(Photo courtesy of Kids Alive International)
Disease, poverty, and sickness run rampant throughout the country’s rural villages. Many lose hope, but one organization is making a difference: Kids Alive International.
“We’re working in a number of communities in Kenya, where there’s huge suffering…a lot of squalor, extreme poverty, high infant [and] child mortality rates, a lot of orphans and abandoned children, a lot of sickness, a lot of kids who really have no opportunity to go to school,” says Matt Parker, President of Kids Alive International.
One specific village where Kids Alive is making a difference is Mitaboni. A few years ago, Kids Alive and its partner Calvary Church in Valparaiso, Ind., were asked to take over management of a children’s home in the village.
“We took a look at the home. There were 10 kids in there at the time. Really, there was a whole lot of work that needed to happen,” Parker says. “The facilities were very run-down. They needed renovation. The standards of care for the children really needed to be drastically improved.”
Now, five years later, there’s been quite a change.The home’s overall quality has been greatly improved, and more children are coming in.
“We’ve really seen a dramatic transformation in the home over the last five years through this partnership,” Parker says. “We’ve now got 40 kids in the home, so the numbers have increased from 10 up to 40…. It’s amazing to see the joy that is in these children’s eyes.
“We’ve got new facilities, the home is now growing much of its food, we’ve installed an amazing playground there for the community, and we’ve got a wonderful Kenyan staff team there as well that really demonstrates genuine love and care for the kids.”
But the partnership is not just a blessing to the children. It is providing opportunities for the partner church to strengthen its missions program as well as experience the satisfaction of serving others.
“Our partnership with the church has really helped them to bring new life to their missions program,” Parker says. “It’s helped give them enthusiasm. There’s a real common sense of purpose.
Shown here under construction, the recently-finished
Bradley Hall is a multi-purpose room in the
Mitaboni children’s home.
(Photo courtesy of Kids Alive International)
“The call in Scripture is to make disciples and to serve the most vulnerable people in our world today. So the partnership with Kids Alive has been a great way for the church to live that out in reality. The church has been very involved in sending mission teams, short-term service teams to help out, providing practical support at the home.
“It’s about relationship. The church can see firsthand how their gifts are being used, and they have the joy of seeing kids come to know Christ and serve Him in their lives. So it’s a wonderful partnership, a great partnership, between Kids Alive, the church, and the Kenyan team on the ground.”
Parker says Kids Alive is always looking for new churches to partner with. Click here to get in contact with Kids Alive and find out more about a partnership, or consider supporting the ministry financially, sponsoring a child, or taking a mission trip.
