‍"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless" - Psalm 82:3

A Burden That Changed Everything

The year was 2005, and a medical mission team led by Dr. Kyle Hudgens had just finished another long day of treating patients in Kenya's Maasai region. Among the team was Larry Wren, a businessman from Birmingham, Alabama, and a board member of Jesus Harvesters Ministries. That afternoon, the team loaded bags of flour, cooking oil, and sugar into their vehicle—simple gifts they planned to deliver to a local orphanage.

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What Larry saw when they arrived would change the trajectory of his life and the lives of countless children. The orphanage was overwhelmed—children crammed into inadequate spaces, desperate needs everywhere he looked. The Maasai chief, recognizing the team's compassion, made them an offer: "If you can build another children's home, I will give you free land."

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It seemed like an answer to prayer. But when the team inspected the offered land, their hearts sank. Volcanic rocks covered the ground, making it unsuitable for building and—critically—impossible to farm. From the very beginning, this wasn't just about housing children. The vision was to create a home sustained by a working farm, where children could learn to cultivate crops, raise livestock, and build a future where they wouldn't depend on handouts but could stand on their own feet with dignity.

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Larry Wren couldn't shake what he had seen. Back in Alabama, faces of those children haunted his thoughts. He began raising money, and when he had gathered approximately $20,000, he made a decision that would prove pivotal: rather than accept unsuitable land as a gift, he would purchase 20 acres of quality agricultural land in Kimana.

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The land wasn't free, but it was right. And it was theirs—fully owned by the ministry, with no strings attached, no one to tell them what they could or couldn't do. Twenty acres where God's vision could unfold exactly as He intended.

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A Founder's Heart

Dr. Steve Kabachia, founder of Jesus Harvesters Ministries and leader of Kenya's Agape Fellowship Centre, shared this burden. During medical missions to the Maasai people, he witnessed the same overwhelming needs. Children without parents. Children without homes. Children without hope.

But Dr. Kabachia saw what others might have missed—he saw potential. He saw future leaders, pastors, teachers, and parents. He saw children who, given the right foundation, could transform their communities. He saw the face of Christ in "the least of these."

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"Many years ago, God planted a vision of an orphan ministry in southern Kenya," he would later explain. It wasn't about building an institution. It was about creating a family. Alongside Dr. Kabachia, his wife Jennifer and local Maasai pastors like Pastor James began praying. For six long years, Pastor James interceded specifically for this children's home, believing God would make a way where there seemed to be no way.

Building Step by Step

2011: The First Foundations

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Six years after purchasing the land, construction finally began. Not one large dormitory, but five separate houses—each designed to function as a real home. Each unit would house twelve children in two bedrooms (using double-decker beds) plus a house mother who would live with them, care for them, love them as her own.

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The vision was taking shape: sixty children living in five distinct families, each with their own plot of land to farm, learning agriculture and stewardship. This wasn't going to be an orphanage. This was going to be a community.

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But the buildings sat empty. There was no water. And in the semi-arid region of Kimana, without water, there is no life.

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2018: Protection and First Water

Sixteen years into the journey, generous Sunday School classes at First Baptist Church in Trussville, Alabama, raised $17,000 for a critical dual project. First, an electrified fence was erected around the entire 20 acres. In a region situated between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks, wildlife isn't just a concern—it's a daily reality. Elephants, zebras, and other animals could destroy a farm overnight. The fence wasn't just protection; it was essential infrastructure.

Second, a borehole was drilled, reaching down into the earth to tap into underground water. It was a start, but everyone knew a more permanent solution would be needed.

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2019-2020: Water Brings Life

In 2019, the National Women's Missionary Union awarded JHM a grant of approximately $16,659 to complete the water infrastructure—and it was transformational. Working with Designs for Hope and their Executive Director Chris Bond, the team installed:

• A deep-water borehole reaching a permanent subterranean aquifer
• A solar-powered Davis and Shirtliff water pump
• A 10,000-liter water storage tank mounted on an iron platform
• Drip irrigation lines for the 12-acre farm
• Water taps running to each housing unit
• A community water kiosk at the entrance

In February 2020, a team from the United States traveled to Kimana to install the system: Dr. Jeremy Rogers, Chris Bond, Randy Treglown, Matt Mullinax, Kip Willoughby, and Martin Odi from Uganda. They worked alongside local contractors, connecting pipes, mounting tanks, running irrigation lines.

And then came the moment everyone had been waiting for.

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They turned on the pump.

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Fresh, clean water burst from the ground for the first time. Water in a land that had been dry. Water that meant the farm could grow. Water that meant children could come.

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Jennifer Kabachia stood there with tears streaming down her face—this was her late husband's dream coming to life. Pastor James, who had prayed for six years before construction even began, wept. The local Agape leadership team who would oversee this ministry celebrated. They had witnessed clean, fresh water coming from the earth, and they knew what it meant: Life.

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A community-wide celebration followed. Local Agape churches gathered. The Maasai chief came. Government representatives attended. And every single one pledged their support for this children's home.

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But perhaps the most significant outcome of that February trip was something that couldn't be measured in pipes or tanks. Randy Treglown and Matt Mullinax, founders of Foundation for Hope, had come to help install a water system. They left with a vision to do so much more.

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2020: Completing the Dream

Moved by what they had seen, Treglown and Mullinax committed $50,000 through Foundation for Hope to complete the buildings. The five housing units were finished. A proper kitchen facility was constructed. Storage buildings were erected. The physical infrastructure for the children's home was finally complete.

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But there was still one missing piece: reliable electricity.

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2023: The Doors Open

Through the faithful partnership of The Church Next Door in Columbus, Ohio, a generator system with battery storage was installed and connected to the existing solar panels. Now there was reliable power for lighting, refrigeration, medical equipment—everything needed to actually care for children.

After eighteen years of faith, prayer, and incremental progress, the Dr. Steve Kabachia Children's Home officially opened its doors in 2023.

The first six children moved in.

The Woman Who Was Called

Agnes Ochuka's childhood was marked by pain that no child should endure.

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Her mother died when Agnes was just two years old. Her father, an army man, needed a wife and kept remarrying. Each stepmother brought her own brand of cruelty. One fed little Agnes feces with a spoon—until her father discovered what was happening and sent that woman away. But there were others. Agnes was beaten. Verbally humiliated. Falsely accused. Rejected. At times she was homeless, roaming the streets, eating from dustbins, sleeping in open churches. The anger toward her father—who was alive, who had money, but who seemed powerless to protect her—drove her to contemplate suicide.

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But even in her darkest moments, something else was growing in Agnes's wounded heart: a desire to be for other children what no one had been for her. Years later, working as a house girl in Nairobi's Kenyatta Market, Agnes would walk to church every Sunday past street children—begging for food, drenched from sleeping on pavements, desperately hungry. She began sneaking food from her employer's house to feed them when her employer was away. Their pain reminded her of her own childhood. And she prayed: "God, grant me the opportunity to be a mother to children who never had one, to be a sister they never met."

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In 2009, God answered.

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A Swiss woman found Agnes in her village and paid for her to attend college and train as a Nurse Aid. Then she employed Agnes at an orphanage. Agnes has been working with orphaned children ever since.

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"Many qualified, educated people were employed here," Agnes explains, "but many lost their jobs after a year or two because all they cared for was the salary—the money they were being paid. But they lacked that passion." Working with traumatized children requires extraordinary patience. Those who lacked it would lose control and beat the children in anger—an automatic termination under the orphanage's rules.

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But Agnes was different. She had been where these children were. She knew their pain intimately. And she treated them not as burdens or problems, but as precious lives worth fighting for.

Over nine years, she was promoted to Senior House Mother—the general overseer of the welfare of all the children. "When I'm off or on leave," she notes, "the kids are mishandled, the center is in a mess, the kids either have broken legs or limbs because of lack of supervision."

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How Agnes Heals Wounded Children

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Her approach is simple but profound:

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‍She hugs each child individually and reminds them they will be great people in the future—and makes them believe it. As she prays for their destiny, she speaks life over each one.

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She reminds them that they are beautiful and handsome. Agnes knows the power of words. Her stepmother told her she was "the ugliest in Kenya and the whole world." Young Agnes believed it, and it made her life unbearably difficult in school. She became a loner. Thoughts of suicide were constant. "I saw my ugliness was never needed on earth," she remembers. Now she fights to make sure no child under her care believes such lies about themselves.

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She listens with her heart, not just her ears. Agnes went to school dirty and late because her stepmother forced her to do all the house chores before school, then denied her water to bathe. When she tried to explain to teachers why she was the way she was, they beat her and humiliated her in front of the class, making her performance worse. "Listen and help the kid," Agnes urges. Every child has a story. Every behavior has a reason.

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"Every child can become great," Agnes believes. "Every foundation for a kid can destroy or make a child. My childhood was destroyed, which almost destroyed my future—but thanks to Jesus I healed, which took a long time."

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Now Agnes sees her calling clearly: "If the child is messed up, I ask God to help me patch and mend where I can. And where I can't, I encourage myself and say at least I have tried."

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She knows the truth that drives her work: "Kids are wounded, but it's unwise and heartbreaking to make their wounds worse. It hurts to see a kid suffer for sins of the parents."

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When the Dr. Steve Kabachia Children's Home opened in 2023, the Lord called Agnes to serve there. Every painful experience of her past had prepared her for this moment. She moved to Kimana and became the house mother for the children—living on-site, caring for them day and night, being the mother and sister they never had.

The Children

Today, six precious children call the Dr. Steve Kabachia Children's Home their home, and Agnes calls them her own:

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Ramson Muchenya, age 7, loves dancing and playing football. Watch him on the small dirt field between the houses, and you'll see pure joy as he kicks the ball with other children, laughing and running with the freedom every child deserves.

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Angel Adhiambo, age 6, enjoys caring for people. Even at her young age, she notices when someone is hurt or sad and tries to help. Agnes sees in her the heart of a future nurse or counselor.

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Hannah Sereiya Lokosei, age 4, is known for her love of dancing and her constant smile. Despite whatever circumstances brought her to this home, Hannah radiates joy. Her smile is infectious, lighting up the room whenever she enters.

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Johannah Tipape Kilangisa, age 6, enjoys construction, fixing things, and singing. Give her blocks or sticks, and she'll build something. Something breaks? Johannah wants to figure out how to fix it. And through it all, she sings.

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Jackline Nasieku, age 6, is a talented singer. During evening worship times, her voice rises clear and strong, leading the other children in songs praising Jesus. Music pours from her naturally.

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Shadrack Senteu Saningo, age 5, has a passion for reading. While other children play outside, you'll often find Shadrack with a book, his small finger tracing the words, his mind absorbing everything he can learn.

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These six children attend Winners Academy for their education. At the children's home, they're cared for by Agnes and her team—including an additional caregiver, a cleanliness expert, and a trained nurse. Each child has been assigned their own small garden plot where they learn to grow vegetables, understanding from a young age that the earth can provide when you care for it properly.

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They're learning. They're healing. They're becoming the people God created them to be.

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Life at the Home

The 20 acres in Kimana are divided strategically: five acres hold the residential buildings and facilities, while twelve acres are dedicated to farming. The remaining three acres are reserved for future expansion.

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On the farm, crops are being cultivated that will eventually provide both food for the children and income for the ministry's sustainability. Children work alongside staff, learning agriculture, understanding seasons and planting and harvest, gaining skills that will serve them for life.

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The solar panels on the roof catch the African sun, powering the pump that draws water from deep in the earth—water that flows through pipes to the houses, to the farm, and to the community kiosk at the entrance where anyone from Kimana can come and fill their containers for free during the dry season.

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At night, lights powered by the generator and solar battery system illuminate the houses. The children gather for evening worship, Jackline's voice leading them in song, then homework at the tables, then bedtime routines guided by Agnes—each child receiving an individual hug, words of affirmation, prayers over their destiny.

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This is what a family looks like. This is what home feels like.

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And this is only the beginning.

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A Vision Not Yet Complete

The infrastructure exists to serve sixty children—five family units of twelve, each with their own house mother. Currently, only one unit is operational, serving six children with Agnes.

The farm is producing, but not yet at the level needed for full sustainability. More land needs to be cultivated. More crops need to be planted. Equipment needs to be acquired.

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More children are waiting. In Kimana and the surrounding Maasai communities, there are orphans sleeping on the streets, children in desperate situations, kids who need the safety and love this home can provide.

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But growth must be measured and careful. Before expanding, the ministry must ensure:

• Operational funding for monthly expenses—food, utilities, staff salaries, medical care, educational costs
• Additional trained staff who share Agnes's heart and calling
• Enhanced farm productivity to support more children sustainably
• Quality care maintained as numbers increase—because every child deserves what these six are receiving

The vision from 2005 remains clear: a self-sustaining children's home where orphaned children are raised in Christ-centered families, equipped with education and life skills, taught to farm and provide for themselves, and released into their communities as disciples who will transform East Africa for generations to come.

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How You Can Help

This story isn't finished. In fact, it's just beginning.

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The next chapter depends on partners who will:

• Provide monthly operational support for food, utilities, medical care, education, and staff—approximately $500-800 per child per month ensures they receive excellent care
• Support farm development with seeds, tools, equipment, and agricultural inputs that move the ministry toward self-sustainability
• Sponsor additional staff positions so that more house mothers like Agnes can be recruited, trained, and supported as new family units open
• Pray consistently for the children's healing and growth, for Agnes and her team's strength and wisdom, for the farm's productivity, and for God's continued provision
• Spread the word by sharing this story with your church, small group, or family—connecting others to this transformational ministry

Every gift matters. Every prayer matters. Every person who learns about this work and decides to invest in it becomes part of a story that began with one man's burden in 2005 and now encompasses the eternal destinies of children being raised to know Christ and transform their world.

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A Twenty-Year Legacy

Larry Wren could not have imagined, standing in that overcrowded orphanage in 2005, what his obedience would accomplish. He saw children in need. He felt God's burden. He gave sacrificially. He trusted God with the outcome. Dr. Steve Kabachia could not have foreseen, dreaming of a children's home in southern Kenya, that the ministry would bear his name and carry forward his legacy long after his passing. Agnes Ochuka could not have understood, eating from dustbins and sleeping in open churches as a homeless child, that God was preparing her for such a time as this—that every wound, every rejection, every moment of pain was being redeemed to equip her to heal other wounded children.

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And these six children—Ramson, Angel, Hannah, Johannah, Jackline, and Shadrack—cannot yet comprehend how different their futures will be because people they've never met, in countries they've never visited, loved them enough to build them a home.

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But one day they will understand.

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One day Ramson might stand on a football field as a coach, teaching the next generation of Maasai children.

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One day Angel might work as a nurse, caring for the sick with the same compassion that was shown to her.

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One day Hannah might dance at her own wedding, radiant with joy, surrounded by a family of her own.

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One day Johannah might design and build homes for others who need shelter.

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One day Jackline might lead worship in a church, her voice raised in praise to the God who rescued her.

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One day Shadrack might teach in a classroom, opening books and minds to students who look like he once did.

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And when that day comes—when they understand the journey that brought them from homelessness to hope, from abandonment to family, from despair to destiny—they will know this truth:

God defends the cause of the weak and fatherless. Not with words alone, but with water pumps and solar panels. With housing units and farm equipment. With dedicated house mothers and trained nurses. With monthly support from faithful donors and eighteen years of persistent partnership.

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With love made tangible. With hope made real.

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The Dr. Steve Kabachia Children's Home
Kimana, Kajiado County, Kenya
Operated by Agape Fellowship Centre in partnership with Jesus Harvesters Ministries‍

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." Matthew 25:35

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