The Wise family of Boise prepares to open a medical clinic in Kenya, with many locals waiting to be served. The Wises are, top to bottom and left to right: dad Tyson and Elliot, 17; Harrison (in gray hat), 15; mom Janelle; Martin (in white hat), 13; and daughter Cosette, 11. (Courtesy photo)
By Megan Hill
Harrison Wise was 7 years old when he picked up a book called “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park. This was not the typical novel found in the backpack of a second grader. “A Long Walk to Water” is based on the true story of Salva Dut, “Lost Boy” from Sudan who fled his war-torn country as a child. The book intertwines Salva’s journey in 1985 with the story of Nya, a little girl who struggles to find the clean water she needs to survive. With the guidance of his mom, Janelle, Harrison dove into the story, and compassion grew in his heart for those around the world without access to clean water.
Harrison told his mom that he wanted to do something about the lack of water for people like Salva Dut, and when asked what he planned to do, he simply replied, “I know how to make muffins.” And so, the Boise family of six began planning their first muffin sale. Janelle baked around the clock, neighbors lent their muffin tins and mixing bowls, and the four Wise children took shifts after school selling muffins in the front yard of their East End home.
The family could not have predicted that their first sale would generate over $9,000, or that it would become an annual tradition. Now 15, Harrison and his family have been holding the muffin sale on a yearly basis, donating the proceeds to a water project chosen by the family.
In 2020, Janelle heard about a local nonprofit called Expansion International through a close friend named Lori. Lori shared with Janelle that she and her family had recently spent two weeks on a mission trip with Expansion International in Kenya. During their journey, they volunteered in medical clinics and put on children’s ministry programs in under-resourced areas. Lori also shared that Expansion International was currently working on a clean water project for a rural village. She and her family had an unforgettable experience, and her story inspired Janelle and her family to do some research on the organization.
The Wise family learned that Expansion International had been operating in Boise since 2008, with a goal to partner with communities to transform individuals out of poverty through the love of Jesus Christ. The organization starts by finding leaders, partners and volunteers in Kenya, then organizes sustainable development projects. Their primary focus areas are education, healthcare, and economic empowerment, with the overarching purpose to share the love of Jesus with everyone they serve.
Local leadership is essential to lasting change, which is why Expansion International Africa implements all of the programs and initiatives year-round. At the time of first connection with the Wise family, Expansion International was in the middle of a campaign called Dig Deep, and their goal was to raise money for a clean water system for two small villages near a town called Bahati. Bahati sits just north of Nairobi and is home to about 3,800 people.
Several years prior, Expansion International helped advocate for a group of internally displaced people who had been surviving in a refugee camp in the forest. Expansion staff from Boise and Kenya worked together to advocate for the refugee families and, after years of effort, received funding from the Kenyan government to relocate the families. Nearly 2,000 people were resettled in Bahati. In the following years, Expansion International and donors from the Treasure Valley raised money to build brick houses, begin farms, and establish a small medical clinic.
While Bahati was growing into a stable and healthy community, there were serious challenges with its water supply. The water nearby was extremely high in silt, which caused excessive algae growth and was dangerous to human health. It could not be easily filtered, and the sediment was so high that it killed crops. The Wise family talked it over and came to a decision; they would partner with Expansion International for their 2020 muffin sale. Fifty-two hours of selling muffins later, they raised over
$11,000 and were able to help complete the Bahati Water Center. As a result, a 100,000-liter tank was installed with a filtration system, and new pipes were laid to bring water to the community.
The treatment system eliminated the silt contamination and made the water safe for drinking and watering crops and livestock. Soon, the Wise family received reports and photos from Expansion International showing how the money had been put to work, inspiring them to fundraise for another community in need. In 2022, the family chose to bless a community called Kasten. Unlike Bahati, Kasten was in a dry, arid region with little rainfall and even less hope. This time, the bake sale raised more than $15,000 for a clean water system.
In 2023, the family of six made arrangements to join a two-week mission trip with Expansion International to see the needs and the impact in both communities that they had helped. “That’s the first time we’ve ever seen a project that we’ve raised money for, and it actually brought about huge anxiety because we saw the desperation and the need for it… It was hard seeing the people in pain. We took a lot more personal responsibility in wanting to help,” said Janelle.
“This was the first water project we did that we got to see in real life. We stayed in Bahati first, and it was cool to see what all the money had done to give people access to clean water,” said Elliot, 17.
Janelle described witnessing the contrast between the two communities as ‘sobering’. After years of advocacy and hard work, there is now clean water, access to medical attention, a stable food supply, and a student sponsorship program in Bahati. In contrast, Kasten is in the beginning stages of its partnership with Expansion. “You could tell Bahati was many years beyond the desperation point, and Kasten was still in great need on multiple levels, and that was hard. I think that one of the biggest things we learned was the longevity of relationships that we saw in Bahati and what is possible for Kasten with the support of E.I.,” said Janelle. “Bahati felt full of joy, because there was stable water, stable food, stable medicine, a lot more people and kids going to school, people (with) fulfilling jobs, like a really functioning community,” said Janelle. “But in Kasten the situation felt desperate.”
The Wise family got to do much more than tour the two communities during their trip to Kenya. Cosette, 11, welcomed patients at a medical clinic and held young children while their mothers were seen. Tyson and Elliot conducted vision screenings and distributed reading glasses.
“Working with the people was really enjoyable and joyful,” said Tyson. “I remember Elliot and I were having conversations about how a little bit goes a long way, and what an impact you can make.”
Martin, 13, remembers a day of work putting rain gutters on houses in Kasten to collect fresh water. In another area, he recalls making cement foundations to stabilize water tanks, provided by Expansion International, with his family. Janelle volunteered in the pharmacy and worked alongside Kenyan staff to count pills and fulfill prescriptions. Harrison acted out the parable of the lost sheep for an elementary school and spent time praying for people needing healing and comfort with a Kenyan pastor named Nicodemus. As an added bonus, the family got to experience a safari together during their trip.
After returning from Kenya, the Wises continued to think about what they had seen and the people they interacted with. Some images will stay in their minds and hearts forever. They saw families digging deep into a muddy river bed to drink murky brown water, and donkeys loaded with yellow jugs of water walking miles from any homes. They remember treating people for parasites and digestive issues caused by contaminated water at the medical outreach camp. With the memories of Kasten still fresh in their minds, they decided to do something they had never done before: raise money for Kasten for a second year. With more motivation than ever and with the help of friends, 3,860 muffins were baked and a total of $21,423 was raised for clean water.
When thinking about Harrison, the story of the young boy with the loaves and fishes from John 6 comes to mind. One young boy who was willing to read a book and bake muffins has made clean water accessible to hundreds of people on the other side of the world. The Wise family’s wholehearted dedication to serving others began as a small act of faith that blossomed into something everlasting. Janelle jokes about the muffin sale, “It’s just a ploy to get everybody to recognize that they can do something beyond themselves and help out. And I think it’s always a way to increase your faith because it’s just one week of hoping that people see the vision that our family does, and that it really does matter that you think outside yourself. Look at the whole picture of what God may be doing, and just try to step into what you can do.”
For more information on volunteering on a mission trip, or to find out other ways to support the ministry, visit www.expansioninternational.org. Megan Hill is donor relations manager at Expansion International.
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