She ran way from her calling, like Jonah
Sometimes we run from callings, not because we don’t believe, but because we’re afraid. God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the willing. Source: “Now I Took the Challenge” Global Histories-Kenya www.churchofjesuschrist.org
In 2005, a woman named Stacy Wamui Mugo joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldor, Kenya. She was brand new, still learning the gospel, still learning how the church worked, still learning what faith looked like in her own life. After just two weeks, she was called as Relief Society secretary. She later said, "I was so worried. I thought, I know nothing. What does the Lord expect me to do?" So, she did what fear sometimes tells us to do.
She ran. She left Eldorette and moved over 60 miles away to Bungma, Kenya, hoping to start over and leave that calling behind. Her story reminds me of Jonah in the Bible, called by the Lord and running in the opposite direction because he was afraid. Not because he didn't believe, but because the calling just felt overwhelming. Stacy stayed in boom for months, but nothing worked in her life and peace never came.
And finally, she wondered, "What if I'm struggling because I ran from what God asked me to do?" So she went back to Eldor. She asked her cousin who had introduced her to the gospel for help. She opened the church handbook and began to read it. Trying to understand how the church works. She prayed and she tried even though she still felt unqualified. After time had passed and she was released from her calling, she thought she was done.
But then came another calling and another. Young women primary district leadership. She trained leaders in Eldor, Longos, Huruma, and Soani, serving sisters across multiple branches in Western Kenya. Each time, fear showed up. But this time, she put her faith and trust in him. I once heard a man in my bishop Rick, inactive for years, say something I'll never forget. You don't have to be smart to serve God.
You just have to be willing. Jonah learned it. Stacy Wambooi Mugo lived it. This is what the church looks like around the world. Different cultures, different names, different places, but the same faith. And sometimes the calling that scares us isn't proof we're unqualified. It's just proof God sees something in us that we don't yet see in ourselves.
