Brad’s Story

On 3 hours of sleep following over 24 hour of international travel I was suddenly awakened by a loud choir of heavenly voices singing praises to God.  No, it wasn’t heaven, I went on a once in a lifetime trip to Huruma Children’s Home in Kenya.  Our job was to help with kids to transition from the home to life on their own.  When you are an orphan couch surfing is much harder.  

At Huruma, Mama and her team take in kids that have no other options.  The use whatever resources that get to feed, cloth, educate, and love the hundreds of children in their care. These children have nothing by way of possessions yet they are joyful and excited to learn. It was very special to play with them and show them God’s love. I am amazed at how happy one can be when you focus on being where you are.  

Our mission was to help students that were graduating from high school be ready for life after Huruma. For many of these students Huruma is the only home they remember.   We helped them get a place to live with the blankets, pots, beds, food, and other essentials one needs to live on. The Home helped with finding jobs so the students could support themselves.  Our team also taught classes on cooking, finance, relationships, and careers. Many of these students are headed off to university and trade schools next year.  It was very impressive to hear the passion these young people had to make an impact on the world.

It was also possible to introduce some of the younger kids to carpentry.  They were overjoyed to see what they could create with their hands.  Truth be told, as a grandpa I was probably have the more fun helping the kids discover new things than they were. The few short days I spent with the people at Huruma were very enjoyable for us.  On my next visit 4 months later, I got to reconnect with people I had met in November.