ON THE STREETS WITH MITS

Larry Conway reports on the daily work of the MITS street ministers and social workers, who go out almost every day to the places where street children and youth gather and sleep....
     In the mornings we discuss our plans for the day and we pray together. As we leave the office to go and visit street kids on the streets, we see friends who sell all kinds of things on the sidewalks - like used clothes, household items, avocados, mangoes, bananas, tomatoes, and freshly baked bread. It is already hot and the dust from the dirt roads fills our lungs due to the large numbers of cars, buses, and motorcycles passing by. 

     We meet many friends along the way who greet us. Some are selling items on the streets while others are walking somewhere. The Made in the Streets team has been walking the streets in Eastleigh to share the gospel for twenty years and most people know who we are. Today we are going to visit a base named “Mamba”. A base is simply a place where street kids live, hang out, or call home. This particular base is called “Mamba” because it is next to a gas station called “Mamba”. 

     This area is an unofficial dumpsite for garbage. Someone just started dumping their trash here, and it gets bigger and bigger. It is located on a main road in Nairobi called “Juja” road. When we arrive at the base, we are welcomed with greetings and a place to sit. They offer us an old computer monitor or a two-gallon metal can to sit on. The place is smoky; they are cooking something in an old tin can.  The plastic they are using to build the fire gives off a terrible odor with lots of smoke. I move around to avoid the smoke and odor. I’m sitting on a piece of an old mattress. There are about 11 guys here sifting through the garbage looking for something to resell or use. Some of the guys actually live here under pieces of plastic they have stretched from the top of a fence to the ground. 

     People in the buses stare at us as they pass by. They are curious why we are here at the base talking to these guys. Most people ignore street kids or speak rudely to them. About twice a year the city of Nairobi sends a garbage truck to come and collect the trash piled up on the side of the street. The guys gather around to hear what we have to say. We have a prayer and then we share the Word of God with them. They are eager to listen. We tell them that God loves them at all times and that our sins can be forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus. 

     We remind them that there is a worship service on Sundays at our building and that they can come to our facility for First Aid if they are sick or injured. All of the guys express their appreciation for our visit and they tell us to come again. We finish up with prayer. The prayer requests are for help to get jobs, and to overcome their drug addictions. It is refreshing to share the Word of God with people who are eager to hear it. 

Larry Conway

The picture is of Larry and Hollye Conway, who have served street children well for many years.  Before they came to Nairobi, they served churches and evangelized in the Eldoret area of Kenya.