A Brief History
Hope Unlimited informally began in 2007 when church members from Highland Park Presbyterian Church (HP Pres) visited Njuthine, Kenya, a small, under-resourced village northeast of Nairobi without water, electricity, medical care, or adequate school facilities. The conditions were primitive, and people survived by growing food during the two rainy seasons and walking miles each day to scoop up water from the closest river.
They had attempted to improve their village’s circumstances by creating a dispensary for medicines, but it was not successful. In addition, they attempted to dig a ditch for a water pipeline, but ran into problems and could not complete the project themselves.
When the church members saw the villagers’ undeniable needs firsthand, they asked HP Pres for help and began working on plans for long-lasting community improvements. From that point on, things began to improve, and the villagers began to develop hope for a better future.
With funding from HP Pres, an engineering firm was hired to help the villagers complete the water pipeline project that they had worked so hard to start. The availability of water to the village changed everything.
Now, the women did not have to spend much of their day making four-mile roundtrips for water and they were able to irrigate gardens, grow food year-round, including in the dry seasons, and have extra food available for sale or trade.
With funding from HP Pres and church members, in partnership with the local county government, a medical clinic was constructed. The county agreed to operate the clinic and provide staff, medicines, medical supplies. From day one, the clinic was busy treating malaria and parasite diseases.
Soon, word spread of its opening and five nearby villages began coming for treatment and medicines. The success of the clinic motivated the government to construct a bridge over the river for people to access the clinic more easily and began elevating the clinic into a Health Center with maternity care and 24/7 service. The importance of the clinic prompted the government to bring electricity into the village. This was another major improvement.
Due to the poor condition of the Njuthine primary school and the low morale of students and teachers, HP Pres funded renovation and expansion of the school. In addition, they outfitted the school with new books and teaching materials, which greatly improved student achievement and their interest in learning. It had been more than 15 years since a student from Njuthine had qualified for secondary school and that meant a very limited future.
Just two years after the improvements were made, three students qualified for secondary school, then five students qualified, then eight students, and in time almost all the students were qualifying for secondary school. Of the first group of three children attending secondary school, two have already graduated from university and are now educated, productive citizens.
This single school upgrade project has helped to bring children out of poverty and change the trajectory of their lives. Since many of the students could not afford the expense of secondary school, HP Pres members started a scholarship program to assist them, and Hope Unlimited is continuing that initiative.
Since the Christian faith is very important there, several churches already exist, but they are small and have limited opportunities for member involvement. For example, the Njithune Presbyterian Church was meeting in a small building that was old and in poor condition.
With the help of HP Pres members, a new building was constructed and Bibles written in the native language were provided. The church began to grow and since then, the building has been expanded two times.
Currently, the villagers are helping to raise funds for a third expansion.
In 2020, COVID-19 hit Africa extremely hard and many people were ill and unable to work. The death toll was high, and businesses closed, causing the economy to go into a deep recession. The government, which always had limited funds, was forced to reduce the budget even further. The supply of medicines to the Njuthine clinic dropped and one clinic staff position was not filled. This shortage of medicine severely disrupted the function of the clinic and the entire healthcare system.
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Hope Unlimited Kenya
Hope Unlimited Kenya started in 2007 as a short-term mission in Njuthine, Kenya from HP Pres. The first project was the completion of a water pipeline from a river two miles away and it made a significant difference in the village. Seeing the great need in Njuthine, Hope Unlimited continued improvements throughout the village, including to the Primary School and the construction of a new medical clinic (the first in the area). Years later in 2020, the Covid Pandemic devastated the economy of Kenya and government support decreased greatly. It appeared the progress of the last decade might be lost, so in 2022, Hope Unlimited was formed as 501c3 to raise funds to continue the progress.
After getting the clinic, school, and other projects back up-and-running, Hope Unlimited Kenya began to focus on helping the Njuthine Presbyterial Church and other small rural churches in the area. First 10, then 20 churches were connected to a computer network and were able to download Sharing the Bible material from the Hope Unlimited Kenya website. Now, plans are being made to expand the services to the churches and increase the number of churches in the network.
Additional priorities are to turn the Njuthine medical clinic into a Health Center that can provide maternity and pediatric services, and to improve the supply of clean water with the drilling of wells. Once these programs are running smoothly, we plan to help the villagers start businesses so they can establish an economy that will enable them to build their own future.
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Hope Unlimited Cameroon
The Cameroon mission began when a small group of friends met at the home of Marie Jeanne for Bible study and fellowship. Soon after, the Bible study grew and Marie Jeanne started including people from Ndjom-Essaman, her home village. Together, they watched the Highland Park Pres Sunday Service on a large computer screen each week at 7pm. These weekly gatherings provided opportunity for learning more about Jesus, making new friends, and discussing needs in the community.
From these gatherings, it was decided that high demand items included: a medical clinic and food and uniforms for schoolchildren. Projects ensued faster than expected and now a small clinic exists to treat malaria and other common diseases, as well as to provide vitamins and improved nutrition for pregnant women and infants.
In 2024, Marie Jeanne and Hope Unlimited discovered that they were working on the same projects in different areas of Africa and decided to combine efforts - this is when Hope Unlimited Cameroon was born. Now, everyone is working together to raise funds and spread the Gospel across Cameroon.
Existing projects include: 1) maintaining the clinic, 2) providing schoolchildren with food and school uniforms, 3) sourcing water from a nearby well, 4) starting agriculture programs to produce coffee, cocoa, and vegetables.
The work in Ndjom-Essaman has been very successful and nearby villages are requesting to get involved. Marie Jeanne is planning to start Bible study groups in three nearby villages and plans to start new churches there as well.
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Throughout Hope Unlimited’s Work
The Sharing the Bible initiative is center to Hope Unlimited’s work and was first inspired by the growth of the Njuthine PCEA (Presbyterian Church East Africa) Church. This initiative connects small churches in Cameroon and Kenya via a computer network. Hope Unlimited supplies the computers, printers, and online biblical materials for distribution and facilitation of Christian programming.
Currently, 20+ churches are participating across areas of Kenya and Cameroon, and almost immediately, attendance has grown. A new enthusiasm for learning the Bible and sharing the Gospel has ensued throughout these rural churches. The Sharing the Bible program will continue to grow as funds are available.
