celebrating God's provision

Due to the incredible generosity of a partner church, Hope's Promise is opening a second orphan home in Kenya, which will welcome an additional ten children from the Mathare Valley slum.


In a very moving ribbon cutting ceremony at the new house, the home was dedicated to the Lord.




There wasn't a dry eye in the room as the children shared Scripture verses from memory and lifted their voices in praise. Then, just moments later, we all howled in laughter as Sammy, our resident entertainer, enthusiastically led the rest of the children in a "Hallelujah" rap song!





We concluded the evening with cake cutting and lots of frosting-filled faces!

a camp like no other...

As we began the process of identifying orphans for the new home, Pastor and Mama Karau took us to one of the camps for internally displaced people.

Following the horrific violence in Kenya after their country elections in December 2007, many people were left homeless. Here, they now attempt to piece their disrupted lives back together....

caring for orphans...

It was incredible to see our gifted professionals in action! Our talented team of social workers, speech therapists, and a medical doctor wholeheartedly invested their skills in assessing children to potentially live in the new orphan home.











These are the orphans we met during our child intake day. Many of these precious little ones will soon become a family at SoH2!



This is sweet Melissa, the niece of my dear friend Malonza. What a joy to finally meet her!

saying goodbyes...

On our last day in Kenya, we delivered gifts to the SoH children from their American sponsors! Surrounded by giggles, stickers, bubble-blowing, and excited voices chattering in Swahili, there was no better way to end our visit!! The children fully enjoyed every moment ~ and we did too!!

a new name...

I was given a precious gift at the outset of this trip...

While conversing with a new Kenyan friend, he learned that this was my third visit to Kenya and commented exuberantly,

"Third time?! Then this is home, and we are family! You need a Kenyan name!"

"Well, what should my name be?" I wondered aloud...

"Mwende," he said. "It means 'one who is loved'."

Wow. I am honored beyond words....



Until the next visit, a piece of my heart will remain in Kenya....

New Iron Media

I enjoyed doing another photo shoot this summer for my friends at New Iron Media! They are such a fun team!