Jastus Suchi Obadiah will never forget the first time he attended a sacrament meeting. It was fast Sunday in a branch in Nairobi where he was living after leaving his rural village in western Kenya. That day he sat and listened to speaker after speaker bear testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Photo by Julie Dockstader Heaps

Bishop Jastus Suchi Obadiah works for AIDS prevention that focuses on abstinence, fidelity, responsibility and communication.

"Something that really touched me was the way people were using the words, 'I know.' Somehow I wanted to find out, 'How do they know?' and in the process, I knew."

Today, nearly 13 years later, he is Bishop Suchi of the Kasarani Ward, Nairobi Kenya Stake. (It is common practice in Kenya to refer to people by their middle names.) And he combines the principles of the gospel with his profession of trying to curb the spread of AIDS in Africa.

The 33-year-old is the international trainer for Stay Alive, a skills, abstinence and family-based HIV/AIDS prevention program administered worldwide by the non-profit organization, United Families International. Bishop Suchi is also the Kenyan country director for the program that targets children 9 to 14 years old and their families, teaching responsible decision-making skills, better family communication and the role of abstinence and fidelity in preventing AIDS.

"Consequential thinking skills are principles of the gospel — moral agency, family," Bishop Suchi told the Church News during a recent visit to Salt Lake City. He was on his way to Washington, D.C., for a global health conference. "In Stay Alive, we teach families and we teach children about how they can be good members of their families and how they should work toward having stronger families. We empower parents to increase parent/child communication. Those are principles of the gospel because in the gospel we are told to strengthen families."

And through his work, Bishop Suchi has seen these principles taught to Christians, Muslims and Hindus in Kenya's school districts. In addition, Stay Alive is now in nine African countries, reaching some 750,000 children.

Growing up in a family of eight children in the village of Inaya in the Butere District, Jastus Suchi Obadiah probably never imagined he would one day travel the world to help stop the spread of a deadly disease. Reared to believe in God, he was introduced to the Church in 1993 after moving to Nairobi. While taking the discussions, the missionaries "asked me to pray, and it was interesting because as they asked me to pray, the Spirit actually manifested to me almost immediately. I came to know the Book of Mormon is true and the Prophet who translated it is true."

He was baptized in October of that year. He was about 20 years old at the time. "One thing that I liked when I joined the Church was the kind of fellowship I received. It was wonderful, the way they nourished me. They gave me a responsibility immediately and they were friends to me."

The new member of the Church was so excited about the gospel that he wanted to share it with everybody around him. "When you tasted the gospel of Jesus Christ and you know the fruit is good, you want to share it with other people," he said, smiling. And he did just that. From 1995-1997, he served in the Kenya Nairobi Mission, spending part of his time in Uganda.

It was while on a mission that one of Elder Suchi's many talents became known — he's a good cook. His mission president, President H. David Boucher, used to invite him to the mission home to cook for new missionaries meeting in an informal missionary training program. One of those new missionaries was his future wife, although Bishop Suchi is quick to say their romance did not begin until long after their missions.

After returning home, he entered a government college in Nairobi, studying for a degree in medical laboratory. That young sister missionary, Millicent, was then working for Church Physical Facilities in Nairobi and volunteered to type papers for the college student who often stopped in to visit. The year 2003 became important to both of them.

Before marrying, the future bishop wanted to make sure he could support a family. "Finding a job in Africa is tough, especially in Kenya, but I believed that God loved me and God wanted me to work and build a strong family."

That's when he remembered his mission president had taught the missionaries that the Church wanted them to flood the world with the Book of Mormon. "So I applied that model, I said, 'Let me flood Nairobi with my resumes.' I made about 200 copies."

One of those resumes landed in the hands of Stay Alive officials, who hired the young man who would rise to the position of international trainer in about two years. That was in February 2003. In December, he and Millicent married and were sealed in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. Today, they have a 15-month-old son, Benjamin Suchi.

Realizing his role with Stay Alive required more education, he is enrolled as a graduate student, taking evening courses in community development.

With all his responsibility, the Kenyan bishop seldom stops smiling. He said he learned during his mission that when you apply gospel principles in your life, you find they are true. He sees this in Stay Alive. A recent study provided by Stay Alive officials shows a 68 percent reduction in pregnancy rates in Kenyan schools where the program is taught.

Bishop Suchi focuses on the family. He said other AIDS prevention programs taught in the world where abstinence is not emphasized do not work. "One of our objectives is to increase parent/child communication so that children can be empowered at the family level."

That's where he sees the difference.

E-mail to: julied@desnews.com