I want to thank you for your prayers and your support! It has been a busy season in ministry and in the life of our family: since the beginning of this year, we expanded both the infrastructure and staff at Mother Esther School; we hosted the Kenya Mission Conference for partners in ministry; we continued emergency food relief in areas where drought has taken a toll, and we trained 65 lay-pastors to return to their communities and share the love of God. With all that is going on, we also welcomed our son, Jeffrey Kariuki, to the family in February.

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers – Mother Esther School – July 2022 Update

It has been a heartbreaking season in the life of the world, but we worship the God who has journeyed through the depth of pain and heartbreak for us. Each year at Easter, we celebrate the promise that through Jesus Christ, God brings hope out of despair, abundance out of scarcity, and new life out of death. At Mother Esther School, we have certainly witnessed new life emerge from situations of despair, and we have experienced joy — fierce and defiant — in the face of hopelessness.

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers in Kenya - March 2022 Update

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) supports a ministry rescuing girls who might be forced into early marriage by providing rescue centers for them. The Outreach Foundation partners with the PCEA and civil authorities in this ministry. All of the rescue centers are connected to a PCEA boarding school, offering the girls a hopeful future. Lauren Scharstein, Outreach global worker and Deputy Director of Mission for the PCEA, shared the current major needs of the rescue centers:

New Dorm for PCEA Mother Esther Girls' School and Rescue Center
We currently have 175 girls under our care ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old. Our dormitories are at full capacity, some girls already sleep two on the bottom of a twin bunk bed. The big need for a new dormitory is also due to the fact that we have 25 girls who will finish 8th grade in March and move into high school.

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers - November 2021 Update

In March 2020, schools across Kenya were closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This closure included Mother Esther School and Rescue Center where we usually have a population of 156 girls. During the 8 months of lockdown, we were left with only 42 students.

2021 was intended to be a new year, a fresh start after the uncertainty and restrictions of 2020. In November 2020, most of our students were able to return to Mother Esther School after eight months of lockdown in their home areas. In January 2021, we fully reopened with great joy and celebration. However, we have slowly learned that we are not quite finished with the impacts of 2020. The months in risky, remote areas of Kenya left our girls vulnerable to both child marriage and pregnancy. The stories of trauma that have emerged are many, so I will share one with you today.

Stu Ross - December 2020 Update

Stu Ross links U.S. congregations with East African partners to strengthen the church for God’s mission. Through these efforts, over 300 churches and over 150 schools have been built, hundreds of girls have been cared for and over 500 evangelists have been trained. The following report from Stu includes information about partnerships between the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and The Outreach Foundation:

PCEA Church Construction
PCEA Mabati School Construction
Girls’ Education and Rescue Centers
Clean Drinking Water in Kenya

Despite COVID and curfews and masks, the work of The Outreach Foundation continues – cautiously – here in East Africa. Travel and work during this time have been difficult. We currently have about 125 workers and no positive COVID tests.

This year we will complete twenty churches and three schools. Many of the churches were great distances from our home in Kikuyu. Many were in very isolated areas.

Stu Ross - November 2020 Update

Based in Kikuyu, Kenya, Stu Ross is responsible for partnering through the Mission Projects Committee of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in a ministry of building schools, churches, and girls’ rescue centers as well as managing water projects. Stu helps link U.S. congregations with East African partners to strengthen the church for God’s mission. We recently received the following update from Stu:

Everything in Kenya has been shut down since March 23. Kenya has a dusk to dawn curfew which is strictly enforced. There is no movement allowed between counties. This has affected our church construction work in Kenya since that would involve moving from one county to another. Consequently, construction has stopped on ten churches that were in the process of being built.

Lauren Scharstein- October 2020 Update

The Rev. Lauren Scharstein is Deputy Director for Mission with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. The PCEA Mission Department has responsibility for PCEA mission schools and rescue centers, sustainable water projects, evangelism, church-planting, and global partnerships. Lauren recently shared this update on her work with Mother Esther School:

Laughter, Cookies, and Hair-braiding
It has been seven months since many of our students were sent home to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Communities across East Africa are reporting higher rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy. Girls who were sent home from school are less likely to return than boys the same age.

Stu Ross - June 2020 Update

Based in Kikuyu, Kenya, Stu and Annie Ross are responsible for partnering through the Mission Projects Committee of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in a ministry of building schools, churches, and girls’ rescue centers as well as managing water projects. Stu and Annie help link U.S. congregations with East African partners to strengthen the church for God’s mission. We recently received the following update from Stu:

Everything in Kenya has been shut down since March 23. Kenya has a dusk to dawn curfew which is strictly enforced. There is no movement allowed between counties. This has affected our church construction work in Kenya since that would involve moving from one county to another. Consequently, construction has stopped on ten churches that were in the process of being built.

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers/Linda's Libraries-August 2019 Update

Dear friends,

Several years ago, we partnered with Books for Development, a great organization in Houston that collects and sends books to needy schools and organizations. They have sent us two containers of books which have filled the shelves of two Linda’s Libraries and will fill two more we are constructing this year.

Thogoto Primary Library is one of our first primary school libraries and we are very happy with the outcome. We previously had a relationship with this school because we provided computers for their computer lab, which is now part of the new library. Our second primary school library is in Shalom Academy.

We have changed our library strategy slightly. We are still building Linda’s Libraries, two more this year, but we are also building smaller libraries at primary schools like Thogoto and Shalom.

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers - May 2019 Update

Dear friends,

This verse describes Rev. Charles Maina, a servant of God who puts his life on the front line defending and rescuing girls by providing a place to increase knowledge and understanding and educating society to recognize the plight of the girl child. Rev. Maina is a pastor and missionary to PCEA Loodokilani, Kajiado Presbytery where Mother Esther’s School and Rescue Center is located.

A group from Outreach recently traveled to Kajiado, Kenya and visited Mother Esther’s. Our group included Ebralie Mwizerwa, Outreach Projects Coordinator, Dr. Jennifer L. Ellis, First Presbyterian Church Clarksville, TN, and Frank Dimmock, Outreach Africa Specialist. We were accompanied by Stu Ross, East Africa Mission Consultant for Outreach, and Rev. Lauren Scharstein, Antioch Partner (TAP) missionary who works with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Girls' Education and Rescue Centers in Kenya - January 2019 Update

Dear friends,

We recently visited Grace Girls’ High School and brought a friend who is interested in bringing water to the school. We met with Winnifred, the head teacher. She told us that the school will need another dorm for next year and a large food storage building next to the kitchen.

Our first class graduated last year – 23 girls! We have 80 new students. We have almost completed the dorm for the new girls. This is our fourth dorm; each one holds around 50 girls. With the new arrivals, the student population is about 200.

Africa, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationJanuary 30, 2019Girls' Education and Rescue Centers, Kenya

Stu and Annie Ross - August 2018 Update

Dear friends,

On Friday, August 3 we dedicated our second Linda’s Library at Ngecha’s Girls’ High School. This school is located in a poor area 50 kms (32 miles) north of Kikuyu. There are 280 girls attending Ngecha Girls’ High School.

In addition to the girls, many other people attended the dedication ceremony: the Moderator of the Presbytery as well as three other ministers, the Director of Education from the PCEA Head Office, several chiefs and sub-chiefs of the area, a representative of the local Member of Parliament, a representative from the Minister of Education, and many other dignitaries. In many ways it resembled a church dedication with choirs, dancing and speeches.

Partner Updates