Catholic Missionary Work in Kenya

In 2011, a famine crisis hit Kenya. It was caused by a perfect storm of events: prolonged drought, escalating food prices, and an influx of refugees from conflict-wrought areas in Somalia and Ethiopia. Disease infiltrated the Horn of Africa, tearing apart families and adding to the general suffering.

The mission in Kenya began in 2012 to evangelize people in remote areas, and to bring hope in the midst of famine and suffering. The Missionaries of the Poor saw the needs of the people and knew they needed to expand their mission to meet basic needs: food, clothing, medicine, and education. They work around the clock to meet the needs of people physically, and spiritually.

Explore the tabs below to learn about our projects in Kenya.

Lives are Being Transformed at Saint Joseph the Worker Home!

Give Disabled and Mentally Handicapped Children Independence & Hope

St. Joseph the Worker Home in Kakamega, Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children experience life to the fullest. The Sisters of Mary of Kakamega guide these children towards self-reliant and dignifying lives even with their bleak reality of discrimination and a lack of basic healthcare.

YOU can help these precious children receive essential care by helping them build skills that will give them long-term success! Children like Ivan will be able to live rewarding and joyous lives as they thrive in a positive and Godly environment.

The Sisters work hard to give disabled and mentally handicapped children the rehabilitation, medication, vocational training, and care they need. For Ivan, this life-saving care brings forth remarkable opportunities to use his God-given talents and become closer to living an independent life.

Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children

St. Joseph the Worker Home was initiated in 1998 by the Sisters after witnessing that children with disabilities in the surrounding community were not receiving adequate care.

Ten-year-old Ivan grew up in difficult living conditions that caused him to become malnourished and socially isolated from his community. The Sisters found him during a field visit and after a medical examination, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Since joining St. Joseph the Worker Home, he partakes in speech and physical therapy, which strengthens his social skills.

He can now enjoy activities that children his age engage in such as playing and socializing with his friends and watching games. He currently is in a pre-vocational class where he is gaining essential skills that will deeply richen his life in the years to come. His family commends the Sisters’ devotion and perseverance as he is improving greatly and sees that he is heading towards living a meaningful life.

Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children
Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children
Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children
Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children
Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children
Kenya is helping disabled and mentally handicapped children

The Mission of the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor

The Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor are asking for YOUR help to bring up 22 devoted candidates who wish to fulfill their spiritual calling in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Establishing the Queen of Mercy Formation House and Mission Outreach Center will give the Sisters the chance to uplift and save countless lives in impoverished conditions.

The Sisters have faced many challenges while practicing corporal works of mercy and attempting to develop a new mission in Chokaa, East Nairobi. Now, the existing challenges have been amplified because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the sisters passionately persevere, knowing how desperately the Chokaa slums need their help and the Lord’s presence.

Miriam’s Story

On the night of December 23, a massive power outage in the slum occurred while she was at work. Alone and scared, Tiffan and Lian lit a candle and then fell asleep. Unfortunately, Miriam returned home to a mother’s worst nightmare and saw the shack had caught fire, and both of her children had not been able to escape and passed away.

Miriam’s gut-wrenching story sprung the Sisters into action. They realized the desperate demand for not only the necessities but also faithful people who are devoted to caring for others when they need it the most. This is how the Queen of Hope Formation House and Mission Outreach Center was born. This formation house will train the aspiring Sisters in their holy way of life and the ministries of mercy they joyfully fulfill for the love of Jesus. The passion for spreading the Gospel and empowering others has already inspired 22 young women to sacrifice everything to help others like Miriam who are in critical need.

Queen of Mercy Formation House and Mission Outreach Center in Kenya will give the Sisters the chance to save lives
Queen of Mercy Formation House and Mission Outreach Center in Kenya will give the Sisters the chance to save lives
“May God’s blessings and peace be with you always, as you help us to spread His loving mercy and compassion to His little ones in great need!”
— Sister Rita Bandola

Missionaries of the Poor Reaching the Community

The Missionaries of the Poor came to Nairobi in 2007. Their mission was to feed the hungry in the area and tell them about Jesus. These brave missionaries are no strangers to desperate need. Drawn to serving the poorest of the poor, and armed with a large container of grain and basic food staples, they opened their hearts and their shack to everyone in need.

Slowly the word spread and families began migrating to the shelter each day: widowed mothers with their children, the stragglers and the sick, the desperate and lonely. Brothers organized a daily feeding plan for families, many of which had been forced to choose which of their children would eat that day.

Over time the feeding program evolved into more: facilitating delivery of medicines and doctor visits, making sacraments and mass available, and community support.

And while the famine eventually ended, the consequent poverty in Nairobi has escalated. Families there are more reliant on charity now than ever before. MOP brothers understand the roots of generational poverty are planted in times of desperation. Education, employment, and life skills take a back seat when people are hungry.

The Missionaries of the Poor are working to stop the cycle of poverty here before it takes hold. Thanks in great part to CWM donors, they have opened a school for the children and are engaging the adults and teens in the work of the community. They also have plans to refurbish an old building on site to turn into a bakery, where community members can use the crops grown on site to feed the community.

Today they feed up to 275 people per day, educate 120 children in full time school, and house and care for dozens of homeless people, including those disabled and unable to care for themselves.

It sounds like a success story: and it is. But in truth, the brothers are barely hanging on. The cost of food, water, textbooks, facilities, clothing, and medicine is more than they are able to cover most months.  However, the brothers do not lose hope. They know that God has provided, and will continue to provide.

Catholic Missionaries helping Children in Kenya
“We are trying to stand on our own feet, but we are struggling.”
– Missionary of the Poor, Brother Roshan
“I will open up the rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland and the dry ground into springs of water.”
– Isaiah 41:18

Serving the Children

About the Children

The Missionaries of the Poor in Kenya serve over 25 mentally and physically disabled children. The children these men help, with your support, come from families who are the poorest of the poor. The parents cannot provide for the cost of raising the kids and so, wanting a better life for their children, the parents put them in the brothers’ care. The brothers teach the children, provide physical therapy when needed, and give them three meals a day.

The brothers could easily care for more children but they lack the proper facilities to care for more. Your generosity enables more and more children to be cared for by the Missionaries of the Poor. Explore the tabs to learn more about the children to whom the Missionaries of the Poor are bringing Christ.

Catholic Missionaries feeding hungry children in Kenya
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