Lamalah Children’s Center
HOW IT BEGAN
The history of the LaMalah Children’s Center begins in 2011. We traveled to Kenya to teach the Creation Gospel training course and met Brother Peter Ndungu. We maintained contact with the Kenyan congregations through Brother Ndungu.
In 2014, a need was expressed for a children’s center since many of the orphaned children were being taken care of by extended family members without the means to meet their basic needs.
Brother Ndungu provided an estimate for the building materials and the community pledged to provide the labor. The cost came to $12,000.
Our Facebook readers and newsletter recipients responded and the building began in stages and was completed in 2015 and 2 staff members were hired.
The center was named LaMalah which means “upward” in Hebrew.
“May YHWH bring this to pass is what we pray.
Blessings and Shalom.” - Peter
PROGRESS
In May 2022, LaMalah moved to a newly-constructed facility in Nakuru County, Kenya. It is a warmer climate than the cool mountain tea country of Limuru. Three homes built on the property provide the children with brothers and sisters, and a "mom" so that they will grow up with a family. The facility has security fencing and five greenhouses. The children learn to grow their own produce and attend school. Once the building project was completed, donors provided additional funds to purchase:
a water cistern
a well with a solar pump for a source of free water
a heavy truck that can be used to transport building materials or converted to a tank bed to transport potable water to sell, thus providing a cash income
security fencing with a gatehouse to screen visitors to the property
a van to transport children to Shabbat and feast service
a multi-purpose building with laundry, kitchen, classrooms, and guest quarters on the lower deck and a large meeting room on the second floor for prayer, seminars, homework help, or common meals
a separate dormitory for older teenage boys
Many of the children did not have a Biblical background and are now learning how to “live Torah.” They are safe, well-fed, and educated - both physically and spiritually.
With LaMalah well-established, we sometimes have excess funds that are used to help two other Torah-based orphanages, one in Rwanda, and Hadassah Orphanage in India.
In 2023, we funded:
Development of property adjacent to the Hadassah Orphanage in India for gardening, a new building for meals and Shabbat/feast day celebration, a tailoring machine, vehicle, water purifier, new pots and pans and kitchen utensils, and security fencing.
Rebuilding the destroyed (by storm) orphanage in Rwanda with security fencing, staff quarters, a food fund to supply six months’ of nutritious meals (fresh vegetables, fruits, protein) to supplement the staple of rice, and drilling a well on the orphanage compound to facilitate cooking, laundry, and some supply for the new garden crops.
What do we need now? Any amount of support for monthly expenses: clothes, food, medical care, school fees and tuition, books, uniforms, higher education, and feast celebrations.