Missionaries Max and Hanna Collison wanted to provide the poor of Kenya with something better than a short-term solution to their medical and spiritual crisis.
"This was our long-term goal " to establish strong community clinics, that would remain open long after the Collison family moved on," Mr Collison says.
In 1994 the couple dedicated themselves to their desire to see evangelists and volunteers to reach Nairobi's poorest.
Eleven years later their tireless efforts have resulted in four successful, self-sustaining health clinics.
Recently returned to Sydney, the Collison's reflect on how much God made from the little they started with.
Max and Hanna had to enlist the help of locals to create the clinics from scratch.
"The volunteers were brilliant right from the start," says Max. "People have given generously of their time."
Local Christians are motivated by an acute awareness of the need for low-cost clinics in Nairobi's slums.
More than 60 per cent of the capital's four million people live in approximately 130 cramped settlements.
However these slums occupy less than two per cent of the city's land, according to the United Nations Human Settlements Program.
"Nairobi is east-Africa's financial and transportation hub," says Mrs Collison, explaining the density of the population and the accompanying poverty.
"Many who live in slums have not seen Christ as king in their situation - and often a loving helping hand opens the door for an understanding of the gospel."
The four clinics are now in the hands of capable Kenyan administrators and volunteers, freeing the Collisons to return home.
"As we finish as CMS missionaries, we want to thank our Sydney friends who have prayed, cared and given to our ministry," Mrs Collison says.
"You have been looking after the Collison family for more than two decades!"
