Within the beautiful expanse of hills and forests used as a filming location in “Out of Africa”, Josephat and his family found the gospel of Jesus Christ in Chyulu, Kenya. Whether in the remote villages in Eastern Africa or in your own home, find out how “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” is truly global in its principles.
We became aware of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” a year after becoming members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2007. We have been blessed to learn many things from it. Together, we learned that as a father and mother, we were designed as caretakers of the children God has blessed us within the course of our stay on earth.
We learned to remember the divine responsibility vested on us to oversee the progress of our children. Our understanding expanded to knowing that a husband needs to treat his wife with lots of respect. Similarly, a wife needs to respect her husband. We have grown to see the need to be role models of the practices of the family proclamation.
In spite of our culture, we found that we should not create obstacles and challenges to young adults of age of marrying. Rather, we should facilitate our children to marry without causing difficulties to their marriage plans. We need to openly talk about the directions the proclamation contains to members of the Church and even to non-members, with emphasis on the progression found in our home and family through its doctrines.
When I was pursuing my university education, I had to resign from my then full-time employment. It was difficult to consistently and adequately provide for my family due to continued lack of income. In line with the family proclamation, I knew that fathers were to preside over their families as well as providing for them. The second bit was an uphill task then. I had to request my wife to bridge the gap. She ambitiously took over the assignment and our family was on course again. When I completed my education and earned a well-paying job, we shifted and our family was on course again.
I have one wife – she is very beautiful and caring. We have lovingly raised three children. A very handsome boy and two quite beautiful girls. Our son is currently serving a mission in Kenya. Our two daughters are in school and fully prepared to serve missions at their due time. As a family, we are grateful to the Lord for all. God is so loving. My family and I are so grateful to Him.
Josephat says: From the back is our last born Faith and daughter Mary. In the front is my dear wife Anne, our son, first born on the line Kyalo, now elder Makau, and myself. This photograph was taken at the Kenya Nairobi mission president’s house in Nairobi, after having traveled 250 kilometers from Chyullu on 2 September 2020 while presenting our son for mission.