Many children in Kenya grow up in poverty. One such child was Muthoni. Her mother ran away from her rural home to the city. Muthoni was the fourth of seven children that her mother brought back to her grandmother to raise. Eventually, Muthoni’s mother died of AIDS.

Muthoni was determined her life would be different. Overcoming many obstacles, she applied herself diligently to school and graduated from the public university in Nairobi. She was invited to be a ministry intern at a church where she was mentored by PC(USA) mission co-worker Marta Bennett. During her internship, Muthoni and a friend envisioned a ministry working with teenaged girls—like her own mother—whose flight from rural areas often led them into city slums.

Today, more than sixty teenaged girls have passed through the ministry that Muthoni and her friend envisioned. Ten girls at a time are selected through churches for one year of live-in discipleship, life-skills training, vocational training, and academic tutoring after which they reenter school. The ministry makes efforts to reconnect each girl with her extended family and to support families who need assistance in their development of microenterprise projects.

The vision continues to expand to other slums. In 2005, Muthoni received a scholarship to attend Daystar University while still directing the ministry. Two years later she graduated with a master’s degree in Christian ministries.

PC(USA) People in Mission
Rev. Dr. Marta Bennett, professor, chair of post-grad leadership studies, National Council of Churches of Kenya • Rev. Phyllis Byrd, YAV site coordinator/associate pastor, United Church Board of World Mission • Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA): Irma de la Torre, nurse, Dr. Salvador de la Torre, HIV/AIDS consultant for Africa, Rev. Lyle Dykstra, mission volunteer, college lecturer, Terry Dykstra, mission volunteer, school administrator, counselor, Dr. Ane Mia Topple, mission volunteer, dermatologist, Dr. Stanley Topple, mission volunteer, orthopedic surgeon • Young Adult Volunteers, community development interns, PCEA: Micah McCoy, Blair Moorhead, and Hodari Williams

Partners/Ministries
PCEA: Rev. Dr. David Githii, moderator, Rev. Samuel Muriguh, general secretary • Christian Organizations Research Advisory Trust (CORAT): Margaret W. Mwaura, executive director • Daystar University: Rev. Dr. Godfrey Mbitinguru, vice chancellor

PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Amgad E. Beblawi, GAC
Rev. Elizabeth Beckhusen, FDN
Joy A. Begley, GAC