Until Then has partnered with Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, and Blessed Pentecostal Church in Kisumu, Kenya, to launch a drop-in center for older street boys in Kisumu, Kenya. There are an estimated 10,000 street boys in Kisumu, and roughly 50-200 visit the drop-in center. The boys in this program range in age from 14 to 25 years old, and are currently living in the trash dump of Kisumu. In the dump they scavenge for food, a place to sleep, as well as collect things to use and sell. It is an extremely difficult life and the majority of these young men have lived among the trash for most of their adolescent lives.
The drop-in center is located at Blessed Pentecostal Church, where they have opened there heart and doors to these young men and started a program to teach them basic life skills, educate them about hygiene, HIV/AIDS, and begin to work towards vocational training for those who are ready. Most importantly they are building relationships with these young men, mentoring them, and offering them a chance at a new life.
Overlake Christian Church and Until Then have come alongside Blessed Pentecostal Church to provide training for their leadership, equipping for outreach to street youth, in addition to supplying other resources as needed.
The leadership of Blessed Pentecostal Church refuses to label the young men as street kids, or the more disparaging local name of chokara (trash digger in Swahili), thus only refers to them as “over-comers”. This is truly the appropriate name for the young men who have literally had to overcome the hardship of life on the streets in hope of a fruitful future.