2023–2025 Mission Grant #16
Care for Street Children of Western Kenya
Capstone Ministries — $50,000
Watch the video about this mission grant!
About This Mission Grant
Capstone Ministries helps enrich the lives of former street boys and girls who have been reconciled with their families. Capstone Ministries works in Western Kenya, an area where over 800 boys live on the street and survive by begging or stealing. They work to reconcile the boys with God and family.
This grant will provide educational scholarships for day and boarding school as well as vocational training for 52 children. It will also provide 100 Bibles and catechisms, translated into Swahili, for 17 Bible study groups.
Plus, it will support Capstone Camp which focuses on spiritual development, provides group counseling, scouting activities, and mentorship of primary school boys by secondary school boys. They invite 25 to 35 boys to participate in the one-week camp held at a rural university during the school break.
Mission Grant Resources
featured July 2024
Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
Large Print Resources for Grant #16
Benard Wadegu (#281) was rescued on 18/02/2014. He had run away from home due to peer influence and was found in the local market. He was invited twice to Capstone youth center at Lutheran Church in Kisumu. He had really worked hard in secondary school and finished wit a "B" average and qualified for a government scholarship to university. This is quite remarkable for a former street boy. He is at Masinde Muliro University studying for a BA in information technology.
More Mission Grant Photos
Jennipher Akinyi (#453) was met on the streets of Kisumu on 3/5/18.She shared that she left home because she feared going to school due to bullying she was undergoing in in school. She was counseled and accepted to be taken back home. The step-mother was called and came for her from the office. The girl sat for KCPE in 2018 where she scored 315 marks and qualified for Boarding school sponsorship. She got admitted at Rae girls Sec School where she is currently a senior in H.S.
Maxwell Abwamba was found in the streets of Kisumu in 2008. He was the first sponsored secondary student by Capstone Ministries. He has a natural talent in drawing, sketching and painting. He left home because the father was an alcoholic and they could not talk to each other he was taken through our transition center in Mbale, where the father could visit as we do counseling. He continues to follow his passion of drawing. He is the illustrator for 4 of Rev. Schmelzer's books.
Collins Ouma is a partial orphan. He lost his father in 2017 then he left home because he was left alone. The mother is strong in one of the Capstone Home Bible studies in Kisumu. He qualified very well for a secondary school scholarship with Capstone and is currently a freshman at Ramba Boys Secondary School. Each of these children pictured represent the results of God working through the staff of Capstone Ministries. In the next few years there are 52 boys who will qualify for a scholarship.
These are the five full-time staff counselors of Capstone Ministries. These five along with Project Manager Pastor Isaiah Apiyo do all the work on the ground, led by missionaries Pastor Dan and Patty Schmelzer. They are from L to R: Jeremiah Ouko, Queenter Oyori, Daniel Siombi, Jael Ochola, and Milkah Achieng.
Pastor Dan and Patty Schmelzer are the founding directors of Capstone Ministries. Dan is a pastor in the ELCK (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya). HIs hobbies are photography and writing. He is the author of four books of Biblical historical fiction. Patty is the administrator of Capstone Ministries and loves to cook, birdwatch and garden.
Isaiah Onyango Apiyo — Isaiah has served at Capstone since 2009 and most recently as Operations Supervisor. He is a graduate of Neema Lutheran Theological College, and Daystar University. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya and serves as pastor at the Kisumu Cathedral in the Lake Diocese. He is married to Sophie Anyango and they have two children: Daniel and Timothy. He loves teaching and preaching and working with children.
