Teacher’s divine calling of being a fisher of men

 “I never knew it would get this far.” This is the one line that summarises Rev. Calisto Odede’s long journey that has finally culminated in him being named the Presiding Bishop of the Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM).

Bishop Odede, who trained as a Physics and Chemistry teacher and briefly taught at St Mary’s Yala, says when he got born again in February of 1980, his main zeal was to preach.

“Before I got saved, there was this pastor back in my home in Migori who used to preach in a very clear and inspiring manner, and I remember thinking to myself that one day I would want to preach like this man,” Bishop Odede says during our interview in his office at CITAM Parklands.

One of Bishop Odede’s famous students at St Mary’s was John Lonyangapuo, who is now the Governor of West Pokot County. The bishop further reveals that he never applied for the job he is currently holding – people who believed God had spoken to them approached him and his wife on many occasions, saying he was headed to head CITAM.

“One day I was sitting in my office at the Nairobi Baptist Church when this lady came to see me. She said she had dreamt that I had been appointed the bishop of CITAM. She left with the rider that all her dreams usually came through. Then there was a day I was leading a prayer session at the same church. As I was climbing down from the altar, one of the pastors started weeping. When I asked her what was the problem she said she had received a revelation that I was leaving the church.”

The bishop, who was consecrated on Saturday December 5, 2020, was born in what was then Migori District in 1962. He attended Kadika Primary School and later joined Cardinal Otunga High School for both his O and A level education.

It was while in Form Four that Odede became born again, and with it came the zeal to preach. “When I went back to Cardinal Otunga for my A levels, I started a bible study group that had the full support of the deputy principal. He used to bring along four other teachers with him. It is crucial to note that these were Dutch Catholic brothers,” he says.

“Back at home, there was this group of seven people who met on weekends for bible study. They also organised preaching missions to local schools. I soon joined them in the missions.”

After his sixth form, Odede was torn between joining Kenyatta University, where he had been offered a place to train as a teacher, and continuing with his preaching work.

He chose the university but even there, his zeal for the gospel burned bright,  and he was soon made the head of the Christian Union. He was also active in the affairs of the Fellowship of Christian Unions (FOCUS), a national body coordinating activities of CUs.

After a seven-month teaching stint, Odede joined FOCUS on a full-time basis.

In the meantime, he earned a diploma in Biblical Studies from Trinity International University of the United States as well as a master’s in InterCultural Studies (Missiology) from Bethany University in Singapore. He later worked as a regional coordinator with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).

He says  his stint with FOCUS and IFES gave him invaluable international exposure, which included participation in the internationally renowned Lausanne Movement and the Keswick Conference.

In 2008, Bishop Odede joined CITAM, where he pastored at Valley Road, Woodley and Karen, and back to Valley Road again. Then Nairobi Baptist Church came with the request that he becomes their senior pastor, and he agreed after the CITAM leadership gave him the go-ahead.

He served there for six years until he was approached by the CITAM leadership and asked whether his name could be included in the list of those being presented for consideration as bishop. The rest, as they say, is history.

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