Early Days of S.T.A.R.T

It all began when a visiting pastor from Kenya came to Almont Baptist Church in 1965. Blake listened to the heart and ministry of the pastor and felt a call on his life. A call that would not take fruition until almost 40 years later. After ministering as a pastor in rural Michigan and Arizona for 30 years, Blake lost his wife to cancer. He had told Jo, when she went to heaven he was going to Kenya. And so he did.

The pictures tell the story. He instantly loved the people of Kenya and the feeling was returned. They called him Baboo. He was like a father to them - a spiritual father.

Over the next 10 years Blake worked in Nairobi and started a Bible college. He and several other learned men taught classes and ministered alongside these young men from all over - Nairobi, Masai land, Kikuyu, and refugees from the Sudan - men of God who wanted to study for the ministry. START partners with three churches that were planted through these efforts.