Our Story
Our Story
Children during recess at George Kendagor Christian Academy
Map of Kenya
A Brief History of the Kenyan Ministry
In the early-2000s Central Presbyterian Church and later Greentree Community Church, both located in St. Louis, established a relationship with the Bible Faith Church (BFC) denomination in Western Kenya. Initially, Central provided university and seminary education in the U.S. for David (Daudi) Kendagor, a son of George Kendagor the founder of Bible Faith Church. When his schooling was complete, David’s family returned to Kapenguria, Kenya to establish a Bible College. The construction of the facility was financed by Central and they continue to support the work of BFC in Kenya.
Once the Bible College was established, David’s wife Jane began home schooling their children. Before long, other families were asking Jane to teach their children as well. As the number of children grew, the learning became more formalized and what would come to be known as the George Kendagor Christian Academy was created in 2006. As they added grades over the years, classes were held in rooms built for the Bible College. The primary school grew year-by year and now includes pre-school through grade 8. It is currently attended by approximately 350 students.
Financial support for the Bible College and primary school has historically come from Central, Greentree, and private donors. The rapid and consistent growth of the primary school has resulted in many classrooms being located in “temporary” buildings. Due to a recent change in government regulations of schools, the government is now requiring a “permanent” structure for accreditation. Architectural drawings and a construction budget were created in early 2020 for the construction of the 2-story building, which is currently being funded by Grace4Kenya.
About the same time that the Bible College and primary school were started, Rachel Kendagor R.N., and her husband, Pastor Samuel Kendagor (also a son of George) along with Pam and Kevin Voss from Greentree Church, started an in-town clinic and began a mobile outreach medical program serving a number of remote villages. The intown and mobile clinics continued to grow with support by private donors and are now funded by Grace4Kenya.
After a mission trip in 2012, the Mollers along with Mike and Susan Williams introduced the staff of the mobile clinics to Community Health Evangelism (CHE). CHE is a global program that equips communities to identify issues and mobilize resources to achieve positive, sustainable change (www.CHEnetwork.org). Three Kenyans were trained to lead a pilot CHE program in Kaprom. a small village near Kapenguria.
In 2012 a permanent clinic was built in Bendera, an area within Kapenguria, to serve the community and provide a base of operations for the weekly mobile clinics. The nurses, lab technician, and administrative staff provide prenatal care, well-baby immunizations, and urgent care for all ages who are ill.
The success of the clinic located in Bendera along with the dreams of Rachel and Samuel Kendagor led to the development of a hospital. The hospital construction started in early 2019 and the ground floor was completed in early 2020. While the construction has for the most part has already been privately financed, funds are still required to finish the 3-story building, provide furnishings, and acquire medical equipment.
Bible Faith Church continues to recruit pastors and plant churches in West Pokot County. Both Central and Greentree have supported this effort, along with private contributions from members of both churches. Both churches have sent teams in various years to work with the Bible College, the church planting pastors, the primary school, and the mobile medical clinics.
The one area of support that has yet to be developed by Grace4Kenya is in facilitating financial opportunity and empowerment. Unemployment is high in rural Kenya, and primary, high school, and even university graduates find it difficult to find gainful employment. One answer to the problem is to promote and support attendance at trade schools, teacher colleges, and diploma nursing programs. Another approach is to create businesses and obtain micro financing if appropriate. The goal of Grace4Kenya is to explore these and other ways to help the people of Western Kenya lift themselves up and break the cycle of generational poverty