Of Celebration and Memories

On August 1 Made in the Streets celebrates 20 Years of street ministry in Nairobi.  God has raised up many good workers during this time as well as some great young people from the streets.  We have looked at many hundreds of pictures from the Coulstons' first visit to Nairobi in 1990 with Bill and Virda Stevens of Redwood City, CA, down to the recent pictures of the 8 street guys aged 11 to 14 who came to Kamulu on May 20.  Heartaches and joys - and all worthwhile!

Here are some random memories of this year and past years.....

Darlene with Mindy Aleme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
They will be great friends!

A typical picture in our lives...boys sleeping on the streets and
depending on glue to help them feel better...our mission!

May 2015 - we had all the young boys one day, then all the young girls,
of MITS to our home for popcorn, cake, home-made lattes and games.
The boys ate a kilo of popcorn.

Laurent invited Darlene and me to eat his "final exam" meal
at his training center. He has now been a cook at University
of Nairobi for 11 years. 

An old pic...with my best friend in Kenya - John Wambu - he
worked for me as property manager when I was Principal at
KCITI and is on our Team at MITS.  Here we are looking at
the land we had bought at Kamulu before there was a street
ministry.  We built a fence and grew cucumbers in 1993, and
there were no other buildings around!

One of my all-time favorites...this is what Darlene thinks of Made in the Streets.

Hero of the World

This is one of those feel good days.  A certain organization in the USA is trying to find "the heroes of the world."  Dusty Breeding submitted Made in the Streets own Jackton Onyango Omondi as our "hero," along with part of his story.  And HE WON!  MITS gets a cash award for which we are grateful.  And all of us are thrilled when someone appreciates the work that we do.  Congratulations, Jackton! He is one of my heroes too - the kind of friend and co-worker who is ready to do whatever it is that needs doing!

Jackton has bargained for the car we drive...picked us up when an older car broke down on the highway...came to help us when an axle gave way on the old Peugeot on 2nd Avenue in Eastleigh...kept the MITS bus running...led our sports teams...learned sewing when we needed to start our first skills training in 2002...along with Milly runs our Into the World project (helping our graduates learn to do evangelistic Bible studies in their apartments)...has taken in 2 children neglected by a former street girl who was with us...will clean out the toilet if asked...takes visitors where they need to go...HERO material...

Of Street Kids and Prisons

Larry Conway, who works closely with the Eastleigh MITS Team on the streets in Nairobi, was invited to a prison near Kericho by a former student.  With him went Samuel Mburu, who was brought to Jesus through World Bible School and is a member of the Kamulu Church. We are so proud of the Conways (see picture below) and of World Bible School for the great work done in helping Kenyans begin worship together.  Also note Larry's words about new boys coming out to Kamulu and remember to pray for them - thanks! 

Recently I was invited by Eric Chepkwony to speak at the Sunday service for the Kericho prison. Kericho is located in the highlands of Kenya, about 165 miles West of Nairobi. Eric is a former student of mine at the Nairobi Great Commission School. The Nairobi Great Commission School trains church leaders from all over Kenya in a two year program so that they might be better equipped to serve Christ in their churches and to plant new churches. After Eric graduated from the school he returned to his home area and had the dream of working in the local prison sharing the gospel. The prison officials were not very receptive to the idea of him preaching there.  They made it difficult for Eric to get permission to work in the prison by requiring several documents from the Government that were almost impossible to obtain. Eric decided to visit a different prison, located in the town of Kericho, and to use World Bible School correspondence materials there. The prison officials agreed that Eric could visit the prisoners and register students in the WBS courses. After completing the courses and assignments some of the inmates decided they wanted to be baptized and give their lives to Christ. The prison officials told Eric that they noticed the inmates’ behavior was more positive than before and credited the Bible studies and Eric’s influence for their positive behavior change. Eric faced a problem at the prison because there was no baptistery and the inmates could not leave the prison to be baptized.  So he had to build a baptistery inside the prison. The prison officials were impressed with the life change they saw in the inmates. They offered a small place within the prison compound where a baptistery could be built. So far, there have been 141 inmates give their lives to Christ and be baptized. On Sunday, 22 inmates were baptized. It was very humbling to see men in handcuffs come to be baptized under heavy security with armed guards watching over them. The handcuffs were removed so they could be baptized and then immediately the handcuffs were put back on. I saw one of the prisoners in handcuffs holding his New Testament, and I was reminded that the gospel cannot be imprisoned. The gospel is powerful and God calls men everywhere to repent. I experienced a lot of joy on Sunday watching Eric, my former student, as the prison officials greeted him warmly and with respect. Eric is a great example of a servant leader who desires to help others come to Christ and be disciples. I was reminded of the relationship of Paul and Timothy. Timothy began his relationship with Paul as a student of Paul’s ministry and eventually a co-worker. I am encouraged to see former students like Eric graduate from the Nairobi Great Commission School and then go out to make other disciples. Equipping leaders brings me great joy and is important for the growth of the church.

At Made in the Streets we will be rescuing 8 boys from the streets very soon and they will go to Kamulu and begin their lives there as students. It is always a great day when we see boys leave the streets and go to live at Kamulu and get a new start in life. We continue to go out to the streets of Nairobi and share the good news that Jesus loves them and their sins can be forgiven. Thank you for all that you do that makes it possible for the ministry to continue.

Larry Conway

Sadness at Terror

Friends of Made in the Streets will have seen the news about the attack on Garissa University, which took more lives than the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi.  We are all saddened at the loss of young lives, who were preparing at University for a future career.

We do want our friends to know that Garissa is 220 miles from Nairobi, and it takes almost five hours to drive there.  None of our students come from the area around Garissa.

Keep us and our students in mind when you talk with God, as the people behind this attack are angry at Kenya and have the freedom of movement to operate almost anywhere in the country.  We know that God is able, and we know that the future of many street children depend on our presence to help them have a new life -- in Christ, in families, in jobs.

May peace reign! May hope arise!

Charles

MITS Graduates with Joy

Darlene and I are at the Nairobi Java House at Thika Road Mall.  We sat down and ordered coffee and a croissant (life is so much nicer in Nairobi these days - in the 23 years we have been here, we have seen many changes).  Then Francis Ndungu stepped out of the kitchen to greet us with a smile. He began working here about a month ago after graduating from MITS in December.  He says that he is preparing lunches for the employees at Java House.  I ask him if they like his cooking and he says "yes."  He says, "They ask me where I learned to cook like this."

Thanks, Magdalene and others who work with our catering program.  They are doing well, and our graduates are finding happy places to work.  Here is a pic I took of Francis as we talked.  You can also see Darlene's broken arm!  She is doing well and managing most everything by herself now.  I still get to do the dishes and open jars.

Peace and HOPE to all,

charles

GOSPEL IMPACT

Maybe you wonder whether Made in the Streets has impact beyond what happens to street kids.  Below is the answer - the church at Kamulu continues to grow from community involvement. The MITS Team and students have shared their love of God with people outside.  Their story began on the Sunday we began our "3:16" sermons, which started with Genesis 3:16 (read it!).  That day two men married to women in the church happened to come to worship.   Mbuvi talked about growing up in Mathare Valley and his experiences with his parents and the decisions he made about how to live his life once he came to know Jesus.  He was very open and vulnerable as he talked about how Jesus wants men and husbands to live.  One of the visiting men - Amos - stopped off at a small cafe on the way home and bought the family french fries and something else for lunch.  Barbra said later that he had never done that before!  Now...Mbuvi's notes below....

This report comes from Francis Mbuvi, after baptizing Amos Mwangi at Kamulu last Sunday.
  

"It's always a joy when one more soul accepts and commits to follow Jesus. Some people take a short time while others take long listening and learning before making the final move. Such was the case with Amos Mwangi, who is Married to Barbra, a lady who cleans the church. For a long time she has come both to me and the women's group requesting that we pray for her husband who used to be a heavy alcohol drinker. She had almost given up not knowing God was still working in him. Slowly he started coming to church and over time felt convicted. He called me last week and said "the messages you have been preaching have really touched me and I would like to be baptized this coming Sunday".  So we did baptize him, and his family - even his mother - was there to witness, along with the whole church. It was also our Sunday for fellowship tea together. God continues to work wonders and we praise him. Blessings”

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96% Pass Rate

That 96% is about our graduates from the Made in the Streets skills courses.  When our students leave us after they are 18, we want each one to have the skills needed to get a job.  So we have them take the Kenya Government Technical Skills Exams for their area of study.  We had 24 students take the exams in November 2014, and 23 of them passed!!  Here is the certificate for Martin, who studied woodworking.

Martin - who can now confidently go out to find work!