The Daily Bread Program
How it all started
In March of 2015 IAMercy started The Daily Bread Program to care for the physical and spiritual needs of children who were on the streets of Nairobi. 12 boys came on the first weekend of the feedings. IAMercy started on the side of the road by giving out eggs and juice and teaching the Gospel.
At first only boys came to the feedings. But, after many months one girl asked “Is this a boys only ministry?” Not only was she not a boy, she was also not a street child. But, she came from a very poor family in the Kawangware slum (where many of the boys were coming from at the time). We welcomed her and she started joining us.
She also started inviting her friends. In 2018 The Daily Bread Program had grown and had about 70 people, including a number of girls, attending some of the feedings. In 2019 IAMercy started renting space at Kawangware Church of the Nazarene so that it could accommodate more children in the feedings. By 2020, before Nairobi locked down due to the COVID pandemic, IAMercy reached a high-water mark of over 200 children/youth at a given feeding. Some of these children were street children. But the majority were simply boys and girls from very poor families.
The COVID decision
In March of 2020 IAMercy had to temporarily close The Daily Bread Program due to COVID regulations. While we couldn’t meet by the hundreds in one location, we were faced with a critical decision. Do we stop caring for children/youth in the slum altogether during COVID? How could we abandon them? If we didn’t help them, who would?
IAMercy decided to deliver food to the children associated with the program. This proved to be vital to some people under our care. Some families indicated that if IAMercy had not come through for them food during COVID they would have simply gone without food.
Reopening In 2021
When we reopened The Daily Bread Program feedings in February of 2021 we were astonished. Hundreds of children and youth who had seen how we cared for others during COVID flocked to IAMercy. Parents scrambled to make sure their children were enrolled with IAMercy. They wanted to be a part of this ministry in the Kawangware slum! Now IAMercy hosts multiple hundreds of children for The Daily Bread Program on a weekly basis. Currently we have an average of about 700 children on a given Saturday.
Feeding Children The Bread Of Life
The most important thing that we do in The Daily Bread Program is give children and youth the Bread of Life. While we provide a hot meal to those who come, it is the Word of God that is the greatest gift we give to those we are helping. Each Saturday a large team of teachers, cooks, guards, etc. bring Jesus to the children/youth of the Kawangware slum who meet us on our premises. We are currently working story by story through the life of Christ.