OUR STORY
A Hope + A Future
Rooted in faith. Built through relationships. Serving through education.
The Plans HE Has For You Ministries began with a family’s desire to put the love of Jesus Christ into action.
Since our founding in 2015, we have worked alongside schools and communities in Central Kenya to help children access educational opportunities and build a brighter future. What began with school essentials has grown into five connected programs supporting children and families through practical care.
How It All Began
A mission trip opened the door. Relationships gave the work direction. Faith moved us to respond.
In 2014, Robert Sims traveled to Kenya for the first time. Through visits to children’s homes and time spent at Haven on the Hill Children’s Home, he formed relationships that stayed with him long after he returned home.
Barbara joined him in 2015. She was deeply moved by the children she met and the practical challenges they faced, including worn clothing, inadequate shoes, and limited school essentials. Together, Robert and Barbara felt called to respond—helping children access education while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
In the fall of 2015, Robert and Barbara, together with Robert’s parents, Bennett and Julia Sims, founded The Plans HE Has For You Ministries.
Family and friends joined the effort, helping raise funds and traveling to Kenya to serve. Early work focused on school uniforms, backpacks, and supplies, with shoes becoming another important part of the response. Uniforms were sourced locally, supporting Kenyan businesses alongside the children receiving them.
What began with school essentials grew into a lasting commitment to children, families, and communities in Central Kenya.
Hear How Plans Began
Hear Robert and Barbara share the experiences, relationships, and faith that inspired the ministry.
Faith That Becomes Action
Our name reflects the hope expressed in Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”Jeremiah 29:11 · New International Version
We believe education can open doors—giving children opportunities to develop their gifts, support their families, and pursue a future with greater possibilities.
Our faith in Jesus Christ calls us to respond to practical needs with compassion. A uniform, a pair of shoes, a nourishing meal, or a better-equipped classroom can help remove a barrier that stands between a child and an education.
We serve children and families with dignity and care, regardless of their religious background. Assistance is not conditioned on participation in religious activities.
Relationships That Grow Over Time
Our school partnerships have developed through years of working alongside teachers, school administrators, families, and community leaders.
Our partnership with Nduchi Primary School began in 2016, followed by Munyu-ini in 2018, Kagio in 2020, and Kirangi in 2023. Together, these four schools serve approximately 1,750 students.
Each school has its own strengths and needs. Long-term relationships help us understand those differences and work with local leadership to identify priorities, plan projects, and support ongoing programs.
Meet Our Partner SchoolsFive Programs. One Purpose.
As our relationships have grown, our work has developed into five connected programs:
Ready to Learn
Helping students access uniforms, shoes, backpacks, supplies, and other school essentials.
Nourish to Learn
Supporting school feeding programs that help children face the school day with nourishment.
Stronger Families, Brighter Futures
Responding to family and community needs that affect children’s well-being and education.
Build for the Future
Improving classrooms, kitchens, sanitation, and other essential school facilities.
Pathways to the Future
Helping students pursue education beyond primary school.
Together, these programs reflect one mission: to provide for or enhance educational opportunities for underserved, underprivileged, or orphaned children while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
Explore Our ProgramsHonoring Bennett’s Legacy
Bennett Sims co-founded Plans alongside Julia, Robert, and Barbara and served on its board until his passing in 2018. His contribution remains part of the ministry’s foundation.
Established in his memory in 2018, the Bennett Sims Memorial Construction Fund honors his legacy through practical improvements to the places where children learn and grow.
Through the generosity of donors and the work of Kenyan builders, school leaders, volunteers, and ministry partners, the fund supports classrooms, kitchens, sanitation facilities, and other essential school improvements.
Each completed project carries that legacy forward—helping create safer, more dignified environments for children and their communities.
Explore Build for the Future
Growing Together in Service
In 2025, The Plans HE Has For You Kenya was established as a Kenyan NGO, marking an important step in the ministry’s development.
Today, we serve as a parent ministry with a Kenya affiliate. The Plans HE Has For You Ministries, Inc., our U.S. parent ministry, and The Plans HE Has For You Kenya work together through shared faith, local relationships, and a commitment to responsible stewardship.
Kenyan leadership and staff help sustain the daily work and relationships at the heart of our programs. Their knowledge and experience guide our response to the needs of the schools and communities we serve.
Our People
Many people. A shared calling.
Plans brings together people in the United States and Kenya who share a commitment to Jesus Christ and to serving children and families.
Our founders, boards, Kenya staff, school partners, and volunteers contribute different gifts and experiences. Together, they help turn generosity into practical care.
Our U.S. Board
Every member of our U.S. board has served with us in Kenya since the first Plans mission trip in 2016. Their leadership grows from firsthand relationships with the children, schools, and communities we serve, alongside a shared commitment to putting Christ’s love into action.
Barbara Sims
President
Barbara has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. She helps guide the ministry’s Christian mission and ongoing commitment to children and families, serving as President of the U.S. parent ministry and Chair of the Kenya board.
Lauren Tennison
Vice-President
Lauren has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. As Vice-President of the U.S. board, she brings that longstanding connection with the children, schools, and communities we serve to her role in the ministry’s leadership.
Robert Sims
Secretary & Treasurer
Robert has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016, following his first visit to Kenya in 2014. He contributes financial experience, planning, and stewardship as Secretary and Treasurer of the U.S. parent ministry and Executive Director and Secretary of the Kenya affiliate.
Mace Tennison
Director
Mace has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. His service alongside fellow team members and Kenyan partners connects his work on the U.S. board with the people and communities at the heart of the ministry.
Julia Sims
Director
Julia has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. A co-founder and U.S. board member, she continues a commitment to faith, practical service, and children’s educational opportunities that helped establish the ministry.
Cindy McCarther
Director
Cindy has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. She joined the U.S. board in 2018 following Bennett Sims’s passing. Robert’s sister and Julia’s daughter, Cindy continues the family’s commitment to serving alongside Kenyan communities while contributing her own years of firsthand ministry experience.
Katherine Frick
Director
Katherine has served with Plans in Kenya since the ministry’s first trip in 2016. Her continued involvement brings firsthand experience of the ministry’s relationships and work in Kenya to her service on the U.S. board.
Leadership in Kenya
Naomi Kamau
Business Director & Treasurer · Kenya Board Member
Naomi brings bookkeeping experience and a personal connection to the communities Plans serves. Having attended both Munyu-ini and Nduchi Primary Schools, she understands firsthand how a meal, school shoes, and essential supplies can affect a child’s confidence and school experience. Her leadership is informed by those experiences and a desire to see more children receive the support they need to learn and thrive.
Elizabeth Kiarie
Feeding Program Director · Kenya Board Member
Elizabeth’s Christian faith guides her work overseeing feeding programs at Plans’ four partner schools. She coordinates grocery purchasing and distribution, supervises meal preparation, supports feeding staff, and helps ensure timely salary payments. She finds encouragement in seeing children enjoy hot meals and in the opportunities the programs create for local workers and suppliers.
Isaac Mbae Kamau
Kenya Board Member
Isaac brings a longstanding relationship with Robert and Barbara and a commitment to the communities Plans serves. He values the ministry’s support for children’s education and nourishment, alongside its contribution to local livelihoods through employment and purchasing from community suppliers.
Our Boards
U.S. Board of Directors
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Barbara Sims | Co-founder & President |
| Lauren Tennison | Vice-President |
| Robert Sims | Co-founder, Secretary & Treasurer |
| Mace Tennison | Director |
| Julia Sims | Co-founder & Director |
| Cindy McCarther | Director |
| Katherine Frick | Director |
Kenya Board of Directors
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Barbara Sims | Chair |
| Robert Sims | Executive Director & Secretary |
| Naomi Kamau | Business Director & Treasurer |
| Elizabeth Kiarie | Feeding Program Director & Director |
| Isaac Mbae Kamau | Director |
Be Part of the Story
Pray with us. Partner with us. Come alongside the children, families, and schools we serve.
We are thankful for everyone who contributes to this work—from Kenyan staff and school leaders to builders, volunteers, churches, donors, and mission teams. Your generosity and involvement can help open educational opportunities and put Christ’s love into action.
BUILD FOR THE FUTURE
Building Places Where Children Can Thrive
A school’s physical environment matters. Build for the Future supports appropriate facility improvements that help create more functional, welcoming and dignified places for students and staff.
Powered by the Bennett Sims Memorial Construction Fund
The Need
Schools may face infrastructure needs involving learning spaces, kitchens, sanitation or other essential facilities. Priorities should be defined with school leaders and supported by verified plans and budgets.
Practical improvements can help create safer, more dignified school environments.
In action: In 2025, the ministry partnered with Mbagu Builders to construct new latrines at Munyu-ini Primary School. The photographs below document this project.
Our Response
We work with local partners to evaluate projects, develop practical scopes and steward construction resources responsibly. Projects are undertaken as funding and implementation capacity permit.
Local partnership: In 2024, the ministry partnered with Mbagu Builders to refurbish the kitchen at Kirangi Primary School and construct new latrines and a sidewalk at Kagio Primary School.
Faith in Action
Our faith calls us to serve through action. Improving the spaces children use each day is one tangible way we seek to demonstrate Christ’s love.
We serve children and communities with dignity and compassion, regardless of religious background. Assistance is not conditioned on participation in religious activities.
Practical service: The 2023 projects included kitchens at Munyu-ini and Kagio Primary Schools, and tiling and exhaust venting at Nduchi Primary School.
Honoring the Bennett Sims Memorial Construction Fund
Established in 2018 in memory of founding board member Bennett Sims, the Bennett Sims Memorial Construction Fund supports the ministry’s refurbishment and construction projects.
The fund remains an important part of our construction heritage. Gifts designated to this fund are administered in accordance with its established purpose and applicable restrictions.
Through faithful generosity and local partnership, this legacy continues to help build places where children can learn and grow.
Projects and Priorities
We will share project descriptions, approved budgets and progress updates as details are verified and available for publication.
Our construction history includes classrooms, kitchens, sanitation, walkways and other improvements to essential school facilities.
A Legacy of Practical Improvements
In 2021, projects included an Early Childhood Development classroom, resurfacing the lower veranda, sinks and wash stations, and a sidewalk connecting the upper and lower wings. Njoroge Furniture also constructed 85 desks for Nduchi students.
Supporting School Nourishment
In 2020, the ministry partnered with Mbagu Builders to construct The Lord’s Kitchen, equipped with three jikos using charcoal or firewood.
Local fundi Timothy Githinjo outfitted the storeroom with shelving and tables for the kitchen.
Help Build for the Future
Partner with us in meeting priority school facility needs and supporting environments where children can learn and grow.
Your prayers, generosity and partnership help us put faith into action through practical service.
Our construction heritage: the photographs below show 2019 improvements to classroom floors, window and doorframes, skylights and the upper-wing veranda, alongside exterior painting by the mission team.
