A Word From Pastor Reuben

Friends,

Greetings in the most precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful to God for his salvation and for adopting me into his family and ever since, he has been my companion along this Christian journey. 

It is with great appreciation to God and his leading in my life that I now begin a new journey here at Clay Center UMC serving as your minister. I thank you all for your love, your welcoming spirit and I know God is going to bless us as we journey together and grow more in him. I am excited and looking forward to meeting you all, but I would like to share a little of my story. 

I was born and raised in Kenya. My parents come to Christ as a result of American missionary work in their home area. Soon after they gave their lives to Christ, they were blessed with nine children of whom I am the first born. I praise God for saving my parents from African traditional region and blessing them with children after several years of childlessness. So, I consider myself as a product of Christian missions.

I graduated from Kenya Highlands University with Bachelor of Theology. It was there where I met my wife, Dr. Jane Langat. After our training there, God called us as missionaries to the Maasai people in Kenya for ten years. After that I was appointed as a senior pastor in one of our largest congregation in Nakuru city, Kenya. After seven years of ministry, God opened a door for us to come to Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi where I graduated with Master of Divinity, concentration in family counseling and my wife graduated there too with Masters in Christian education. Upon our graduation we both worked for the Seminary and later proceeded to Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY where I did a Ph.D. in Intercultural studies, concentration in cultural anthropology and my wife did a second masters degree in theology before doing her Ph.D. in development studies.

Dr. Jane is a pastor in Minneola UMC, KS and together we have two children. Our daughter, Mercy Langat is a Ph.D. student at Asbury Theological Seminary. She is married to Dr. Munene who works for a nutrition organization based in Meza, Arizona. Our son, Brian just graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield, KS. 

Until the end of last year I served with Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) International as their U.S. director of Missions of Hope (MoH) International partnerships. I have served in several other mission organizations here and overseas, including being a pastor of the Great Plains Conference in Hoisington and Great Bend, KS. I currently still serve as a director in a number of organizations including universities and seminaries here and abroad. Over the years my family has been involved in different missions including helping widows and their children and rehabilitation of commercial sex workers in Kenya. We are a family that is big in missions!

My passion and desire is to know more of Christ and to daily grow in Him. I enjoy meeting people, knowing, loving and building relationships with them. I love preaching God’s Word as I bring Scriptural expository sermons. I am very relational and love knowing people’s stories. So, come visit me and let me know your story and what God is doing in you and through you.

You may be wondering whether I have any hobbies, yes, I do. I love reading, meeting and getting to know people, going to new places and learning their history.

I have a long story that I cannot write it all here, but every Sunday you will get to know something about me, so I invite you to come to church every Sunday. Again, I am so excited to be here and thank you for welcoming me into your community and I know God will bless our journey together with him. You have a great history of faith in the Great Plains Conference and I know God has used you to extend his Kingdom here on earth and I fully know greater days are still ahead. 

In Christ,

Rev. Reuben Langat, Ph.D.