The vision for Children of Hope was born in the hearts of a couple from Colorado, John and Sharna Coors. When Sharna was a child, her parents took in foster children who had come to the U.S. during the Vietnam airlift. A compassion for children without families began to take root in Sharna’s heart at an early age. After marriage and four biological children, John and Sharna felt led to adopt six more children of varying ethnicities. One of these children, a boy, was of Kenyan descent. Eager to learn more about his child’s heritage, John made a trip to Kenya. He was moved deeply by the plight of orphans, as well as others in rural Kenya, most of whom were living in very difficult and primitive circumstances.
In the fall of 2001, John felt God leading him to start Community Uplift Ministries and the program of Circle of Light. Circle of Light brings electricity and gas cooking to rural villages in Kenya. Most rural Kenyan villages have no access to modern affordable electricity and women walk for many miles to collect the ever-diminishing supply of firewood needed to cook. The Circle of Light program was established to meet cooking and lighting needs in these villages.
As part of the Circle of Light program, a Christian Training Center is constructed alongside The Energy Store. On a trip to Kenya to inaugurate another Circle of Light project, John was startled to learn that more than 30 orphans had moved into the Circle of Light Christian Training Center in the village of Matumbei. John’s heart went out to the children. He immediately called Sharna, who was back home in Colorado, and told her that they had to do something about the situation of orphans in the communities where Circle of Light was working. It was in that moment that they knew God was calling them to do something to provide a better way of caring for the orphaned children of Africa. The vision for Children of Hope was born.
Through all of their experiences God had shown them that what children really need goes way beyond providing them with food, clothing and shelter. What they need most is simple: they need to be loved. They need to be held, affirmed and encouraged. They need family. The vision for Children of Hope is all about family. It’s about building a place for children that is not an orphanage, but a home… a home where kids are not just cared for, but cared about… a home where the caregivers see what they do as a calling, not just a job, and consider their roles in the kids’ lives as being their family.
Children of Hope was a dream of helping orphans, it is now a reality. Children of Hope Kenya, is a home, and a family. We would like to invite you to be apart of our Family.
