History

Early in 2007 Barb Frees, Carol Hert, Kathy Peterson, Lyn Ross and Sue Steinhilber traveled to the Diocese of Mt. Kenya South with Fr. Ian Montgomery to meet with women of the Mothers’ Union, who established and govern Mothers’ Mercy Home. They also met with the staff and children of MMH to discern the Lord’s will in establishing a Partnership Program. They were awed by the commitment and strong faith of the women and the caring and love of the staff with very limited resources. They came home convinced the Lord was calling for participation in this ministry with His children in Kenya.

A Partnership Program Board was established and entered into an Agreement with the Diocesan Mothers’ Union Committee. The Partnership Program began officially in April 2007 and will be in effect for three years. In April 2010 it will be evaluated by both parties.

A brochure was created and telling the story of Mothers’ Mercy Home and the Partnership Program began at St. Thomas and other churches as well as within the community. Praise to Jesus that many have responded and al ost 2/3 of the children have partners as of May, 2008. Partners are able to introduce themselves to the children through letters. Children who do not as yet have Partners also receive greetings from the children of St. Thomas' AWANA ministry or the ladies of Lawrence University InterVarsity Group.

With Partnership monies and other donations, over $10,000 has been forwarded to Mothers’ Mercy Home. Through Mission/Outreach funds of St. Thomas a laptop computer was given, making administrative work easier and more effective. No more drives to Nairobi to receive and send e-mails.

In late summer of 2008 Pete Zaborski joined Bishop Timothy Ranji in a fundraiser Climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The proceeds will be used for dormitories for MMH.

“I can do all things in Him who strengthens me,” (Phil 4:13) motivates the women of the Mothers’ Union and this ministry.

Annual Report 2009

Mothers’ Mercy Home Partnership Program Board: With the aftermath of the tumultuous presidential election in December 2007 and the recent draught in the Horn of Africa, it has been a difficult year financially for Mothers’ Mercy Home, Diocese of Mt. Kenya South. Partnership monies provided a total of $13,300 to support the 84 children of the Home in the second complete year of the Partnership (April 2008 through March 2009). The cost of food has doubled and nearly 70% of monies sent were needed to buy food. 17% was used to buy diesel fuel for their school bus. (The first year 60% was used to rent matatus or vans for transport to schools, but with their own bus now there has been a substantial savings.) The remaining 13 % was used to fund the development of a Five Year Strategic Plan during a three-day workshop involving 30 people in March 2009.

The Medical Center housed in the new dorm was dedicated in February and began seeing patients April 1st. Currently about 100 patients are being seen per day. The availability of this medical service has improved the health of the children and neighbors in the surrounding community.

Nineteen of the children took secondary school exams in November and will be continuing their education in different schools beginning in February 2010. With the additional room provided by the new dorm it was planned to admit 12 new 5 and 6-year-old children in December 2009.

Greetings were sent to each of the 84 children by Partners and AWANA children at Easter and Christmas. We continued to spread the word about MMH at Diocesan Convention, the All Saints Alternative Gift Market and our website: mmhpp.com.

With our three-year agreement ending in March of 2010 we are looking forward to a relational visit by Paula Karanja, coordinator of the Mothers’ Union that administers MMH, and two of the children in April 2010. In anticipation of this we held two successful fundraisers, an African Dinner and a Ladies’ Spa Night, to provide funds for transportation and related expenses during the visit. The time spent with us will allow all of us at St. Thomas to hear first hand about how God has worked for good through the Partnership Program, give our guests an opportunity to witness and participate in our Christian life here in the Fox Cities, provide opportunities for students from the US and Kenya to learn from each other, and to plan for the next three years of our Partnership.

At the end of 2009, 56 of the children had Partners. Thanks be to God for all He has done this year for the children through our generous donors