Saruni and Matthew Lekarikei were raised in the remote pastoral region of Samburu in northern Kenya, where life for centuries has been shaped by survival. As young Moran warriors—their days were marked by hardship, endurance, and profound responsibility. In regions where the Samburu, Pokot, and Turkana tribes intersect, competition over water, grazing land, and livestock—the foundation of life—has long been a constant reality. With the introduction of modern weapons into the region, these tensions became increasingly deadly.
Strength, loyalty, and readiness were essential for daily life. The preservation of their village, clan, and livestock depended on faithfulness to these responsibilities.
Living fully within this world, Saruni and Matthew learned to walk long distances, protect livestock, and stand watch over their community. These formative years of discipline and hardship would later be redirected toward service and education beyond the traditional warrior role.
Unlike many of their peers, Saruni and Matthew were given an opportunity to attend school. Education brought not only learning, but a growing sense of responsibility—particularly toward children and young people around them who had little access to schooling, guidance, or stability. So, in 2017 Saruni began volunteer teaching, and in 2018, he began formal studies toward a degree in Early Childhood Development and Education, opening a door that would quietly redirect the course of his life.
As part of his education, Saruni began to encounter Christian teaching through visiting pastors connected with Mara Vision Outreach. In 2021, when a group of Maasai pastors preached in his area, Saruni’s brother Matthew was in attendance. At that time, Saruni was serving as an evangelist in a Sunday church.
Matthew shared this new religion with Saruni and together they began attending Sabbath worship. Through fellowship with other Sabbath keepers and continued Bible study, he came to know the God of Heaven not as distant, but as personal and active in his daily life. His faith did not remove him from his culture or community; instead, it reshaped his purpose within them. The discipline of a warrior began to find new expression through service, care for others, and peacemaking.
On February 22, 2022, Saruni was baptized, publicly committing his life to Jesus Christ as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.
In 2021, Saruni completed his teacher qualification. During this same period, his brother Matthew—who was also receiving teacher training—worked alongside him in supporting literacy and learning in their community. At that time, Saruni was asked to help teach in Samburu North when a local teacher became ill. Saruni agreed. Within three months, the children were excelling, and he earned the trust of teachers and parents. What began as a temporary arrangement became a lasting responsibility throughout the years to follow.
As his role expanded, Saruni began teaching Morans (warriors) to read and write in Maa, their first language, along with Swahili and English, recognizing that language could open pathways to a meaningful life beyond the bush. His care extended naturally to the local children—including orphans with little protection or family support. Teaching was never confined to a formal classroom. For years, Saruni—often working alongside his brother Matthew—has conducted bush classes in a teaching environment made up of simple plastic chairs and a chalkboard–feeding children using his own limited resources, sharing what he had so they would not go hungry.
As the needs around him increased, so did the responsibility he carried. During this time of teaching and caring for the children, Saruni remembers going alone into the quiet forest to pray. There, he asked God to provide a way for him to continue serving the children placed in his care.
In November 2025, Saruni met Amy Webb while she was filming stories in northern Kenya with Adventist World Radio. What began as a shared Sabbath with the SDA Samburu community and visiting believers quietly marked the start of an ongoing partnership.
As Saruni’s story was shared back home in Colorado, donors came alongside the work he had already been faithfully carrying for years. Saruni receives this provision with humility—recognizing it not as personal achievement, but as God’s leading. This growing work is now known as Children of the King – Samburu Care & Education Project. Its goal is to establish a Seventh-day Adventist Church school near Kisima in Samburu County, where the need for a dedicated facility to educate and care for local children and orphans is great.
Today, Saruni continues to teach freely and serve faithfully. His ministry goes beyond education for the children and Morans to include church planting, Pathfinders, prison ministry, hospital ministry—reaching even across enemy divides to share Christ. In each setting, he shows up consistently where encouragement, prayer, and presence are needed most. His life reflects a commitment to people over position, and service over security.