The Boy They Called “Pastor” Part 1
By Andrew McChesney
Rompas was born into a Maasai tribal family of one father and nine mothers in Kenya. He has 82 siblings. He is number 62.
When he was 13, he was tending his father’s cattle in the bush when he noticed that the animals seemed to have a mind of their own. They kept moving in a single direction. He followed the cattle and found himself at an outdoor religious meeting led by a missionary from the United States.
Rompas was intrigued. He had never been to school, so he could not read the Bible. But he liked to listen to sermons on the radio on Sundays. He enjoyed memorizing what he heard and preaching the sermons to his family. His love for preaching had earned him the nickname “Pastor.”
But the missionary was preaching a message that he had never heard. He said the Bible teaches that Saturday, not Sunday, is God’s holy day.
Rompas ran off to find a friend who knew how to read and write. He asked the boy to copy down the Bible verses from the sermon. The boy jotted down 33 verses about the holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath.
That evening, Rompas took the cattle home. But he didn’t stay. He then walked 4 miles (6 kilometers) to the home of a pastor and handed him the list of 33 verses. “Does our Bible contain these verses?” he asked.
The pastor looked up the verses in his Bible and said ominously, “You have gone to a meeting of devil worshipers.”
Fear seized Rompas. He began shaking. “Oh Lord, save me,” he said.
The pastor struck the boy repeatedly on the cheeks with his Bible. “In the name of Jesus, I rebuke the devil who has possessed this boy,” he said.
It was late when Rompas returned home. After falling asleep, he had a dream. He saw the missionary preaching about the Sabbath again. Waking up, he was afraid that he had been possessed, and he rebuked the devil.
For the next three years, Rompas had the same dream every night. He saw the missionary preaching about the Sabbath. For three years, he lived in fear that he had been possessed. For three years, he kept rebuking the devil.
Then he thought, “I wonder if this might be a message from the Lord. Let me find out if what the pastor said is true.”
(to be continued next week…)
Andrew McChesney is the editor of Adventist Mission. This story has been shared with permission of Adventist Mission.
World Church Prayer Requests
February 21 — 27, 2025
- Papua New Guinea: Pray for Freedom in Christ Ministry, a prison outreach for non-Adventist and former Adventist prisoners of the state in Lae, PNG. Pray that their hearts will be open to embracing their Father’s love.
- United States: Pray for the Highland Academy students as they prepare for a mission trip to the Philippines in March. Pray that the Holy Spirit will go before them to prepare the hearts of those they will be ministering to. Pray also that the Holy Spirit will prepare their hearts so that this experience will be a stepping stone of faith rather than just a fun adventure.
- Tonga: Pray for the 55 individuals from across the Trans Pacific Union Mission (5 from Tonga) that participated in the Mission Refocus Training 2025. This two-week workshop trains and equips its students to go out and share God’s love with communities that need it most. Pray for these missionaries as they step into their journey of faith, carrying the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth.
- Philippines: Pray for the Caloocan Adventist Elementary School as they seek to reach out to children and families in their community. Pray that God will send the necessary resources and that the student population would increase. Pray especially that God will provide the necessary permit to open a kindergarten.
- Ghana: Pray for the evangelistic series WAD IMPACT 2025 scheduled for March. Pray that God will do a mighty work among His people and the communities in which they live.
- Canada: Pray for a small church in Canada as they prepare to host an It Is Written seminar on marriage renewal. Pray that those in attendance will be prepared to surrender their marriages and families to God.