The Orphans Support Project

Today, the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa is the cause of misery and despair for many people. It is difficult to say whether it is more devastating for the person dying of AIDS, or for the loved ones that are left behind. Perhaps the most heartbreaking effect of this epidemic is the number of children that have been orphaned, without a human soul to love and care for them. But whatever feelings of sympathy we feel towards these children surely cannot be compared to the love and care that their Heavenly Father feels for them. Jesus has surely brought us to such a place to be His hands which reach out to them, and to be His heart to love them. “To visit orphans and widows in their troubles” is actually what the Bible defines as “pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father” [James 1:27]. In fact, we are serving our Lord Jesus Himself – what a privilege!

The Orphans project is currently looking after more than 1200 Orphans over six countries in Africa, namely Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, D.R. of Congo, Nigeria and Uganda. The project strives for the physical and emotional well-being of children, their educational success, and their spiritual growth. Many more children are in need of support, and we are praying to be able to answer a greater part of the overwhelming need. 

History of the Orphans Project

The Orphans Project was launched in the year 2000. Initially, the church built an orphanage at the St. Mina Monastery in Maseno (Western Kenya), where they provided the children with housing and care.

About one year later, the church recognized that it was more beneficial for the children’s well-being not to isolate them from their culture. Therefore, the decision was made to adopt a different structure for the project, which allowed the orphans to grow up within their own culture and community.

Described below is the newly implemented structure, which includes physical care, health care, educational support and spiritual care for the orphans.

Physical Care

As Jesus said “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me” [Matthew 25:40]. Therefore, inspired by this, the church takes care of the physical needs of the orphans. First, the church helps find a suitable family that is willing to accommodate the orphan, preferably relatives or grandparents of the child. With this approach, the child is not deprived of a fatherly and/or motherly figure, and thus the sense of belonging to a family is maintained.

The church provides the accommodating family with basic provisions for the child, namely food and clothing. A bag of essential groceries is given to the family on a monthly basis, the size of which depends on the number of orphans in the household. Clothing is distributed every few months, as the Lord provides.

At Christmas and Easter, each orphan gets a gift, for example a blanket or a mattress. Although these are considered basic needs in many countries, they are luxuries for some of these children. Loice, one of the orphan girls who had grown up sleeping on the ground, was so happy when she received her mattress that she cried.

Health Care

In Kenya and Zambia, the Coptic Hospitals (and Nursing Home in Maseno) offer medical care for the orphans free of charge. This means free medical consultation, check-ups, HIV testing, and even free medication. In the other countries, medical care is provided for at facilities external to the Church.   This is another way of providing special care, since medical attention is financially beyond the reach of many people living in underdeveloped areas.

Educational Support

In some countries, Primary Schooling is subsidized by the government. Children are only expected to pay for their uniforms. In turn, most children receive a Primary School education.

Secondary School on the other hand is quite expensive in all the countries. Many youth, especially orphans cannot afford to attend secondary school. This causes them to remain stuck in their cycle of poverty, leaving them idle and vulnerable to serious trouble. Providing youth with a chance to get a higher education is the best way to break this cycle, allowing them to envision and work towards a healthy and promising future.

The church feels a strong conviction in this field of support. There is nothing more heart-breaking than to see a child’s future go to waste because the family is not able or not willing to pay the school fees for the orphan.

Omondi is 16 years old and is presently completing Standard 7 in Western Kenya, which is equivalent to Grade 7 in the American system. When he found out that the church was willing to send him to Secondary School, he was extremely excited and optimistic about his future, and truly felt that God loves him and cares for all his needs.

Spiritual Care

Finally and most importantly, the church strives to feed the children spiritually. No amount of humanitarian efforts can replace the void that these children have in their hearts. Each child needs to know and believe that God is their Father who loves them, and the Church is their mother who cares for them.

Every Saturday, a spiritual day is held for each group of orphans in their local churches, where they come to play, do arts and crafts, and learn Bible stories. Once per month, the orphans of the entire parish gather together for a big day, during which special activities such as skit competitions and games are organized. Basically, the aim of such days is to build them up spiritually, develop their confidence, show them the love of Christ, and have fun with them.

Also, included in the monthly food bag is a Bible story, printed in English and their tribal language; it is accompanied by a coloring sheet corresponding to the story.

The Team

We have a great team of dedicated and loving servants caring for our children. The program is run through the involvement of the churches. Every church has one Orphans Coordinator, who provides love and care to the orphans of his/her church and ensures that the structure described above is followed. Also, one person serves as Chief Project Coordinator for the entire Orphans Project.

Each Orphans Coordinator has the following tasks:
-Visiting the children at their homes
-Encouraging them to study hard, pray, read Bible
-Assessing the situation at homes (accommodations, needs, etc.)
-Making sure they are being well taken care of by their caregivers
-Helping to distribute food bags
-Organizing and leading weekly spiritual days
-Filling a school follow-up form for each orphan every term

All Orphan Coordinators meet together once every month for Monthly Review Day; they pray together, share a topic from the Bible, eat together, share their challenges, experiences, and new ideas for the service . . . in a word, they come to be energized and inspired to strive even harder in serving God’s children with all their hearts.

Get Involved

Through the Orphans Project, many young children have received a second chance at life. The physical, health, educational and spiritual needs are provided for hundreds of orphans. With the help of our Lord and so many volunteers, the project continues to grow as more and more orphans are being helped. If the Orphans Project has inspired you and you feel called to serve with the orphans, want more information, or want to help in some way, please contact us via the E-mail Contact Form.