What Chris and Leesa Harrington saw during their first trip to western Kenya in 2012 was so compelling that they came back the next year not only to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ but also to help the impoverished residents with water, food and shelter.
Then the Rev. Harrington, pastor of missions at Immanuel Baptist Church, and his wife kicked the operation into high gear with their 2017 formation of the nonprofit group Nourishing the Nations, building 250 homes, digging three water wells and feeding 750 children each weekday at churches in the town of Ahero and the villages of Awasi, Boya, Kogotu, Mangina and Rapogi.
Asked why the area has inspired such a strong commitment, Harrington said, “It’s the people of Kenya.
“They have such a welcoming spirit and there is such a need that we don’t see here in the United States. They grow what they eat and if it doesn’t come up, they’re likely going to starve. There is a hunger for the Gospel message and our people have fallen in love with that. Three hundred to 350 from our church have gone to Kenya over the years, some as many as 10 times.”
Harrington said Nourishing the Nations is a separate entity from Immanuel Baptist Church.
Funded by donations, the program averages spending $3,500 per month for food. The 10-by-12-foot houses with mud walls that it builds cost $500 each and the wells it has drilled, providing clean water for the first time, ran $7,000 apiece.
“There are 40,000 to 50,000 people in that area,” the minister said. “We partner with the same folks each time and have made relationships with them. They’re like family. We go over there and it’s like a family reunion. Some of the students have grown up and we feel like they are our brothers and sisters.”
The Rev. Corey Speer, Immanuel’s pastor of discipleship, said Nourishing the Nations sends groups of six to 24 people to Kenya two or three times a year and will do so again this summer. “We’ve built a lot of houses for widowed ladies,” Speer said.
“We have equipped the area pastors to lead the churches, providing discipleship and serving hot meals to children, and they have been pivotal. It’s ultimately about sharing the Gospel of Jesus and making him known in all the nations. We love seeing it here in Odessa, but we also love seeing it around the world because we are commanded to do it in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20.
“We have seen school attendance go up, families coming to church and the people’s overall health improve,” Speer said. “It’s a lot of fun. The kids really enjoy it. A lot of them had never seen a wazungu, a white person, in their entire lives. We give them shoes, do crafts and play soccer and other games.”
