BEGINNINGS


A MEETING IN THE FIELD

Mercy and Caring Children's Homes began in 2001 when Edwin and Nancy Cahill returned to Kenya following their Gateway Missionary Training School practicum.  They returned to see their friends in Kitale.  One family who had a large rented house gave their boys' bedroom to the Cahills, and the hostess, Dorcas, became Cahill's translator.  One day a man called Simon approached Edwin in a field and asked him to come and pray for his wife. She had a large lump on the back of her neck.  Cahills walked with the man about 2 miles to his humble home.

STEPS TO SALVATION
Simon and Milicent's home had a curtain for a door, a dirt floor, 2 stools, a bed, and a jiko(pot to cook in).  Nancy explained to the couple the four simple steps to salvation: 
    1.  To admit you are a sinner, 
    2.  To believe Jesus died for your sins, 
    3.  To receive Jesus as your saviour in a simple prayer 
    4.  To decide to serve Jesus with the rest of your life. 

Milicent and Simon prayed that prayer, and Cahills also prayed for Milicent's healing.  Nothing visible happened. Edwin gave the couple enough money to go to the next city to see a specialist.

Two weeks later, Simon appeared at the home where Cahills were staying.  He said, "My wife went to that doctor and got some medicine, but last night the growth opened up and drained, and now she is OK.  Thank you so much for your prayers."

"Can we come back to your home and have a weekly Bible study with you?" Edwin asked.
"Oh yes!" Simon replied.  The time was set for Thursdays at 2 PM.

THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE COMING
When Cahills rode down the long hill on the back of a bicycle (boda-boda) towards Simon's neighborhood, they did not realize that Simon had asked his neighbor, whose home had a cement floor, to host the Bible study.

A small crowd gathered as the bicycles let off their passengers, and the Cahills walked to the home Simon indicated.  A group of 10 people came regularly to that simple basic Bible study about Who God is, Who Jesus is, Why He came, and How you can know Him personally.  Dorcas did a great job of translating, and the Cahills taught them the song, "Our God is an Awesome God."


SORT OF LOST
One day when Dorcas was unable to attend, Cahills walked home on their own, but on a different path, sort of lost, but aware they were going in the right direction.  They went down into a valley and up a long hill.  At the top of it a young woman shook Nancy's hand with gusto. "Do I know you from a church somewhere?" Nancy asked.

"No," she replied.  "Last night when I was praying at one in the morning, I saw a vision of a white couple coming towards me.  I was praying about my rent money of 300Ksh. (only $6)." 

Cahills supplied that little need, and agreed they would come back next week for a time of prayer away from their other responsibilities.  When they arrived, a young man was kneeling on a rice sack in the corner of the small dirt room.

He looked up and said, "Let me show you the Kipsongo slum.

"I don't know if we should be going there," Edwin whispered into Nancy's ear.

HERE NOTHING CHANGES

They met the village elder as they viewed old people laying on the ground sick, little children running around in rags, and homes made of plastic stretched and tied to twigs like tents. 
"Out there things change," the Village Elder explained.  "But here, nothing changes."

Those words branded that hopeless message into the hearts of the Cahills who decided they would try to do something to make a change.

The young man who had taken them on the tour had already prepared a scribbler with photos and write-ups of children from the slum. "Take this home to Canada," he said.

THIS IS THE CHILD

When Cahills passed the book around at a family gathering back in British Columbia, a relative took the book into the corner and read every page.  Returning it to Nancy she pointed, "This is the child I will sponsor!" she exclaimed.

What do we do now, the Cahills wondered.  They contacted the young Kenyan man, and he was ecstatic. 
"Many people come and see the slum, but we never hear from them again."

From that small beginning, God has supplied many sponsors, and the Cahills have registered the ministry to children as a Canadian Charity under the name Mercy and Caring Children's Homes.

Milicent died in 2005, after asking Mama Nancy, "Can we sing, Our God is an Awesome God?"  She had succumbed to the ravaging results of an immune system that no longer worked.  Nancy prayed one more time for her in the Catholic hospital in Kiminini, and whispered in her ear, "Your children will be taken care of in Mercy and Caring Children's Home."  Milicent went to her Heavenly Father, and no longer feels any pain.  Her husband Simon followed her in 2007, also with AIDS.  Here are their beautiful children.