Overwhelmed, Charles pulled off the road. As the car came to a halt, he began to cry like a baby. What if he had been killed? Would he have already done everything God had wanted him to do? What would his legacy be? Sure, he told himself, he was a good Christian man, he was very active in his church, and he gave away far more than 10 percent of his income. He now had eight children to support and nurture who were all doing well; his marriage was happy and stable; his parents were now Christians, as were most of his brothers. But as he continued to cry, the same question he had wrestled with for three years remained. Who would help the street kids? No matter how he had tried to ignore that question, it challenged him.
Charles sat in his car praying, crying, and begging God for a clear answer about what he should do next. He felt sure that he was not doing enough. He came to the conclusion that either he had to forget about the street kids or he had to commit his life and resources to helping them. Charles wrestled with the decision before him. He took great pride in providing well for his family. What would happen to them if he chose to help street kids? And was it fair to Esther to ask her to give up so much? They had eight children. Wouldn’t now be the worst possible time to put everything they knew and had in jeopardy? Charles didn’t have answers, but he was determined not to drive home until he did.
For three hours he sat in the car on the side of the road. “God, show me what to do. I will obey what You tell me. I’m ready to move by faith and be used by You,” Charles found himself praying. “I’m willing to give up everything You’ve blessed me with. Use me to reach those kids, Lord. They are just like I was, without hope. Help me bring them hope.”
At that moment everything changed. It was as if someone had switched the station on his car radio. Charles felt a flood of peace rush through him. Suddenly it was as if he had nothing to worry about. He knew everything would work out. Esther, the children, his parents—God would take care of it all. “Thank You, Lord,” he prayed. “I will be with You on this journey wherever it takes us, and You will be with me. I will serve only You. I will do my best.”
Charles laughed out loud and then burst into singing. He had made his decision. His whole heart was in the challenge that lay ahead. As he drove home, Charles decided to tell the family at dinner about this new direction.
“I have an announcement to make,” he said as the family finished eating.
Immediately all eyes were on Charles, as if everyone realized that something very different was about to happen.
Charles cleared his throat. “Our family has been blessed. But being blessed is not the chief aim in life. I can keep working to give you more things, a bigger house, more to put in it, more vacations and clothes and books and sports equipment. But is that what our lives are supposed to be about? Our family serves God, and God is leading us in a new direction. We can either follow Him or go back to what we had before.”
He stopped for a moment. The room was electric. No one made a sound. Even little Dickson did not wiggle in his chair.
“As you all know, I’ve had a burden for street children for years. I was just like those street children before Jesus rescued me. Now I cannot fight my calling any longer. Jesus is asking me to help the street children, this I know for sure. I have made my decision. I cannot stay in business. I am giving it up. I’m selling all our businesses, and I’m going to find a way to help those children. I will never work for money again as long as I live.” He looked at Esther, but she was looking down.
Everyone sat around the table still as a statue. No one seemed to want to be the first to break the silence. At last Jane said, “We’ll be praying for you, Dad.”
Esther spoke next. “That’s quite a change,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.
“Yes, it is,” Charles replied.
More silence.
After dinner the children went to their rooms to do their homework and, Charles suspected, to discuss what lay ahead for them. Yesterday he would have felt bad that he could not tell them what was next, that he could not assure them that they would be able to stay in the top schools and attend the best universities. Now he could offer no guarantees. It was up to God to guide them. Charles smiled to himself as he went to help the two youngest children, Isaac and Dickson, get ready for bed. He could hardly wait for tomorrow.
Later that night, when all the children were in bed, Charles stood in his backyard praying. Soon Esther joined him. He held out his hand to her, but she did not take it.
“Everything?” his wife asked in a flat voice. “You’re going to get rid of everything we have worked so hard for?”
Charles nodded. “Yes. God is with us. I know He is. I feel such peace.”
Esther grunted. “How can you do this? I don’t understand. How can you separate yourself from your house, your money, your family?”
Charles swung around. He could see her face in the moonlight. She looked exhausted. “Esther, this is not separating me from the rest of you. I know I have a responsibility to you all. God will take care of all of us. I want us to go into this together.”
“Couldn’t you just sell some of our properties and work part-time for the businesses and part-time for the street children? Does it have to be all or nothing?” Esther asked.
“God has spoken to me, and I have faith He will provide,” Charles replied. “Are you with me?”
The question hung in the still, night air.
Chapter 9
“What Can I Do for You?”
It was nine o’clock in the morning as Charles flipped his day planner open to Tuesday, November 18, 1989. This is when it all begins, he said to himself, picking up his pen. He would normally be in his office at work by now, but he had already called his secretary and asked her to cancel all of his meetings for the day. In the day planner Charles crossed out all the now-canceled appointments. For his morning activity he wrote, “Begin process of divesting myself. Lawyers? Contracts? How many accounts? When to notify employees?” For the afternoon slot he jotted down, “Plan strategy for reaching street children and others. Where to go? What to take? Then GO!”
Charles had never before felt this excited, this energized. He spent the morning making lists of who he would have to contact and what he would have to do to close all his various businesses, including the oil and gas franchise and his real estate management and insurance company, and to dispose of all the buses, cars, trucks, and properties associated with each business. Charles called his lawyer to begin discussing the legal issues surrounding terminating contracts and licenses with companies he had agreements with.
All of that was about dealing with the past. As he looked ahead, Charles eagerly took a blank sheet of paper and titled it “Reaching the Street Children—Strategy to Start.” As he stared at the paper, his mind whirled with a million possibilities of how to spend the money from his business ventures: medical clinics for street kids, a police force trained to help kids rather than take advantage of them, food recycling and distribution centers so the children wouldn’t go hungry, schools for them, even a new family to give them a sense of belonging and value, and most of all, the opportunity to know God and be transformed by His power.
“Lord,” Charles prayed, “You know the way ahead. All I have to do is follow. I ask You to lead me now.”
After more prayer, Charles felt he should work at providing food for the street children. “It’s hard to concentrate on anything when you’re hungry,” he told himself aloud. “Then I’ll share the gospel with them and take it from there. God has a plan for their housing and education. My job is to get to know the children better and win their confidence.”
Early in the afternoon, Charles bounded downstairs. Esther stood in the kitchen preparing vegetables for dinner. Her eyes were red and puffy. Charles felt compassion for her but not regret for what he was doing. “It will be hard, but it will be worth it,” he told his wife quietly. “God will not let us down. I know this is the right thing to do.”
Esther tipped sweet potatoes into a pan. “That’s all right for you. You have this great faith. But what about the rest of us? What are we supposed to do? Our children are scared. Jane asked me this morning if we were still going to send her to university. What are their friends going to say if the children start mixing with street kids? There are so many things you haven’t thought about, Charles,” Esther continued. “These kids are thieves and gang members. I’m sure some of them have murdered and assaulted people. You know what the streets are like at night. You read the news. Some of them have TB and other contagious diseases. They are glue-sniffing drug addicts with knives. How can you guarantee me you will be safe out there? Do you want me to be a widow? Do you? Does God really want you to put your family at risk like this? What is the point of sending our children to the best schools and then exposing them to the worst children?”
“I can’t answer those questions, Esther,” Charles said quietly, “but I know I’m doing the right thing. I’m certain this is what I—we—have been called to do, and the way will unfold as we are obedient to God. I am going to buy some bread and milk now and take it to the street kids.”
Esther barely turned as she mumbled goodbye.
Charles stopped to buy supplies and then headed to the poor areas of town, where he drove his car up and down the streets until he found groups of street children. Then, as he had done many times before, he approached the children, his palms upturned and calling “Ooaye,” the made-up greeting he had been using for many years when approaching street children. When he had the children’s trust and attention, he asked, “Would you like something to eat?” As usual, Charles noted the promise of food quickly overcame any reservations the children might have toward him. They gathered around him as he pulled loaves of bread from his car, broke them apart, and handed chunks to the children. They gobbled the bread down and drank the milk he had to offer them.
Often in the past when Charles had offered food to the street children, he had been pressed for time. He had to drive his matatu route or had things to do at the office or family matters to attend to. Today, Charles had lots of time. He introduced himself to the children and listened to what they had to say.
After a group of street children had gathered, Charles led them to the church he had helped to establish and where he often preached. The children sat on the field next to the church and ate bread and listened as he told them stories from the Bible and explained to them about Jesus—who He was and that He loved each of them, just as He loved Charles.
After telling the children several Bible stories, Charles looked directly at the group. “What can I do for you?” he asked. The street children fell silent and stared at him. Inside he chuckled. He would have had exactly the same reaction had someone asked him that question when he was a child struggling to survive. But no one ever cared that much about him back then to ask the question. And he was sure it was the first time anyone had ever asked it of these children.
“What can you do for us?” one boy finally asked, incredulous.
“Well,” Charles said, “I will bring you bread again tomorrow, and we can talk some more about the Bible and Jesus and your lives. But what else do you need? What else can I help you with?”
The children began to speak up and describe their needs. After food, their two most pressing needs appeared to be a safe place to sleep at night and clothes to wear.
“All right. It might take some time, but I will try to come up with a way to meet your needs.”
As he drove home that evening, Charles was invigorated. He recalled each of the children by name and prayed for them all. He thought about their most pressing needs. Clothes wouldn’t be too difficult to start with. Everyone in the Mulli household had far more clothes than he or she could wear in a week. Charles decided that he would go through his own wardrobe at home and ask the children to go through theirs to see what clothes they could part with. A safe place to sleep was a little more challenging. Charles thought about an unused shed that stood at the back of the church property. Perhaps it could be cleaned up and the children could sleep inside it.
