Candlelight School Opens its Doors to Muslims in Nairobi Slum

Every morning in the Kayole Matopeni slum in Nairobi, Kenya, you’ll hear the singing. The students of Candlelight School gather together in the courtyard of the brick and mud building to raise their voices in worship. Music time is part of the learning philosophy at Candlelight, serving as a therapeutic activity to calm nerves and focus minds as it teachs lessons from Scripture.
Orphan Outreach partners with Candlelight, a school that is gaining quite a reputation for its approach to teaching.
Director Alice Afwai says the school’s emphasis on educational excellence attracts both Christians and a growing number of Muslims.
“Candlelight is a Christian school where…we teach [our children] how to be leaders, and they go to their community and teach their parents about Christ, talk to their friends about Christ. We’ve seen most Muslim children coming to our school, and also parents being transformed and seeing good life in our community because of our Candlelight Kids, because of how we teach them in school here.”
With humble roots as a church ministry in 2004, the Candlelight School opened its doors when Alice and her husband, Fred, saw the overwhelming the need for quality, Christ-based education. Only three students attended the first day; now there are 400, ranging in age from 2 1/2 to 16.
As she stands and listens to the sound of the singing, Afwai says the emphasis on quality education is having eternal impact as well.
“There’s a time when we were singing outside and then a Muslim parent came and say, ‘From today on, I want my children to be coming to your crusades and to your church and sing with them because I’m seeing leadership in my child.’”