Esther Karimi Gitobu is a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church assigned to Cambodia. "I will mostly be dealing with writing grants and fundraising for projects," Esther explains. "My vision of Cambodia is to see hope in the midst of pain and despair...Hope is when in the midst of uncertainty one keeps making the effort. I just want to be there as an agent of hope."

Previously, Esther and her husband, Nicholas Gitobu Kithinji - also a GBGM missionary - served in the Southern Congo Annual Conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In anticipation of their new assignment, Esther and Nicholas say "The uncertainties and anxieties associated with moving to another country have been laid to rest by our discovery that God is already where we are going."

In the DRC, Esther was involved with peace and reconciliation efforts, experience that will serve her well in Cambodia, a country still recovering from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. "The longer I am involved in peacemaking work, the more I am aware of the Spirit's presence and of the many ways that God is at work in and through people's conflicts," Esther observes. "Even in times when sin and evil are clearly present, I find the Spirit breaking in amazing ways."

Esther says she has often experienced God moving through her ministry, such as the time a woman approached her after her work with a congregation, and said, "The thing I appreciated most was that I could feel the Spirit through you all the time."

A native of Meru, Kenya, Esther is a member of Chimwemwe United Methodist Church in Kitwe, Zambia. She holds a diploma in business administration from Kenya Polytechnic Institute, and was chief cashier at the Central Bank of Kenya in Nairobi before entering the mission field in 1999.

Esther and Nicholas have three daughters: Jeannette, Nicole and Michelle.

This is the Walter Henry School in Bolivia, to which LUMC has contributed. This school is named for the late Walter Henry, who we supported in missions work along with his wife, Susie.

Students at the Walter Henry School in Bolivia