As our team looks back on 2021, we can’t help but thank God for all His gifts and mercies in our
ministry this past year! Even through the challenging seasons, He has always been faithful!
On November 1, we welcomed a new person not only to our team, but also to the world. Sophia
Adelyn Sterenchuk is a bundle of joy and a precious little addition into all of our lives, especially the Sterenchuk family. The embrace boys have also lovingly adopted her as their own little sister, and argue about who will push her stroller first when she visits Embrace.
December is usually a very tempting month for the boys to run back to the streets due to all the festivities happening in town, parties, and many available options to eat yummy food in celebration of the Christmas season. The well-wishers seeking to do something kind for the street children don’t realize the disservice it actually can do to those fighting their street life and drug addictions.
To help prevent the temptation to run away at Embrace, we created a very engaging advent season celebration for the whole month of December! Every day the boys completed different activities including learning carols, decorating, cooking special dishes, and jeopardy among other games, to earn a piece of a treasure map, which they would have to collect over all 25 days and arrange to find a prize at the end. They also had a daily advent devotional to help keep the focus on Jesus, with a practical application question about how the true meaning of His birth still directly impacts our lives today.
Another incentive for staying and behaving well was the Embrace field trip to Nairobi Safari Walk, which is a park similar to a zoo. In the middle of December, the whole Embrace team loaded up on a bus with all the boys and traveled to the other side of Nairobi. Upon arrival to the park, they floated around thrilled and in total awe at seeing lions, zebras, hippos, giraffes, and other indigenous animals for the first time in their lives. As most of the boys come from slums and severe poverty, this trip was once in a lifetime for them. In the entire day there was not a single discipline case, or even a raised voice, which is unheard of with the rowdy Embrace boys. Needless to say, both the boys and staff expressed great delight and gratitude for this very memorable trip.
The boys also received two weeks of holiday from their usual academic lessons. Tomake an effective use of their time off, they got to build bridges using real tools andmaterials. It was an exciting experience as they learned to design, plan, budget,hammer, sand and saw for the very first time. The bridges were judged for theirdesign and appearance and tested for their strength. The winning bridge held over1000 kg! The boys received personal tools as gifts and many discovered their interestand potential in the world of construction.
We ended 2021 with an evening filled with games, snacks, worship, prayer, andsharing what we thank God for around the bonfire, as the year came to a close.Sparklers, glow sticks, confetti poppers, and watching our neighbor’s fireworks werean exciting end to our night.
On behalf of our Embrace Family, we want to thank you for standing, praying and partnering with us in this past year. As we celebrate the blessings and victories of 2021, we look forward to everything God has in store for Embrace a Street Child in the new year and hope you will continue to be a part of transforming the lives of many more street children in Kenya. Wishing you abundant blessings in 2022
God is at Work Shadrack has been part of Embrace since the very beginning, even before our doors officially opened. We started working with him during the early outreach days, spreading the word about the center. We’ve prayed over his case for many years, and now, after three long years, we have finally seen a […]
Dear Embrace partners, we are excited to share with you our latest ministryupdates and prayer requests. Life at the Center Our boys have opportunities to try a variety of new experiences during their stay at Embrace. To encourage academic development, we organized a Spelling Bee for the first time at Embrace where boys practiced spelling […]
Reunion Camp For the first time in Embrace history, Kenyan Embrace staff, in partnership with a team ofvolunteers from Canada, organized and conducted a reunion camp for boys and their parentsor guardians.The vision for this camp, summarized in its name, aimed to create a space forthe boys and parents to “Re-connect,” while being exposed to […]
Staff Trip Before the end of year busyness set in, our team had the opportunity to go on a staff trip and spend a few days away from Nairobi to rest, fellowship and experience new adventures. Comprising missionaries, day and night caregivers, counselors, social workers, cooks, guards, and support staff, the Embrace team encompasses a […]
