Needed at Made in the Streets

Some of our friends often ask us, "what do you need at Made in the Streets?"

Holidays are coming! Christmas will be here soon! We have our kids year round and do not send them anywhere "for the holidays."

But we do want them to have the life experience that people with homes have. So we want to "let school out" and have a happy time together.

***a family day with any relatives invited out for a meal

***a trip to see some place in Kenya they have never seen

***a shopping trip into the city to get a present for someone else at MITS

***a picnic somewhere in Nairobi (crocodile farm, arboretum, water park....)

***a meal together on Christmas day with decorations and treats

***a present of clothing and a special meal for a few hundred children and youth on the streets

We know the economy around the world has not been so good lately. We also know that God has blessed some of our friends with a spirit of generosity. So help us if you wish. And thanks!!

As usual, donate online at the web site www.made-in-the-streets.org

or send check made out to Made in the Streets to

Made in the Streets

409 Franklin Road

Brentwood, TN 37027

TEA PARTY by Darlene

It's December and I love giving parties. So on Friend Sunday, I asked Mbuvi to announce that all the church ladies were invited to our house Thursday at 4 for a Christmas Tea. OK, that was today. First, I was at the school, and Moses came to tell me there were women at the gate for me... for a tea party. In Swahili, hour 4 is our 10 am whereas our 4 pm is hour 10 -- confused? They were too. So I go home, make two big cakes, cut them into 15 pieces, and then, the rain started. Only if you've been here in Kenya during a rain will you appreciate how hard it is to walk in our particular kind of mud. I thought, "Oh, no. There won't be anyone for tea! Well, maybe 5 or 6." It continued to rain -- a lovely sound on our tin roof, and we really do need the rain. But my party..... Around 3 pm, I started making chai. I arranged chairs, etc. and I was ready, but not expecting many.

Well, by 4 pm, there were 33! I was thrilled! We prayed, and started the cake around. Then 5 more came. And another group, and another, and the rain keeps coming, and another 5. There are muddy shoes everywhere, I'm bringing out a pkg of cookies, making more chai, finding cups and chairs, and I stop counting after 50 women are in my house. I had no more milk or tea leaves for chai, no more food to offer, no more things we could sit on (Maureen even went home and brought all her chairs!) . And we were having fun!

One thing we did was share Christmas memories (around the small group of 50). As I listened to the women, they talked of sharing good food, special food like chapati and mandazi, and being with family and friends, and of going to church on Christmas eve. Not one mention of presents or busy schedules. I feel sorry for all of us with money -- we've been robbed.... in a very real way. There are certain advantages to poverty. We read Mt 2; Jesus' family sounds a lot like their economic situation -- and angels came for them.

Well, my guests left. The oldest woman, who had been a guest on Friend Sunday, gave me a hand woven basket; and I gave her a bag of our tomatoes and we were happy. We all sang "We wish you a merry christmas" I wish that for you all too!

When You Give A Party

The Gospel of Luke records Jesus counseling us to give parties, but to be careful about who is on our guest list.  Our daughter and son-by-marriage give a New Year's Eve party every year, in California on New York time!  That's so families can have the hoopla at 9 pm Pacific Time. and still get their kids home and in bed by 10 pm.  They invite people of all kinds -- from church, from work, from the neighborhood -- and they especially think of three types of people -- 1) lower income, 2) people without family nearby, and 3) dear friends.  

We are grateful to all those who support Made in the Streets.  They make it possible for us to "give a party" to lots of street kids.  We give parties in Eastleigh to kids, girls with babies and youth who are sleeping on the streets.  We give parties at Kamulu to former street kids who live with us and who are in literacy studies or skills training or preparing to leave us for life outside.  We give parties to Sunday school kids and to the community at Kamulu.  

Francis Mbuvi reports that the Team and kids at Kamulu (plus all the ones livingat the Eastleigh Center) spent Christmas day talking and listening to music and having a great lunch together -- with roast goat and stewed goat and rice and beans and corn and chapati and other good things, including dessert provided by the Conways.  Here are Mna and Brian, two of the children of our young moms living at Eastleigh, at the Christmas lunch.

Oh, yes, I was going to mention Jesus' guest list.  Essentially it is "whoever is not able to pay you back."  These kids can never repay you -- you have done it Jesus' way.  Thanks! 

Holiday Highlights at MITS

This picture shows part of the crowd who came for the Christmas program at Made in the Streets - Kamulu.  For the first time we made a serious effort to go out into the community and invite people to come in and experience the holidays with us.  Our motivation was that we have had people spreading bad rumors about the ministry around Kamulu, and we were advised by a law enforcement officer to "get into the community and let them know who you are."  To our happy surprise they came -- 150 adults and 80 kids.  Francis Mbuvi reports that Jackton shared about the work of Made in the Streets with street kids while Francis himself did a sermon from the Gospel of Luke about Jesus coming into the world to be our Savior and made a call to them to respond.  Several of our current and former students from the streets performed, with the RTGz and Christ Warrior groups singing, with several students doing acrobatics and with Ken Wambugu juggling (Mbuvi says they were awed by his ability!)   We are grateful to Josh Horton of Thousand Oaks, California, for his training in juggling earlier this year.   

All in all, it was a great experience.  It let community people experience our kids and our Team, to see where the church meets and to hear what we do and who we are.  By God's grace, that will help in our relationship to the community and lessen the impact of those who would damage the ministry with their words.