Great Joy & Celebration at the Long-awaited Dedication Day of the Jerri Savuto Girls Center for Girls!

< Cynthia Rives, Jerri Savuto Board Chair, and Pauline Ntombura, JS Center CEO, were overcome with joy! Cynthia is wearing the native costume that the girls presented to her!

Finally! The dedication of the Jerri Savuto Girl Center took place in the tiny village of Tot in Kreel Marakwet, Kenya on Thursday, June 26, 2025. As we piled out of our vans after a long and bumpy journey, the community was lined up on our way down the hill to the new buildings that make up the Jerri Savuto Girls Center. Then I saw the Jerri Savuto girls standing right there in front of me, welcoming us with singing and dancing, beautiful smiles, festive multicolored skirts and special t-shirts, and I was overcome with emotion. We have worked for years to see this day! The love I saw in their eyes just brought tears to mine.

Through the singing, dancing, and sharing the story of the Jerri Savuto Girls Center, I knew our UWFaith Conference made the right decision and a very good investment back in 2021 when we voted to support the Jerri Savuto Girls Center! All we’d put into building and growing the Jerri Savuto Girls Center is already paying dividends. The more I saw the girls and heard their stories and dreams, the more I was convinced we are using our time, efforts and money very well. These girls are making the most of their opportunities and have dreams for their

future well beyond what they faced without the safety of the JSCenter. The JSCenter gives the village chief a place to bring girls who run away from forced marriage and female genital mutilation. These girls look forward to secondary school and college. They have visions for their future they could never have dreamed of without this place of safety and love, a nice place to live, and a chance to go to school.

The ceremony brought the local community, the girls, the HTC mission teams, and the supporters from across Kenya together to celebrate this mission, to dedicate this center to the glory of God, in memory of Jerri Savuto, a much-loved GBGM nurse and prophet. Those of you who knew Jerri Savuto will know how appropriate the dedication ceremony was-- it was a special time of “happy dancing”!

-- Cynthia Rives, JS Center Board Chair and HTC UWFaith member