Christian Friends of the Mentally Ill or CFOMI is a non-profit and member of the Catholic Worker Movement. Our focus is advocacy, health, and meaningful relationships for the severely mentally ill.
CFOMI’s inception
CFOMI was started in February 2016 as a group of 10 people living with severe mental illnesses in Siaya County in Kenya.
However, the seed of CFOMI was planted much earlier with the first chairperson Japheth Obare.
Since 1995, Japeth has experienced bouts of hallucinations and psychotic breaks. He was first diagnosed with cerebral malaria in Nairobi, a common diagnosis for mental illnesses in Kenya due to a lack of mental health professionals. While working in San Francisco, Japeth was finally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after nearly
He knew that the good Lord had called him into ministry and evangelism and joined Youth With A Mission. After leaving YWAM, he started praying for his next step. He did extensive prayer walks in Kisumu and Siaya Counties in Kenya during this period, seeking a clear direction from the good Lord. The group he formed after leaving YWAM was called Oasis Of Mercy. It was the outfit used for ministry before forming what is now Christian Friends Of Mentally Ill.
2015 was a breaking point, with Japeth experiencing a psychotic episode that his family became involved in and after a period of severe depression, found friends in the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society in Canada.
Realizing the need for support and services in his home country, Japheth had the calling to serve the mentally ill in Siaya County. The Lord further revealed five resources to him: people, prayer, church, networking, and technology. He was directed to start with the five resources and not to bother about funds and that is how he started the society without a single cent.
CFOMI Now
The task ahead is challenging, but it’s quite possible with the good Lord on our side. We believe in God’s favor as we walk together with Him in raising awareness and support for our mission. We are creating a movement of the mentally ill, their families, organizations, and friends working together towards making life better for the severely mentally ill in Siaya County, in Kenya, and beyond. We at CFOMI believe that through this effort, we can effect change at individual, family, community, national, and international levels.
It’s our belief that people with mental disorders can be economically productive, live full social lives, and be culturally integrated with high levels of education. We also believe that people with mental disorders can have active civil and political lives, have families, the right to vote, the right to exercise their legal capacity, and participate effectively and fully in public life.
“People say, ‘What is the sense of our small effort?’ They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.”
Dorthy Day
Rather than create new institutions to work with the mentally ill, we support the existing infrastructure of families, churches, and government that are already serving the severely mentally ill. In addition to being the most cost-effective way of serving the severely mentally ill, empowering these institutions allows us to support the Church’s spiritual mission and its important position of leadership in communities. We also believe in a community-based approach to solving mental health problems and not institutionalization of the mentally ill. We currently serve approx. 100 people per month.
Join us in our mission of making life better for the severely mentally ill by visiting our donations page to donate or see how else you can support us.
Christian Friends Of Mentally Ill