Kenyan native Douglas Ngatunyi knew God called him to minister to his own people — he just didn’t know at the time that it would be in the United States.
After graduating from college in Kenya, Douglas assumed he would continue his career path and become a certified public accountant. He soon came to realize that God had different plans for his future that would include two Alabama churches assisting him along the way.
It wasn’t until the late 1950s that Baptist missionaries began evangelizing in Kenya. Douglas’ parents and grandparents became Christians and joined the newly established Kanunga Baptist Church in the centrally located city of Nyeri.
Consequently, Douglas was born into a Christian home, was active in the Baptist church and made a profession of faith at the age of 12.
As a high school student he began exhibiting ministerial characteristics such as preaching at crusades and participating in home-to-home evangelism.
While attending Kenyatta College he was active in the Christian student union and continued with his preaching, still assuming that his ministerial work would be as a lay person because of his career plans of becoming a CPA.
After graduating from college, Douglas taught high school math and physics — got married — and along with his wife, Beatrice, continued to actively work on committees within their church.
“As I continued my work in the church I saw the need in my country to share the gospel with my people. I started struggling with my desire to become a CPA.”
A conversation with a friend in the early 1990s led Douglas to a crossroad in his life. His friend had shared with him his experience at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham.
After much prayer he realized that God was calling him into the ministry. He decided to apply to Beeson and was accepted. With the full support of Beatrice and the blessings of his church, the 33-year-old Kenyan traveled to the United States to begin his studies.
In February 1993 he left behind his wife and two young daughters to venture to a part of the world he had never dreamed he would visit.
As a Samford student, Douglas participated in the annual H-day (now called Samford Day) activities where students are invited to preach in churches across the state. He was matched with Rosalie Baptist Church in Sand Mountain Association. During fellowship time following the service, church members learned that the young preacher’s wife and two young children were in Kenya and he would not see them again for four years.
“When I heard about his situation and saw what strong faith Douglas had in what he had committed to do — it just gripped at my heart,” said Charles Smith, Rosalie’s pastor. “Our members were moved by his commitment to God and we decided as a church that something needed to be done to help remedy his family’s situation. We contacted the church he was attending in Birmingham, Lakeside Baptist, and together we made arrangements to get his family over here,” Smith said. The two churches then worked together to assist the Ngatunyi family with housing and food arrangements during their tenure at Samford,” he explained.
“I know both churches felt honored to help this family. I have watched Douglas grow tremendously in his preaching as well as his control of the English language,” Smith added.
Adjusting to life in America for the Kenyan family had its challenges in the beginning. The first shock they encountered was a massive snowstorm that Birmingham experienced in the mid-1990s. None of them had ever seen snow. Another revelation was the differences in transportation between Kenya and the United States.
“In Kenya everyone walks to where they are going — in America, everyone drives,” Douglas said, adding that after a Lakeside church member taught him to drive, he, in turn, taught Beatrice.
Food was another adaptation for the family who were accustomed to a different diet. Eating turkey was a new experience for them as was pizza, which Beatrice points out, became an immediate favorite with their girls.
Having lived in the United States for the past eight years, Beatrice reflected on different aspects of the Kenyan lifestyle. “I sometimes miss the simple way of life. Here life can get a little hectic. Back home you knew who your neighbors were and everyone had a sense of community,” she said, adding that although she misses these things about her country, she knows that the best opportunities for her family are in the United States.
Douglas said he has noticed the struggle Americans have in setting priorities in their lives. “Here people work from sunup to sundown and they forget to take time out for what is important in their life,” he said.
Following his graduation from Beeson with a master of divinity degree, Douglas felt God’s call to continue his ministerial education. He moved his family to Wake Forest, N.C., in 1996 to pursue a master of theology degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
It wasn’t long before God’s intentions became evident. Douglas was asked to help establish a church for Kenyans who were attending school and seminary in the Wake Forest area. For the past three years he has served as pastor of Crabtree Valley Baptist Church which is made up of native Kenyans. The church has grown to 40 adults plus many children. Douglas preaches in Swahili which is the native language in Kenya. “Many students who come to school here do not understand English very well,” he explained.
Douglas points out that people with families are easier to minister to than singles. “The singles are the ones who most often fall through the cracks. Until we started this church there was no outreach in this area for Kenyans,” he said. “I’m doing what God wants me to do — I’m reaching my own people.”
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