When you are a priest and the only thing that runs in your mind and heart is service 🙏

Описание: From Baptismal Grace to Missionary Fire: A Vocation Woven by Providence

My vocation did not begin the day I entered the seminary it began quietly and mysteriously at the baptismal font two weeks after my birth. I was baptized and given the name(Michael )of the priest who poured water over my head and pronounced the words of new life. That priest was Fr Michael Odiwa. Unbeknown to my family and to me, the hands that welcomed me into the Church would one day return to lay hands on me in priestly ordination.

From the earliest years of my childhood, the seeds of priesthood were already visible. While my peers gathered in open fields playing the games of mother and father, my heart found joy in something different. I would mould clay into small figures of priests and bishops. I carefully shaped their forms, dressed them with tiny vestments, and arranged imagined liturgies around them. What others saw as play was, in reality, a silent preparation God gently forming my heart through innocent creativity and desire.

As I grew, grace continued to mark my journey. I was confirmed by Bishop Colin Davies, the last Mill Hill Missionary bishop in Kenya. His life and missionary zeal deeply inspired me. His witness opened my heart to the wider missionary horizon and planted within me a desire to serve beyond familiar boundaries.

Moved by that inspiration, I responded to God’s call by joining the Mill Hill Missionaries. The formation journey lasted ten intentional and transformative years. Those years were not merely academic preparation; they were spiritual purification, pastoral immersion, community living, and deep discernment. Formation shaped my character, strengthened my faith, and clarified my identity as a missionary priest.

In God’s providence, I was ordained by the same man who had baptized me Bishop Michael Odiwa, who serves as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Homabay. The circle of grace was complete. The priest who welcomed me into the Church through baptism became the bishop who conferred upon me the sacrament of Holy Orders. It was a moment filled with memory, gratitude, and divine symbolism a visible sign that God had guided every step of my vocation.

Confirmed by the last Kenyan Mill Hill Missionary bishop, today, I serve as one of the pioneer Kenyan missionaries of the Mill Hill Missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sent beyond my homeland, I carry with me the spiritual heritage of my baptism, the inspiration of my mentors, and the missionary spirit of the Church. My journey is not about personal achievement but about divine calling unfolding through time.

From moulding clay priests as a child to living the priesthood in mission lands, my life testifies to one truth: vocation is not accidental. It is planted, nurtured, and fulfilled by God.
God often begins His greatest works in the simplest moments of childhood grace.