By Kenneth Okwouno
When I was growing up as a kid, I always struggled with the identity of who I was. I am the youngest of four boys whose shadows I had to follow everywhere I went, especially in school from preschool to high school. With only a five year gap between my oldest brother and me, many of my teachers would have had all three of my brothers in class which meant that they would have certain expectations of me. My childhood was spent trying to meet or exceed those expectations. I continued to do this until my senior year in high school. I excelled in my academics and was an all-district running back which helped provide me some options for my future. I was now faced with the decision of where I was going to go to college. My oldest brothers attended the University of Houston Downtown which was right by my parents’ house, and my 3rd brother was at Southern Arkansas playing football. I wanted to get as far away from home as possible so that I could have an identity of my own and no longer walk in the shadows of my brothers. I was given a full ride to the University of Missouri-Rolla to play football. Little did I know that this would be the place where my life would be forever changed. 
I was now a freshman in college and my parents were nowhere to be found. I was free to make my own decisions and free to live life the way I wanted. I didn’t have to follow in anyone’s shadow. My college professors were going to meet an Okwuonu for the first time. With all this new freedom came curiosity. I had never been interested in girls or the party lifestyle, but that was also because my parents kept us very sheltered from the outside world. (Now as a Christian, I have come to appreciate why they did not allow us to get involved in those activities.) My curiosity led me to fall into the party lifestyle that so many other college students do. I eventually met a young lady who was also enjoying the freedoms that the college life had to offer with parents who lived a plane flight away. 
I dated this young lady for about a year when I noticed that her behavior had changed. She was no longer interested in going to parties, and you could see a joy within her that I had never seen before. I asked her what was causing this change in her life and the response that I got was not something that I was expecting. She mentioned that she had met a man that had changed her life. It made me angry to know that she was this happy about another man, and I was determined to know where I could find this person so that I could give him a piece of my mind. She told me that I could find him in the weight room, so I quickly headed in that direction.  
When I got to the weight room I found the guy, or I should say he found me. This guy picked me up off of my feet, kissed me on my cheek, and then put me down. I just stood there with my eyes wide open because I could not believe what had just taken place. I later realized that he was breaking down the walls that I had. He then began to ask me a series of questions about the Bible. He first asked me what swallowed Jonah when he disobeyed God. I said the typical response that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The next thing he asked me was what did Eve eat in the garden that she wasn’t supposed to eat. I responded like many people would have responded by saying “apple.” He challenged me to find my answers in the Bible. When I went to look in the Bible, I found different answers than how I had responded. This got my mind wondering what other things people had taught me that were not actually in the Bible. I had a new curiosity, and I wanted to know more. Willie Franklin was the name of this man with whom I had this encounter, but most people referred to him as “Uncle Chocolate.”  For about a month, I began to dig into God’s Word to find out more about what society had told me was truth but was contrary to God’s Word. This was at a point in my life where I was questioning God and was unsure of how I could have a relationship with Him. I knew that I was not connected to God, but did not know how to go about getting there. I saw that there were so many religions claiming to have the truth, but I didn’t want to put my faith in any person or religion. I wanted to know what God’s Word had to say about it. During one of my studies with Mr. Franklin, I came across the verse Romans 1:16 where it mentions that the Gospel is God’s power to save. That sounded good, but I had no clue at the time what the Gospel was. As we continued our study, I learned that the Gospel was the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and how we come in connection with Jesus through baptism. No one had ever shared that with me, and even after reading it, the importance of what I read did not sink in until later during the study when my girlfriend at the time was asked an important question. She was asked, “If Kenneth were to die tonight, what would happen to him?”  Her response was very sobering. She said that I would go to Hell. I couldn’t believe what she had said, but at the same time, I knew that she was right. It was around 3 a.m. the morning of April 9, 2000, that I was baptized into the family of Christ. I was so excited about my new life. At the same time, there was a heavy weight that came upon me when I realized that there were so many people in this world who had not obeyed the Gospel. 
Life took on a new meaning for me and a new purpose. I was so excited about my new life that the first person I told was my brother who was playing football in Southern Arkansas. After a few months of studying, he decided to put his Lord on in baptism. Shortly after that, my oldest brother and his girlfriend became Christians. For the first three years of my Christian walk, I traveled with Mr. Franklin to youth rallies and Bible studies, which was valuable training. It felt very similar to how it was done during Jesus’ time when disciples would learn not in a classroom made with walls, but by traveling with their teacher getting firsthand experience. During those first three years, I learned to lead public prayers, teach classes, deliver sermons, and lead singing. These were valuable tools that would help me serve the church wherever I went. After those years, I graduated from college with an electrical engineering degree and headed back to Houston to work and find a congregation where I could be an active member. The congregation that I attended had a Spanish ministry where I got involved for three years. During those three years, I went on several mission trips, which included trips to Mexico and Honduras. After that, I left engineering to get involved in campus ministry with the Christian school that was started by the congregation that I was attending. I have been working there ever since. This Christian school covers grades K-3 through 12th grade. There, I strive to spread the Word through teaching Bible classes and by coaching on the middle school and high school level. I coach both track and football, but I view my coaching as an extension of my ministry. These avenues have allowed me to study with students with the hope that the seeds that have been planted will bear fruit for God’s kingdom. 
The most important part of my ministry today is guiding my family in the ways of the Lord. I have a wonderful Christian wife, two daughters who were recently baptized, a two-year-old son, and a baby due later this month. I constantly think about the assignment that God has given me to minister to my wife and kids, and how it directly impacts my ministry with others. I know that if I serve my family as Jesus served His disciples, then they too will want to serve others with whom they come in contact. 
We will not be able to evangelize the whole world by ourselves, but we must strive to reach one soul at a time, who will, in turn, reach another. If you read the first chapter in the Gospel of John, you will see this being modeled. This is the pattern that I try to follow. If we all teach someone, we will get much closer to teaching the world about Jesus. Let us not wait until tomorrow but let us get started today.