Note from the Board – Rod Robison – May 2026

God’s Detour to a Vision 

Rod Robison

It’s not uncommon for torrential rains to wash out dirt roads leading to remote communities served by Unite 4 Africa.  But the rainy season in 2017 was one for the record books. Dr. Okongo Samson and Moses Rianto, Kenya Community Outreach Director, were on their way to one of those communities when impassable roads forced them to find an alternative route.  But what happened next made it clear that the unplanned detour was God’s answer to an elderly woman’s fervent prayers. 

The new route led them to a remote Maasai community called Ololepo in south Kenya. One that Unite 4 Africa hadn’t established any ministry presence in. And that’s where they noticed a little lady pacing back and forth under a spreading acacia tree. When Okongo and Moses asked her what she was doing she told them she’d been praying under that tree for months that God would bring someone to her community to establish a church and, eventually, a school. There were no churches anywhere near and the few children who could even afford to attend school had to walk miles along dangerous remote dirt roads shared by elephants and other wild animals.  And even then only when roads were passable and the steep river beds were crossable. The isolated community had very little, but it did have a determined little lady named Gladys with enormous faith. 

She revealed to Okongo and Moses the very specific vision she firmly believed God had given her, right down to where the envisioned buildings would be constructed. Pointing to a rise in the land about a hundred yards from her acacia prayer tree, she boldly declared, “That’s where the church will be.” Then her outstretched hand glided slightly to the left, tracing a slope in the land. “And the school will be built there.” 

That was nearly ten years ago. A few weeks ago, I attended the dedication of the school, now nearly completed, that Glady’s trusted God for. The church she prayed for was built a few years ago. Both buildings are on the very spots Gladys pointed out to Okongo and Moses in 2017. In keeping with Unite 4 Africa’s ministry philosophy of sustainable empowerment (as opposed to mere relief) the church and school were built with both the cooperative efforts and resources of the local community and Unite 4 Africa donors. 

As Okongo stood before the crowd of Maasai tribespeople that dedication day he invited Gladys to the front and told her story of faith. Standing next to them was Glady’s pastor Titus.  You may remember that I recently wrote about him. He had been the brash young man who once mocked Gladys as she prayed under her prayer tree all those years ago. Her faith and testimony were instrumental in bringing him to Christ. He is now an ordained pastor at the very church and overseeing the very school that Gladys prayed for.  Talk about God’s ironic, miraculous intervention!

The school is already educating and mentoring eighty children in the two completed classrooms.  When the entire school building is completed in a few months it will have the capacity to accommodate two thousand children, many of them orphans, plus adults who will attend evening classes. It will serve as a mentoring center for rescued young girls who were victims of forced marriages and others abused in different ways, including sexually. Generations of transformed lives will result. 

And it all started with the “mustard seed” faith of one woman and a detour in the road that led Unite 4 Africa to discover her God-inspired vision.  So, when God brings a detour across your life’s road – maybe even one as the result of a violent storm – remember that He has you on that new direction for a reason. His vision for you is somewhere up that road.

Before I finish here let me add one personal note. When we dedicated the school a few weeks ago I was standing near an outdoor baptismal next to the church. Just a few months prior my daughter Julia was baptized there by Pastor Titus, her own Pastor Kevin, and Okongo. As we were thanking God for the new school that will bring countless children to Christ, I remembered how far God had brought my own daughter spiritually on that mission trip she took with Unite 4 Africa that resulted in her rededicating her life to Christ. 

God is using Unite 4 Africa in so many ways to bring people to Christ. And He uses you mightily through your partnership with this ministry. If you’d like to share a gift to help with the completion of the school in Ololepo and other outreaches, visit www.Unite4Africa.org/donate. 

Thank you for joining with God’s vision. 

Rod Robison

Unite 4 Africa Board Chairman