For many families in Kenya, especially those serving in ministry, making ends meet can be a daily challenge. Pastors and church leaders often dedicate themselves to serving their communities while struggling to provide for their own families. Recognizing this need, CMF missionary Mary Leonard has been helping women develop microbusinesses that can create sustainable income while strengthening their impact in their churches and communities.
John Sankok faithfully leads an extensive medical ministry in Kenya that includes eight clinics run by local Christian health professionals. These clinics treat tropical diseases, immunize children, and combat HIV/AIDS. The Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health facility addresses the unique health challenges faced by women and infants in the region. Known as Community Health Partners, this ministry now supplies more than 80% of the area’s primary healthcare needs. Below, John reflects on CMF’s long history with the ministry.
“One generation commends Your works to another.” Psalm 145:4
CMF began this work in the late 1970s and early 1980s with village-to-village evangelism and church planting among nomadic pastoral communities in Southern Kenya. Teams moved with the people, sharing the Gospel in hard-to-reach areas with deep-rooted cultures and traditions.
As churches were planted, the need for healthcare became clear. That same mission of love expanded beyond the church tent. CMF helped build a strong primary healthcare system for these communities. Clinics, maternal care, and newborn support grew from the foundation of local churches.
More than 40 years later, the fruit is visible. Thousands of mothers and newborns have been impacted. Lives have been saved, families strengthened, and hope restored in places that once had little access to care.
Today, CMF is a recognized leader in evangelism, church planting, and healthcare among nomadic communities in Southern Kenya. The name stands for faith that moves, churches that serve, and healthcare that reaches the last mile.
Hundreds of churches are now led and planted by empowered local leaders. What began with CMF missionaries from the U.S. is now carried forward by pastors and leaders raised from within these communities.
For 40 years, CMF has moved with nomadic peoples, bringing the Gospel, healing, and hope. Through churches planted, leaders raised, and communities transformed, CMF continues to fulfill its call—making disciples of all nations, one family at a time.
Father, we thank You for obedience in the 1980s. Seeds planted in the wilderness, among deep-rooted cultures and hard-to-reach places, have become forests of life. For those who are empowered, give us Your strength and will to continue watering the seed and passing on the faith to the next generation. It has been a model that has worked for four decades of faith in action.
Dr. Angela Meipuki is a licensed physician who enables CHP to treat complex cases, respond to emergencies, and ensure patients receive quality, compassionate care. She also strengthens the clinical team—mentoring staff and ensuring excellence throughout all of CHP’s clinics.
Sustaining a licensed, full-time doctor on staff with CHP is essential! Click here to help fund her work.
CMF’s international campus ministry, Globalscope, is excited to announce a new partnership with Ukarimu Ministries, an established university ministry serving students at Daystar University in Athi River, Kenya. This step reflects CMF’s ongoing commitment to walking alongside students as they grow in faith, leadership, and service around the world.
Globalscope exists to welcome, reach, disciple, and develop university students—equipping them to follow Christ and influence their communities for the Kingdom. Through partnerships with trusted, locally led ministries, Globalscope strengthens existing work rather than duplicating it, coming alongside those already engaged in fruitful campus ministry.
Ukarimu Ministries—named after the Swahili word ukarimu, meaning hospitality—embodies this vision in deeply relational ways. The ministry walks closely with students during formative seasons, offering mentorship, discipleship, and a Christ-centered community where they are known and encouraged. Much of this happens at Ukarimu House, a gathering place and home for student interns.
Through fellowships, small groups, mentoring, shared meals, and one-on-one conversations, students experience more than programming—they experience belonging. For many, Ukarimu House becomes a “family away from home,” where spiritual growth and everyday faith intersect.
Ian and Stella Orunga lead this ministry, investing deeply in students through relational discipleship and leadership development. Ian, a Daystar graduate with a background in Management Information Systems, also coaches field hockey and leads a sports outreach through a local church. Stella, with a degree in Purchasing and Business Logistics, is passionate about student care, discipleship, and worship. Together with their two young children, they cultivate the Christ-centered community at Ukarimu.
Kami Burns Reed, Director of Globalscope, shared her excitement about the partnership:
“For years, Globalscope has dreamed of being part of campus ministry work in Kenya… Each time we explored starting something, we saw that many ministries were already doing excellent work, and we didn’t want to duplicate that. Through connections in the campus ministry world, we learned about Ukarimu and heard firsthand how being part of a fellowship like Globalscope could bless them. I’m excited for them to connect with other Globalscope campus ministers around the world—we all have so much to learn from one another.”
This partnership also opens the door to deeper collaboration within CMF’s work in Kenya. Kami shared her hope:
“I dream that Ukarimu can partner with CMF’s other strategy areas—whether that’s welcoming MOHI graduates as students at Daystar or raising up leaders who serve in churches, clinics, and ministries across Kenya. CMF missionaries have already begun building relationships—BJ Leonard is mentoring Ian, and Sam Loibor-Mongi has led a Discovery Bible Study with students, introducing this impactful approach.”
As Globalscope and Ukarimu Ministries move forward together, the vision is clear: that students would encounter Christ, grow in faith, and be equipped to live out the Gospel wherever God leads. This partnership is a reminder that impactful campus ministry is built on hospitality, relationships, and faithful presence—and that God is at work among students around the world.
How you can be involvedThis new partnership with Ukarimu Ministries creates fresh opportunities to invest in university students in Kenya. If you’d like to learn more about serving with this ministry through Globalscope, we’d love to connect and help you explore the next step. Email us at mobilization@cmfi.org to start the conversation! Truly invest in these students by supporting this ministry here.
In the harsh desert of northwestern Kenya, where survival has long depended on scarce water and fragile food sources, God continues to bring both physical and spiritual renewal among the Turkana people.
Mary Stephens has spent several years serving with our Globalscope campus ministry in Viña del Mar, Chile, where she helped launch and build the El Oasis community. Shaped by her own cross-cultural experiences in Peru and Chile during college, Mary has developed a deep love for relational ministry and creating spaces of belonging.
While recently exploring other CMF ministries, Mary spent time with our partners Missions of Hope International in Kenya. In this reflection, she shares a simple yet profound moment that revealed God’s abundance in an unexpected way.
We arrived safely in Kenya and quickly stepped into life with Missions of Hope International, learning about their work among communities facing deep poverty. Over a couple of days, we visited schools, met staff, and spent time with students—receiving far more hospitality than I was prepared for.
One afternoon, a small group of us headed into a school auditorium. I wasn’t entirely sure what we were there for. Earlier that day, we had led an activity for about thirty 10th-grade students, many of whom came from difficult circumstances. So, as we walked in, I assumed we might be doing something similar again.
But this time felt different.
There were about 50 or 60 students seated in rows, some dressed in colorful, almost costume-like outfits. There was a quiet sense of anticipation in the room. As we were invited to move our chairs closer to the front, it started to feel like we were part of something special—maybe even a performance.
Then I noticed it: a white pastry box on a table, slightly too small for whatever was inside, with foil stretched over the opening. It looked like cake. But why was there a cake sitting in front of a room full of students?
A few minutes later, the principal stepped forward and welcomed us to a farewell ceremony.
The pieces began to fall into place.
Students performed dances for us. One student offered a speech and a blessing. Then more singing and dancing—and before we knew it, we had been pulled in to join them, laughing and moving together in the same joyful rhythm.
And then the cake.
The principal uncovered it—a beautifully decorated cake, the kind you might expect to serve 10 or 12 people. As soon as I saw it, my mind began to fill in the next part of the story. I imagined the teachers handing slices of cake to our group while the students—many of whom rely on school meals for daily nourishment—watched from their seats.
I think that thought came from everything I had been experiencing. For the past day and a half, I had walked through places marked by deep need. And yet, everywhere we went, we were met with generosity. People welcomed us into their homes. They prayed for us. They offered tea, food, songs, questions, and laughter.
Students who could easily say, “I have nothing,” kept offering what they did have—over and over again.
So, I expected the same pattern to continue: we would receive, and they would watch.
But that’s not what happened.
Instead, the cake was cut into small, bite-sized pieces. First, the teachers handed pieces to us. Some of us received them on forks, others in our hands, and we all laughed together in the process. Then, just as quickly, the plates were placed into our hands—and we were invited to serve the students.
Soon, everyone in the room was eating cake.
And when there was still more left, we carried it outside and shared it with others—teachers, staff, students, even security guards. Everyone received a piece.
One cake became enough for many.
It reminded me of Jesus—of how we remember Him in the breaking of bread, and of the story of the loaves and fish that fed thousands. What I witnessed that day felt like a glimpse of that same kind of abundance.
Not abundance born out of excess, but out of gratitude and generosity—multiplied by the Spirit.
It left me wondering: what am I holding onto out of fear that there won’t be enough? What has God placed in my hands that could be shared, trusted, and multiplied into something more?
Sometimes, it looks like cake.
Born around 2000 in the desert of Turkana, Kenya, Dennis grew up facing the challenges common in his community—scarce food, long days on bare feet, and limited opportunities. He was among the first students at the Nakor primary school supported by CMF missionaries Gene and Melba Morden, and they watched him grow into a determined young man who excelled in school and eventually launched a thriving small business. With firsthand insight into the past and present of his region, Dennis shares what the arrival of wells and clean water has meant for his people. His story is a powerful reflection of both personal perseverance and the long-term impact of the Morden and CMF partnership in Turkana.
Their only source of water was the distant and muddy River Kerio, a river that gave life but also carried invisible enemies of life. Women and children walked long, exhausting distances under the burning sun, carrying yellow jerrycans that felt heavier with every step.
At the riverbank, thirst sometimes defeated dignity. Children bent down and drank directly from the murky water because hunger for water does not wait. The water was brown, unsafe, and silently dangerous.
Soon, sickness became a painful visitor in many homes.
Children suffered from stomach pains that made them cry through the night. Diarrhea weakened little bodies that were supposed to be playing and learning. Mothers watched helplessly as fevers burned in their children while the only available water was the same water that was making them sick. Families spent their little money treating diseases that could have been prevented.
Hope felt distant.
Then compassion spoke through action.
The community received a life-changing gift when CMF - Christian Missionary Fellowship drilled and installed a hand pump in Ngataparin. What stands today is not just a water point — it is a symbol of mercy, resilience, and restored humanity.
The first time clean water flowed from the pump, people gathered silently. Some cried. Some touched the water as if afraid it might disappear. Children smiled in confusion, not yet believing that water could be clear, safe, and free from the sickness that had haunted their homes.
Today, the story is changing.Mothers no longer fear giving water to their children. Children are returning to school with stronger bodies. Night fevers are becoming memories. The heavy burden of disease is slowly lifting from the village.
The hand pump has brought more than water — it has brought healing, dignity, and the quiet joy of a community that can now drink without fear.
Yet behind every drop of clean water is the heart of a donor who chose compassion over comfort.
Ngataparin will never forget this kindness.
Because of you, children sleep a little safer. Mothers worry a little less. And hope lives again in the desert wind that moves across the village.
Thank you for turning tears into life and sickness into hope.
Born around 2000 in the desert of Turkana, Kenya, Dennis grew up facing the challenges common in his community—scarce food, long days on bare feet, and limited opportunities. He was among the first students at the Nakor primary school supported by CMF missionaries Gene and Melba Morden, and they watched him grow into a determined young man who excelled in school and eventually launched a thriving small business. With firsthand insight into the past and present of his region, Dennis shares what the arrival of irrigated farms has meant for his people. His story is a powerful reflection of both personal perseverance and the long-term impact of the Morden and CMF partnership in Turkana.
When Volodymyr and Viktoriia Yaroshenko left Ukraine as teenagers to serve in Kenya, they never imagined Turkana would become their lifelong home. But over time, the desert region — one of Kenya’s most remote and economically challenged — became the place where they met, married, grew their family, and discovered the ministry God was preparing them for.
At just 12 years old, Riley Chaffee caught her first glimpse of God’s heart for Kenya—and it changed the direction of her life.
Today’s blog article is written by CMF missionary BJ Leonard, whose work in Kenya includes teaching at Harvest Missionaries College where pastors and prospective missionaries attend in order to be sent out to Kenya, other countries in Africa, and around the world as missionaries and pastors.
