our humble beginnings

this first post on this blog marks the first truly documented footstep in the journey of coming alongside the belwop children's home in building them a new facility to live in. we have only just begun to see the depth and the power of what love & faith in our huge God can do in bringing us together for such a cause, and it may be the most humbling experience of our lives.

my name is kate, and i first visited veronica, the belwop home's founder, in the summer of 2007 on a medical missions trip with my dad. i visited several orphanages in the tiny town of nyeri, kenya, but veronica's heart and vision for the children she was taking care of tugged at my heart and made me aware that something must be done to care for these children.
veronica is unique.
she is one of a kind.
she is wisdom and patience and beauty and rugged, persevered faith.
she is Jesus with skin on to these children.
she sold it all, moved back to nyeri with her husband to start a children's home in 2005.
the children literally came off the street, into a home.
her friends abandoned her.
she pressed on.
her husband died a year-and-a-half later.
she pressed on.
her faith in God's provision did not, and does not, waiver.
"God will do it," she says.
six years later, 23 children have a hope.
23 children have a home.
education.
freedom.
no fear.
Jesus.

coming back to America with a dream for these children beating in my heart, i told my friends something needed to be done; they had no money. they were living in a rented facility and accruing debt.
so we did fundraisers.
lauren cray, a close friend in college, caught wind of what was going on at belwop, and she has jumped on board in falling in love with the children of belwop and herself has visited and become a vital role in the process of helping veronica build a permanent children's home.
our friends (and spouses!) are a part of this, too:
aaron johnson (my amazing husband),
     kristen carter,          geoff spencer,      
   randi bergsma,      dominic laing,         casey williams,      jeff gerards,
                    chadwick & chaili trentham,
       greg spencer,                      mike farnham,
and so many who are a part of our various, post-college communities throughout southern california.

this is our team.
our vision is to come alongside veronica in building a new, permanent home on the property that we already have.

we are about $17,000 in to a $100,000 journey.
join us in praying, supporting, and coming with us to actually build the new home in nyeri (it's true! we want you there!).

lauren cray will be leaving for kenya to work on the preliminary building details on august 7th, and this blog will be frequently updated by her while she is gone.

simultaneously, the bp team will be working hard on the upcoming trip in october as we prepare to tell the story of veronica, the children, and belwop through the art of film, and bring it back home to churches and organizations who want to participate in this phenomenal, God-orchestrated project.
we will also be updating this blog during that time.

thank you for taking the time to hear the story of veronica and the children, and for supporting and loving us as we take baby steps forward in helping build a new, permanent home for the children of belwop children's home in nyeri, kenya.

.james 1:27. religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

may His Kingdom come,
kate johnson