History was made in the High Court of Kenya – but few realized. The person behind this victory was Lillian Nyangasi Kanji, a determined legal advocate whose faith had carried her into the fight against human trafficking and through Kenya’s first successful anti-trafficking case.
When she learned she had won, Lillian was shocked. “Human traffickers and criminal gangs are well connected,” she said. “It was assurance that God sees the plight of victims. I give my best, and He’s able to do the rest.” Her story is a powerful reminder of how God advances His kingdom through faithful obedience, one life at a time.
Lillian’s journey toward legal advocacy began years ago. Growing up, she witnessed injustices in her community. Those experiences, combined with her faith in Christ and scriptural understanding, shaped her calling. She came to understand how God’s heart beats especially for the hungry, the poor and the oppressed – and she felt compelled to do the very work of God.
As the daughter of Free Methodist pastors, Lillian also understood sacrifice. Pastoral wages were rarely enough to cover her education, especially while her parents served as missionaries. Through sponsorship from International Child Care Ministries (ICCM), Lillian received support from elementary school through high school in Uganda. “The money my dad earned as a lumberjack was used for food, survival and medicine,” she explains. “ICCM came in at a very critical stage.” That support didn’t just fund her education – it preserved a calling.
Today, Lillian is providing support structures for the younger generation. Through her work with Thrive, a ministry of the Set Free Movement, she helps protect and empower vulnerable children. Thrive began in 2016 as a small Bible study of eight teenage girls initiated by missionary Vickie Reynen – one of whom was Lillian. Today, it has grown into eight Thrive Junior groups across Kenya.
Thrive leaders provide mentoring and preventative education on human trafficking, while partnering with Wunders to equip girls with menstrual health-management skills. “Because menstruation is a taboo topic, our sessions are the first time many girls can talk about it,” Lillian shares. “They see us as older sisters … and they have so many questions, we rarely have enough time.”
Still, Lillian presses forward with hope. “Every seed you sow in another life counts,” she says. “Sometimes the tree may grow slowly like a bamboo tree or faster like an orange tree, but there is so much impact in communities for every seed that is planted.” And through Lillian’s life, that impact continues to multiply.
