Fasting and Prayer

Any chance we get to spend time face to face with John Wanyonyi is a blessing. Not only is he spiritually electrifying to be around, but he’s also incredibly funny. For example, in trying to break the news to us that, in addition to the 400+ children at Liberty School that he fathers, he and his wife Naomi are expecting their sixth child even though he tells us he has no idea how this has happened. We hear this a lot in Africa! But, in John’s defense, with big eyes, grinning and shaking his head, he told us that he had “made sure she was closed up after the last one.”

This time we met up with John in the Central Business District (commonly known as CBD) of Nairobi, where traffic is crazy and crowds are intense with people from all over Kenya, and indeed, from all over the world trying to make a buck from panhandling to world marketing. Finally, finding a quiet spot to visit, John could barely contain himself. Dreaming for over 20 years to go to America, he literally shouted, “God has answered our prayers!!” Over the years and multitudes of trips to Nairobi from his village home out in Western Kenya, at last today was the day that the American Embassy had granted him a visa to visit the USA, AND the visa was good for five years.

So, why today? John reminded us that in December of 2017 God began to speak to him about new beginnings. He felt the Lord was inviting him to spend quality time seeking and spending more time with Him. He told us he was highly motivated to do this because of his desperation for the serious needs of the ever-growing children of Liberty School, and in particular, to see a secondary school built. So, he decided that out of the 365 days in 2018 he would spend 120 days praying and fasting for many issues, and that he would also invite his prayer partners to join him.

So, he purposed to pray 21 days every two months. He told me that currently by God’s grace they are praying another 21 days, the fourth time since January. “We have seen and experienced many breakthroughs that had stagnated since my 26 years of ministry. God has opened doors for us this year more than any other year before. We have been able to purchase the land for the secondary school to be built on. He has protected us and our friends. Bad things have happened to us and our friends, but God has fought our battles and we have won. We are expecting Him to do even greater things. Our guide is 2 Chronicles 15:1-2, ‘Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.”’”

So, here’s the thing. Whether you personally practice fasting or not, John’s persistent fasting this year has inspired me. Why? Because of his love for God and his love for people. He’s desperate to see God’s Kingdom come and his will to be done…in the lives of hurting, hopeless children and adults who are orphans spiritually and emotionally and physically, forgotten and hidden away in the mountains of western Kenya. But, not to John Wanyonyi! No, he answered the call when God sent him and his family to that little village ten years ago. With unbelievable challenges, he has remained obedient to the work God has given him. Whether it’s one child or 400, John’s heart breaks for them. He wants each one of them to know how important and valuable they are to the God who sees them and loves them. It’s this kind of passion, desperation and determination that drives him to his knees. John, himself has nothing, literally nothing. But, he knows the One who owns it all and that’s why he prays…and fasts. When there’s nowhere else to go, isn’t the same true for all of us?

Isaiah 58:6–7
⁶Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?