Called: Thaddeus and Lucy Gichana

The firstborn child, I (Thad­deus) was raised in a family of three boys and two girls. Raising five children was an uphill task for my mother, a committed Christian, who was widowed at age 22. When I was six years old, one of my uncles took me into his home. Being separated from my mother for 12 years was a very painful experience for me, and my younger brothers grew up with very little attachment to me.

But in May 1997, when I was a student at Kenyatta University, one of my brothers came to stay with me. Every evening he passionately shared God’s word with me. One night I asked him to pray for me to receive Jesus Christ into my life, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. After that I joined the Christian Union at the university.

In September, 1999, the pastor of my local church announced that he was about to launch the Schools and Colleges Ministry. In that Sunday service, I sensed God calling me to minister to high school, col­lege and university students. I was actively involved in this work until 2003, when I joined Christ Co-workers’ Fellowship.

In that Sunday service I sensed God calling me to minister to high school, college and university students.

I also joined Kenya Students’ Christian Fellowship (KSCF) and the Fellowship of Christian Union Students (FOCUS), which kept me involved in student ministry. And at church I was asked to take charge of the Teens and Junior Youth Ministries.

In 2005 I met Lucy Mutheu, when she joined my church. Lucy had been actively involved in student ministry, and when I asked her to consider joining me in youth work at church, she agreed. God had brought us together for a purpose: we were married in July 2009.

I was accepted into SIM Kenya as a missionary in 2010, and the following year I became a Youth Worker, focusing on investing in local churches in developing discipleship and mentoring programmes for in-school and out-of­-school youth aged 15 to 24.

Our Youth Mentors initiative invests in local churches, developing discipleship and mentoring programmes for young people. Several churches have adopted secondary schools. Young people in their twenties are trained and mobilized to launch Peer Mentoring in the church’s adopted school. Eleventh grade students (aged 16-17) are matched with ninth graders to mentor them.

Lucy continues to co-lead youth work with me at church. She is also an As­sociate Member of KSCF and FOCUS. Through this work Youth 4 Abolition was established, which seeks to invest in local churches, creating awareness among youth about human trafficking in Nairobi and the surrounding area.

Thaddeus and Lucy want to see para-church organisations partner with churches to develop effective and sustainable discipleship and mentoring programmes for youth.
thaddeus.gichana@sim.org mutheuongera@gmail.com