History:

  • The vision to open a home for abandoned babies in Kenya developed in the fall of 2000.    Rev. Jim Powell, the Associate Pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in New Castle, DE,  and Steve Kamau, a Kenyan who was a member of Heritage presented their vision to the officers of Heritage Church.
  • With the approval from Heritage Church Pastor Jim, his wife Sharon, and Steve visited Nairobi in July of 2001 to explore the implementation of their vision.    Happy Life Children’s Home began in January 2002 under the direction of Pastor Peter Ndungu.   The Lord blessed us with our first 4 children:the twin boys were found in a plastic bag at less than one week of age.    The twins are now happily adopted in the USA!
  • Eight abandoned children have found new parents. Four in the United States, three in Germany and one in Kenya.

Our first four children! January 2002
Twins Bruce and Jim, Victor and Jane
(Hope from Happy Life is on the right.)

  • Over 20 orphaned children are currently in the process of adoption; most of these adoptions being by Kenyan families. See our Adoption Stories page for a slideshow of children being adopted.
  • At the start Happy Life was  temporarily under the oversight of Heritage Presbyterian Church in New Castle, DE.    Following the incorporation in the State of Delaware in the fall of 2004 Happy Life received its official 501c(3) non-profit status. ( Tax ID: 30-0277253)  In Kenya Happy Life is registered under Pastor Ndungu’s Church, Overcoming Faith Ministries.
  • Two committees were formed to oversee the operations of the Home: Pastor Peter Ndungu is the Director of the Board in Kenya and Pastor Jim Powell  is the Director of the Board in the United States.
  • The facility for Happy Life was purchased in the winter of 2007 from its owner who had enabled the Home to have a rent-to-buy arrangement for several years.

Vision and Goals:

  • From the inception of Happy Life Children’s Home the vision has been to have a Home where abandoned babies could receive loving care and have the hope for adoption.  
  • We believe that God’s original plan for humans was to live together in families.   Sadly, many terrible and tragic happenings have created in Kenya and most of Africa, a climate where the abandonment of newborn babies is increasingly common.
  • In times past children who became abandoned in the African society were taken in by the extended family or tribal community.  Since this is increasingly no longer the case, the Church is being called to proclaim the message of adoption and to promote adoption among its members and friends.   It is the desire of Happy Life to work closely with the local churches in Kenya and around the world to this end.

Our Goals / Mission:

  • To bring hope to homeless children by providing them with a loving
    home and quality caregivers.
  • To meet the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of each child.
  • To create a family atmosphere within the Home and the local church.
  • To have each child be adopted.

Fruit of our Vision:

  • The Lord has been pleased to provide Happy Life with the blessings of seeing the “Fruit of its Vision”:  As of the summer of 2007

8 abandoned children have found new parents:
4 in the US; 3 in Germany, and one in Kenya.

Steve


Being Adopted!

Jacinta

"Unless the Lord builds the house , its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand
guard in vain.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.
Psalm 127:3