My name is Ella, I am a 10 year-old homeschooler and a first-time author. All my life I’ve been surrounded by books, both my parents, Patrick and are publishers and we have all worked at a bookstore since 2009. At the time I began writing my book – God Made Time, my elder sister Abiah had written her book, Conceive Achieve for Teens and my mom also had already written several books including Back on My Feet and Too Busy for Worship. Now, my younger brother Ethan and I have also achieved the wonderful title of Author.
I love writing because I never know what my writing can accomplish or where my words can go, or who my voice can change. In 2020, I wrote and recorded a poem about inspiring kids – I called it, Let Them Wear Their Crowns. A lot of people loved the poem and it was played during the Buford Harvest in Atlanta, Georgia, where over 500 people watched online from all over the world. That day really really showed me the power of writing and the power words can have. Even as a child, writing can be your superpower, your way of changing your community or even the world. Below is the poem…
By God’s grace, and with lots of help and encouragement from my friends, and family, I’ve had the opportunity to share my voice and my talent with the world. In the 2022 ACABA Gala in Nairobi, another of my spoken word called Mama Africa was played during the ACABA Gala which had over 250 authors and readers and 2,000 online. I was in attendance and I was proud to have participated. My maternal grandparents were also in attendance and they were very happy and that made me happy. Here is the spoken word…
My recent project using my scripting and voice talent, was this year being the Brand Ambassador for Mama Africa Book Box – our reading, writing and publishing ministry for children and teens. I had lots of fun doing the project and it was streamed and watched in over 40 CLC countries during our annual prayer and fasting day. It was also translated into French and Spanish. I was so encouraged by all these opportunities.
I spend days and weeks practicing the spoken words and about five hours recording them as I have to do many takes. It can be tiresome but fulfilling, especially because I love to working with my elder sister in the projects. She has done do many voice overs and audio books reviews for CLC Kenya and is the voice behind ACABA’s Gala videos. We are putting together our content to start a YouTube channel as the three siblings and one other friend. We want to inspire the world with our writing and voice overs. And I am happy that all the hard work in the past has paid off in a huge way. I have my first ever book.
When my mom first inspired the idea to write my very own book, I was excited. We got to stay up late, sometimes on school nights (which was very fun) working on the book. My mom and I read through the Bible researching how God created time, and finding answers to questions, that we never even knew existed. For example, God made light on the first day, but the sun and moon were created on the fourth day, so was it dark until the sun came, or was there something else making light? It really felt like being a detective, and I learned so much about the bible. We wrote the book over a couple of months, and then we realized, WE WROTE TOO MUCH! Which was the opposite of what I thought was gonna happen, so we decided to split it into six separate books and turned it into a series.
Now I am an author of 6 books instead of one
This book introduces the concept of Time to children as created by God. It is the first one in a series of six. The series is a tool to help children discover the beauty of Time and how they can effectively use this gift from God to serve Him and humanity. Teaching children about Time opens the conversation on Time management. It is my hope that this conversation will be discussed at home with parents, in school with teachers and at Church with Sunday school teachers
I loved the cover of the book because the illustrator was able to capture my brother and I in it. My brother seems bigger than me but he is actually my little brother.
My publisher, CLC Kenya, has worked on the illustrations of the other books so book 2 in my series is now available. All the other work is completed. It was my first time to work with the illustrators and I am happy with the final book and I hope God will use me to touch many lives for Him.
When I grow up I would want to be a travelling pastor/missionary preaching the Gospel. So I have an interest in languages and would love to learn at many languages. I was clear about this when I was 6 years and was interviewed at Pearl Radio. This might change but for now, that’s what I think I want to do.
I went to Pearl Radio two years later… When I was 8. Perhaps radio ministry might be my thing, I don’t know.
What I am currently working on:
1. My school work
2. My business called Oracles on Paper (for scripting, spoken word and creative writing)
3. Playing with my brother
4. I am a volunteer missionary at CLC Kenya and my brother and I manage the new initiative for children called Mama Africa Book Box to get books every month for children all over Africa starting with Kenya and Uganda. You can register your children at https://kenyaclc.org/mama-africa-book-box-for-heritage-kids/?v=be7f575c3bc9
I represent Mama Africa Book Box in book fairs and other events. We want all children in Africa to have an opportunity to read, write, publish and impact their world.
My three projects this year,
1. 7th Book:
I am writing a new book for older kids as my other book series for smaller kids. I will graduate from the publishing class in November and launch the book. I hope to display it in ACABA Book Fest in Nairobi and also in ACABA Gala in Kampala. See you there!
2. Master of Ceremony
This year, I was selected to be the Master of Ceremony by Scripture Union of Kenya during their strategic planning annual meeting. There were so many people present and I had butterflies in my stomach because I have never been an MC before and I have never worked outside of CLC Kenya. But I did it and I am so proud of myself.
Now, if another opportunity involving children’s events came up, I will be more ready to take it up.
😊 I am advertising my free services. Just provide transport for my family.
And oh, I received my first honorarium from Scripture Union of Kenya, yaay, and I took my sister and brother out for a sumptuous lunch 😊
3. Video for Co-Authored Devotional by ACABA Women
In May, ACABA launched a devotional done by 15 ACABA women from Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. They had worked on it for over one year. I did the dedication or opening video for the devotional that is slowly getting to more hands. I love the devotional because my mom is passionate about it, well, about everything books 😊
I hope to do a few more videos for ACABA this year. I love being the voice and words helping the world know that there are good books in Africa.
I love telling stories on audio or video. Sometimes I don’t enjoy the hard work but when I see the finished video, I always feel it is worth it. Cramming, reciting over and over and recording sometimes take too long. But I love it at the end. Always.
See you at Book Fest in Nairobi in November and in the ACABA Gala in Kampala in November.
Bye!
