Spotlight
Celebrating 20 Years of Project 24
The program now supports nearly 600 children and young adults in Kenya.
Back in 2006, the LCMS North Dakota District sent a group to Kenya to learn about ways to get involved in ministry in the country. As the group sat in the Nairobi living room of the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), the LCMS’ partner church, someone asked about the greatest challenges facing the ELCK.
The archbishop’s response left an impression on everyone there. Bob Wurl of Hankinson, N.D., recalled, “He just said, ‘There are so many children — vulnerable children — that have lost one or both parents, and the families are just unable to take care of all their children. And so, they leave a child on the doorstep of the pastor’s home or of the church, just knowing that the church will somehow find a way to take care of these children.’”
Wurl and Roger Weinlaeder of Drayton, N.D. — laymen serving in the North Dakota District — returned to the U.S., turning that problem over in their minds. The archbishop had suggested that if LCMS partners could help with the funding to purchase land and build boarding facilities, the ELCK could operate the facilities to serve those children in body and soul. Wurl and Weinlaeder earnestly desired to bring that dream into reality.
At the time, the ELCK had four dioceses. With the goal of building six boarding facilities in each diocese, the undertaking took on the name “Project 24.”
Over the past 20 years, Wurl and Weinlaeder have returned to Kenya six times, witnessing the ever-growing scale of the project.
“Originally, our focus was really on children that didn’t have a safe home … giving them a good start,” said Wurl.
Today, working in tandem with Christ’s Care for Children: Kenya (CCCK), a child sponsorship program that began 10 years ago, Weinlaeder explained that the children in Project 24 are now supported “to the highest level of education they’re able to receive.”
From elementary school through university, the program is currently supporting nearly 600 children. “That’s huge to think about,” said Weinlaeder. “You can see God’s kingdom growing as [the program] grows.”
Project 24, the “brick and mortar” piece of the operation, as Wurl describes it, now has nine facilities, each within walking distance of a primary school and next to an ELCK church. Each site, which is run by a site manager and an ELCK deaconess, has a plot for gardening, a milking cow and other livestock.
Currently, each facility houses 28 children, with plans to welcome up to five more children to each site this year.
The Christian faith is at the center of daily life at Project 24, with 15 baptisms and 44 confirmations occurring in 2024 alone. Twice a year, the children from all nine centers come together for Catechetical Bible Club, where they perform recitations, act out Bible stories and sing, while forming friendships with kids from other centers. When students return to their extended families during school breaks, they often become witnesses for Christ in their home communities.
After moving on to high school, the students continue to receive support through the second phase of Project 24, called Beyond 24. Between high school graduation and the start of their higher education, students can enroll in the Pre-College Lutheran Academy, a 12-week course that focuses on enriching the students’ faith and teaching life skills. A gathering is held for the Beyond 24 students once a year.
Weinlaeder reflected, “Not only do we get to see and interact with those children who are in high school, but with a few that are in university. … Now the program has been in place long enough that children are exiting the program with education — deaconesses, engineers, working in the construction industry — so it’s been very rewarding to see.”
“As it sits today, I couldn’t be prouder of [Project 24] than what it is now, except that I wish there was more of it,” said Weinlaeder.
Wurl agreed, “We are both interested in the continuity of [Project 24] — that it would continue, … that other people would become excited about it, not only through their financial support but through their advocacy.”
“How do you improve the world?” asked Weinlaeder. “You start with one person and move on. And after a while you’ve got a ton of people who are doing it.”
Both men expressed hope that one day Project 24 could be replicated in other countries. In recent years, a similar program has started in Tanzania that is now caring for 64 children.
Project 24 and CCCK are unique in how they care for people while prioritizing the teaching of the true Gospel message. “It’s not only the physical care — it’s the spiritual care, and the opportunity … for them to learn about Jesus,” said Wurl.
Learn More
New CCCK sponsors can double their impact, thanks to the generosity of a faithful donor, through a special match opportunity. Donors are also invited to give to the newly established endowment created to support Project 24, CCCK and future programs like them. The endowment is currently matching gifts, up to $200,000.
To learn more, contact Jennifer Hummel, program coordinator, at 800-248-1930, Ext. 1326, or jennifer.hummel@lcms.org. Or visit the CCCK webpage.
Mary Henrichs
Staff writer and editor for LCMS Communications.
