OVER 30 YEARS AGO, A KENYAN
widow, unable to afford to feed her
three children, arranged for them
to be taken to the nearest large town and
dumped on the side of a street. These
children had nothing but the clothes on
their backs and were forced to survive by
begging and stealing. Tragically, the
youngest child died, and his body was
discarded on the town rubbish dump. The
other two children somehow survived and
were eventually able to get into a Christian
children’s home, where they remained until
they were 18 years old.
The oldest, Erick, was determined to help
other suffering children, so he returned to
the small village where he was born and
started taking in any children who had no
home. He had no income, so he took any
jobs that came along, such as begging for
food and climbing into toilet pits to dig out
the muck when they got too full.
Marilyn and I were members of a
church whose pastor had been
visiting Kenya for about nine years
to preach at several rural churches
and to help in various projects. In 2009, she
asked me to join her and share the
preaching. Marilyn couldn’t go because
she’d had major surgery a few months
before. One of the places we visited was the
place set up by Erick, then aged 20, whom
the pastor had known since he was rescued
from living as a street child.
The conditions were dire. Ninety children
were crammed into two small rooms with a
few mattresses on the floor. There were no
toilets; children had to use a field. There was
no water supply, no electricity, no regular
income to buy food.
Marilyn and I did our best to raise
money for food for the children.
Then Marilyn felt called by God
to take on responsibility for the
children’s home. After five years, the
income was enough to register as a UK
charity. We built toilets with washrooms, a
nursery room, and beds and mosquito nets
for all the children. The children were sent to
school with uniforms, school fees and
books, and provided with a variety of sport
and activities to get involved in.