Imagine that your head is filled with fantastic dreams, brilliant aspirations, and world changing ideas - but no one can hear you. The Kenya Development Fund is there with an outstretched hand, ready to help. To give power to the powerless and a voice to those who have no voice.
The Deaf Children of the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf don’t need a hand out, they simply need a hand up.
The primary focus of the activities of the Kenya Development Fund is the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf in Ringa; a small community in the western
Nyanza Province of Kenya.
- To provide a safe and healthy environment for living and learning.
- To gain a measure of self-reliance and sustainability, reducing or eliminating dependence on donor support.
- To provide a quality academic education and vocational training in an environment where Christ is exalted and spiritual discipline
is demonstrated.
Over the past seven years the Kenya Development Fund through its donors have financed the purchase of real estate, construction of two 65 bed dormitories, an All-purpose building (with kitchen and dining), and a Primary School building.
Currently under construction is a 10 classroom, 4 office Academic/Administration Building. The total cost of the Academic Center will be almost $100,000. Thus far, we have raised around 90% of the total cost of the facility. Soon, we will turn our focus to furnishing the classrooms and offices, purchasing office equipment and equipping a computer lab. In just five years, a field that lay under water has been transformed into a beautiful and functional campus for our 100+ students. Members of the National Ministry of Education have declared the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf to be one of the finest educational institutions for children of special needs in all of Kenya.
Ultimately the new Academic Center will boast a fully equipped computer lab, tailoring shop, and small engine repair shop which will figure prominently in the development of Immanuel's Vocational Training program. From this center, we will be able to provide effective vocational and technical training to assist the students in becoming effective members of their community and strong competitors in a difficult job market. Recently, a Teacher’s College has begun functioning on the campus of the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf where some 40 students are being trained to be teachers; teachers of the Deaf.
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Pastor Michael Gantt initiated the establishment of the Kenya Development Fund in 2008 as a means of providing strategic development support for the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf. The Kenya Development Fund is a mission arm of Agape Christian Fellowship in Brattleboro, Vermont where Pastor Gantt served as lead pastor for more than 35 years, and operates under the umbrella of the leadership there. Agape Christian Fellowship is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 entity, thus all donations are tax deductible. Michael Gantt has brought an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit to the school that has broken with some traditional missionary strategies as he has purposely avoided any paternal positioning and serves as an advisor and cheerleader for the very capable leadership already in place for the school. While he has raised many thousands of dollars in the past ten years to construct the campus, his vision has always been to wean the school and its students off of donor support as they become more and more able to support themselves.
Working in partnership with the Immanuel School and Deaf Ministries International (www.deafmin.org) the Kenya Development Fund has conceived and is currently implementing a long term development plan which will culminate in the establishment of a complete educational program for Deaf children in Kenya.
If you are born with a disability in many parts of the world, the future is bleak from the beginning. Often shunned and always overlooked, the deaf have little opportunity to compete in a brutal job market and end up begging just to survive.
The Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf is changing that by providing an educational opportunity that has--in just five short years-- developed into one of the leading academic institutions for special needs in all of Kenya.Our mission is simple: We want to level the playing field for the Deaf. Our mission is to train leaders from among the Deaf community to pave the way for a new generation of Deaf children who are neither Disabled nor Disadvantaged; but Enabled to meet the challenges of life. Equipped, Encouraged, and Eager to take their place in the world.
Our Team
Founder / Director
Pastor Michael K. Gantt
The Kenya Development Fund was organized by Rev. Michael Gantt in support of the students of the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf, under the auspices of Agape Christian Fellowship in Brattleboro, Vermont. During the past few years he has overseen and funded the purchase of real estate and the construction two new dormitories, a primary school building, all Purpose building/Dining Hall and soon to be completed a new Academic/Administration facility.
Rev. Gantt’s primary role is that of strategist in assisting the school in developing long range goals and the development of funding resources for the school; all aiming toward the goal of assisting the school in gaining self-sufficiency. His ultimate goal is to see the school entirely free of dependency upon donors from the west, able to create its own income through a series of business ventures providing income for the school, improving the quality of life for its students, and providing quality technical and vocational training for its students.