Joseph Rorick is launching a post-50 life of ministry in Kenya

Joseph Rorick is from Detroit where he worked as a truck driver for the past 30 years. But, now that he’s over 50, his life is taking a completely different route.

He started as a long-haul over-the-road driver who visited all 48 lower states. Today, he makes local deliveries for a flooring company.

He was happily married for 21 years, but his wife got sick and died in 2021, when Joseph was 49 years old. After he turned 50, God flipped his life completely upside down and redeemed the tragedy into a new beginning.

“He took something that was very devastating and difficult, but, praise God, he is making all things new,” said Joseph. “My wife’s death wasn’t the end. God had a whole new life planned for me.

“We are just in the beginning steps at the moment. I haven’t even started on the main pieces of the pie to do all the things God is going to have me do in Kenya,” he added.

“Life is not about doing things for ourselves. It’s very important that we serve others who are, themselves, children of God,” he explained. “God can bless us, but our perspective must be to love and serve others. That’s the focal point God put on my heart over the last few years – to serve my new wife and daughters in Kenya.”

A divine appointment

Joseph met his wife on Facebook completely by accident during the COVID situation.

“God had been introducing me to the idea of living in Kenya to serve the people there. I was already learning about the country and trying to master the Kiswahili language or, as we call it in America, the Swahili language,” said Joseph.

“There was a man from Libya who actually knew Muammar Gaddafi, and God used that man to bring my wife and I together,” he added. “He was the only connection on Facebook that both of us had in common.

“My wife had never talked to the man before, and never even knew he existed,” Joseph explained. “She didn’t know she was friends with the man, but that’s how God worked to connect us.”

Joseph recorded an eight-part video message on TicTok describing the miracles which had to take place for him to even get to Kenya. People can find those videos here:

Joseph’s new bride had two daughters of her own. Then, she and Joseph had one daughter together. The four beautiful ladies are the backbone of his life. In fact, Joseph refers to them as His Four Malkias, which is a Kenyan word for “Queens.”

“Once we started talking on Facebook, it was a done deal,” he explained. “We just knew it was from God. It was like we had known each other our whole lives.”

Because he lives in Detroit and they are in Kenya, Joseph is anxious to return to that country. Not only does he want to join his family, he dreams of supporting a church or launching a mission of his own.

“Kenya is a wonderful country and I just love the Kenyan people,” Joseph explained. “However, the government will not allow people who are non-Kenyans to work in that country.”

Consequently, he supports his family by earning a good income working up to 55 hours a week driving trucks in the United States and sends financial support to his wife. He gets to see his four Queens daily on Zoom calls.

“I am willing to make whatever sacrifices I need to make in order to take care of my family,” said Joseph. “During this season, we are separated, but we are able to video chat pretty much whenever we can. That allows me to still be a leader in many ways by feeding my family spiritually. We spend time together every day reading scripture and praying.”

Spiritual warfare

Just getting to Kenya the first time was a miracle in itself, Joseph explained. It was January 2022, and COVID was causing problems throughout the world.

“I needed to get nine shots before I could even get on that plane,” said Joseph. “Just getting the passport took almost four months because the U.S. government was so backlogged due to COVID. Then, I had to get a visa to enter Kenya, which took two more weeks to process the application and complete a background check.

“After I got the paperwork in order, then I could buy tickets, which were very pricey,” he explained. “Fortunately, I found a round-trip ticket for about $2,000 on the Hopper app. When it was all set up, I couldn’t have been a more happier man.”

The first time he went to Kenya, Joseph was in the country for 10 days. That’s when he met his wife in person for the first time and they were married before he returned to the United States. A year later, he returned for another 12 days.

“When I was in Kenya the second time, God used me to speak at a church,” he explained. “It was beautiful. There was a man who came to that church for the first time and wound up getting saved.

“Later that day, a woman who was very sick with malaria was healed,” he added. “Even though I didn’t go to Kenya that second time to do what I had in mind, God used it as a great miracle. He fulfilled something that he spoke to me many years earlier.”

A vision for his life

When Joseph was 10 years old, he had an encounter at church that wound up changing his life.

“There was a man who came to the church every three months or so. He was not a pastor, but more like a roving evangelist,” said Joseph. “While the man was preaching, God spoke to me and said ‘That’s going to be you one day.’ I chuckled and told him that doesn’t make sense.

“But, God affirmed it right then and, over the years, he has reminded me of what he had spoken to me as a child,” he added. “Here I am, 42 years later, actually watching this come to fruition. It is the most beautiful, amazing thing to see something God spoke to me as a child actually blossoming into reality.”

Although Joseph never thought of himself as a pastor, God already gave him a heart for ministry. He has made contact with several pastors in Kenya and he speaks with them almost daily.

“They are eagerly anticipating me coming to Kenya and are very excited for me to get there to help them,” he explained.

“Remarkably, another man who is not a pastor, also contacted me to say that he was willing to give me a parcel of family land in northwestern Kenya if I would build a church there,” said Joseph.

“I was so humbled by the gesture, but heartbroken at the same time because I knew he didn’t have the finances to be able to give away land for free,” he added. “Yet, when we connected again a while later, he told me he wants me to go to that specific part of Kenya because people need to hear about Jesus there.”

Joseph was so humbled by the gesture that he promised to go into that area to preach the gospel even if he was unable to build a church in that village.

“I told him we would do whatever we can to minister to those people and feed them spiritually,” he explained.

He also met another man, Eric, who lives 20 minutes south of Joseph’s family. Raiders had invaded the village and killed many people, which forced the man to move to a new location. Unfortunately, the community’s homes are situated on a hill that is prone to mudslides, which is causing homes to slip into a valley.

“I told Eric that when I get to Kenya, I wanted to work with him to start a baseball team and teach kids and young adults how to play,” said Joseph. “We wanted to give them something else to do besides run in the streets. While we are teaching them to play baseball, we will also be sharing the gospel with them.

“Eric has written to me with ideas he has regarding ways to save his community by using agriculture to slow down the mudslides,” he explained. “I am really motivated to get there to try to prevent those disasters from happening.”

A passion for Kenya

A few years ago, Joseph had been praying for something completely different to do with his life. But, the only thing God spoke to him was the word “Africa.”

“It didn’t even make sense, so I kind of put the idea out of my mind and didn’t dwell on it even though I knew it was from God,” said Joseph. “But, when all these things started happening, God reminded me of what he put on my heart two years earlier.

“Throughout my life, that is how God has chosen to speak to me and show me what he wants me to do,” he added. “He drops something in my lap and then teaches me how to get it done later.”

Although the government changed the entry rules in December 2023 so a visa is no longer required to visit Kenya, and people can stay as long as they’d like, it will still take a while for Joseph to gain dual citizenship.

“That process can take 10 to 12 years,” he explained. “The government wants to ensure people seeking dual citizenship are successful and not causing problems.

“I am convinced God is sending me to Kenya. The only thing holding it up is developing the income I need to get me there, and support my family and missions while I’m there,” he added.

Although Joseph and his wife contemplated bringing their daughters to America, that is cost-prohibitive at the moment. Besides, his family are Kenyans and love their country.

“We originally wanted to come to America and my wife was onboard with the idea,” he added. “But, God also started speaking to her. She said, ‘If God told you that you’re coming here, then you’re coming here. That’s it.’“

Financially, it would be better for his family to be in Kenya than in Detroit. One dollar in America is the equivalent of 150 Kenyan shillings.

“In America, our middle class is shrinking. But, in Kenya, their middle class is growing, especially in the area around Nairobi and other major cities,” said Joseph. “However, outside of the big cities, there is a lot of poverty. It’s like being back in America during the 1850s when everyone had to live off the land. If their crops don’t come through, the families are in major trouble.”

Starting an online business

Because of the work rules in Kenya, Joseph wants to create a sustainable, recurring income to support his family and his missions. A close friend introduced him to the idea of starting online businesses to create streams of revenue.

However, as a truck driver, Joseph had no idea where to begin to develop those platforms. But, he is confident God will give him the insight he needs or connect him to people who can turn the dream into reality.

“If I am going to accomplish what God wants for my life, and that means living in Kenya, then I need to have outside-the-box thinking to come up with streams of income,” said Joseph.

“I need an online business to support my family and help out all those pastors and other people, like Eric, who God has put into my life to serve,” he added. “It will take some kind of financial network, and that’s what I am hoping to build with a series of online businesses.”

Joseph already opened a Shopify store to sell health and fitness products as well as jewelry and clothing items, like bombardier jackets or native Kenyan dresses, Toys, pet supplies and home décor items are also available at Joseph’s Shopify store, which can be found at www.4malkias.com.

Under his pen name, Jason William Alexander, he recently published a book titled “Faith Hope Love: A Journey to Find Truth.” Joseph described it as a riveting story of a boy, who lost all hope and desire for truth. But, during his darkest moments, he was given a second chance at life. It has parallels to Joseph’s own life.

“I am praying every day that God will intercede and bless these businesses by directing people to them,” he added.

Support for his cause

People can use PayPal to support Joseph’s efforts by making donations to his mission account by directing it to either roricktr@gmail.com or searching for The 4 Malkias on PayPal.

“I’m not really good at asking people for money, but if someone would like to support the mission, it would not be wise for me to turn it down,” said Joseph.

He also joined the late Dan Miller’s 48 Days Eagles community to learn more about developing online businesses and streams of income. There are a lot of things Joseph still has to figure out, but he is confident that, since God gave him a vision to minister to the people of Kenya, God will fully finance that mission, too.

“It’s all a learning process. God is directing me and redirecting me to where I need to be,” said Joseph. “That’s what I am doing by assembling a little piece here and a little piece there. When the whole pie is put together, I am confident God will give me enough streams of income to support what he wants me to do in Kenya.”

People can connect with Joseph via email at roricktr@gmail.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/joseph.t.rorick. He can also be reached from his Shopify store at www.4malkias.com.

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