Chet Ellison didn’t return from Kenya with souvenirs or stories about sightseeing. He came home with a renewed sense of purpose, a deeper faith, and a heart forever changed by the people he now considers family.
For the second consecutive year, Ellison traveled with members of Grace Community Church in Statesboro to a remote mission site in northern Kenya. The 10-day trip, held June 4–14, included two days of travel each way, leaving six days dedicated to serving the community through the church’s long-standing partnership with Gospel Rescue Mission.
“God willing, I’ll try to go every year I can,” Ellison said. “Going back this year was even more of a blessing because I got to see familiar faces again. The joy that brought my heart is something I can’t describe.”
The mission, which Grace Community Church has supported for 16 years, sits more than a few hours from the nearest city in Kenya’s vast desert landscape. Surrounded by an elephant fence, the property includes a church, a school serving over 300 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, gardens and vegetation areas, living quarters, and, as of this year, a newly completed computer lab.
The school offers something many children in the area would otherwise never receive… a free education.
“Most schools there require families to pay tuition,” Ellison said. “If they can’t afford it, the kids simply don’t go. Sometimes the meal they receive at school is the only meal they’ll have that day.”
Many students walk as far as two hours each morning through the desert to reach class, often passing wildlife along the way.
“It really changes your perspective,” Ellison said. “They’re excited to walk two hours just to go to school, all the while we take so much here for granted.”
This year’s mission focused on expanding opportunities for those students. Volunteers completed a computer lab, building every bench and chair by hand before installing computers powered by the mission’s solar energy system. They also cleaned the solar panels to improve efficiency, as well as distributed solar-powered security lights to families living in villages in the surrounding area.
“I can’t wait to see what doors this computer lab opens for them,” Ellison said. “The goal is for teachers to become certified to teach computer skills, and eventually, students will earn certificates that can help them continue their education or find careers.”
While the construction projects were important, Ellison says the most meaningful moments came from simply spending time with the children.
“They have so much joy,” he said. “If you ever want to know what unconditional love looks like, go there.”
One afternoon, Ellison brought a speaker outside and played worship music. As children gathered around him, they danced, laughed, and praised God together.
“That was the moment that got to me,” he said. “Afterward, I walked back to my hut and broke down a little. I kept asking God, ‘Why me?’ Why would He choose me to experience something so beautiful?”
Faith remained at the center of the trip from beginning to end.
On their first Sunday at the mission, the team worshipped alongside the local congregation before taking part in the area’s first baptism service in nearly eight years. Approximately 18 people were baptized.
Although Ellison had already been baptized years earlier, he felt God leading him to publicly profess his faith once again, as he and one other team member went out and were also baptized.
“I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to do it,” he said. “I realized baptism isn’t about checking a box. It’s about publicly declaring your faith whenever God gives you the opportunity.”
The trip also reinforced another passion in Ellison’s life… music.
A self-taught musician who plays piano, bass guitar, guitar and mandolin, Ellison serves on the worship team at Grace Community Church. He credits music with strengthening his relationship with God and opening doors he never imagined, including opportunities to lead worship in Kenya and perform original Christian music back home.
“To me, music is one of the greatest gifts God has given us,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest ways I have connected with Him.”
Life at the mission was simple. Team members slept in permanent huts, bathed with cold water, ate fresh fruits, vegetables and lots of goat that grazed the surrounding areas. They lived much like the community they had come to serve.
Rather than seeing hardship, Ellison saw contentment.
“They’re not worried so much about what they don’t have,” he said. “They look after one another. They’re grateful for every meal, every day at school, every opportunity they receive. So much faith, knowing God will provide what they need. It is very humbling.”
That humility is exactly what he hopes others will understand.
“I wish everyone could experience something like this,” Ellison said. “It changes your heart. You come home realizing how blessed you are and how much joy can exist even when people have so little.”
As the mission continues growing with each passing year, Ellison believes the greatest investment isn’t in buildings or technology but in the children whose futures are being transformed.
“They’re going to become teachers, leaders and servants,” he said. “I can’t wait to see the ways the kids start to give back. I know the school is a huge part of all their stories.”
Before leaving Kenya, Ellison learned a Swahili phrase that perfectly captured everything the trip meant to him.
“Mungu asifiwe,” he said with a smile.
Meaning, “Praise God.”
Ellison, along with his five fellow mission team members, will share their highlights and personal testimonies from their recent journey on Sunday, July 12, at Grace Community Church, located at 4703 Pulaski Road in Statesboro. Presentations will be held during 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship services.
Everyone is invited to attend and hear about their experiences and the impact of their mission trip. Hope to see you all there.
