TCK Voices: A Generous and Grateful Heart is Fruit of Following Christ

Today we have Derick with us! Welcome, Derick!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the different cultures you are part of?

I’m Derick and I currently live in the beautiful outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. I’m born again, Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, and each day I aspire to lead a life dedicated to pleasing God as I cultivate a personal relationship with Him in each of my daily experiences. I enjoy writing, reading, and trying out new recipes during my spare time. 

When I was six years old, my father died, and I was adopted by a young married couple because my mother was unable to support both me and my younger, three-year-old sister. In the beginning, I was still able to visit my mother on weekends. Alice and Chris Njugunas, who adopted me, were good family friends, as the husband was the youth pastor at our church, so they also knew my father well. Because they adopted me, I was able to join them in serving the Lord as missionaries in North Eastern Kenya, Tanzania, and occasionally in Central Africa (Congo).

If you could choose one place from your travels as a TCK to revisit, where would it be and why?

I’d definitely go back to Tanzania. Being part of the community there again would be my greatest joy. I enjoyed the hospitality and generosity of the people, their care, and their mentorship, which greatly inspired me to pursue a Bible-based lifestyle. 

Our move to Tanzania came unexpectedly. We didn’t know the people, and yet these young converts reached out to bless us in ways that astounded me. One person, for example, offered to take me out shopping for my school clothing. More than him paying for it, it was the personal care he showed in accompanying me and helping me that touched my heart. 

This area was experiencing a revival of faith at the time, and God became visible to me through the genuine care these believers showed. They would also show up unexpectedly at our home with the products from their farms, like milk and maize. This type of generosity was new to me. I wondered why someone would do that. For the first time, I realized that God could move someone’s heart. Their sacrifice truly came from the heart. 

What is an advantage of being a TCK?

It’s a life full of adventure and great exposure. Moving to Musoma (close to Lake Victoria), for example, made it possible for me to learn to swim and to love to swim. It also gave me the privilege of seeing wild animals, like an elephant, in person for the first time. Before then, I had only seen such animals in books and on TV.

Being a TCK also gave me wonderful opportunities to listen, learn, and grow in Christian community and taught me to be curious about the world around me. In Tanzania, I accompanied Pastor Joshua and his team everywhere they went. Through Pastor Joshua, I learnt to love reading and writing. 

Initially, I didn’t love books, but Pastor Joshua exposed me to real Christian literature, and I learnt the art of writing by observing how he wrote. Helping out at church, I also learnt to play the keyboard by watching others play. My experiences in this community also brought such healing in the wake of losing my father. 

Who was someone that you met in one of your non-passport countries that made a difference in your life and how?

Reverend Joshua was a pastor of a fellowship we joined when we moved to Tanzania. I found it easier to open up to him after a long period of sadness and quiet grief, and he was quite instrumental in biblically encouraging me and helping me to heal and embrace the life God has given me. 

When I first arrived in Tanzania, I hadn’t accepted that my dad was gone. I was bitter and my heart was heavy. My family was so patient and understanding with me during that time. But when I got to Tanzania, God used this new place to gradually open my heart to new memories and new experiences through Pastor Joshua.

Pastor Joshua was an orphan himself and had also been adopted from an orphanage. Because I recognized myself in his story, I connected with him and drew strength from his story. My adopted family hadn’t been able to fully fill the void in my heart, but God used this pastor to minister to my heart and fill that void with Himself. It was then I started appreciating my adoptive parents, the Njugunas, all the more, and began seeing and embracing their kindness to me.

What characteristic of God have you learned most about in your life as a TCK? 

His omnipresence expressed through His provision for me. All my TCK life was spent alongside a very supportive missionary family. Through them, I became part of an active church community. It was through this wider body of Christ that I then experienced the Lord’s provision in His omnipresence as He showed up for my family and me in tangible ways, in spiritual encounters, in economic fortunes, and in social contacts. My lack and need only became an undeniable testimony to God’s goodness and provision, as He showed me that following Him leads us to a life of rejoicing and blessing.

Perhaps it would help to give you a concrete example of His presence and provision in action. 

In my high school days, we once had so little money that my family couldn’t pay my school fees. I had already stayed home for two weeks, and I couldn’t see any way through. But then, we attended a holy days conference in December, joining another branch of our large church. 

It was there that my pastor began to share my story of need with another church member, who attended that other branch we had joined for the conference. That man happened to work for an organization that supports children financially, making it possible for them to attend school. Meeting this person changed my life, opening a door I thought had been shut tight to me. 

What is one thing you would like to tell your fellow TCKs?

A TCK life can come with a great deal of fun, adventure, and sometimes challenges too. Whether foreseen or not, it’s crucial to yield our interpretation of all these circumstances to a scriptural perspective. You can feel that something is the right thing to do, but if you don’t ask God, then you won’t understand what God wants in that situation. If you go with your own understanding, you may in fact be going in the wrong direction. 

Perhaps you can think of a situation where there are ten things you could do to help, and every one of these things seems like a good and right thing to do. But if you don’t ask God to guide you through His Word, you can’t be sure that these ten things are in fact good and right to do. We need God’s Word and His Spirit to shed light on the direction to take, to help us discern what the right path is.

Thank you for sharing with us, Derick!