While we celebrate women's achievements, we also recognize persisting challenges. Gender-based discrimination, unequal access to education and healthcare, and systemic barriers in the workplace continue to hinder women's full realization of their rights.

I realized I was the same age as many of these girls when I was pregnant in high school. I also could empathize and understand their lack of emotional and relational support. Many of their parents also had an addiction. We were caught in the same mess and missing something we really needed. Yet, there was an enormous difference in the outcome of our futures.

Was God going to use my past and teen pregnancy?

I had no idea how. I had carried it with shame for a long time in certain spaces. I was proud of my family but not necessarily how I got there.

God has a way of taking what was supposed to(or did) break us to bring us to Him and then using it for His ultimate Glory.

He is ultimately the reason I had a connection with teen girls in Kenya. I could feel the tears burn in my eyes, and I was totally distracted. But I quickly pushed them down and kept going. The sun was going down, and we needed to finish. I would have to process it another time. Later, I made a little post about that moment like any good Gen X would. Many people commented and asked for the whole story.

What does my 25-year-old have to do with Flourish Kenya?

We are sharing the story of Mary’s rescue from FGM and child marriage in conjunction with our ENOUGH campaign. She is enough reason for all of us to say, “Enough is enough!” Together, we have more than enough resources to eradicate FGM, child marriage, and gender-based violence.

Learn more at flourishkenya.org/enough.

Flourish Kenya has always taken the marriage of our faith-driven motives to evidence-based practices for nonprofit work very seriously. As a small, grassroots organization, we’ve always said that we don't want to reinvent the wheel if we don't have to.

Still, given the nature of our work, we have had to examine the ways things have always been done— among staff and board members, in global development, in mission work, and even in our own lives.

When we reflect on the ways and deeds of those who have gone before us, in addition to our own track record, we see that there are repeated actions and methods that aren’t beneficial to those we aim to serve. Worse yet, some are harmful to the community we love and serve.

How could your story inform a decision to change someone else’s story? Read how Jayma’s life brought her to a place where she committed to sponsoring a SECOND student through Flourish Kenya!

As we raise awareness and proceed with great hope for every girl child, let us not forget the 40% of girls in Transmara who will or have already begun bearing children before entering secondary or becoming a candidate for the KCSE. Let us remember the girls who have no say in what happens to them— their bodies or their futures.

Some argue that true financial sustainability for nonprofits is a myth— an elusive ideal that can never be realized by the suckers with the wherewithal to pursue it. In recent years we’ve begun seeing more and more criticism of traditional philanthropic models, calling out their tendency to stretch NPOs rather than strengthen them. Others accuse funders of holding sustainability like a carrot dangling from a string of single-year designated grants in front of cash-strapped nonprofits. Thankfully this thinking is leading to changes in grant-making strategies. Meanwhile, here at Flourish Kenya, we remain convinced as always that sustainability is much more than a myth— for us, it’s becoming a reality.

Our work with Flourish Kenya puts us at the front lines of these issues and makes us sensitive to the tragic consequences of the ways society has diverged from God’s perfect design for sex and sexuality. However, finding a person, marriage, or family anywhere in the world, from the U.S. all the way to Kenya, that has not been affected by the downfall of sex and sexuality outside of God's design would be difficult. You don't have to look too far around you to see the pain, chaos, and confusion caused by having sex our way.

In honor of National Nonprofit Day, we wanted to acknowledge all of the incredible selfless individuals doing incredible work to make the world a better, more just place for all.

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” -Galatians 6:9

Maybe you’ve thought about starting a nonprofit or going to work for one. We thought we’d share some hard-won and brutally honest nuggets of wisdom for anyone thinking about starting a nonprofit.

This week we are going to explore five common ways we go wrong with God's design for sexuality, whether it started with what we learned through entertainment and media, what we were taught at home, or the harmful teachings passed down by the Church.

The view from the front lines of the war on teen pregnancy: Community Dialogues dig up buried issues in the interior of Transmara
Recent statistics from the Ministry of Health unveiled a new tragic reality for Kenya: we are now ranked #3 in the WORLD for teen pregnancy. In response, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe stated in a speech given on 14 July 2022, “We must rescue the affected girls and ensure they are taken back to school while building a solid community system that will end these challenges at the County and national levels. The era of looking the other way and letting perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence walk scot-free must end. Let us have constructive community dialogues that provide solutions.”

as much as we try, and despite all of the misconceptions and beliefs surrounding sexuality, we can't separate God from sex. Sexuality and God are so closely intertwined that our view of Him and His position in our lives directly correlates with our views on sex, relationships, and even identity. If we are confused about God, we will be confused about aspects of sexuality.

We could talk all day about what is broken with sex, and stay tuned because we'll get there! But first, let's start with the flawless original design. In the first two chapters of Genesis, God reveals His plan and purposes for sex.

Today we’re exploring the three purposes of sex outlined in scripture: procreation, intimacy, and pleasure.

Grow in awareness with us today, the International Day of the African Child. Flourish Kenya is working primarily to end the teen pregnancy epidemic in rural Kenya, demanding a secondary focus on ending FGM and child marriage.

Reflecting on the ongoing work of dismantling white supremacy in foreign development workers, and the ongoing impact of decades of oppression.