We were delighted to ask Peter, the co-founder of the Kisumu Children Trust, a few questions about how the charity began, what has sustained the work over the years, and his hopes for the future. Here are some highlights from our conversation, shared in Peter’s own words.
How did Kisumu Children Trust begin?
“There are two beginnings, a man’s beginning and God’s beginning.
The man’s beginning is very easily explained. I received a letter in 1994 from a Kisumu Pentecostal pastor who asked me to help him. I didn’t know him. He was 4,000 miles away. I said, ‘I’m sorry… I cannot help you. But please find enclosed a five pound note to help your children.’
He came back and said, ‘Thank you, but is it possible you can spare another five pounds? Because I’m looking after three orphans as well as my own three children.’
Learning that there’s an orphan problem in Kisumu, an intermittent correspondence flew between us. That was the man’s beginning.
God’s beginning was ten years earlier, when a Kisumu gentleman, a church elder, called Joseph answered the door and found two lost boys outside. He and his wife took them in, fed them, gave them a place to sleep, helped them get to school and brought them up. His son Stephen saw what his parents had done and decided that when he was grown up, he was going to do something for orphans in the same sort of way. He was the pastor who wrote to me.”
What first stirred your heart?
“The immediate thing that you see is all these children, dozens and dozens of children dilapidated abandoned school that Stephen rented to care for these orphans. He was looking after 50 children at that stage.
They all had matchstick legs. They were so thin by comparison with English children. It was unbelievable.
They’re living and they’re enjoying life and they’re doing everything that you want children to do, which is lovely. But it is obvious they’ve had a very, very tough start, and you can’t forget that.”
How have you seen God work through the charity?
“Simply, God answers prayer.
We (our UK friends and supporters) knew we would have to build a new home for the children. It was going to cost £120,000. By Christmas we had £89,000, so we were £31,000 short.
I said, ‘We’ll have to go to Plan B.’
Then one day the post came. The first letter was from a solicitor. A lady had died, but in her will she had left Kisumu Children Trust £30,000.
The second letter was from a friend who wrote, ‘My wife and I have been praying about helping the home. Please find enclosed a further cheque of £1,000.’
There was the missing £31,000.
I knew that God had Plan A in mind and not Plan B. I definitely sat and cried at my desk.
If I’ve any doubt that God is helping us, that is a stirring example.”
When you reflect on the children we support, what dreams or prayers come to mind for them?
“I want them to be useful members of Kenyan society.
We’re Christian. We would like the children to become Christians too.
You’re not an isolated individual and you’re not an isolated little establishment in the middle of nowhere. You’re part of a bigger community.”
Looking ahead, what vision or hopes do you have for the next chapter?
“It is always a challenge. What is vision and how do you build vision?
You begin to realize that, yes, it’s great to help children live in a home. It’s great to help children go to school and be educated, and for the very clever ones to go to college and university.
But very early on, we realized that that is not the end of the story.
If you finish looking after your children by the time they finished college or school, you will know you haven’t done your job.
In Kenya, for those who are in their early 20s or late teens, unemployment is at the order of 70%.
So part of the vision is saying, we need to do more than just give birth to educated young people. We need to help them to be able to sustain themselves in the life after they’ve left the home.
Now that is not easy. We have tried a number of different ways. We haven’t really solved the unemployment problem neither has the Kenyan Government!
I’ve retired now from the chair. I’m still a trustee. But my dream is that somehow we can find a way of helping these young people earn their living in a realistic, satisfying fashion.”
A Bible verse that has guided the journey
“Jesus said very simply, ‘The poor you will have always with you.’
And what did he do? He lived with the poor. He helped the poor in numerous ways. He fed them. He healed them. He walked with them. He held little children and blessed them.
His life was full of helping others.
‘The poor you will have with you always.’ Still true today.
And it’s our privilege as Christians to try and do what we can.”
