SOLID ROCK FOUNDATION HISTORY
Over an all-you-can-eat lunch at the Country Buffet in Englewood, Colorado, Mwangi Ndegwa shared his story with new friend, Matthew Bachali. Both were born in 1969 but their childhoods could not have been more diverse. Mwangi, a poor Kenyan who received his first pair of shoes in 9th grade and Matthew, a Midwest boy who enjoyed the comfort of the United States in the 70’s and 80’s. What bonded them together was a shared passion for Jesus Christ, and what God placed on their hearts together that day in 2010.
Mwangi’s home village of Theri, Kenya, had been in a 30-year slump – 80% unemployment, devastating poverty, disease, unclean water, no electricity or sewer system or trash collection. One in every three kids were abandoned or orphaned. It was a story from Dickens, only it was not a work of fiction. Mwangi wanted to help, to give back, to be a part of the solution. But how could these two men help?
Fast forward four years and many more lunches together and Emmanne Ministries was born. Mwangi and Matthew formed a non-profit in the U.S., flew to Kenya to explore the need, and returned with a simple plan… begin with the “least of these,” the orphans of Theri. A year later, Emmanne Children’s Home was opened, and eleven beautiful children were placed in the 300 square foot home with two staff members that were tasked to give love and care. In 2022, we opened a second children’s home for Maasai girls. Our goal – to go after true orphaned girls who needed our help to fight poverty, abandonment, FGM (female genital mutilation) and forced marriages. Twelve girls joined our home, forming the second Emmanne community in Oloitokitok, Kenya.
What do you do when you hear about great need in the world?
Until 2010, we did very little. Yes, we gave money to charities and to our churches. Yes, we volunteered at local ministries to help the homeless and the poor. However, something unique and wonderful happened to us in 2010. We could not shake the suffocating need presented to us, and we decided to do something about it.
Emmanne Ministries was birthed out of friendship between a Kenyan and an American.
We have imperfectly shaped this ministry from an insatiable desire to “do good” in the world. Doing good is a biblical idea. Its root is in following Jesus, the greatest example of doing good in history. So we have gone to Theri and Oloitokitok, and we have set up a ministry that is built on the idea of actively and tangibly loving people.
SOLID ROCK FOUNDATION VISION
Sharing Life – Bringing Hope Simple words to say… challenging words to live.
When we formed Emmanne Ministries in 2013, we did not realize how powerful these four words would be to our vision and direction of this ministry.
Emmanne was created to share life together, both Kenyan and American. It takes the creativity, ingenuity and passion of both cultures, working together to bring a Jesus-loving approach to all that we do. It is challenging to carry out, but we passionately believe that without both sets of ideas, our work will fall flat and miss God’s Kingdom perspective in the effort.
Emmanne was created to bring hope to people in our communities. We feel so blessed and loved by God, and we want to give that blessing to others. We share this message of love in words and deeds. The resulting evidence of God’s hand on Theri and Oloitokitok will be in things such as a thriving church community, better schools, a community health clinic, a children’s home, job creation, and a partnership with local farming and industry.
A little note about practicing what we preach – We are comprised of two non-profits. Solid Rock Foundation, our non-profit in Kenya, is run by our Kenyan board members. Emmanne Ministries is the American non-profit counterpart, run by our American board members. All financial and visionary decisions are approved by our boards.
