Upcoming GLOBAL EXPERIENCE
Giving Back Hope Together VBS
2026 Pending
FOR: Women and men (18+ older, or 16-17 if accompanied by a parent/guardian)
COST: $2000 + airfare (estimated at $1,200 - $1,400)
DEADLINE: January 31, 2025, required $500 down payment.
Are you ready for an immersive serving trip that will be fulfilling and transformative? This travel team will work alongside the local Giving Back Hope Together (GBHT) staff and volunteers as they conduct a week-long vacation Bible school for 500 to 600 children living in Nairobi, Kenya. Children are fed breakfast and lunch, led in worship, provided Bible teaching, and participate in crafts and organized play.
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The children GBHT serves live at a subsistence level in Kibagare, an informal settlement (slum). Many cannot attend school because of the cost, and their financial circumstances leave them vulnerable to hunger and abuse. GBHT planted the Hope Center in Kibagare to bring these children hope for a brighter future by meeting their practical needs now and by providing them opportunities for education – all while sharing the love of Jesus.
GBHT conducts VBS at the Hope Center during Kenya’s three annual school breaks.
Children are fed breakfast and lunch, led in worship, provided Bible teaching, and participate in crafts and organized play. The objective is to keep these children from running to the streets during school breaks. Child homelessness is a crisis in Nairobi: anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 children live on the streets of the city.
Nairobi is a modern city of 5.5 million people. It is a city of contrasts, with displays of middle-income affluence juxtaposed against numerous informal settlements in various areas. On this trip, you will experience these contrasts – staying in a three-star hotel less than a 10-minute drive from Kibagare.
For five days, you will travel each morning into Kibagare to team up with GBHT staff and Kenyan volunteers to conduct this VBS. A typical day begins with a time of lively worship, followed by breakfast. The children are then divided into age groups and go through a rotation of lessons and craft activities. This is followed by organized sports and play at a local soccer field. Each day concludes with lunch in the early afternoon.
Members of this team must commit to participate in several pre-trip sessions, as the travel team will organize (and lead) the Bible lessons, a week’s worth of crafts, and age-appropriate sports and play activities. The team leaders have previously conducted this trip.
In addition to serving during VBS, you will have an opportunity to help feed a meal to a group of homeless children whom GBHT regularly serves.
There will be a chance to visit a local market and see other sites around Nairobi, and the trip will conclude with a visit to the giraffe center and elephant rescue center in Nairobi.