Before the new home was built, the children lived in extremely difficult conditions with no proper bathroom. Aaron shared these photos of the makeshift facility they had been using at the time, which the children were afraid to use. It is one example of how basic needs that are easy to take for granted were once a daily challenge.
Before a new home was built, the children were crowded together in a tiny dirt-floor shelter with very limited space. This was the starting point for what would eventually become a much safer and more stable place for the children to live.
When Aaron first connected with Pastor Meshack in Kenya, the situation was desperate. Meshack was caring for 52 orphaned children with very few resources, and the children were crowded together in a tiny dirt-floor shelter. The facility had no windows or proper bathroom, while basic necessities such as food and water were a constant struggle.
What began with a small donation quickly became something much more personal. After the children sent Aaron a thank-you song, he began speaking regularly with Meshack, his sons, and the children through weekly video calls. In late 2019, Aaron committed to helping build a proper home for the children and began reaching out to friends and family for support. Although plans to visit Kenya were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the work continued from thousands of miles away.
Over the following years, that small shelter was replaced by a comfortable home built for the children. Today, Lord Has Mercy Orphanage provides safe and stable housing for 56 children, with bunk beds, bathrooms, and separate sleeping rooms for the boys and girls. After completing housing for the children, additional housing was also built for the pastors and staff who care for them each day.
The transformation is about more than a building. Having a dependable place to sleep created a foundation for everything that followed: better nutrition, clean water, education, healthcare, and the opportunity for the children to grow in a more stable environment. What began as an effort to give the children a safe place to sleep has grown into a home and community designed to help them build a future.
What began as a tiny dirt-floor shelter has grown into a much larger facility with a safe place for the children to live and sleep. Today, Lord Has Mercy Orphanage is home to 56 children, with additional housing built for the pastors and staff who care for them. The transformation represents years of commitment, support, and a shared determination to give the children a more stable place to call home.
These early photos offer a closer look at the conditions surrounding the orphanage before the new home was built. From the original shelter and basic living conditions to the makeshift bathroom the children once had to use, they show where the story began. The final images mark the first steps toward something better as building materials began to arrive.
With support in place, the work of building a new home began. These photos follow the transformation from the arrival of materials and the digging of the foundation to the walls, roof, finishing work, and eventual completion of the building. Step by step, the vision of a safer and more stable home for the children began to take shape.
Today, the children have a much safer and more stable place to live, sleep, study, and spend time together. These photos show the home not simply as a completed building, but as a place filled with everyday life, learning, laughter, and community.
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