The Take Heart Kenyan Education Program sponsors over 100 adolescents ranging from primary school to university across the nation of Kenya to create opportunities as alternative pathways for students to choose life outside of cyclical poverty, violence, suicide and forced marriage. Our Education Program is built on four pillars: Academic Excellence, Financial Stewardship, Wholehearted Service, and Spiritual Development.
Academic Excellence | Academic Excellence exists as a driving pillar of our Education Program. It is where the balance of accountability and assistance lives for over 100 students. While full tuition and room and board sponsorship gives the students in this program access to education that they would not otherwise know, support through academic accountability and assistance is what makes excellence out of that access. At the high school level, our pillar of academic excellence is exemplified through opportunities of tutoring for students in need. We also host high school student and guardian meetings on school breaks to set goals and share successes. This pillar is brought to life at the university level through individual student meetings before, during, and after their semesters to provide them with the encouragement, tools, and guidance needed to succeed. Our Academic Excellence Staff Team also assists graduating students in their search for job opportunities. Academic access, assistance, and accountability are the building blocks of our pillar of Academic Excellence on which our Education Program firmly stands.
Financial Stewardship | Financial Stewardship makes our Education Program sustainable. Over 40 students in the program at the university level receive a stipend each month that covers their expenses for rent, utilities, food, transport, and supplies. They are then held accountable for tracking and recording their stewardship of those funds. Through this pillar, these students learn the valuable skill budgeting, while our staff and donors can ensure that the money is being used for what it has been allocated for. Decreasing the space for deception and ensuring the correct use of funds through our pillar of Financial Stewardship is foundational to the success of Education Program.
Wholehearted Service | Our Education Program is built on a spirit of service. Each week, over 40 of our university level students volunteer at local children’s homes, hospitals, churches, and more to sew back into the communities in which they live. We also host quarterly Serve Days where our students gather regionally in five to seven locations to serve hundreds of Kenyans across the country. They cook meals, clean rooms, create community, and exemplify Christ. The students in our Education Program have taught us the value of giving with all of ourselves. They’ve built this program on a pillar of Wholehearted Service.
Spiritual Development | Light overcomes darkness through the Spiritual Development pillar of our Education Program. The truth and grace of Jesus is shared weekly through student discipleship groups in which our Kenyan and U.S. staff both participate. We champion growth spiritually by sending our high school graduates to a three to six month discipleship internship program with one of our partners, African Enterprise, where they are discipled and directed on their paths. Each year, we celebrate spiritual development as family when we gather over 60 students for our annual conference. We participate in God-seeking time, breakout sessions, small groups, speakers, and more to create unity, belonging, and a desire to grow with God in our Take Heart community. Spiritual Development is a pillar on which our Education Program stands.
You can partner with us by fueling our efforts to empower students to achieve in their academics excellently, steward their finances with integrity, serve their communities wholeheartedly, and deeply grow spiritually by contributing to our #GivingTuesday fundraising goal to raise $6,000 by midnight on November 29th! Donate Here!
