Rehema Home

Our Mission

Rehema Home is dedicated to the long-term care of abandoned, orphaned, and HIV positive children in Kenya. It is the desire of Rehema Home to provide for all children who need care irregardless of their HIV status.

Needs In Kenya

Aids and HIV cases are on the increase in Kenya. The Kenya government estimates that there are presently 100,000 children infected with the virus. These estimates are greatly below the actual count. Many Nongovernment Organizations (NGO's) estimate the real figures are over 300,000. It has been projected that by the year 2000 there will be 30 million people infected with the HIV virus worldwide and that they will leave behind over 5,000,000 orphans. We can expect to see the numbers in Kenyan's orphaned and HIV+ children increase drastically in the next several years.

In the past orphaned children in Africa were "taken in" by the extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, ect.) however in recent years this has changed primarily due to:

The Aids epidemic decimating whole families.
The sociol/economic decline leading to the breakup of the traditional African Family.
A High unemployment rate which in turns leads to prostitution and abandonment of the resulting babies.

While there are many children's homes in Kenya, very few of them are able to cater for the vast numbers of HIV+ babies and children that need care. The extended care and medical expenses of caring for these children is beyond the capacity of the average children's home. At present these homes are unable to give the children the adequate care they need. There for the need for long-term care homes for these abandoned children is extremely great.

Relationship To The Local Church

Having realized the tremendous needs and increasing numbers of kenya's abandoned, orphaned , and HIV+ children the Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa (PEFA) has dedicated themselves to attempt to meet this need. Realizing their lack of expertise to begin such a venture they approached Irvin and Ruth Schwandt to head this ministry under their direction. A meeting of the PEFA Central Committee authorized the Schwandts to proceed with the registration of Rehema Home (Rehema is the Swahili word for 'Compassion' or 'Mercy'). A Board of primarily Kenyans was set up by PEFA to direct the function and future development of Rehema Home. It was decided that Rehema Home would admit abandoned, orphaned, and HIV+ children with no family to care for them. It is the desire of the Board that Rehema Home will not promote itself locally as an HIV home but will admit all babies and children with out prejudice. This will allow the children nor to be subject to the prejudices of society and become stigmatized. It is preferred, but not required, that each child would be of preschool age on admission and can remain in the home as long as they require care. Rehema Home is a Home where all will be welcome in a safe, clean, loving, family environment.

The funding of Rehema Home will be carried out jointly between the following groups:

The PEFA Churches of Kenya.
Churches in both the UK and the USA who are interested in the Kenyan work.
Charitable organizations both in Kenya and overseas as funds are available.

It is our desire to see the Kenyan churches eventually take full responsibility for this project as it grows and develops.

For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
MAT 25:35

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