The Blessings of Showing Up In Kenya

Written by Lisa Marlin

This is Part 3 of “The Blessing of Showing Up in Kenya,” a four-part series about Hope United Methodist Church’s July 2026 mission trip to Kenya (Read Part 1 and Part 2). After seven years apart, we returned to reconnect with longtime partners, serve alongside local communities, and continue relationships that have grown over more than two decades. 

In Loving Memory: A Place to Call Home 

A primary purpose of our trip was to help complete and dedicate two homes, made possible by donations coordinated by the Denver-based Center for Health and Hope in partnership with Bishop Catherine and local leaders in Meru. 

One of the homes was for Caroline, a single mother of three children: Miguel, in eighth grade; Abigail, in fifth grade; and Leon, in first grade. An uncle had given them a plot of land in Meru, and Hope UMC members Joy and Bill Todd provided funding for the home in loving memory of Joy’s mother, Nell Marie Reno Taber.  

Led by staff from the Bio-Intensive Center, our team helped plant a kitchen garden next to the three-room house while Caroline worked alongside us. Behind the house, Miguel helped install a rainwater collection tank. Inside, Laurel Laumann sketched beautiful flowers on a bedroom wall, and some of our team then painted them in bright colors.  

Later that day, the family’s church community and friends gathered for the dedication, where Rev. Laura Rainwater shared a message and led us in prayer as we each placed a hand on the home. Like at Hope, we also recited the Lord’s Prayer in unison. 

We felt fortunate to witness firsthand what a safe home means to a family that has lived without one. 

It Takes a Village 

The other home was in the countryside outside Meru, about a mile off the highway. To reach it, our drivers carefully navigated the two Land Rovers, packed with our team and supplies, up a rocky, deeply rutted dirt road. The home was for Julius, a single dad with medical issues, and his 13-year-old daughter, Goodluck, who has been his primary caregiver since her mother left the family and took all their money.  

Months earlier, when their community was asked to select a family to receive the new home, they did not hesitate to nominate Goodluck and her father. They later showed up to help with construction tasks and to celebrate its completion.  

A few steps away from the construction site stood their old home, pieced together from weathered wood and corrugated metal, with dirt floors and cardboard patches. Like Caroline’s family, their new home has three rooms, with a cement floor, sturdy walls, glass windows, and a lockable door.  

Our team added battens and painted the outside of the house. We also helped plant a kitchen garden and paint interior walls. As at the other home, Laurel sketched flowers on a wall in the daughter’s bedroom, and some of us then painted them in the colors Goodluck chose.  

As we added the finishing touches to the flowers, we hummed and sang. Our singing must have caught the attention of a dozen children outside, and they soon gathered in a corner of the small room. Clyde Oakley also stepped inside and began leading them in Bible songs, and soon their voices filled the room. What a blessing it was to experience this joy! 

Afterward, during the dedication ceremony in the front yard, Rev. Jeff Rainwater delivered an encouraging message for the family and several dozen neighbors who gathered with us. He then led us in prayer as everyone encircled the home, each placing a hand on it.  

More Than a House: An Investment in the Future 

During our time there, we learned that Goodluck, a 7th grader, often missed school because her family couldn’t afford the required fees. Pastors Jeff and Laura committed to paying her overdue tuition and supporting her education through high school.  

Goodluck wept in Bishop Catherine’s arms when she found out she could continue school, and later, she proudly modeled one of two new school uniforms our team had gifted her. 

Pastors Jeff and Laura noted that, by American standards, the school’s tuition is relatively modest. For Goodluck, though, it was a priceless investment in her future.  

In the final part of our series, we’ll share how connections formed through Hope UMC’s decades of work in Kenya have continued to change lives, and what we carried home after our time there ended.