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Our Journey
Open Arms International was founded in November 2003 to meet the immediate needs of orphaned and abandoned children in Eldoret, Kenya who were suffering from a wide variety of life-threatening diseases.
Open Arms International formed with one main goal... To enable orphaned and abandoned children to reach their full potential, so that they might become future leaders and ultimately change their country for the better.
As the needs of the local area have become more apparent, the growth and diversity of the work has exceeded our expectations and many more lives have been impacted by the work.
This is the highlights of our journey so far….
2006
52 acres near Eldoret, was identified, purchased, and dedicated as the site for the Open Arms Village.
2007
Open Arms begins clearing and preparing the site for Open Arms Village while sending more short term teams to Uganda, Rwanda, and Mozambique.
2008
Received Kenyan government approval to found an orphanage.
Welcome our first 18 children & housed them in existing buildings on the site.
The feeding program was established in the Kambi Teso slum of Eldoret, Kenya.
2011
Opened new Baby Home for infants and added 17 more children, including 10 infants, completely filling the new Baby Home.
Completed construction of a 5th children's home and a playground and began building a 6th children's home.
2012
Welcomed 130 students to Open Arms Academy, both from our Village and the surrounding community.
81 children living in the Open Arms Village.
Open Arms’ feeding and mentoring program in the Kambi Teso slum expanded to 180 children.
2015
Built three new children's homes.
Began construction on our Medical Resource Building.
Over 80 team members visited Open Arms Village and provided prayer and medical care to over 3,000 people in Kenya.
2016
Self-Sustainability programs continue to be developed. A new bakery and fish farm are built, livestock, chicken, fruit and vegetable farms are expanded.
The children are taught an increasing variety of skills – from sewing and knitting to silo construction and farming.
2019
Open Arms expands to provide a home for over 150 children while simultaneously graduating dozens of young adults who become university students, civil engineers, plumbers, farmers, and more.
The church at Open Arms Village expands their outreach and grows to regularly reach young people, young families, and senior citizens from the community.
2020
Navigate through the COVID-19 Pandemic without a single case of COVID-19 at Open Arms Village.
The farm is able to provide thousands of meals for hundreds of families in our region during the economic shutdown caused by the pandemic.
2003
Open Arms sends the first short term team to Eldoret, Kenya to provide medical care, evangelism, and training in the community.
2004
Short term teams visit Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Mozambique to treat and pray for thousands of people in East Africa and beyond.
2005
More teams visit East Africa, including an exploratory team to propose the building of Open Arms Village. The exploratory team unanimously agrees that a site near Eldoret, Kenya will become the future home of Open Arms Village.
2009
Eleven children, two babies welcomed into the Open Arms family.
Launched Open Arms Academy.
The first sustainability project began in poultry with the donation of a rooster.
2010
Open Arms Academy opened for pre-school through fifth grade.
18 more vulnerable children are welcomed at Open Arms Village.
Children moved into the newly constructed family homes and constructions began on two more children's homes.
Guesthouses built for western volunteers and visitors.
2013
Completed a new pre-school in the Kambi Teso Slum.
The number of children at the Village increased to 106.
2014
Welcomed over 160 team members to Kenya.
Treated over 5,600 people in our medical clinics.
Fed between 300-500 children in our Kambi Teso feeding program.
Expanded our Open Arms Family to 110 rescued children.
2017
Open Arms moves their offices into the new Medical Resource Building and converts their former offices into a new children's home.
A grain silo project to helps provide a safe place for hundreds of families in the community to store food safely.
2018
The busiest season of short term teams, with nearly 200 people, visit Open Arms Village. Over 10,000 people are treated in medical camps.
Irrigation is added to our fields, more than doubling the crop yield, providing sustainability for the future.
2021
Open Arms Academy successfully reopens, passing all PPE COVID-19 safety requirements, providing an education for hundreds of students at the Village and in the community once again.
The grain silo project continues to expand in our region and provides safe food storage for thousands of families in Kenya.