Looking for information about the Kithino Parish Scholarship Fund? Go to Kithino Parish Scholarship Fund.
In 2009, as part of Blackhawk Presbytery's (and PC/USA's) Kenyan Network program, Oswego Presbyterian Church (OPC), with help from the Missions Team, entered into a partnership with Kithino Parish of Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in Kenya.
Deanna Drake was our first representative of OPC to visit Kithino Parish (in 2010).In October 2013, Ken and Kathy Mozingo as OPC representatives, visited Kithino Parish and returned with stories of an overwhelming generosity and hospitality of these wonderful brothers and sisters in Kenya. They visited the three churches of Kithino Parish.
Mozingos (at left) with members of Mwichiune Presbyterian Church in 2013
PCEA Mwichiune Presbyterian Church
PCEA Iriene Presbyterian Church
PCEA Ngonyi Presbyterian Church
These three churches are served by one minister, Rev. Susan Mugendi (right).
Kithino Parish is part of PCEA Imenti North Presbytery located northeast of Mt. Kenya. Other parishes have as many as seven churches. Elders of these churches do the preaching on those Sundays when the minister is at another church. Rev. Susan had just been installed at Kithino when the Mozingos visited in January 2017.
In December 2013, OPC partnered with Kithino Parish in forming the Kenya Scholarship Fund to help low-income families continue their children’s education into high school. There is government support for high schools but the annual fees and uniform costs to parents are about $50 per year. Many subsistence-living families cannot afford to continue their child’s education without these scholarships. The OPC family has been very generous in these annual advent scholarship fund drives and we have made a big difference in these student's (and their families') lives.
For more information about this very successful program and how to make a donation, go to Kithino Parish Scholarship Fund.
Our Kenya Scholarships program and a similar one at AuSable Grove Presbyterian Church have been so successful that the Kenya Partnership Committee of Blackhawk Presbytery has established a separate Imenti Presbytery Scholarship Fund for the benefit of other very deserving students across all parishes of Imenti Presbytery.
The Missions Team is now allocating 10% of the scholarship donations to the Imenti (presbytery-level) Scholarship Fund and the remainder (90%) to the Kithino Parish Scholarship Fund.
