Note from the Board September 2026

One Person

Rod Robison, Unite 4 Africa Board Member

It was a first for me.  Awkward in the beginning, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

For the past five years I’ve been presenting a seminar on emotional health at a health and wellness center about an hour from my home.  My seminars are typically well attended and audience responses are very encouraging.  

My prayer before I begin my presentation each time is to be a special blessing to at least one person.  Over the years I’ve seen that prayer answered numerous times based on attendees who have approached me afterwards and many who leave written comments.

But a few weeks ago it was, quite literally, one person.  I don’t mean just one person blessed.  I mean one person…. just one who attended.  That had never happened in over five years.

She was a middle-aged woman who seemed both pleasant and, at the same time, a bit melancholy. But despite being the only person in the seminar room, for the next hour she was very engaged in my teaching.

When I finished my presentation I said something I never say in my seminars, but for some reason I felt compelled to ask, “Do you have any questions?”   She did have a question.  And it took me by surprise. 

“Yes, how do you develop positivity when you’ve lost a spouse,” she asked. 

She began to tear up as she told me that she’d lost her husband to cancer just a few months before and had arrived at the health and wellness center that day to “reset”, as she put it. 

I pulled up a chair and just listened.   Not having lost a spouse, I had little wisdom to offer beyond a listening ear and assuring her that it was okay to not be okay.  To give herself permission to heal slowly.  And that healing doesn’t follow a straight line. It’s messy.  And even though the wound will always be there, with time healing will come. 

I asked her if she had a support group of friends or family.  She said, yes, her church and a prayer group.  Her faith in God, she said, was helping to get her through.

After our brief conversation, she shook my hand and thanked me for some of the points from my teaching that she found helpful.  And for listening to her. 

As I pulled out of the parking lot that evening for the hour drive home, I called my wife Jeannie to tell her that for the first time in five years just one person showed up at my presentation.  But it was the right person. The “one person” I had prayed that God would allow me to bless. 

As I was reflecting on that evening, I was reminded of another seminar for hurting people. It was this past April when I traveled with Okongo and Shyla to Kenya. But this time the place was packed. Well over one hundred young ladies had traveled from miles around to attend a day of emotional and spiritual healing. Some were orphans.  Some had been forced into early marriages as young as ten or twelve years old to much older men but now, thanks to Unite 4 Africa, they were rescued from that life. Many had been abused emotionally, physically, and sexually. All had hurts that desperately needed to be healed. 

Okongo and Shyla’s powerful message to them was brimming with compassion, empathy, and assurance that God loved and highly valued them. They gave them practical advice on dealing with young men with less-than-honorable intentions. Some of the girls stood before the group and shared their own stories of abuse and eventual healing.  But as life-changing as that day was for every one of those young ladies in the audience, it became even more impactful when each one was offered an opportunity to meet one-on-one with Unite 4 Africa leaders who could help them address their specific situations.

I remember noticing Okongo and Shyla from a distance counseling one of the young ladies who had attended the gathering. The God-inspired love they blanketed her with may have been the first time in her life she felt truly listened to and cared for. 

Unite 4 Africa reaches multitudes for Christ. Sometimes thousands at a time. But it’s always all about one person who Christ died and rose again for.  One person who is hurting. One person in need of assurance that God and those of us with Unite 4 Africa love them. 

Thank you for your support of Unite 4 Africa.  You may not see the results of your gifts directly, but rest assured that every single day lives are being touched because of your generosity.  You can give today and know that God is going to use your financial gift in a mighty way.  Please take a moment today to visit www.Unite4Africa.org/donate and change a life.