Live for Christ on the Streets

We believe that God changes lives of people. We rejoice and are glad when street youth or some of our students give their lives to Christ. I think one of the hard things to do for street youth is to accept Christ while still on the streets because of the myriads of temptations they face, especially glue. It is even harder for street girls who are always easy prey for guys.

It was yesterday when I went to Eastleigh and was able to visit the 12th Street base. While there I learned that the boys have had night fights and some of them got badly injured. I gave them some advice on how to avoid more fights by asking them to report to Police and telling them how.

When I got back to the Center, Larry and the other team members asked me to baptize one of the street girls who had come for the Wednesday program. As i talked to her, I could smell the breath of glue from her, but she was ready to start a new life. During our prayer, I asked God to help her to remain faithful as she tries to live a good life in a bad area. Margaret Wanjiru is now a changed person in heart. The challenges on the streets remain and we hope she commits to live for Christ - no matter what. Please pray for power for her to continue in faith and a faithful life.

from Francis Mbuvi

BUY "WAVE OF GRACE" - Benefit MITS

Dear Friends,

Greetings from MITS! We have a unique opportunity this month to accomplish two good things at once -- share the beautiful richness of a cappella hymns and raise some much-needed funds for the MITS ministry.

How? Friends of MITS have offered to donate all of the proceeds from the sales of the Wave of Grace Collection. The Wave of Grace Collection is a boxed set of three CDs that contains 50 of the best-loved a cappella hymns. Whether you listen to bring back memories or to pass these hymns on to the next generation, the Wave of Grace Collection has captured the timeless harmonies of pure congregational singing.

For a penny less than $40 -- all of which goes to MITS -- you can own or gift fifty hymns while helping our ministry continue its work. Our goal is to raise at least $2000 during the month of March.

Join more than 1000 of your brothers and sisters who have supported missions and enjoyed listening to the Wave of Grace Collection. If you would like to listen to samples, visit www.ACappellaHymns.com and then click to buy at Amazon.com. Your order will be shipped promptly — and shipping is free!

To buy now at Amazon.com, click here:

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To listen to samples before buying, click here:

www.ACappellaHymns.com

Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support for MITS. We are grateful for each of you.

Sincerely,

Charles and Darlene Coulston

Preparing for Legacy Fundraiser

Jackton and Irene and the Coulstons had lunch today with the ministry team at Legacy Church - the preacher, the youth ministers and the secretaries, along with a senior retired minister. Matt Steidl, who visited Kenya with Dr. John Bailey three years ago, was also present. Lunch was fish and beef tacos, beans, rice and crisps (that's Kenyan English for chips).

Afterwards Mark Hooper, who works with Mission Resource Network, went over the fundraising schedule for Saturday with us. All plans are ready -- Jackton and Irene will do their street kid impressions, we will sell craft items made by the students at MITS, and the church will raise funds for MITS through a silent auction and generous donations.

Jackton and Irene at Singing Oaks

Tonight the Coulstons and Jackton Omondi and Irene Akinyi met with a group at the Singing Oaks Church in Denton, Texas. Jackton and Irene are already becoming famous for their attire - as street kids. Watching Jackton come in the room with a gunny sack on his back, a glue bottle in his mouth, his ragged and dirty clothing and that vacant smile on his face is uncanny - it's like being on the streets in Eastleigh-Nairobi. He waves his "best friend" (the glue bottle) around and laughs, then asks for a handout, pockets someone's camera, then lets us know what it is like to be on the streets.

And Irene makes us feel the shame and pain of being a girl on the streets with a little baby, as she tells us how she survives and what brought her to this point in her life. The clothes she has on and the look on her face depicts exactly what the girls are like on the streets.

The group asked great questions, and Jackton and Irene answered with ease and knowledge. Then we had cake decorated with Kenyan symbols, grapes and strawberries and blueberries. A very nice evening, and the Coulstons are proud of the Team that does street ministry so well. And they were happy for Jackton and Irene to meet some of their relatives!

Follow Jesus on the Streets

We always tell young men and boys that they are capable of following Jesus even while they live on the streets. They can say "NO" to evil and disobedience, they can say "YES" to all that Jesus wants of their lives, because He understands them and loves them. They do not have to steal in order to eat or be clothed, even though they may not enjoy the blessing or right of shelter.

So it is with great pleasure when young men take up the challenge to serve Jesus on the streets, to live life as a model of purity and faithfulness and to begin the life that enables them to escape the streets and its attendant evils.

5 young men made commitments on March 4, after a soccer match and a Bible study. They are pictured here; from left to right they are

Njoro, Henry, Robert, Francis and Julius.

Njoro confessed to living a false life and stated his desire to change and be fully committed to the way of Christ, while the other 4 were baptized.

Congratuations! They ask you to pray for them as they seek a new life.

Overcoming Addiction

On Thursday there was a group of men from Teen Challenge who came to Eastleigh to visit the guys and share their stories of hardship and victory over drug and alcohol addictions. The men shared their stories of how their drug addictions affected them negatively with many men losing their jobs and health. It was a great day to hear from these men and to have them inspire the men from the bases. The men from teen challenge also played a friendly game of soccer with the guys. It was a fun day as well as a day to remember how God has helped these men to overcome their addictions.

from Larry Conway

Prayers for New Life

Francis Mbuvi sent the following short report about a time of repentance and forgiveness for young people, and prayer before baptism. Francis has been leading a Sunday morning Bible study on the Gospel of Mark and preaching each week on the same chapter studied in class.

"Last week on Sunday there was a prayer call of things that people needed to repent and give to Jesus. There were over 20 young men and women who came in request for prayer and among other things, 5 of them asked to give their lives to Jesus -- Alex Atemai, Mercy Mugure, Dennis Kamau, Zainabu Dotrine and Anastacia Njeri. This Friday after a Bible study, they all decided they were ready to put on Christ. We Thank God for them and rejoice with them as they undertake to walk with him. The picture is Ananstacia Njeri -- we were praying just before the baptism."

Commitment to Jesus

We have always known that the teenage years are a great time to make a life-long commitment to Jesus. By then kids are not only old enough to make personal decisions (that starts at about 7 0r 8 years old), but they are also old enough to understand what commitment level is necessary to maintain relationships. So...we are thrilled when young people come off the streets to live at Made in the Streets, then after a few months or a year they arrive at the decision to be baptized into Christ. And this week we recognize, congratulate and pray for Anastacia, Alex, Dotrine, Mercy, and Dennis - young people whose decision to be baptized on February 21 fills us all with joy. Please pray for them all. Here they are in a picture with Francis and Maureen Mbuvi.