From Ashes to Hope — Kitale, Kenya, 2011
Out of the Ashes Kenya was founded in 2011 by missionaries Lawrence Carruthers and Francine Lebel Carruthers in the town of Kitale, in western Kenya's Trans-Nzoia County.
What began as a heartbroken response to 32 vulnerable children with nowhere to go became a multi-ministry organisation touching thousands of lives across the region. The founders' conviction was simple: every child made in the image of God deserves to be loved, educated, and given a future.
"He gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…" — Isaiah 61:3
From the very name of the organisation — drawn from Isaiah 61 — Lawrence and Francine declared that what the world saw as lost, broken, and forgotten could become something beautiful. And over 15 years, that is precisely what God has done.