A cloudy day could not overshadow the wide smiles of regional church leaders, special guests, donors, staff, and students of Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center as they met on the completely renovated campus for the official inauguration ceremony in Kajiado, Kenya, on July 11, 2024.

The ceremony included the unveiling of a plaque, a traditional Maasai welcome, words from the leaders, songs and prayers, and the official presentation of the institution’s keys to the regional church administration.

The July 11 ceremony crowned six years of hard work since Adventist independent supporting ministry Maranatha Volunteers International arrived at Kajiado with the goal of revamping the institution. Since 2000, the school had been a beacon for Maasai girls from the area who ran away from an early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). Even though FGM is illegal in Kenya, it is still practiced mostly in isolated villages in the highlands, much to the chagrin of law enforcement.

With the help of police, some girls have managed to reach the Adventist school, where they find food, shelter, and a wholistic Adventist education. Others have escaped by themselves to arrive, often fainting, at the main gate of Kajiado.

Regional church leaders, including East-Central Africa Division president Blasious Ruguri (fifth from left), greet Maranatha Volunteers International leaders at the main gate of the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center, July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

With rose petals in their hands, a group of children wait to welcome church leaders to Kajiado’s official inauguration in Kajiado, Kenya, July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Main entrance to Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center, as it looked in 2022 before Maranatha-funded last stage of renovations.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, East-Central Africa Division president Blasious Ruguri leads the way through the renovated main entrance to the campus of the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Pathfinders participate in a welcome parade for regional church and Maranatha leaders attending Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center’s official inauguration on July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Leaders unveiled a plaque before the beginning of the ceremony.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

As the plaque reads, 1,600 volunteers and donors participated in the building efforts of Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A Providential Turnaround

When Maranatha first arrived at Kajiado in 2018, the future of the school was in danger. Overcrowding, lack of resources, shoddy infrastructure, and insufficient water supply threatened its survival. But through a steady plan that combined the support of private donors and volunteers, a local crew, and the buy-in of regional church leaders, the school experienced a turnaround that helped to position it across the region as the place to be to get a sound education and a future.

Part of this turnaround hinged on the possibility of finding a more abundant water supply to support the school’s expansion projects. At that time, Maranatha leaders shared, “a truck would come and fill some water tanks on the grounds. But water expenses were eating up 40 percent of the school budget.”

Surveys reported that in the best-case scenario, digging a new well could produce up to 500 liters (132 gallons) per hour, which was well below what Kajiado needed. Maranatha decided to move forward in faith. Kajiado girls spent two months praying specifically that God would give them the water the school needed.

Their prayers were answered in a more abundant way than they had imagined. Currently, the school’s well produces thousands of gallons per hour, covering the needs of the school, the local Adventist church, and community members who can fill their jerrycans for free. The school also has a top-of-the-line water filtration and purification system, guaranteeing that the school has pure drinking water.

“In a place where there was not supposed to be water, now there is abundance of it,” Maranatha executive vice president Kenneth Weiss said. “Time after time, when [we were] facing a seemingly unsurmountable challenge, God has come through. The time we faced the water challenge was no exception.”

The abundance of water not only allowed Maranatha leaders to proceed and envision bigger dreams for the school but also helped local staff to launch two vegetable gardens to support the students’ diet. It also helped Maranatha to transform the Kajiado campus from a bare, dust-filled place to a multicolored garden with lawns, shrubs, and flowers. On July 11, church leaders who had visited the campus in the past said they could not believe their eyes. “I can’t recognize the place,” one of them commented. “It looks like a completely new school!”

A Maasai students records the proceedings of Kajiado’s official inauguration on July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Group of Maasai students participate in a traditional dance and song to welcome visitors.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Members of the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center greet the public during the institution’s official inauguration on July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center principal Sophia Nyasani Bisonga welcomes students, parents, guests, and donors to the July 11 ceremony.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Kajiado’s student choir performs a special musical item during the July 11 official inauguration of the school.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Maranatha Volunteers International president Don Noble (right) hands the keys of the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center to the South Nairobi Kajiado Field president Kenneth Onchana.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Maranatha and regional church leaders receive a traditional Maasai welcome and gifts during the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center inauguration.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A Maranatha volunteer smiles as she entertains several children during the July 11 inauguration ceremony.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

East-Central Africa Division president Blasious Ruguri and his wife, Elizabeth, enjoy a light moment during the inauguration ceremony in Kajiado, Kenya, on July 11.

Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A Missionary Center

During the ceremony, church leaders emphasized the missional potential of the new school. “This [school] is not for decoration,” Blasious Ruguri, president of the Adventist Church’s East-Central Africa Division, told those present. “This is a missionary center.” He added, “We want these teens, this school to become a blessing.” The goal, Ruguri emphasized, is that when students leave Kajiado, they may be scattered all over the continent to share the message of Jesus and His salvation.

At the same time, Ruguri reflected on the beginnings of Jesus’s ministry, which took place “not in the market and cities” but “in the desert, in a place not different from what this place looked like the first time Maranatha arrived,” he said. “But the presence of Jesus has power to transform,” Ruguri said. “Who could have imagined that this place would now look like this?”

As part of the inauguration, Maranatha president Don Noble handed the keys of the Kajiado school to the South Nairobi Kajiado Field administration, represented by president Kenneth Onchana. A transition team has been working with the school board and other church leaders to ensure the long-term viability of the project once Maranatha leaves the school.

Celebrating Life

Anu Kedas, Maranatha country director in Kenya, also thanked leaders, Maranatha staff, and volunteers. At the same time, she emphasized how the campus has changed for the better, noting the role it will continue playing in the lives of the students. “We dedicate this campus to God … and to the students who will study in these classrooms, enjoy these buildings, and get out of those gates being someone in life and celebrating life,” Kedas said.

Maranatha leaders have shared how the students who already graduated from Kajiado have learned trades and are doing well in life. At least seven of those graduates are already pursuing a college degree, they reported. “These students have found a hope and future here,” they said. “They have found God, and they have found a family.”

It is perhaps the reason that the plaque unveiled on July 11 included a Bible verse Maranatha leaders chose to mark the occasion. They selected 2 Corinthians 6:18. During the ceremony, Noble read the verse in a loud voice. “I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty,” he read.

Maranatha Volunteers International is an independent supporting ministry and is not operated by the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The original article was published on the Adventist Review website.