While in Kenya, Kristen met Maureen, one of Compassion’s leadership graduates and a former sponsored child herself. Maureen is married and speaks 5 languages. She married Oliver in 2014 & welcomed a beautiful son, Amaziah, in 2015. Maureen traveled to the United States in the summer of 2010 on behalf of Compassion International to speak to thousands of students at Student Life Camps. Her moving life story led to the sponsorship of more than a thousand impoverished children.
She has since become a very dear “daughter” of the Welch family. Just weeks after returning from Africa, Kristen emailed Maureen and asked if she knew of any ministries reaching out or offering an alternative to the young girls having backstreet abortions. She didn’t know of any.
Maureen partnered with Terrell (Kristen's husband) and Kristen to pray specifically about these precious girls. Four months later, God spoke to Maureen’s heart and birthed a vision to help these girls. When Maureen emailed Kristen with this news, both knew that God was beginning a good work. The Welch family lives in America and mobilize people to give with the help of supportive friends, family and blog readers. Maureen is in Kenya with the language, education, leadership skills and the heart to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
In the summer of 2010, The Mercy Maternity House was formed to support the work Maureen does. Maureen is the full-time Executive Director of Rehema House (word for mercy in Swahili) in Kenya.While she works in Africa, with her husband Oliver, the Welch family raises money and awareness while supporting Maureen and her staff. A photo of the Rehema House can be seen below:
Danea then told everyone that the efforts begun in 2010 has now grown into an organization that has connections in 45 countries. One of the ways that Mercy House Global helps young impoverished & abused girls is by providing housing, medical and counseling care until they are able to provide for themselves. To this end, they also taught girls how to make products that could be sold to help support themselves and others. However, because the market for their products is not always available where they live, the products are sent to the United States and other countries where there is a market for them.
Danea then told everyone about the Big Red Barn located on 5814 FM 1488, Magnolia Texas 77354 where they take the products and package them for both sales at that location and to be sent out to subscribers who take their products on a quarterly basis. More than 5,000 packages of products have been shipped from that location so far. The products arrive on a subscriber's doorstep containing handcrafted heirlooms from around the world along with a small photographic journal to personally invite you into a life-changing story of how these heirlooms have changed the world – and continue to, in your hands and life – complete with quotes, tear-out printables, and an inspiring visual story.