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Reconnecting with Faith and God  image

Reconnecting with Faith and God

S1 E1 ยท The Spark It Podcast
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69 Plays5 months ago

In the episode, we sit down with Hellen Kimaru, a Kenyan social entrepreneur, poet, and advocate for the empowerment of youth, women, and girls. We explore her journey to reconnecting with God and finding faith within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We also highlight and demystify some notions about the church by diving deep into its culture, singing, literature, community, and more.

We discuss faith, its role in our lives, and why it's important to trust in God even when we question him.

Visit www.HellenKimaru.com to learn more!

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Transcript

Introduction to Spark It Podcast

00:00:01
Patrick Abure
Welcome to the Spark It podcast. This is Patrick Chandigarh Justin and I am here with my co-host Kimaru Baby.

Podcast Agenda and Humor

00:00:10
Kimaru
mmm interesting thank you for hosting me here we joke a lot patrick so tell me what are we supposed to be talking about today
00:00:11
Patrick Abure
Welcome Kimaru.

Long Conversations

00:00:25
Patrick Abure
ah a lot of things I always have a lot to talk about whenever I am with you especially when we are having this one-on-one conversations
00:00:40
Kimaru
I know, I know.

Podcast as a Test

00:00:41
Kimaru
It's always long, long conversations, but I love it here. It's nice. Please don't tell people. This is just written behind you.
00:00:51
Patrick Abure
okay you spill it
00:00:54
Kimaru
Ah, no, no. this is these These are just secrets. We can tell the audience, but it it's nice that you're testing this podcast

Technical Adjustments

00:01:02
Kimaru
out. I can't wait to see what you come up with.
00:01:05
Kimaru
Yeah. So what do you want us to talk about?
00:01:06
Patrick Abure
Could you could you speak ah into your microphone like a little bit closer to your microphone?
00:01:12
Kimaru
Because I'm running out. I think I am so distracted. OK, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. No problem.
00:01:18
Patrick Abure
Yeah, you probably would want to have it very close a little bit to.
00:01:22
Kimaru
I know. I think it's where I have actually put it. Let me see if I can. There?
00:01:29
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:01:30
Kimaru
OK. That's fine.
00:01:32
Patrick Abure
Yes. Yeah. So tell me, uh, recently I saw a post that you made on Facebook

Facebook Post Surprise

00:01:45
Kimaru
Uh-huh.
00:01:46
Patrick Abure
and, uh, I was shocked when I came across it.
00:01:51
Patrick Abure
I mean, not like in a bad way, in a good way.
00:01:51
Kimaru
Whoop, whoop. Uh-huh. posts though? I do post a lot. Or sometimes.
00:01:57
Patrick Abure
I know it's your most recent post.
00:02:02
Kimaru
Ah, most recent.
00:02:03
Patrick Abure
So, yes.
00:02:07
Kimaru
I did a post today a about a bug. Is it that one?
00:02:10
Patrick Abure
yeah no So, it it was about the sabab.
00:02:13
Kimaru
The one I posted yesterday.
00:02:19
Kimaru
All right. Okay. What about it though?
00:02:22
Patrick Abure
Now, I mean, I thought it was interesting. um Like, as someone who has always known you,
00:02:28
Kimaru
who
00:02:29
Patrick Abure
I actually didn't know you were an Adventist. Oh, maybe you're not. And then I came across to that online and I was like, whoa, is she an Adventist now?

Religious Journey

00:02:41
Patrick Abure
Oh, what's going on here?
00:02:46
Kimaru
That's actually a very interesting question. I say going to the Adventist Church in I think August of 2024. Yeah, and I've definitely liked it.
00:02:56
Kimaru
I was born into the Presbyterian Church and at some point I went to SITAM.
00:03:00
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:03:03
Kimaru
I think that was after high school.
00:03:06
Kimaru
And then after that I left church.
00:03:06
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:03:09
Kimaru
I stayed out of church for like around five years. I didn't to attend church for five years.
00:03:09
Patrick Abure
Mm
00:03:13
Patrick Abure
hmm.
00:03:16
Kimaru
It wasn't really interesting actually. I think I was taking a break. Can't really tell why.
00:03:21
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:03:21
Kimaru
um yeah and then at some point especially last year for 2024 i did feel like i really wanted to reconnect with god in a more deeper way yeah yeah so my my plan was to actually go like to different churches and find out like how they worship what they are up to so i wanted to actually go to
00:03:24
Patrick Abure
Mm hmm.
00:03:31
Patrick Abure
Mm-hmm. Right.
00:03:41
Patrick Abure
Right. Mm-hmm.
00:03:47
Kimaru
to a Catholic Church and sample what they do and go to an Adventist Church.
00:03:49
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:03:52
Patrick Abure
Mm-hmm.
00:03:52
Kimaru
Those are like my mom made two major churches. Yeah, that I wanted.
00:03:56
Patrick Abure
So you had you had this you were working with.
00:03:58
Kimaru
yeah Yeah, i like I really wanted to go to those two churches. I really wanted to know what they are about, how they worship and stuff like that and see if it's something that would actually interest me at this point or my the alternative was to actually go back to a Presbyterian church.
00:04:16
Kimaru
Yeah. So I actually talked to a friend of mine and she was like, yeah, maybe one of these days you should join me. We should go for a church service to our church. And I kept procrastinating.
00:04:26
Kimaru
And then I spoke to Patrick.
00:04:27
Patrick Abure
right right
00:04:29
Kimaru
And Patrick was, I told Patrick I wanted to go to an Adventist church to check out what they do. And he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you should go. He started hyping their church because he's an Adventist. So he's like, yeah, you should actually go and actually just don't go for like one Saturday. You should make sure you go for eight.
00:04:51
Kimaru
yeah so this guy was making me commit to eight uh you know like eight sabads and i actually decided to do that i don't i think i missed in between i did miss like one or two times but i went i went for like the eight times and i guess by the time i was done i felt like and i didn't feel like i wanted to go now to a catholic church
00:04:59
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Right.
00:05:15
Kimaru
I found the Adventist church, the way they worship, it was kind of different from what I was used to. I just loved their vibe and the way first you see and you sit.
00:05:32
Kimaru
it's not such a big hassle anyway it's not even about the seating I like the way this I actually like the way and enjoy the way they sing there's just something about it um I like the way they conduct their services and I don't know um I can't really tell exactly what it is but it's just something I think it's like when you're looking for something and then you finally find it
00:05:36
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:05:53
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:05:56
Kimaru
It's like even your intuition tells you that you've actually found what you are looking for. So for me, going to an Adventist church, that's what it has felt like.

Adventist Experiences

00:06:06
Kimaru
And yesterday, was it yesterday a day yeah or maybe the other day?
00:06:10
Kimaru
This last Saturday, I went to church. I spent church i spent like the whole day at church and left church, I think, ah around 5.30 in the evening because the church runs like the whole day.
00:06:19
Patrick Abure
Right. Right.
00:06:21
Kimaru
And this Saturday was more ah of a prayer.
00:06:28
Kimaru
they had like the 10 days of prayer and then now that that was like the 10th day and there was this very interesting speaker who was talking about prayer and what you should do while you're praying or how you should go about it and stuff like that and why we should have conversations with God and stuff like that
00:06:30
Patrick Abure
Right. Mhm.
00:06:49
Kimaru
And it just felt like you know, it's one of those and then people are actually writing like their prayer requests and putting them in a box and then the whole church will pray about it and there was people also giving like a testimony about how the year had been or Yeah, how the year had been and the what God had done for them and it I don't know Yeah, it's a lot.
00:07:04
Patrick Abure
right
00:07:14
Kimaru
I don't know. I can't unpack all of it right here. I Yeah, but but budget it's been nice honestly, yeah.
00:07:19
Patrick Abure
yeah you You sound like you were touched.
00:07:27
Kimaru
Yeah, I was, I was, people talked about, you know, sometimes, I think sometimes you take the little things for granted and then eventually like there was this lady who was giving her testimony about how she was robbed or mugged, let's just call it mugged.
00:07:35
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:07:42
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:07:42
Kimaru
And yeah, are these people hit her on the head and she had a yeah she had a fracture.
00:07:44
Patrick Abure
Oh no.
00:07:49
Kimaru
It was really bad. It was bad, but she got the help she needed and went to a hospital and she was given, they're called switchers or whatever.
00:07:51
Patrick Abure
Oh no.
00:07:59
Kimaru
yeah and so she was talking about how sometimes we take life of lay for granted and maybe like but our safety and security the way you can leave your house and you don't know or you think that it's normal to come back you live and you come back and things will just be fine but then sometimes you might go out there and you know stuff happens yeah so for her she was like she was at that moment when that was happening she wasn't thinking about how hard she was she was thinking
00:08:05
Patrick Abure
Right. Right. Right.
00:08:29
Kimaru
a about oh thank god i'm alive yeah
00:08:33
Patrick Abure
Oh, yeah. I mean, honestly, it's first of all, I feel so sorry for what has happened to her. I hope she's okay.

Mugging Testimonies

00:08:40
Kimaru
yeah she is yeah she is she is yes he that's true
00:08:40
Patrick Abure
Is she okay now? She's recovered. Oh, thank God. Yeah, it's it's unfortunate to have something like that happen to anybody.
00:08:55
Patrick Abure
Yeah, like being robbed is crazy. And actually, that reminds me.
00:09:03
Kimaru
Mhmm.
00:09:05
Patrick Abure
So in 2000, I think probably 13 or 12, I was living with my uncle and working in a photo studio.
00:09:08
Kimaru
Mhmm.
00:09:13
Kimaru
Okay.
00:09:18
Patrick Abure
so we always close the late like around 10 pm in the night sometimes we go up to 11 in the night and so there was this one day he was coming back home he had a motorbike like a border border and when he was coming home some guys jumped him and they took his motorbike they took his money and they beat him up
00:09:18
Kimaru
Mhmm.
00:09:41
Kimaru
Oh no.
00:09:45
Kimaru
Oh, that's a lot.
00:09:47
Patrick Abure
and yeah the only thing he was left with was his phone they they they took the other phones and then he had this many phones that we call Rebecca basically he had it on you I don't know yeah like
00:09:52
Kimaru
Mm-hmm. Okay.
00:10:05
Kimaru
That's an interesting name for a phone. Why do you call them Rebecca?
00:10:13
Kimaru
Isn't it like those keypad phones?
00:10:14
Patrick Abure
but only called ghost i ifphon You know like the Nokias?
00:10:18
Kimaru
Yeah, in Kenya we call them Katululu.
00:10:19
Patrick Abure
Yeah. I cut a little.
00:10:23
Kimaru
Yes, a Katululu.
00:10:26
Patrick Abure
It appears like these phones always have some kind of names.
00:10:31
Kimaru
We had names actually.
00:10:34
Patrick Abure
yeah but Yeah, like those 1100s and 1200 Nokia.
00:10:35
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:10:41
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:10:43
Patrick Abure
and stuff like that, yeah. So that was what was left on him.
00:10:45
Kimaru
Oh, wow.
00:10:47
Patrick Abure
And so he called us, said, like, guys, I'm here, I'm robbed, and so forth.
00:10:48
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:10:52
Patrick Abure
And so we had to go there and, like, um to get him back. And it was devastating to, like, see him in that state.
00:11:00
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:11:03
Patrick Abure
And it was just sad, you know?
00:11:09
Kimaru
i can only imagine
00:11:10
Patrick Abure
And, yeah. Yeah, it it he he was really traumatized ah by the experience because yeah, it's not good. And I'm really happy that this lady has fully recovered and she's feeling good.
00:11:25
Kimaru
Yeah, I think she's fine right now, maybe physically, but I think sometimes it's usually like the emotional scars some of these experiences leave you with. Yeah, but I hope she gets like the help she needs because sometimes I feel like if you go through such an ordeal, you might probably start feeling unsafe when you're walking around by yourself or you can't even leave your house at night.
00:11:41
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:11:47
Patrick Abure
yeah right right yeah it did take time to heal from such an event yeah yeah especially emotionally it will take time
00:11:48
Kimaru
So sometimes it could be the aftermath of the event. Yeah. So physically you could be okay, but mentally, emotionally distraught. Yeah. Yeah, that's true.

Reflections on Safety

00:12:09
Kimaru
Yeah. yeah yeah I wish her the best too and for me yeah I also I think I did learn about how God like takes care of you even in those times when you feel like he's not there because it could have been worse you know it could have been worse sometimes maybe if those people decided to like strike her twice she would probably have died because they were this they were doing that on her head
00:12:09
Patrick Abure
yeah i really wish i want the best
00:12:29
Patrick Abure
Exactly.
00:12:34
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:12:40
Kimaru
Yeah, so yeah, good shows up for us in those weird times.
00:12:40
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:12:45
Patrick Abure
True, true.
00:12:45
Kimaru
Yeah.
00:12:48
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Honestly, it's a... It could have been worse but

Adventist Community

00:12:55
Patrick Abure
but I guess in some way or form God intervened and it's not as bad.
00:12:56
Kimaru
That's true.
00:13:05
Kimaru
Yeah, so what what do you like about being an Adventist now that you are one of the people bringing people into the sheepfold?
00:13:16
Kimaru
Yeah, tell me, you're like the disciple, you're fishing. It's like, I'll make you fishers of men and here you are. You're like, yeah, I'll fish these ones. ah So yeah, what what what what do you like about the church now that you've been there for a while?
00:13:35
Patrick Abure
That's actually a very interesting question and I honey i would think that there's so many things that I could point to in the Adventist church.
00:13:45
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:13:50
Patrick Abure
that I could identify with as my favorite.
00:13:55
Kimaru
Okay.
00:13:56
Patrick Abure
Um, yeah, so many of them, whether it being from the syncing to the someone to the relationships that we build with each other as Adventists.
00:14:12
Patrick Abure
I think it's like, it's probably one of the most unique things about the Adventist Church that I love and i admire is like,
00:14:18
Kimaru
okay who yeah yeah that's true you yeah i think
00:14:24
Patrick Abure
As Adventists, we treat each other like we are children of the same mother, if that makes sense. i
00:14:34
Patrick Abure
yeah i mean I don't know if you have noticed it, but yeah like I you would have noticed it like within the few weeks that you've been to the church.
00:14:47
Kimaru
it's ah No, it's it's actually true. ah like For example, I usually like join the youth ministry. ah you know they like they Usually like the lunch break and the way the youth meet, actually the church feeds us.
00:14:57
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:14:59
Kimaru
hey I'm telling you, I've never seen something like that in a church. So the church does feed us and then after that we do meet. like During the lunch hour, when you're having the late lunch, as young people, we just have our own separate meeting
00:15:10
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:15:14
Kimaru
there's like more singing and more talking and sort of like an outreach and I think it's one of those places where you feel hard and people are there they're like oh you know if you have any issues let us know we can find ways to help so it kind of feels like sort of a family so yeah it's good mm
00:15:18
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:15:23
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:15:30
Patrick Abure
right yeah it's amazing yeah i think i had uh this one friend that we went to church with wanted and uh well they're happy to be feeding us that they are church it's not like it happens all the time
00:15:36
Kimaru
-hmm
00:15:44
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:15:51
Kimaru
Okay.
00:15:54
Kimaru
Interesting. Uh huh.
00:15:56
Patrick Abure
Yeah, but they happen to be feeding us that Sabbath and he was so shocked.
00:16:00
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:16:05
Kimaru
I know it's not, it's all common. It doesn't happen in every church. So,

Online vs In-Person Church

00:16:10
Kimaru
you know.
00:16:10
Patrick Abure
I know. Yeah.
00:16:11
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:16:12
Patrick Abure
And he was like, yo, you guys, they feed you here. We're like, uh,
00:16:22
Kimaru
Yeah, actually, ah I grew up knowing that the seventh day at Adventist church, like people, I think I saw people like curry lunch to church or something like of their sort. But you see, it's different when you know that happens.
00:16:35
Kimaru
And then when you kind of like sort of experience it, you go to a church.
00:16:35
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:16:39
Kimaru
they've prepared a hot meal and then all of you are there you are getting a plate of food and you know you have that together and then again you go back to church for the afternoon noon session yeah it's i think it's really different um especially if you've never experienced it coming from from like a totally different church where people just finish a service and you go home yeah
00:16:41
Patrick Abure
right Right. Yes. Yes. Yes. It is.
00:17:01
Patrick Abure
Right. That is certainly true ah so That's so true. I think that helps a lot, especially given that. so I mean, you have been to the Adventist Church for a couple of Sabbaths now.
00:17:18
Patrick Abure
You probably have experienced this.
00:17:21
Kimaru
who
00:17:21
Patrick Abure
Our services almost last the entire day.
00:17:25
Kimaru
Oh yeah, the last one lasted until 5.30 in the evening. It is like a whole day affair. Actually this year intentionally I wanted to to actually attend those services until the end of the day.
00:17:35
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:17:41
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:17:41
Kimaru
Yeah, because last year i I attended most services mostly in the morning and then by afternoon I would leave. I attended only a few. So this year I want to be very intentional about it. I want to like dedicate the sabbath for the sabbath. It's like go to church, spend the day there, do whatever needs to be done, go for those two services. Yeah, because I feel like this if you leave mid-whatever, then there's something you're missing out also.
00:18:09
Patrick Abure
right right that's interesting it actually maybe to go back to something you said earlier at the start of this conversation you said you haven't been to church in five years and then 2024 comes
00:18:10
Kimaru
ah
00:18:18
Kimaru
Uh huh. Uh huh. Yes.
00:18:34
Patrick Abure
And then you were like, you develop this list of churches that you want to visit?
00:18:43
Patrick Abure
What prompted that?
00:18:45
Kimaru
I think okay at some point the reason I actually stopped going to church at some point was o I think one of the churches I went to there was a lot of people preaching prosperity gospel and all that at some point you become so detached with the church because also I could see um there's there's been also this aspect of when you sometimes you go to the church when I i grew up with this notion of the church it's like
00:19:03
Patrick Abure
um
00:19:09
Patrick Abure
Mhm.
00:19:12
Kimaru
the church embodies what Christ is all about and they're supposed to take care of the most needy are there in the church but then you go to these churches and you realize that it's more about giving giving giving pushing people to give and do so much and sometimes i feel like there is a tendency of
00:19:16
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:19:19
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:19:25
Patrick Abure
Mhm.
00:19:35
Kimaru
like a disconnect between the people who are even able to give more and the people who have almost nothing.
00:19:40
Patrick Abure
right yes right
00:19:41
Kimaru
And also it kind of felt like the church wasn't necessarily taking care of those people. So it's like you push people so much, but and you don't even care about what's it what' what type of problems are they going through.
00:19:54
Kimaru
So for me, the reason I stopped going to church, it's because I did experience that. I would look at the church and I'll be like, or maybe I was judging the church, But that's what it felt at that point.
00:20:03
Patrick Abure
right
00:20:06
Kimaru
You feel like there's that disconnect. are we Why are we not embodying what Christ put us to do out here? Because I think Jesus was here for the most poor.
00:20:14
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:20:18
Kimaru
you know He was trying to save people from themselves and from all the things they were going through.
00:20:21
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:20:23
Kimaru
And I think at that point, I wasn't seeing that. So I was like, I need a break from Kanesa.
00:20:29
Patrick Abure
All
00:20:29
Kimaru
Yeah. And then ah when I decided to go back, I think for me it kind of felt like there was a void. um
00:20:37
Patrick Abure
right.
00:20:38
Kimaru
He just says, I don't know. This is like very personal.
00:20:40
Patrick Abure
All right.
00:20:41
Kimaru
I don't even know how to explain it. But you just feel like there's something that is missing in your life. And there is like need to connect to God on a level that if you sat at home, you wouldn't necessarily experience Of course, there's that notion, yeah, you feel like, yeah.
00:21:01
Kimaru
You know, anyway, especially with when COVID hit, there was this idea, Rafa, you can just sit at home and attend church.
00:21:04
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:21:08
Kimaru
But honestly, I think still that does not cover for how it feels to go and fellowship physically with people.
00:21:18
Patrick Abure
Absolutely.
00:21:19
Kimaru
Yeah, so for me, when I was thinking about going to church, I was looking at it holistically from that aspect of you are there with people who truly believe and there's just, I thought there was something different from just being on the internet and be like, yeah, today I'm attending that service from home.
00:21:29
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:21:39
Patrick Abure
Yes, and then you get notified.
00:21:39
Kimaru
I'm not judging.
00:21:42
Kimaru
I know I'm not judging people who do that, but I'm saying even if I was to do that right now, I would probably prefer to go physically to church more often than when I would sit in my house and probably watch, uh, like be say, say, like I'm in church on time.
00:21:55
Patrick Abure
right

Singing Aspirations

00:22:02
Kimaru
Yeah. So yeah, there's a, there's a big difference actually for me, I have felt it that way.
00:22:07
Patrick Abure
right right yeah no honestly as someone who has been to church both online and offline honestly i can relate to that yeah i think i love
00:22:08
Kimaru
So I don't know about people's experiences, but that's how it feels for me. So.
00:22:24
Patrick Abure
fellowshipping in person more than I do online. Yeah, because I i i find a lot of distractions sometimes when I'm fellowshipping online.
00:22:31
Kimaru
That's true
00:22:38
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Like, you know.
00:22:41
Kimaru
I traded some other weekend, I think, not so long ago. And, you know, I started so well.
00:22:46
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:22:47
Kimaru
There was the worship, the wherever, and then made of the service.
00:22:49
Patrick Abure
and
00:22:52
Kimaru
A friend of mine came, so I paused.
00:22:52
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:22:54
Kimaru
I was like, let's continue later. they they didn't they came almost unannounced because now they just asked me are you home I was like yeah I didn't even think that I'm supposed to be at home but at church at the same time they were like okay I'm coming and then they showed up at my door a couple like maybe less than an hour later so yeah I post church and I continued with banter
00:23:01
Patrick Abure
right
00:23:15
Patrick Abure
cry
00:23:20
Kimaru
yeah honestly it's definitely not the same yeah that's what i can say yeah i know i know yeah it's it's really true like it's i honestly honestly going physically to church it's not the same with watching it online
00:23:25
Patrick Abure
Yeah, i I feel like we need to have an episode where we actually discuss that.
00:23:43
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:23:43
Kimaru
I think that there's also that, um like, I don't know, it's just that it's like when you go even for like a family get together, definitely you are coming together.
00:23:52
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:23:54
Kimaru
So there's always that warmth you feel of people being being around people, sharing and stuff like that.
00:23:58
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:24:00
Kimaru
Cause for me, like, for example, now that I am going to an Adventist church at lunch, during lunch hour, we have that fellowship with the the young people. So we meet there, we are having our lunch, people are talking, we are singing,
00:24:13
Kimaru
and then for me I love the singing I am not a good singer I have I have not hit those chords right but I just sit there and I can hear those people with alto bars and sopranos and I'm like yeah this is so good it is too good yeah I know those people have like really nice voices it's like hmm hallelujah
00:24:16
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:24:30
Patrick Abure
it's like a sword that pierces deep into your soul oh
00:24:44
Kimaru
So yeah, it's it's differently good, so.
00:24:48
Patrick Abure
man i love it yeah honestly i love it it's like like i said earlier singing for me in the adventist church is one of my
00:25:02
Patrick Abure
most favorite things like it's just different
00:25:04
Kimaru
you need to teach me how to to hit those chords it's like my voice i have gotten you oh my god people from other churches please don't judge me um i think oh my god you know at this point i even feel like i need somebody to teach me how to sing because tell me why you go to church and then the chorista is like uh stanza one we will let the women sing no maybe stanza one everyone sings and then the chorus and then they're like stanza two we will let the women sing and then stanza three it will be the men and then four it's like everyone and then now when it is the women it's like people are going like hey high notes
00:25:38
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:50
Kimaru
And I am just there wondering, what am I actually supposed to sing? So when the men start singing, I sing with a man.
00:25:55
Patrick Abure
Choking.
00:25:58
Kimaru
Because their voices are not so high, so I don't feel like I am, I don't know how old to call it.
00:26:01
Patrick Abure
yeah
00:26:06
Kimaru
It is yeah, it's all yeah, so it's all like I'm choking so it's like my voice needs to be low I need to find a way.
00:26:06
Patrick Abure
chucking
00:26:10
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:26:13
Kimaru
I don't know. I'll figure it out Yeah, but I find it easier to sing when everyone else in the church sings when they say sing the women sing Sometimes I just like I just hum I
00:26:15
Patrick Abure
ri Right. Right.
00:26:31
Kimaru
loveing
00:26:32
Patrick Abure
No, um because I get i can relish.
00:26:37
Kimaru
yeah let say yeah that's like been my experience but i enjoy the singing because the way people sing you feel like it's angels singing i don't know it's it's really too good it sounds sounds too good to be true honestly yeah so for me who has not necessarily found my voice in particular i think it's because i was not born in at an advanced charge so i have not caught up but yes i'll work on it
00:26:43
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:26:51
Patrick Abure
It's so good. Yeah.

Religious Transition

00:27:03
Patrick Abure
I think you will catch up. Like I, I had you singing the last time.
00:27:07
Kimaru
uh-huh I'll try I'll keep trying I think I'll i'll look for tutorials I'll
00:27:09
Patrick Abure
It was beautiful. I loved it. Yeah.
00:27:21
Patrick Abure
I think the more you do it, you you will improve.
00:27:29
Kimaru
ah
00:27:30
Patrick Abure
and And naturally like you will progress and get to a point where you're actually so good.
00:27:33
Kimaru
h
00:27:38
Kimaru
I can't wait. It better like be sooner because y I might be suffering there.
00:27:46
Kimaru
but
00:27:49
Kimaru
i yeah you know
00:27:53
Patrick Abure
Yeah, I love singing. wait
00:27:56
Kimaru
and
00:27:56
Patrick Abure
i you hey get Singing is one of those things I love about the Presbyterian Church.
00:28:09
Patrick Abure
Because you said you were raised a Presbyterian.
00:28:09
Kimaru
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:28:12
Patrick Abure
And I actually have been going to the Presbyterian Church for some time, by the way.
00:28:19
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:28:19
Patrick Abure
I don't know if I told you this.
00:28:21
Kimaru
Yeah, I think you mentioned the toil bag.

Adventist Marriage Customs

00:28:23
Patrick Abure
yeah like I probably went to the Presbyterian Church for, I don't know, maybe a year or two or even more.
00:28:34
Kimaru
Oh. Mm-hmm.
00:28:36
Patrick Abure
Yeah. And I think for me, the thing I love most about my experience moving there was the church singing.
00:28:50
Patrick Abure
Like the church singing was so good.
00:28:54
Patrick Abure
I don't know what your experience was, but yeah.
00:28:57
Kimaru
it's good and there's the like the drum sets and all that but you know they do like the hymns and all that but they've also em embraced like the the contemporary songs and all that so I think right now it has kind of evolved a little bit but yeah the last time I was there it was good but now that now that I go to the Adventist church I just like the harmonizing it's like h
00:29:04
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:29:10
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:29:13
Patrick Abure
Yes.
00:29:22
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:29:24
Kimaru
ah yeah I don't know. it's It's my personal experience. So, yeah. Parents, people should not come for me, so.
00:29:30
Patrick Abure
Like, as an Adventist, ah it fills me with so much joy.
00:29:35
Kimaru
ah
00:29:41
Patrick Abure
You're enjoying every bit of it.
00:29:46
Kimaru
No, it's it's ah it's really good, it's really good. Oh, and then the other thing, i was ah ah when I first came to the church, I was wondering about, I've always had, oh, I was supposed to take soya, you're not supposed to take these and this and that.
00:29:53
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:29:58
Patrick Abure
who
00:30:00
Kimaru
So, I actually, one of those days I asked one of the guys at the church, I was like, by the way, tell me, what about like this soya thing?
00:30:05
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:30:09
Kimaru
You know, because some of us have gotten it used to taking like tea leaves and all that.
00:30:09
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:30:12
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:30:14
Kimaru
And then they were like, no, it's not like it's a requirement of the church. It's more of like, um, more for your health, like a health benefit of probably not just taking like my journey or tea leaves because.
00:30:21
Patrick Abure
Right. Right.
00:30:27
Kimaru
Yeah. I think I was really curious about that. And then the other thing, maybe you should tell us, uh, the other thing about like people get married.
00:30:33
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:30:36
Kimaru
That church is very confusing.
00:30:37
Patrick Abure
Mmhmm.
00:30:37
Kimaru
People are not wearing rings. You might go there and you're there you're like, Come here, you are talking to somebody's husband. So how would you know? How would you know? Like maybe you are single, you are searching. How are you going to differentiate the married and the unmarried?
00:30:59
Patrick Abure
That's a good question.
00:31:03
Patrick Abure
How were you differentiating the married from the unmarried in the Presbyterian Church?
00:31:14
Patrick Abure
Was it through the ring?
00:31:15
Kimaru
the yeah yeah people wear rings it's actually like i think it's just a tradition they wear the rings so it's easy to be like if you look at the left hand and you see the ring finger has a ring you're like oh that one is off the market please don't look that way yeah okay
00:31:19
Patrick Abure
Okay.
00:31:22
Patrick Abure
Okay.
00:31:31
Patrick Abure
Right, right.
00:31:34
Patrick Abure
that's So we have a and probably I'm going to butcher this. So I'm just going to say it in a way that makes sense to me.
00:31:47
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:31:47
Patrick Abure
But we we believe that first to clarify is we actually don't use like the rings.
00:31:57
Kimaru
Right.
00:31:57
Patrick Abure
Let's say um when you get married and things like that. Now that is not a law.
00:32:04
Kimaru
Okay.
00:32:05
Patrick Abure
That means if you prefer to have a ring. let's say for your partner or something like that, you can do that. You are allowed.
00:32:17
Patrick Abure
And I think that the pastors would be very glad to basically do that.
00:32:17
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:32:21
Kimaru
Okay? Mmhmm.
00:32:21
Patrick Abure
ah But for us, we believe that the vows that you make to each other are from their heart.
00:32:29
Patrick Abure
And what makes the marriage marriage is that you have agreed at heart to be with each other. And so whether there is a ring or no ring really makes not much difference. Because what matters is you know that, you know, it's you. and
00:32:52
Kimaru
So, but okay, that's actually an interesting concept, yeah. But what about now the rest of the world? Like, let's say, for example, I'm new at the church right now, right?
00:33:02
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:33:02
Kimaru
ah There's no person wearing a wedding band or those rings or whatever.
00:33:07
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:33:07
Kimaru
So say, for example, I'm single, I didn't say I'm single, just sing as an example.
00:33:11
Patrick Abure
yeah okay but it would be also good if the you know the listeners know if you are something like that ah okay all right all right
00:33:13
Kimaru
As an example.
00:33:23
Kimaru
We shall tell them later but for today, let's assume not person X. Oh, you could say person X instead of me Okay, let please let's use person X so that we don't I don't have to answer that question today let's take let's say for example person X comes to an Adventist Church and They want to actually stay um And maybe they are single
00:33:45
Patrick Abure
Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:51
Kimaru
but no one is wearing a wedding band so maybe ah after charge you would want to have you know talk to people randomly get to know them you know just even just get to know them uh how would you differentiate who is married and not married because clearly there is nothing to show everybody looks as you know
00:33:59
Patrick Abure
Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Honestly, like.
00:34:15
Patrick Abure
Okay, so you probably would have noticed this about some Adventist churches you've gone to is that we have a close-knit community.
00:34:28
Kimaru
Okay.
00:34:29
Patrick Abure
As in, even though the number might be large in a particular church, probably most of us know each other in that church.
00:34:33
Kimaru
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:34:40
Patrick Abure
Like we know who is married and who is not.
00:34:40
Kimaru
True? Mm-hmm.
00:34:43
Patrick Abure
And we also have like usually people who are responsible with the youth as part of like the youth ministry or department at that particular church.
00:34:57
Patrick Abure
And they would be a youth leader.
00:35:00
Kimaru
Uh-huh, true.
00:35:01
Patrick Abure
Usually that person knows which one of these people is what it is.
00:35:08
Kimaru
Oh, so, okay. ah Let me see. So at this point, maybe, um, are you trying to like, say maybe somebody should be like, ask around before they start, you know, they start, uh, flooding with people.
00:35:21
Patrick Abure
um mean
00:35:24
Kimaru
For lack of a better word. Like maybe, maybe would you like, do you use that like a cautionary or whatever tale? You'd be like, please, when you go there, just ask around. If maybe you think somebody looks beautiful or handsome, you ask somebody like, hey, are they married or not?
00:35:37
Patrick Abure
yeah
00:35:40
Patrick Abure
yeah
00:35:43
Patrick Abure
I mean, you could do that too.
00:35:45
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:35:46
Patrick Abure
and um Or alternatively, you could speak to your pastor. oh picked youth leader Oh, speak to to the women leader?
00:36:00
Patrick Abure
Or even the men leader? Whichever you are comfortable with, you don't need to speak to all of them.
00:36:05
Kimaru
Oh, um okay. If you say so. Yeah.
00:36:09
Patrick Abure
Or you don't even need to speak to any of them at all.
00:36:09
Kimaru
Oh, you may be, you can figure it out with time. You'll be like observe. Cause I think after church, like people live in, like if they are families, they live together, stuff like that.
00:36:17
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:36:20
Patrick Abure
Yes. Yes.
00:36:21
Kimaru
Yeah. Maybe I guess if you're interested in somebody, you should be more keen on observing what they do after church.
00:36:25
Patrick Abure
right yes absolutely and and speaking of that i don't know if you have noticed this at church so usually the husband and the wife would be seated together and even if they if they have kids they would be seated together yeah
00:36:33
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:36:45
Kimaru
Oh, yes.
00:36:48
Kimaru
Or sometimes they were matching clothes.
00:36:54
Kimaru
Oh, my God, oh, my God.
00:36:57
Patrick Abure
It's like, ah I don't know, is like it's like, it's very common. So that way you can be able to sometimes tell whether they are married or, you know, they are open for a relationship.
00:37:07
Kimaru
Uh-huh. I see.
00:37:16
Patrick Abure
And honestly, there is probably no better way
00:37:17
Kimaru
Uh-huh.
00:37:21
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:37:22
Patrick Abure
to do that than to ask the person you're interested in. you know Yeah, like if you're interested in person X and you're not very sure if they are married or something like that, I think it wouldn't hurt for you to go to them and be like, yeah, you're married.
00:37:25
Kimaru
Ah. I think so. Okay.
00:37:31
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:37:43
Patrick Abure
You probably don't want to ask them.
00:37:46
Kimaru
my god that that's a question that would require like a lot of courage yeah but but I think it's better to ask than just you know
00:37:59
Kimaru
But let's, you know, maybe you you maybe you, I know you asked me this question, but maybe you should answer it yourself.
00:38:05
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:38:06
Kimaru
Are you single? Are you searching? Are you off the market? um You know, you may never know.
00:38:17
Patrick Abure
that's a That's a very good question.
00:38:20
Kimaru
Yes, it is. So, tell us.
00:38:23
Patrick Abure
yeah So what I can say for today is that if I start responding to this question, it would take probably two hours.
00:38:38
Patrick Abure
And and we only have like how many minutes for this episode? It's like...
00:38:44
Kimaru
I know you're lying. Should we tell you like a whole podcast episode for you to actually talk about your relationship status?
00:38:53
Patrick Abure
please let's do that another time
00:38:55
Kimaru
Oh my God, this this looks like procrastination and then it never happens and then we forget and it becomes a thing that we don't talk about. You could have just let us know.

Dietary Practices

00:39:08
Kimaru
You could have said yes or no. So um maybe let me rephrase.
00:39:10
Patrick Abure
by the way this is on record and that means
00:39:21
Patrick Abure
we can always go back to it and be like you remember on this episode you said ABC yeah yeah
00:39:26
Kimaru
Oh my God. You're being too smart. You're being too smart and avoiding our question. But anyway, I think I will let our listeners know that maybe they should also remind me in case I forget that maybe we need to you know have a podcast episode about you, talking about your personal experiences with relationships and maybe tell us if you have a Oh, if you have a...
00:39:58
Patrick Abure
If you have a word, say it.
00:39:59
Kimaru
If you have a lover or you're in a relationship, you know, who knows?
00:40:03
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:40:04
Kimaru
But yeah, um maybe there's people out here who are interested in you and they don't know.
00:40:09
Kimaru
It could be like the it could be the same case with, the you know, the Adventist men or women, you know, you've gone to the church, you're just new.
00:40:09
Patrick Abure
Yes.
00:40:15
Patrick Abure
Right. hu Right.
00:40:18
Kimaru
You don't know whether this person is off the market, if they have a family and kids.
00:40:22
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:40:22
Kimaru
Yeah. Maybe you need to let us know so that, you know, or you need to let our viewers and listeners know. And then.
00:40:32
Kimaru
Yeah.
00:40:32
Kimaru
so that Yes, please. Yes, please. Yeah. We need to dedicate some time for you.
00:40:32
Patrick Abure
That's an important message.
00:40:40
Patrick Abure
Thank you for dedicating some time.
00:40:43
Kimaru
Oh, it's going to happen sooner or later. I think you cannot avoid this question forever. So it's up to you. You choose your poison. Do you want sooner or later?
00:40:55
Patrick Abure
right right actually speaking of tuna which falls under food and some other things you were asking you
00:40:56
Kimaru
Yeah.
00:40:59
Kimaru
Uh-huh.
00:41:06
Kimaru
ah
00:41:08
Patrick Abure
were asking about like uh the restrictions like what you can eat and what you cannot eat and i feel like
00:41:13
Kimaru
Uh-huh.
00:41:21
Patrick Abure
there is a misconstruction like a lot of people misconstrue what actually is the stand or teaching of the Adventist Church ah with regards to foods you can eat or those you cannot eat yeah because
00:41:22
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:41:36
Kimaru
Okay. Mm-hmm.
00:41:44
Kimaru
Mm-hmm. Sure.
00:41:47
Patrick Abure
some people will just go about saying a lot of random stuff like oh yeah these guys yeah they they they don't they don't eat meat oh they don't drink my Johnny day yeah but so it's not like it's a law
00:41:54
Kimaru
Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I know. Yeah, it's that one I've had since I was a child.
00:42:16
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:42:17
Patrick Abure
where you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you shouldn't eat. Maybe ABCD. If you do, we are going to excommunicate you ah from the church. You're no longer going to be an Adventist. You are not going to be coming to church anymore and things like that. It's like not anything close to that at all.
00:42:47
Kimaru
Okay.
00:42:47
Patrick Abure
So it's it's basically a health message and we probably need like, I don't know, a lot of time to dissect to this, but the there a lot of teachings around the things you can eat and others you cannot eat, but they're really advised for your own good.
00:42:53
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:43:06
Patrick Abure
And this is so much comes from Leviticus.
00:43:11
Patrick Abure
For example, The thing that I know almost every Adventist does not eat is Spock.
00:43:19
Kimaru
Okay.
00:43:20
Patrick Abure
Almost all of us, it's very, very rare to find an Adventist that eats Spock.
00:43:23
Kimaru
Mhm.
00:43:28
Kimaru
Mhm. Mhm.
00:43:31
Patrick Abure
It's more like Muslims and something. I think that's probably also why we share a lot. But the other things like to do with the
00:43:40
Kimaru
Mhm.
00:43:41
Patrick Abure
coffee, mahjani or tea leaves and things like that. It's really like a recommendation to help you stay healthy as you, you know, work to improve your relationship with God.
00:44:02
Kimaru
Makes sense, because I think coffee can be addictive.
00:44:03
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:44:05
Kimaru
I was an addict of coffee some time back.
00:44:06
Patrick Abure
Oh yeah.
00:44:08
Kimaru
Yeah, I understand that.
00:44:09
Patrick Abure
Oh yeah.
00:44:11
Patrick Abure
yeah yeah it can be it can be it also has like it's very high in cafe yeah yeah so i think it's not like hello and be like yeah kimaru if you do this then we are going to no no no right
00:44:12
Kimaru
Mm hmm.
00:44:20
Kimaru
That's true. Interesting.
00:44:34
Kimaru
No, I think that's a very, that's like one of those things you need to demystify about your church because yeah, it's true. Out there, myself included, I didn't know that until when I joined the church and asked the questions.
00:44:47
Patrick Abure
right yeah yeah we can we can definitely we can definitely have an episode
00:44:48
Kimaru
Yeah, I used to just assume like, oh, they don't do this. They don't eat things. They don't do that. Yeah, so.

Adventist Literature

00:45:05
Patrick Abure
that just handles with that
00:45:05
Kimaru
about church and food oh the food yeah I mean yeah it's true true true oh and then there the thing that I found interesting about the Adventist church honestly was the books the books that you guys write from relationships, family, food, oh my God, there's like a lot of stuff.
00:45:23
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Yes.
00:45:29
Kimaru
I actually have a book right here um by Nancy Van Pelt.
00:45:31
Patrick Abure
Mm-hmm.
00:45:34
Kimaru
Let me see what it's about. It's called Heart to Heart. It's more about communication in relationships and all that. I've read a couple of pages.
00:45:34
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:45:41
Patrick Abure
You're right.
00:45:41
Kimaru
I need to finish it. And then I also had another one about marriage and whatever.
00:45:46
Kimaru
It's new, that one. I have given it out so that I can read these on first and then get to that one.
00:45:46
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:45:47
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:45:51
Kimaru
There's a lot of books. I think I found like that aspect intriguing about the church. Maybe because for you, you've been longer there, you've probably read more texts.
00:46:03
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:46:05
Kimaru
You could probably tell us your personal experience with the whole, all these writing that is done.
00:46:05
Patrick Abure
yeah Yeah.
00:46:08
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:46:13
Kimaru
How do you experience?
00:46:13
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:46:16
Patrick Abure
Honestly.
00:46:17
Patrick Abure
I would just agree with you that we have lots of literature in the Adventist Church, like a lot of it.
00:46:32
Patrick Abure
I i don't think I have even read 0.5% of the literature we have. I doubt, yeah.
00:46:39
Kimaru
wow. Interesting.
00:46:42
Patrick Abure
Yeah, like literally right now on my phone, I have an Estet that has over, I think a thousand Adventist books.
00:46:43
Kimaru
Uh-huh. who
00:46:57
Kimaru
Oh, that's a lot of books.
00:47:00
Patrick Abure
It is crazy. Yeah, but I think for me, mild I would say my most exciting read from the many Adventist books that I've read so far is The Last of the Events.
00:47:11
Kimaru
who
00:47:15
Kimaru
who Okay.
00:47:20
Patrick Abure
Yeah, I don't know if you've heard of that book.
00:47:22
Kimaru
No, I have not read it. Is it the same with Great Hope or that's a different one?
00:47:27
Patrick Abure
uh no it's a different one uh but it's by the same author l g white it's called the last day events it's it's a it's a tight book it's i it's probably like around um maybe 200 pages or less yeah and it's very accessible like the text is not as a heavy as the others and the english is
00:47:29
Kimaru
Okay, okay, I've not tried that one. Mm-hmm. All right. Mm-hmm.
00:47:47
Kimaru
Makes sense, okay. That's what I don't know. Mm-hmm. Okay.
00:47:57
Patrick Abure
quite modern it's not like the very old a yeah but for me I think it would be my best you read it's the one I would recommend for someone to read it talks about the last events
00:47:59
Kimaru
okay okay uh-huh versions of data books all right
00:48:12
Kimaru
no
00:48:17
Patrick Abure
at some of the prophecies that are likely to be fulfilled during our days and some of the signs that we can look out for.
00:48:30
Kimaru
who
00:48:31
Patrick Abure
Yeah, for stuff like that. So I think for me it would be my most interesting read.
00:48:38
Kimaru
Okay, okay.
00:48:39
Patrick Abure
Yeah, and then followed by his steps to Christ.
00:48:42
Kimaru
Interesting. Ah, I think you need to actually write these recommendations and forward me.
00:48:43
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:48:50
Kimaru
Most areas, I need them.
00:48:52
Patrick Abure
No, I definitely will do that. I will share with you.
00:48:56
Kimaru
Okay.
00:48:58
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:48:58
Kimaru
Interesting, thank you.
00:48:59
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:49:00
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:49:01
Patrick Abure
the The steps to Christ is so small, but so inspiring.
00:49:03
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:49:08
Kimaru
Okay.
00:49:09
Patrick Abure
Like I love that book.
00:49:11
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:49:12
Patrick Abure
Yeah. It's so, so good. It's it's just focused. on helping us understand the love of God for us.
00:49:19
Kimaru
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
00:49:23
Patrick Abure
Yeah, from nature, whether it being you're looking at the animals, the plants, the insects, and so many other tiny animals and so forth, including the and unknown world.
00:49:31
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:49:41
Kimaru
Okay.
00:49:42
Patrick Abure
Like when you look at all of that,
00:49:43
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:49:46
Patrick Abure
it's the love of God and so like the book tries to help us understand that important message which is God loves us and that message rings out from all these things all of these things say God loves you God loves you God loves you like
00:49:51
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
00:50:02
Kimaru
Interesting. who Oh, that's like a very interesting take. I think I should actually read that one.
00:50:16
Patrick Abure
It's very short. It's probably one of those books you can read in an hour or maybe two hours depending on your reading speed.
00:50:23
Kimaru
he Okay.
00:50:28
Patrick Abure
It's a book you can read in a day for sure.
00:50:31
Kimaru
um okay
00:50:32
Patrick Abure
yeah I think it's it's the book that most often we give out to people
00:50:34
Kimaru
that.
00:50:41
Kimaru
who who
00:50:43
Patrick Abure
Especially people who are coming to the church for the first time and things like that.
00:50:47
Kimaru
and
00:50:47
Patrick Abure
I think like that book is really, really good. Yeah. In that sense, that it helps you to reflect on the love of ah God for you.

Sabbath School Discussions

00:51:00
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:51:02
Kimaru
Hmm, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Need to do too. I think I need to like read a lot. There's a lot of text to read. And yeah, I'm going to play catch up.
00:51:13
Kimaru
But I want to, I think this year for me, i'll I'll get started on. I did read like two pages, but I need to do more.
00:51:21
Kimaru
I need to finish. I need to do the, I need to read The Great Hope. And then and then I can probably continue reading The Heart to Heart and the Marriage Book.
00:51:21
Patrick Abure
yeah oh yeah yeah you know what you know what you've done is you have told us clearly that you're single
00:51:33
Kimaru
Looks like I need to start warming myself up for these things. Uh-huh.
00:51:49
Kimaru
No. i didn't i Oh, please.
00:51:58
Kimaru
Oh, no.
00:52:00
Patrick Abure
you know from the start you were like you know what guys it's not like i'm single or anything like that i just want and then you come here and be like i think i need to start raining those such that i warm up
00:52:00
Kimaru
As I say, I'm trying to...
00:52:14
Kimaru
a yeah I could be reading about marriage because I'm kind of planning to get married. You never know. yeah ah no i could I could also be single and want to find out what it feels like to be married or what to expect.
00:52:27
Kimaru
So I think at this point, I don't think I have divulged a lot. It's just you. Maybe because you know a little secret about me and you're trying to tell the viewers, what are you saying?
00:52:40
Patrick Abure
No way. No way.
00:52:47
Kimaru
I can't even keep any secret in this podcast.
00:52:54
Patrick Abure
Okay. okay uh let's let's go back to what we were discussing and thank you i appreciate that that's very kind of you
00:53:04
Kimaru
I know, I know you are hilarious. No, we were talking about books. How? Yeah, yeah like,
00:53:15
Kimaru
like yo please ah So, um let's go back to the books. So what what are you reading this year or what your current read if you're reading anything?
00:53:27
Patrick Abure
So ah how there's this book, it's called The Ministry of Healing. It's written by Ellen G.
00:53:40
Patrick Abure
White.
00:53:41
Kimaru
Okay.
00:53:42
Patrick Abure
Yeah, so it discusses basically ways of healing that are more like from, let's say, utilizing remedies that exist all around us.
00:53:58
Patrick Abure
For example, whether it be from food, to rest, to sunshine, to exercise and things like that.
00:54:01
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:54:05
Kimaru
Mmhmm.
00:54:09
Patrick Abure
But it connects to that where with the spiritual beat of our life.
00:54:15
Kimaru
Okay.
00:54:20
Patrick Abure
Like how being able to exercise can help us, you know,
00:54:20
Kimaru
Interesting.
00:54:24
Patrick Abure
stay mentally sound to be able to understand the world and even go out with so much vigor and be like yo come to christ yeah it's it's a good one yeah it's it's really nice yeah yeah from foods to so it looks like it's so many things its so it's like one of those books i am hoping i can
00:54:36
Kimaru
Sounds like an interesting read. Oh, wow. um Okay. Interesting.
00:54:54
Patrick Abure
uh read and and and finish uh yeah for 2025 okay so uh so you've been go in and fell shipping at Adventist Church since 2000 uh last year 2024 and uh you've you've been there for now like uh
00:54:59
Kimaru
Interesting. Okay.
00:55:03
Kimaru
um
00:55:17
Kimaru
Yeah. Mm hmm.
00:55:25
Patrick Abure
eight weeks or ten weeks or more?
00:55:27
Kimaru
more literal let's agar augustive chamber that's like almost i think i saw lead four months yeah mm-hmm yeah okay mm
00:55:28
Patrick Abure
yeah?
00:55:36
Patrick Abure
a solid four months that's nice so in in the four months that you've been fellow shaping at the Adventist to Church what would you say
00:55:50
Kimaru
-hmm
00:55:54
Patrick Abure
was the thing you liked the most.
00:55:57
Kimaru
Hmm. That's a good question. I think the music.
00:56:00
Patrick Abure
Yeah. The music. like
00:56:03
Kimaru
Yes, I think it will be the music and then I think followed by the fellowship.

Lessons in Faith

00:56:10
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:56:10
Kimaru
yeah it's just the community people coming together i don't know i told you i had it's been it had been a while since i was in a physical charge so for me like just being there and just in kisswahili we say i don't know yeah they it's like the communion or the fellowship something like that
00:56:23
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:56:28
Patrick Abure
What is that?
00:56:32
Patrick Abure
Okay. Okay.
00:56:33
Kimaru
close to that if I i have not butchered my Kiswahili yeah so I think that that that that's like a really good thing honestly so those are like propped up mm-hmm
00:56:37
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:56:45
Patrick Abure
and Right. The singing, the community that is in the Adventist church.
00:56:55
Kimaru
oh yeah and of course there there's oh my goodness i think actually i forgot look i think actually the the singing comes even like second of the whatever the least i've forgotten the what do you call this part where you have uh in the morning before charge yeah oh my god i know
00:57:06
Patrick Abure
Yeah?
00:57:13
Patrick Abure
Oh, disabled school? Disabled school discussions.
00:57:19
Kimaru
yeah those oh my god i love those discussions because they kind of allow you to dive deeper into the bible and then like the church has this app where you can you can actually you cannot i think there is also physical books but i prefer the app i just go to my app and i open that app and then maybe you find like there's that reading for the whole of the week
00:57:23
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:57:26
Patrick Abure
Right.
00:57:32
Patrick Abure
Mm-hmm.
00:57:36
Patrick Abure
hey Yeah.
00:57:41
Kimaru
from Monday to Friday or Sunday to Friday and there's like the way there's the scriptures then it has been elaborated there's more text to that and then you can you can do that reading by yourself and then um during the Sabbath you meet before the services start that's like almost the first service you discuss you give you a point of view what you understood
00:58:00
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:58:05
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:58:05
Kimaru
with somebody leaving the discussion that is my favorite that is like oh my god how had they forgotten it it's like top of their list then they're singing on their fellowship yeah yeah ah interesting okay hmm that's i know so i think
00:58:06
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
00:58:14
Patrick Abure
yes fair enough fair enough honestly i think if if i were to arrange that list i probably would do it the same way you did yeah yeah yeah because like those discussions are awesome yeah sometimes
00:58:35
Kimaru
Yeah, they're really good. They dig deeper.
00:58:40
Patrick Abure
yes sometimes you'll be seated there and then you hear all this interesting stuff just coming out of that discussion and be like wow i never thought of that yeah that's fantastic
00:58:48
Kimaru
Yeah.
00:58:53
Kimaru
I know, I know it's actually very interesting. I i think for the time that I've gone to church, I made sure like I prioritized making sure I am in good time and I attend that part of the service before anything else. Yeah.
00:59:11
Patrick Abure
That's fantastic. and then like
00:59:15
Patrick Abure
i i wanted to ask you but I wanted to ask you this question last.
00:59:19
Kimaru
Okay. Mm hmm.
00:59:22
Patrick Abure
Maybe I should ask another before I ask the question I want to ask you, but I wanted to like, for for you, given that a you've now been there for like, I don't know, four months, you're going into five months, what would you say was the most important lesson you learned?
00:59:25
Kimaru
Okay. All right.
00:59:41
Kimaru
you
00:59:48
Kimaru
and The most important clothes on I like.
00:59:49
Patrick Abure
Like the most important lesson you've learned.
00:59:53
Kimaru
or ah interesting. I think for me the most important lesson is um like ah faith, faith and trusting in God like those two.
01:00:04
Kimaru
I feel like sometimes we forget like how much we need God or maybe sometimes we think like I don't know it's like you're lost out there and you feel like oh you know
01:00:08
Patrick Abure
Mm-hmm.
01:00:17
Kimaru
God is not coming through for me. I've been praying. I don't think he's listening and whatever. But for me, going to church has taught me more about faith.
01:00:28
Patrick Abure
and Yeah.
01:00:28
Kimaru
and trusting that it's gonna happen. Like I remember like last year, and yeah I think they there was this whole reading from the book of Mark and there were a lot of those miracles that Jesus did.
01:00:36
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:00:40
Kimaru
And there even there's this one miracle ah he did with a woman man at the well.
01:00:46
Kimaru
And then Jesus was telling her to fetch water or something like that. And they're like, what?
01:00:46
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:00:50
Patrick Abure
she Yeah.
01:00:52
Kimaru
It's like she was already doubting it's going to happen and she was and well at a very odd hour.
01:00:55
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:00:58
Kimaru
Yeah, so I don't know. I think for me, yeah, the build the the faith and trusting in God that it's going to happen and knowing that sometimes it might not happen in our own timeline, like the way we expect it, you're like, oh, you know,
01:01:06
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:01:09
Patrick Abure
Right. Right.
01:01:15
Kimaru
I want this to happen you pray about it and then because it doesn't happen you think that it's never going to happen maybe God has said yes but he's probably delaying your miracle because that is not the appropriate time the one you were expecting in your head so for me it's been more about that it has depend my
01:01:20
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:01:24
Patrick Abure
yes yeah yeah right
01:01:34
Kimaru
my faith and trust in God that stuff will be okay because I remember initially there was a time I would feel like ah what ah ah I've just said like you pray about something it's not happening and then you feel like it's not gonna happen I don't think we God even listens and all that but now I feel like even at in my worst times I feel like I trust more and I believe more and even if it doesn't happen when I want it to happen I know at God's perfect time it sounds cliche but I've seen it happen yeah like at God's perfect time it will happen and what has happened for me is that in those times when I'm feeling like it's not happening God has given me the grace the grace to be patient to be patient and wait for wait for that you know for that right time of his
01:02:09
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:02:21
Patrick Abure
Right. Right.
01:02:29
Patrick Abure
Mm hmm.
01:02:29
Kimaru
Yeah. So it's like, no, you no longer feel that burden when you feel like, oh, things are not working the way I want.
01:02:34
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:02:37
Kimaru
So you now feel like, okay, it has not worked, but I'll be patient.

Conclusion and Future Excitement

01:02:42
Kimaru
So I guess even those are like three lessons faith, trust and patience to, you know, be able to wait on that thing that you want.
01:02:45
Patrick Abure
Right.
01:02:52
Kimaru
Yeah. Yeah.
01:02:54
Patrick Abure
Yeah, those are very important lessons.
01:02:54
Kimaru
but That's, that's me. Mm-hmm.
01:02:57
Patrick Abure
Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. and I now feel like I need to have more conversations with God like you did.
01:03:02
Kimaru
Yeah? Mm-hmm.
01:03:13
Patrick Abure
the
01:03:14
Kimaru
Yeah.
01:03:14
Patrick Abure
i I feel inspired right now. I am!
01:03:18
Kimaru
You are?
01:03:21
Kimaru
No, that's really good to hear, honestly. Yeah, honestly, that has been it.
01:03:27
Patrick Abure
I am and I'm very sure that someone else listening to this will feel the same too.
01:03:27
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
01:03:33
Kimaru
I hope they do.
01:03:35
Patrick Abure
Learning about your story to where you've come to now, I think it's really incredible. Thank you for sharing it with us. I think regardless of what we are going through,
01:03:51
Kimaru
susan
01:03:51
Patrick Abure
I think I've really learned from you that it's important to reconnect with God.
01:03:57
Kimaru
Oh yeah, very, actually.
01:04:00
Patrick Abure
Yeah, it does.
01:04:00
Kimaru
It works. Mm-hmm.
01:04:04
Patrick Abure
It does. That magic always works.
01:04:05
Kimaru
Yeah.
01:04:09
Kimaru
i know i know yeah ah it's true honestly yeah i know and then i think at those times when you feel like you're questioning god i think those are the the times you should actually seek him more you know yeah because uh there's this story that is told i i don't know if i remember the story correctly of somebody walking on a beach or something like that i don't know this version i think i'll look this story up
01:04:18
Patrick Abure
Yes.
01:04:21
Patrick Abure
Mm hmm.
01:04:36
Kimaru
but it's more of like this person was feeling like they cannot do it and then they're asking God but where are you because when they look back they only see yeah their footprints and then like one set of footprints and then God tells them God tells them uh the reason why you see one set of footprints is because those are my footprints I was carrying you through it all yeah so you know
01:04:36
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:04:49
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:04:52
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:05:01
Patrick Abure
Right.
01:05:03
Patrick Abure
more Wow. So he wasn't even doing it all by himself. He had an invisible hand that was doing the magic.
01:05:13
Kimaru
yeah exactly yeah yeah so you could be out there you're thinking oh you know it's now i came i think god left me i'm just alone but probably he's just there he carried you through it all that's why you are seeing only one set of footprints and not two
01:05:29
Patrick Abure
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
01:05:33
Patrick Abure
That's so true. That is so true. Yeah, that's so true. And honestly, I think looking back at the story of the lady that got robbed, my uncle who got robbed, and so many other cases, they could have happened way worse than they did.
01:05:47
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
01:05:55
Kimaru
That's true.
01:05:56
Kimaru
Mm-hmm.
01:05:56
Patrick Abure
Yeah.
01:05:56
Patrick Abure
And I think the invisible hand of God saved their lives and helped them be there with us even today.
01:06:10
Patrick Abure
And so it's definitely an important thing that we seek God more, even when we question sometimes some of the things that happened to us and his presence and everything.
01:06:21
Kimaru
I'm green.
01:06:25
Kimaru
Yeah, yeah, that's very drug jelly. Mm hmm.
01:06:28
Patrick Abure
Yeah. Well, Kimaru, thank you very much for coming on this packet podcast. Very glad that you could join us today. I hope we are going to be doing more of this together.
01:06:44
Kimaru
Yeah, I can't wait to see where this goes. it's yeah It was truly an amazing conversation. ah Yeah, yeah, definitely. I can't wait to see what we get to do next week.
01:06:57
Kimaru
Oh, the other week. Oh, the other one.
01:06:58
Patrick Abure
yeah yeah i i can't wait
01:06:59
Kimaru
Oh, the other one.
01:07:04
Kimaru
yeah it looks like we are off to an amazing start it's uh it's truly a blessing um i'm glad to be here to be part of this packet podcast i know it's like yeah finally okay you know i can't actually believe you recorded this thing for like an an hour this is amazing
01:07:30
Patrick Abure
Well, we've done it.
01:07:33
Kimaru
You should end the recording so that I can talk to you now.
01:07:40
Kimaru
This is a good sample.
01:07:40
Patrick Abure
Okay, I'll stop it.