Author: Shalem John

Birth Home Calling: Homeland: Africa Place of Vision: Africa A boy named Shomolekae lived as a caretaker in a fruit orchard owned by a missionary called John Mackenzie in Kuruman. He was quite fond of that missionary and liked his teachings. Once, the gardener of the orchard gave some stolen fruits to Shomolekae to eat. But, he immediately refused, knowing that it is wrong to steal. The incident won him the trust of the missionary, who later took him under his care. Mackenzie took Shomolekae to Shoshong in Northern Africa to assist him in the missionary work. He was a…

Stephen Kitsao lost his ability to walk at age 11 when he suffered a spinal injury from a fall out of a coconut tree. Kitsao couldn’t afford a wheelchair, so his father carried him to school every day in a tomato crate fastened to the back of his bicycle. “Every new day began the same way—in the crate, in my father’s arms, with both of us pretending it was normal,” said Kitsao, who is now 31. His school in Kilifi County on the coast of Kenya lent him a wheelchair donated by a charity to use during the day, but…

Richard Gamble’s passion for Jesus has always been outsize. Twenty years ago, he had a vision from God to drag a 9-foot wooden cross for 77 miles during Holy Week leading up to Easter. After that grueling marathon in 2004 came a bigger, bolder vision: Build a wall that tells a million stories of how God has answered prayer. Last week, Gamble, 56, broke ground on that vision—a 168-foot-tall architectural landmark that is expected to be one of the largest Christian monuments in England, if not the world. (Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro,…