn't know no one can stand upon a loft height without danger when you are in a high position there are very many challenges that come with that you will ask me about that sometimes and I will tell you I was not in a very high position but I was in a fairly high position and I can tell you the challenges that go with a position like that in other words if you are high in your position as I said some of you are managers there are very many challenges which come your way some of them which can even make you to compromise because these heroes stood by God they chose to be on Christ's side in the great controversy Christ stood with them Christ stood with them if you read the Bible carefully when the three young Hebrews were walking in the furnace Christ was walking with them in the furnace he was not sitting he was walking with them in the furnace when Stephen was being stoned to death he looked up and so Christ on his standing from his seat in the heavenly temple Christ stood for Stephen he didn't just watch seated he stood that tells you of the endorsement Christ made because of Stephen you know the story of Joseph when Joseph was on his way to slavery when Joseph was on his way to slavery he remembered that the God of his his father Jacob had told him about God and the motherless things God had done in Jacob's life Joseph resolved on the way he resolved on the way that he is going to honor God he is going to stand by God and according to him he knew God was going to to be with him with that resolution the story Joseph was tempted he went into prison from there God raised him to be the prime minister of Egypt the most powerful kingdom then this life is that not so in this life he raised him to that position you know the story of Daniel honoring God from small things like even the diet the food which had the road been offered to idols he said he would not eat that he stood firm he was even thrown into the den of lions God honored him and they got him out of there is that not what we read from first Samuel to first first 30 God says those who honor him He will honor them Alicia is one character I mean the Bible says who was faith in little things when he was called to the ministry he was plowing with with his father servants I could imagine him holding the plow in that dusty ground Alicia didn't say look this is the work of workers I should not go there he went there and worked I want to ask you young people can see very many ladies here how many of you got with your mums to the kitchen to wash the plates especially when you have had visitors those greasy plates how many of you go with your mum how many of you go thank you very much how many of you go with your mum and cook great thank you very much those little things because I mean within a short while if you are not yet married within a short while you will get out of your parents home isn't it you will go there running in your home I can come and I can decide and tell you I'm coming to your home this evening for dinner you don't know even how to cook wugali I love wugali you will go freeting little things Alicia did that and he was appointed to take over from Alicia and you know what he asked for when Alicia was about to be translated he asked Alicia what he wanted to give him and I said give me a double potion ask God to give me a double potion of the spirit which is in you and they was given he had crossed the River Jordan to the other side and they wanted to go back we did a mantra that had fallen from Alicia's Alicia's hands when he was taken up he got all of it and they struck the river and the river parted River Jordan parted where Joshua had struck it and it parted Alicia struck it and it parted what a great honor for that young man and he did very many things you know the story of Moses the prince in Egypt one who was headed so for the leadership of Egypt he chose to be with the slaves to lead the life of slaves Moses' story has been read the whole world for generations and generations and it will continue being read until Christ comes back what a great honor on this world Moses himself is in heaven we know that so these are people who have been here for Paul he has said very many things he says he considers everything in this world nothing that can stand in his way than to gain the kingdom of heaven these people were honored by God in this life other than Moses who we are told was resurrected and is in heaven the others are sleeping awaiting the resurrection morning their names are in the book of life my prayer for you is that as you discharge your duties you be there in the your name be there in the book of heaven we talk about integrity and when you talk about integrity and I'm sure you have read this LNG Waitis statement in the book of education springs to mind the greatest want of the world I've used this many many many times and I'm sure you have as well the greatest want of the world is the want of men men who will not be both or sold men who in their innermost souls are true and honest men who do not fear to call sin by its right name men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall down she doesn't stop there she says but such a character is not the result of accident such a character will not come by accident it is not due to special waivers or endowments of providence God is not going to be partial and give others endowments they don't deserve and noble character is the result of self-discipline of subjection of the subjection of the lower to the higher nature the surrender of self for the service of love to God and to man self-discipline getting your priorities right subject the lower to the higher the world challenges today and I keep telling people we are not going to miss to heaven to God to heaven because we are going to be involved in robberies with violence because we are going to murder that's not what is going to stop us from going to heaven what is going to stop us from going to heaven is carelessness carelessness so casual in our lives that we don't realize what is important we don't get to be focused on Christ you know what the book of Revelation chapter 3 says God is speaking about the Laudation church if you are not warm you are luke warm you are already on certain side that is what is going to stop us from going to heaven just casual we hold so casually and we are going to be to be stopped from heaven but if we are focused Christ says in the book of Matthew 10 verse 32 you will hear some people talking about working smart that these days you don't need to work hard you need to work smart you know what that means it's actually corruption you want to get a good car you don't need to struggle you just work smart find a way of doing things and you get money to buy what you want you will see somebody driving a very good car you don't know how long that person has worked you don't know his fortunes you know he has gotten that not through very honest means and you also desire that when I was in private practice and I was in private practice for a very long time before I bought a new car brand new from the showroom when I bought it and I found some young lawyers saying hey senior you bought a very good car I said yeah this is good they admired the car a Subaru Legacy not the one Moses has an earlier one soon after that some of them I saw one of them had a Mercedes 320 second hand okay but it's a Mercedes you should I don't want to tell you the experiences he was going through in short he was a visitor in some places quite often you don't know this young man wants to buy a car like me and I had been in private practice for more than 15 years more than 15 years and I chose to buy a new car and declare myself the Bible says don't envy the wicked and that's where we make a mistake don't envy the wicked you've just joined the provision you don't get your priorities right you don't get your priorities right as I said it is good you lead a good life lead a good life but in that life make sure you honor God make sure God is glorified in what you do for if you don't at the end of your life you will say like the wisest man who ever lived that all is vanity vanity of vanities Solomon got time to repent you may not get that time to repent when you have ruined your life when your name is in the kingdom of heaven when you have been involved in things that are not right before God God's promises to raise his children to the tomb are there for you and me if you choose to honor God God will raise you up I have said this a lot and it is in the public media when I was being interviewed for the position of Chief Justice I was asked a question that I could not debate for those of you who don't know the presidential petition has to be decided within 14 days 14 calendar days not 14 working days 14 calendar days that includes Saturday and Sunday then one commissioner asked me and said yes we know you are an adventist what are you going to do if one of those days falls on Saturday in that split of a second I made up my mind that if this is what is going to give me the job let it be that job can stay I made up that in my mind I told him look I will speak with the judges to accommodate me so that we don't sit on Sabbath and sure enough the first day of hearing fell on Sabbath and I spoke to that time when I was telling the interviewers I didn't know what was going to happen the first day of sitting fell on Sabbath you know what happened and I was now thinking I started with my deputy I said look how will you accommodate me she's a Catholic I said what's say this she's a Catholic but I hear you SDS say that your day starts at 6 SDS and the rest of us the day starts at midnight which means Saturday for the rest of us Saturday will still at 7 on Saturday evening will be still Saturday are you seeing will be still Saturday but for you it is what it is already Sunday I thanked God in my prayer and I said God you have answered my problem you have answered my prayer I talked with the other judges and we arranged the sitting at 7 7pm of Saturday evening and we sat and we went on you see how God works his own things I made up my mind that if I was going to be asked to work on Sabbath that job could stay the rest is history and if I were to sit with you and tell you how God held my hand through and through and through to the end I can never praise him enough I can never praise him enough I can never praise him enough the promises given to all the promises God give to Daniel to Joseph to Moses to Paul to Elisha and many heroes those promises are there for you and me today that's why I was I was able to God held my hand through and through God does not change I want you people to know that you are going to succeed in your provisions if you put God first if in whatever you do you ask yourself how is God going to be honored in this if it is going to be dishonorable let it stay no matter whether you are going to lose that job God is not limited God is not limited in most cases it's because we don't trust it's because of our little faith and as a result of that we do things that we are not required to do we sin we compromise on our faith we don't leave our faith and as a result we lose let me tell you if somebody asks you to do wrong things for example if somebody wants you are the person without whose signature some money cannot be stolen and you sin that person gets his cut after he has gotten his cut he will have very very little regard of you he will have very very little regard of you if somebody wants to ask him something where he is most interested to nominate somebody of integrity he will not nominate you the same person who has asked you to do those things but if you do what is right somebody will not like you somebody will not like you but come I mean to a point where somebody who is honest is required and that person is honest he will nominate you he will nominate you stand for Christ and the people will respect you you will not be the richest in this world but you will not go hungry your family will not go hungry your children will go to school your children will go to school you go involved in yourself in corruption you send your children to school they will come back drug peddlers what has it profited you there are some things when you put yourself in God's way he takes care of parents here our children get out of our hands from the year 12 isn't it from year 12 year 12 above our children have gone either to secondary schools or they have gone to universities where you have no control over them if you have not placed them in God's hands when they were young you have lost them my prayer this evening as young people is that get the first things first get grounded on the word of God seek to owner God in whatever you do and God will owner you God will owner you in this life and in the life to come is my prayer in Jesus name thank you very much Eldam Maraga the CJ Emeritus let's say a big amen to him we thank God for the wise words and counsel and just let me take it through once more six things that he has clearly pointed out one he knew or he knows the bigger picture this being the great controversy and how it plays out in our lives number two who we are and what is expected of us that is a question that we ought to ask ourselves both in our spiritual life and in our workplaces forgetting not that we are royal priesthood a chosen generation called upon to seek first God's kingdom number three let's get our priorities right at the workplaces reminds me of what my grandmother once said to us whenever we go home to visit and it reminds us to be faithful to the stewards of time and our words are very clear and they ring loud in our heads that when you go to work do not steal from the employer and stealing doesn't take the financial aspect she is very specific on matters time if you are called upon to report to work at 10 let it be 10 and not at 11 so let's get our priorities right at our workplaces then let's object the lower to the highest being God in heaven don't envy the wicked easy come easy go the wicked may seem to prosper but their days are numbered and finally but not least honor God and he will lift you up at this point I believe after him having spoken we could be having questions to him points of clarification so there is a mic that is going around let me see anyone who has a question yes there is one there is a gentleman there we keep it brief straight to the point in our future day there is a high life and a low life if I consider you as maybe a faithful adventist that works in a a constitutional or a quote and then your faith is high in a way that maybe the Holy Father knows you not in a human or other people ok and then now you want to consider a lower human being and a high human being in a way that he doesn't have money ok he doesn't have food and then he stole your money unfortunately he stole your money he found your vehicle packed and then he said no I'm hungry and then I don't have money and this one is a big boss always stretching money then he stole your money then suddenly you react certain shake your faith and always be strong in faith you are singing for us you are reminding us then he stole your money that you are going to use on the shamba what will be your reaction can you tell us your reaction inside the faith ok to elder maybe I would like you to clarify more to especially reserience to our young professionals because I've seen even in our workplace this generation which they want everything pop there's not that time to wait so what do you advise them and this feeling like I don't feel this place you are up and gone so the resilience part because it is coming up they are getting so depressed and this is the group which is committing suicide mine is we have the young professionals professionals here they are seeking for a job a job has been advertised at East African Breweries limited is an adventist I'm requesting that you advise them number two we have young lawyers here a client has come to you he has committed murder he has told you the truth how do we go about it because we want to to put things right we don't want to be careless because the small things will make us not to go to heaven number three we have a shop you have a shop you are selling tea leaves you are selling cigarettes and maybe you have a hotel that is selling the beers and that these are the challenges that we have and we need to put things right because we are preparing to go to heaven thank you well I would like you to tell us if you grew up in this church because for for me I think that sometimes desperation pushes you to places you don't want to go well I have been to a point where I was desperate thank God he took me out of that situation but when people looked for work of course they've done all they can they've knocked on doors they've sent emails and they can't get work say 3 years down the line they've been really really struggling finally they get a job that requires them to work on sabat they're really desperate desperate so how do you go about that especially if you've not been brought out in a strong faith based family or if you've not come to learn that you really need to trust in God regardless like I did learn my question is whether you are considering benefiting us with a biography of your experience in form of a book in the future or maybe in the near present thank you very interesting and challenging questions and for me these are questions the really challenges of life that young people are facing in fact we all are facing the first question was by our brother who was saying subjecting the lower to the higher somebody has stolen from my money one of my word because desperate is hungry you asked me how I would handle that if this young man came and said look here I am like if you've been caught here I am is because I didn't have anything to eat and I look at you and I see that you are actually honest you didn't have anything to eat I look at you and prayer free I can tell that you are not stealing this money to want and take drugs are you with me because there are very many people who are desperate to get money for drugs and they have done many things you will not even think of if I make up my mind that you are not in that class in fact even if I have something more I will give you I will give you because this is our challenge and then advise you of something you can do because you are not going to continue stealing because you don't have something to eat you continue stealing so that you are not leaving from there I would advise you that somebody is going to even kick you raw hit you very hard and you could easily die Frida you must get a very interesting question of young people who are in a hurry to get things very quickly and the quota number of you young people in that state that's where God wants you to make a difference God wants you to make a difference there is what we call defied gratification defied gratification if you are in a hurry to get things that's why I said this young man so me driving a new car he has just come from university like 2 years before I have been there for more than 15 years I have bought a new car he also wants a car and actually to tell me you only bought as well defied gratification get your priorities right what matters in life if you didn't buy this car would you not go on with your work would you not prosper if you have children who need food who need to go to school you know how to buy a car and your children have no food to eat defied gratification and that's what we advise young people and let some things move on get your priorities right things like the cars I have even seen young people sorry where you follow in one of those categories you have just been employed and you want a smartphone you want an iPhone like Maragas an iPhone which even in 2 months we will not buy and you are desperate and then you go into depression because of that those are things you need to get your priorities right that's why I said you get your priorities right you do too you've been given a job with Kenya Breweries do you work for them or do you not work for them a very personal question and I will tell you that because there are some people who work for farms like those it again also depends on what you are doing you could be doing you would not be in sales all things like that and it is something you need to think very very seriously if you decided against it God is going to notice that God is going to notice that you have asked me as a lawyer whether I can defend a murderer I have done that I have done that you sit with that person find out why he has murdered you could easily find it is what we call manslaughter manslaughter in the spar of the moment somebody in the spar of the moment is annoyed and he has struck another one and he is dead in fact such a people run even to the police station and say what have I done that kind of person requires to be defended and so that this case can be put so that this case can be put to court these are the circumstances which led this person to do this he didn't intend to murder I mean this is what happened one time I was defending a young man who shot somebody on the foot and the bullet was lodged in his bone I asked him what happened I told me they were they were arguing over something and in that in that kind of confusion he shot him he was very very merciful I told him there is nothing to defend you here let's go to court and I will tell the court you shot him in any case that one you can't escape the police have proved that it is your gun would shot him and they have evidence to that I went to court and I pleaded with for him I said this young man in the course of an argument he used his gun he is remosful he is in your hands and you know what happened the magistrate gave him a fine instead of sending him to prison sending him to prison he would have lost his job that's being honest I was very honest and my mind was very clear this young man shot and he caused injury to somebody else as lawyers that's what we are supposed to do to be honest and tell the court what has happened then the rest of the things you leave to the court a shopkeeper you are having a shop with varied goods including beer an adventist you will exclude beer the business you will get from the beer God will compensate you in a different way as an adventist we are not supposed to sell topako you can't sell beer you can't do that because if you are selling to people that's as good as giving them to drink themselves so those are among the questions that you want to act there are some questions which were given to me here yes the question I have been asking here is 2017 the president said he would revisit did I fear this is an interesting question by the way that period if there is a time I slept peacefully it is that time and I mean it and I mean it because of your prayers you know literally the whole country was praying for me not just the adventist world the whole country was praying for me if there is a period I slept suddenly it is during that period God has his own way of doing things he has asked me that I mean in my office I invited pastors of course those prayers are what carried me all the way up to the end and I thank those pastors who came I thank those pastors who came when I took office immediately before I sat on my seat I invited pastor Ruhuri Ruhuri was in state house when I was one he came and we prayed in my office he consecrated that office to God his own and glory to God worked miracles through those prayers when I ended I invited pastor Makuri Makuri thank to God in my office before I walked out for the last time prayers work Benjamin you asked about whether or not I'm writing a book it is in the pipeline thank you thank you so much Adamaraga for that talk I just want to ask you Adamaraga to elaborate on one especially when you are a young professional there are things you pursue you want your career to go well you want everything else to go well but Adamaraga one of the challenges I think and maybe you addressed it earlier is what we call selfishness and in the light of helping others I do not want to take you into our generation and elder we will probably talk about it when we were growing we learned to share so that even if I'm a young professional and there's somebody who has school fees at home I can help how do you manage that because we live in a time when it's myself, me and I I'm a young professional I want to live in Kilimani I want to have a car I have siblings and as a Christian thank you the question I have really I want at your level would you consider that the church has done enough or needs to do something a little bit to ameliorate the burdens the young people carry for example would you consider starting a club eminent persons within the church here who can probably understand within this membership how many youth we have who have finished engineering who are lawyers who are doctors and practically involve yourselves or ourselves in actually pointing out that we are aware ministry wants four doctors and we will try to help two of you the reason I ask this is sometimes the church as a body and I'm not negatively critical I'm just trying to point out that sometimes the church is aloof so that it is so interested in our spiritual well-being but not so keen on economic well-being so that whoever has succeeded we conclude yes God has seen him through but indeed the one who has been left behind is just because of lack of opportunity you have answered one question I wanted to ask about if the church prayed for you in 2017 in our small talk as lawyers we were complaining that the church did not practically come out and take a position and say our son is doing his work and we trust in his faith and stand but anyway now you have clarified the world prayed for you the country prayed for you but you may want to express yourself on that whether you felt very much together with the church or they were scared they also did not want to come along with you so my main question would be do you think the church is doing enough would you advise that we create a council within the church which can practically look at these economic hardships well I have a question there is a small one in the legal jurisprudence the application of law can be looked at in two perspectives the application can be looked at I mean to the letter or to the spirit which one should take the precedence that question stands up from the story of Adam I mean Abraham when he one time he was going to Egypt and when he was talked by some pirates on the way and asked whether Shara was his wife he cheated and as we know Abraham is regarded as the father of faith another story is the story between Esau and Jacob whereby Jacob stole the blessings of Esau so does it mean that where the spirit is involved we we bed the law or the rule of law thank you you mentioned about the Sabbath and maybe you are late you have not closed your work and maybe now the Sabbath has come if you work that time have you seen because we were in the New Testament Jesus plagued some wheat on a Sabbath day how does it work in that in that Sabbath now you've done a sin that cannot be forgiven thank you very much for these questions I'm learning a lot from this the first question is by a sister in our careers we want to prosper in our careers we are selfish young professionals God has placed you where you are and is looking at what you do first God wants you to be honest with him are you paying tight are you paying overings from your income and you know God is arithmetic is that subtraction is word is word in God is arithmetic subtraction is word addition addition if you are afraid food tighter I used to ask akna moses when they were young if you are running 10,000 and you have paid a tight of 1,000 your friend has not paid tight he has 10,000 you have 9,000 who is better off when they were very young they would say of course the one who has 10,000 hearings but as days went by they realized that when you are honest with God God doesn't throw money on the road for you to pick that's not how God works God shields you from sickness he shields your family from sickness so that the person who has paid tight as a person who has paid tight you end up having more money than the one who has not paid that's how God works young people we have very many people surrounding us with challenges some of them can't even get food please don't turn a blind eye to some of those things and some of them are our relatives I was not the first one I was the last one myself but I know very many first ones who were with me in the universe and they educated their siblings from the allowance we were getting in the universe from the allowance they were getting in the universe those people who have been educated are people who are proud and have come up I know very many of our friends I have myself paid fees for many many years for children especially of the orphans and I thank God for that when I see them in their in their provisions working some of them somebody comes and tells you look I am now working at such and such a place why not for you I would not have been where I am now is there anything more satisfying even for the for the sake of feeling that yes I have helped God is going to ask at the end of the day whether or not whether or not you touched the lives of others who were before you there is a gentleman before I come to Ishmael's question there is a gentleman who asked whether you apply whether I have the philosophy of applying the law as it is that's a philosophical question in law we have two of them we have what we call positivists the lawyers will tell you positivists you say the law says this period and those who say who have the philosophy of realist the law says this but realistically given these circumstances how do I apply that and by the way that's how judges make law most of you sometimes don't know that judges make law much more sometimes than even parliament the American constitution is a skeleton is a skeleton the supreme court of the United States has fleshed that constitution our constitution is a little more detailed but it doesn't cover every situation the judges have to feel in those depending on the circumstances of each case and if you are a judge dealing with cases like those you think about how your judgment is going to play out how it is going to be applied and there are quite a number of cases that come so that is that is a that's my philosophy in life you have to be realistic you know that law is not static law applies to particular circumstances and you have got to interpret the law to apply those circumstances this is our system we ask about the sabat you are working on sabat something which is so tempting which is so tempting if you have a shop it is on Friday evening people are coming at around 6 and you know that will happen and that's how the devil works the whole day you have been sitting and you don't have as many clients coming in at 6 o'clock when you are supposed to be winding up is when the clients are streaming in saying give me this that's where your challenge will come you have got to honor God you plan your things and say no no no here I am as close and start closing even before the sun sets for God that business for God that business between 6 and 6 30 here the sun sets most of the time around 6 30 begin closing at 6 so that you are not caught up and God will reward there is a question here that has been sent to me whether I am available for mentoring the upcoming Maragas that's something I love to do that's something I am doing already anybody I'm sorry I have not been able the judiciary has taken a little long to set up my office but it is setting up the office I believe by the beginning of next year I will have a full fledged office people can come for consultation and I will listen to young people and advise on what you should do in my view you may not agree with me but I will give my advice and that's why I accept invitations especially to universities and schools those are places I want to speak in in fact if I am invited by students and by a church I will go to the invitation for students so I believe I am doing that Ishmael he is a senior lawyer by the way you have seen him on TV he is asking about what kind of charity charity program our church has or should have to help the desperate people we have address it but address it global and it deals with emergencies we have churches we have as churches we have what we call the good Samaritan amount that we assist people who are in desperate situation yes I agree with you we should do something more than that we should like set up a fund we should like set up a fund but that fund you don't expect we will set it up and it can only function well if you and I get involved that is not a fund you expect Pastanyaga to run where is the money going to come from where is that money going to come from that money is going to come from from us that's a brilliant idea you have Ishmael I would ask you to champion it champion that we should like set up a fund and give it to the church the money but of course you will set conditions on how the funds from that the amount from that fund can be applied for the very needy needy I mean you don't set up a fund like that one and then you come and find my son Moses is the applicant for funds from that fund it doesn't work like that we must respect it that it is the very needy will come up and some churches have that kind of fund it all depends on how we give I think that is all I want to thank you I don't know whether you don't know how privileged I am to address you in a gathering like this and share my thoughts the leaders of this this forum this is great this is great for me because we can share our failures that we don't want you people to fall into we can share our failures so that you don't fall into that and share our experiences that can help you so I want to thank you most sincerely I don't know what you will have how you want us to finish thank you very much thank you very much Elda Maraga let's say a big amen to our Elda we want to thank you very much for the kind words, for the insights and it's not in vain just want to leave you with this text from the book of first John chapter 2 verse 1 my little children these things I write unto you that you see not but if any man seen we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous so in our practice we look to Jesus Christ who is our greatest advocate amen good at this point I want to welcome my brother and let me find out is there any other person who is a potential adventist and my brother just come kindly we have a gift for you David Maraga is there anyone who falls in that category maybe who missed out when I was doing the introduction please Karibo and we are very much honored to have you we have a present a small token of appreciation just to encourage you to visit one more time and I hope you have been blessed thank you very much yes what's your name kwaich kwaich may God bless you we have a present for you you saw the speaker who was here Mark Finlay this is great I've read through it I know what it does may God bless you thank you very much please come again as I call upon elder please come I want the three advocates to come and gift our speaker for the day I know rarely when you approach go to get instructions from the bench but now let the bar gift the bench so please let's come when as we gift mum kindly Moses I know you are part of the department but now put on another robe and be part of the family please come thank you just a small token of appreciation for the time effort the wise words it is to the family thank you thank you very much thank you very much before I pray I want to appreciate the youngest professional here elder Kaya you know I saw him seated he's got a young professional I thought this is the youngest thank you elder for sitting all this well supporting our young people it means a lot we can stand for prayer we thank you for the privilege of this fellowship this evening young professionals I thank you for creating us and equipping us Lord the people here who are thanking you for the blessings of opportunities in this life receive their thanksgiving there are professionals here Lord who are praying and hoping a door of hope to be opened somebody has been walking every day dropping applications here and there busy interview and very interview but something has not come through they are still hanging on in faith Lord I pray that you will grant them the request of their hearts there are professionals here who are in school they are going through the training and they are aspiring to be great personalities in the days to come Lord all these people here in the dawnments of various gifts and talents skills that they have attained from the trainings I pray that they will find a way of using these in your service when you call Moses you ask him what do you have he said I have a staff in my hand and you told him to go to Egypt to deliver your people using that stuff but today we recognize that the staff was a symbol of Moses profession because he was a shepherd and so the doctors were here the lawyers were here the teachers were here the juniors were here all these professionals just a staff in our hands to serve you and to deliver your people may we find in your vineyard a space for us Lord to minister to serve in hospitals in courtrooms in the streets representing you may continue blessing us and preparing us for eternity as we dismiss going home Lord we pray that as we turn a new week Lord may your blessings accompany us as go back to our offices may the people that work with us our colleagues they are find something special and unique in us that is the presence of Jesus in our lives may we stand to be counten may we fear nothing but every day walk reverently before you knowing that after everything has been done and said yonda when you come and when names will be read that our names will be found in the number this means us with your blessings we pray in Jesus name amen and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore amen God bless you