Photos by Billy Rutledge

Robbers invaded Josh and Kelsey Lawrence’s home late one night after throwing in canisters of sleeping gas. The next morning, emerging from a foggy sleep, Josh discovered muddy boot prints on the floor where the intruders walked, even among the children’s beds. Rumors abounded that the robbers were using gas and injecting homeowners with the AIDS virus. Alarmed, Josh quickly checked to see that no one had been harmed. The young missionaries had been warned that Kenya would be dangerous, but they were committed to obeying God in serving people in the city of Eldoret.

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

Fear arose, but the Lawrences were determined to remain with their fledgling Calvary Chapel Eldoret congregation. Prevailing through a childhood wrought with abuse, alcoholism, and drugs, Josh’s will had been steeled for such a time as this. Kelsey, however, admitted, “I was an emotional wreck.” Growing up, her father was a pastor, and she remembered when there would be no money for food or the house payment. Her mother would gather the children for prayer. “They taught us not to quit,” Kelsey recounted. “You obey and trust God for the scary.”

Responding to the Call

Sent out from Calvary Chapel Bangor in Orrington, ME, Josh and Kelsey arrived in Eldoret in 2011—not yet a year into their marriage and Kelsey four months pregnant with their first child. Skeptical comments cast doubt on their ministry: They are too young to lead; they won’t stay when it gets difficult; the Kenyans’ continued thievery will cause Josh and Kelsey to distrust and potentially despise the ones they came to love in Jesus’ Name; and line-by-line, verse-by-verse Bible teaching is too boring to compete with African Pentecostal services.

Prior to the mission field, Josh experienced the life-changing power of Jesus Christ after six years of addiction, arrests, and homelessness. Josh overcame his addictions through the ministry of Teen Challenge, where he heard Ken Graves, pastor of CC Bangor, speak. It was then that Josh knew he needed to attend the Calvary Chapel School of Ministry, an outreach of CC Bangor. Kelsey met Josh in 2008 at CC Bangor after she returned from Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe in Vajta, Hungary. Her childhood was completely different from Josh’s, but as a pastor’s child, she learned to trust God through many trials. When Josh proposed marriage, he informed her: “I’m moving to Africa. Don’t say ‘Yes’ unless you are willing to go with me.” Kelsey said she didn’t hesitate. Trusting God’s grace to make sufficient and lasting change in Josh’s life, she said, “Yes, I will go.”

For the Gospel’s Sake

The constant threat to Josh’s life was a challenge for Kelsey. As soon as he began preaching in Eldoret, he narrowly escaped a plot to kidnap and take him hostage. But it was the critical illnesses that nearly drove Kelsey back home.

Misdiagnosed for three years, Josh experienced severe pain and vomiting and began losing blood and weight. They finally discovered he had a bacterial infection in his stomach that was treatable. Again, he almost died after developing sepsis from a rusty metal shard that pierced his skin. Kelsey stated, “Josh begged me to force the staff to carry out the doctor’s orders for treatment, something they seemed to be ignoring. Josh truly felt like he was dying.”

Josh was constantly in bed because of illnesses and was not getting better. Kelsey wondered, How can this be productive? She recalls the time Josh, suffering from malaria and typhoid, had to be helped to stand while speaking at a conference. “His best messages have been during times of his greatest sicknesses,” Kelsey admitted.

Kelsey was determined to become all things to the Kenyans for the sake of the Gospel. She even felt that God called her to deliver her babies where the people of the church had their children—a local hospital. Her midwife warned that Kelsey and her children would surely die there. By faith, all three of the Lawrence’s children were delivered there as planned and all by C-section.

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. 1 Corinthians 9:22b-23

As the Lawrence’s children—daughters Layla and Jael, and son Zephania—run and laugh through the church building, the Kenyan people are reminded of Josh and Kelsey’s courage and commitment to them. “Robberies are aggravating, but it gives us fellowship with the Kenyans we love,” shared Kelsey. “Breaking through here is hard; becoming one of them through being robbed and having babies in their hospital has aided in our efforts. The American church seems to believe that safety is godly and danger is ungodly, but nothing could be farther from the truth in a true disciple’s life.”

Esteeming this fellowship, Kelsey’s heart broke over the women and young girls who have experienced brutal acts of abuse and rape, some pregnant as a result. It is a plague rampant in Kenyan society. Shamed into silence, victims are left rejected and humiliated, while the rapists—some being religious leaders—are protected and walk free. To help restore their dignity and offer healing in Christ, the Lawrences have taken some of these women into their home, using their marriage as an illustration of God’s love. “We want to create a culture of marriage here at CC Eldoret,” Josh announced. Marriage is discouraged among young Kenyans, and there remains a cultural taboo prohibiting men from marrying single mothers. Josh sees this changing. “We are witnessing brave young people standing against these cultural prohibitions and getting married. Men are becoming fathers to the fatherless.”

Victory on the Spiritual Battlefield

Eldoret is replete with false teachers wooing crowds with the prosperity gospel. Unemployment, crime, and corruption have led to the oppression of the poor, making them easy targets. Seeking a better life of wealth and prosperous living, they give of their meager income—even their children’s school fees—in hopes of receiving God’s blessings. Instead, it’s the older, flashy African preachers who prosper while the people suffer.

When Josh arrived in Eldoret, he exposed this heresy head-on. As he preached the truth, the rulers of the darkness of this age were enflamed. Pastors in town despised Josh, sending women into the church to trap him, and issuing ominous threats of witchcraft and even death.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

In a culture where a religious leader’s standing is synonymous with his wealth, even the locals disparaged the young missionaries. “We had a tiny place, no money, no land. We looked like a failure in the African religious environment,” Kelsey admitted. “Kenyans wouldn’t come [to our church] because we were violating so many cultural norms about ministry.” In a small room with unstable flooring, Josh taught only three people in his first church service on February 13, 2011. For several months, the Lawrence family lived on a $200-a-month budget and Josh, in a move almost unheard of for a pastor, traveled around town on a motorbike, guitar strapped on the back. His small congregation eventually grew to 15. In 2016, with a congregation of 60 people, God gave Josh a vision for a building that would hold 800 people.

Frank Mudave, a deacon at CC Eldoret, lived with the Lawrences for three years, and has been part of the ministry since the first Bible study. He remembers the early years of ministry, wondering if the church would fail. “He was teaching against the prosperity message, calling preachers by name,” Frank revealed. “This doesn’t take place in Kenya. But the more he taught, the more people liked it. If they would disagree, he just kept teaching line by line. The people just kept multiplying!”

Witnessing Josh’s courage firsthand, Joseph Okoth, finance and care pastor at CC Eldoret, recalls a large meeting where Josh was invited to speak, unaware there would also be prosperity teachers. “The speaker prior to Josh told the audience that if they didn’t have at least 1,000 shillings (about $7.50 U.S.) in the bank, were worshiping in a metal building, and not giving funds to their pastor, they were shaming Jesus,” Joseph iterated. Standing in the pulpit, Josh boldly told the crowd that was a lie, and began teaching biblical truth. “He even threw his wallet against the wall declaring, ‘God is not after your money,’” Joseph marveled. “I knew Josh was going to correct [him], but not toss a bomb!”

Trusting God in Tragedy

“It was a great trauma, even greater than being gassed and robbed,” revealed Josh, describing his recurring nightmare after his youngest child drowned. While home on furlough from Kenya when Jael was 10 months old, her older sister, Layla, saw her in the kiddie pool and alerted her mom. Kelsey sprinted to Jael, who was unresponsive. Josh started CPR, and they raced to the hospital. “Jael’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was having seizures in Kelsey’s arms,” Josh recalled. As he and Kelsey prayed over Jael, the doctors eventually gave up and quit treating her. Seeing Josh and Kelsey praying, refusing to give up, the medical team made the decision to send Jael to a higher level of care children’s hospital, expecting severe brain damage—if she even survived.

Kelsey and Josh continued to pray as they traveled with Jael. Before arriving, however, Jael’s eyes suddenly popped open, and she immediately snapped out of her comatose state. After a thorough exam, she was released in perfect health. “After the shock passed, I found myself being thankful this happened while we were in the U.S.,” Kelsey expressed. “It reminded us, and those worried about our children’s safety, that tragedy could strike in any location. The most important thing is trusting God in every location, in every situation.”

Abounding Grace

Trust is a hallmark in the Lawrences’ lives, leaving an indelible stamp on those around them. Through the constant threats on Josh’s life—from people, bike accidents, kidnapping attempts, and deadly illnesses to repeated arrests and being jailed, Kelsey and Josh have trusted that God is using them for His glory. But the grace they exhibit to the Kenyans has even the locals shaking their heads in wonder. Frank Mudave confessed, “The way Josh trusts people here is even hard for me. This trust towards others moves young people, and our church is filled with them.”

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Peter Odoyo, assistant pastor at CC Eldoret, disclosed: “Josh and Kelsey are different from any missionaries we’ve known. They want to be with the people at all costs. If it means bringing people into their home, they will open the doors. Most missionaries don’t bring Kenyans into their homes as some think that would encourage their homes being robbed.”

Peter, once an orphan in a gang and destined for prison, became a Christian and had his own worship band. He, too, experienced God’s grace through Josh after he was invited to audition for the CC Eldoret worship team. “After the audition, Josh gave me the keys to the church. No one was sure what that meant,” he reflected. Josh made Peter the assistant pastor and leaves the church in his hands when returning to the U.S.

Working with Josh to construct the 800-seat building, Peter recalls, “We had 60 members and no money. We needed supplies to build.” Josh sold his truck to purchase some of the supplies, leaving him with just 50 shillings (about 34¢ U.S.). Eyes brimming with tears, Peter asked, “What kind of guy walks with this kind of faith and commitment? A white man with only 50 shillings, selling his truck, maxing out credit cards to build a church for Kenyans?”

Build It—They Will Come

The worship at CC Eldoret is studio quality—but it came at a cost. Attempting to teach the worship team how to play instruments he’d never played, Josh was frustrated with the slow progress they were making. He proposed a new approach: They would all practice eight hours, one day a week, for six months. For their Christmas special, they practiced three days a week, almost five hours each day, for 10 weeks—perfecting 10 songs. “I didn’t fall into a gold mine of musical talent,” Josh admitted. “We went through excruciating, painful hours of practice.”

Josh’s vision came to fruition; the church building was finally complete. On January 7, 2024, after 12 years of ministry, their celebration service had over 1,000 people in attendance. The service was filled with young people and families—a gathering of diverse racial, national, and cultural backgrounds celebrating what God has done through simply teaching the Bible simply. With three packed morning services, CC Eldoret has already outgrown the current facility, and they are seeking property to build a bigger building. As part of their outreach to the least of these, they are also building seven orphan homes, a school, and a massive library on land donated to them through Samaritan’s Purse to minister to children who have been abandoned.

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