SONSHIP STORIES:
STEPHEN NJENGA
NAIROBI, KENYA
“I was connected to Canyon Pathways through my friend Joe Gachira, and I expected the normal Christian retreat—you start with prayers, you keep reading the Bible, you wake up in the morning, devotion and stuff. But then I come to Canyon Pathways and I meet incredible dudes, just relaxing, coming to rest and talking about the strangest thing I had ever heard about: sonship.”
“I'm the firstborn in my family, which is a typical African family—the saying from the tribe I come from is when you are the firstborn, you are also the father. So I identify with fatherhood. Sonship is strange. It sparked a lot of mixed emotions because I've built structures and frameworks of operation in my life around fatherhood. So, the first experience was strange. Everything was strange and I loved it.”
“Responsibility had become my identity. I had lived my life being the servant, being the Luke 15 elder brother, providing, working, taking care of siblings, cousins, employees. My brain couldn't wrap around the idea of resting and receiving, because I believed if I'm resting, I'm losing time and I'm not fully sure what the output of the time that I'm losing means. And I realized I was trying to fill a void.”
“It took me a year to understand that living like a son, resting and receiving, was strange to me because I had always done things in the past by myself, figuring stuff out and not letting God reveal His way forward. I realized I have to let Him guide, I have to let Him show me what I need to do, how I need to do it, and He brings people to me that are instrumental in ensuring that the vision and the plan that He has for me actually comes to life.”
“Most men I see, especially in the professional space, are facing such a battle in midlife. They are caring for elderly parents, for children, for siblings and extended family. In Africa, even if you are doing well, with all of those people you are supporting, you are only one disease away from poverty. So relationships with other men living as sons are so necessary.”
