Summer Highlights: New Guest House, Interns, & Mission Teams!

What an incredible summer it has been in Kenya! Because of your prayers and support, we witnessed God’s faithfulness in so many ways. Here are a few highlights we are excited to share with you:

Guest House Completed – After much planning and hard work, we completed construction of our guest house! This space will provide a welcoming home for up to 24 people on mission teams, interns, and visitors who come to serve alongside us.

Internship Program Launched – We were blessed to host a 6-week internship for a student from Liberty University. She invested her time and heart into our programs, bringing fresh ideas and encouragement to our staff and the women we serve.

First Mission Team Experience – Our very first mission team came this summer! They led Vacation Bible School at a local school, shared God’s love through teaching and play, and spent meaningful time with the women and children currently in our transformative program—as well as graduates who continue to thrive.

This summer has been a season of growth, connection, and testimony to what God can do when we come together. None of this would be possible without you. Your prayers, generosity, and encouragement continue to pave the way for women and families in Kenya to find hope, healing, and lasting independence.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Together, we are building brighter tomorrows.

Together, We Are Building Stronger Futures

In 2024, Building Families For Tomorrow, Inc. made incredible strides in fulfilling our mission: helping women in Kenya reintegrate into society as productive citizens after being released from prison, while also educating and caring for children whose mothers are incarcerated.

Thanks to the generous contributions of donors like you, we transformed the lives of more than twice as many families compared to the previous year. This included 61 women and 138 children, breaking the cycle of poverty and offering hope for a brighter future.

Here’s how we made it happen:
• Empowering Women: We trained women in various trades and supported them in establishing their own businesses, enabling them to become self-sufficient. Now, they can provide adequate food for their children and ensure they attend school.

• Caring for Children: We created a safe and nurturing environment for children while they await reunification with their mothers after release from prison. These children now look forward to reuniting as a family and moving into society with hope, as their mothers complete our training program.

• Expanding Partnerships: We doubled our prison partnerships from four to eight facilities, allowing us to reach and impact even more families, changing the trajectories of children’s lives.

Your support made this possible. We are profoundly grateful for your contributions, prayers, and ongoing commitment to Building Families For Tomorrow, Inc.

As we look ahead in 2025, we are excited about the opportunity to help even more families build brighter futures. With your continued support, we can transform countless more lives.

Join Us For an Unforgettable Trip to Kenya - July 10-22, 2025

Join our team to help teach a fun-filled, vacation Bible school type curriculum for the children at Building Families For Tomorrow.

The program will be held at the Residential Center of BFFT in Kitale, Kenya. In addition to VBS, you will experience the Kenyan culture, taste the local cuisine, see the beauty of the country, and witness the positive impact BFFT has made in so many families’ lives.

There will be 5 team meetings to help prepare you for this once in a lifetime experience. Trainings include logistics, fundraising, Kenyan culture and curriculum.

Update on Baby Esther

Esther is truly a living miracle. She was born by emergency C-section more than 2 months premature, weighing only 1.5 kg (3 pounds 5 ounces).  She just had her 5 month check up and weighed in at 7 kg (15 pounds 7 ounces) which is a normal size for a 5-month-old girl.

She is such a happy baby and loves to sing in the morning when she wakes up. You would never think she was a preemie by looking at those chubby cheeks. Her mother, 15-year-old Nancy, started high school this week.

We are preparing for our second annual gala. Please consider supporting this important work by becoming a sponsor.

Update from the President

Thanks to your generous support, the work of Building Families For Tomorrow is thriving! On April 27, more than 70 people attended our very first gala where we raised over $50,000! A week later, I traveled to Kenya to begin putting that money to work accomplishing many of the goals vital to our mission.
 
I spent four months at our center in Kitale, Kenya, empowering our staff and strengthening our program. It was so exciting to see how quickly the money that was raised at the gala began making a difference in the lives of Kenyan women who are striving to make a better future for themselves and their children. The infusion of funds made it possible for us to bring everyone on our waiting list into the program. We more than doubled the number of residents at our center from 31 to 65 women and children. We also were able to increase our prison partnerships to four by adding the prison in Kakamega.
 
On the training side, we’ve created a new business option for our women. In addition to tailoring, salon services, and beadwork, they now can learn baking. I love to bake and shared that with the women. The challenge was that I didn’t know how to bake in a charcoal oven. Fortunately, they did and taught me how to cook with charcoal. Together, we baked bread and sold it to our neighbors, something the women will continue to do when they transition back into their communities.
 
There are so many stories of transformed lives and families! I look forward to sharing them with you in future communications, but in the meantime, let me simply say thank you. You are truly helping change the world one family at a time.

Jana O'Guin
Founder/President