The Vincentians of the Western Province have had a mission in Kenya since the early 1980s, and it has since taken root and continues to flourish. The mission in Kenya is presently a “Region” and will one day develop into a separate province. Its ministry at present is based in poor parishes with all of the programs that a typical parish would have.
Ministries offered by the mission in Kenya are the DePaul Formation House, where more than 30 seminarians receive their education and formation every year; Parish ministry, where Vincentians administer to four different parishes and 20 outstations; DePaul Woodworking, a program led by a Vincentian brother who has a certified, two-year woodworking program where graduates receive their own tools and go out into the community to set up their own shop; St. Vincent’s Nursery School, a school for evangelization and education for the impoverished children of the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya.
In addition to these three distinct ministries run by the Vincentian mission in Kenya, there are also priestly ministries. These are the Emmaus Program, a week-long gathering for diocesan priests that takes place three times each year. This program encourages ongoing education and fraternal support among local diocesan priests. Forming the Formators is another program that assists with spiritual and intellectual formation in Africa and the island of Madagascar in an annual month-long meeting of Vincentians.
