NEWSBREAK at Made in the Streets

The timing was right to start the congregation meeting at the Eastleigh Center of MITS. Today was the fourth Sunday. The first week Victor confessed faith in Jesus and was baptized. The third week 5 young men from the streets stated they want to live for Jesus and were baptized. Today Mary, who stays at Hope Center, and Peter, who sleeps outside at Jamaica Base, stated their desire to walk with Christ and were baptized. We are glad for these young people

This is not a numbers game, and it isn't really even about baptism. It is about Jesus reaching into people's hearts and transforming them, especially giving them courage and heart and confidence. Then they will be able to get off the streets and into a new life. There is no end to what they may do with confidence and hope, brought to life by faith.

Rejoice!

New Church in Eastleigh

Made in the Streets was blessed with the building on 5th Street in Eastleigh Section 2 in 1999. During the past 10 years we have encouraged young people from the streets to attend other congregations in Eastleigh and Mathare Valley, but it has been difficult to get them involved, either because they feel uncomfortable or because they were not accepted. Finally we have opened a church in the Eastleigh Center; it has now met three Sundays. Attendance has been 67, 55 and 70, and six young men from the streets have been baptized. Jane Njeri, Evans Ouma, Moses Gicharu, Francis Cugia, Augustina Muli and Jane Abuti are the staff at the center. Augustina cooks and mothers, Jane teaches little kids, Francis is one of our former street kids from Kamulu, Evans is a World Bible School student who was baptized a few years back, Moses once lived on the streets but did not come through our program, and Jane Njeri is a grandmother who was in the Kamulu Church and began to volunteer in Eastleigh 3 years ago. A great team doing a great work, together with Larry and Hollye Conway.

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

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.

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."

New People in Kamulu

THREE COME FOR BAPTISM

An exciting day for the Kamulu Church. Brian Ochieng, a MITS student who comes early every Sunday morning to set up the chairs for worship, Evans Wambua, another MITS student, and Mercy Wanjiru, a teenager who has been attending worship for about a year chose to be baptized into Jesus.

Rejoicing in Faith (again)

Greetings on a fine day in May.  It rained in Kamulu yesterday, and today the sun is growing crops and fruit and flowers.  The rain may blow in a little more rain.  We wore our gumboots this morning to chapel.  

We rejoice in the work done by our street ministers -- Kennedy and Anthony and Ann and Larry and Hollye -- and also Jane and Augustina, who work with them.  There were 55 street Moms at the program Monday (a few of these have gotten off the streets through faith and sometimes with our help), and they had a great time.  A woman named Jane, who is a member of the Kamulu Church, goes in on Mondays with Maureen Mbuvi and a couple of other Team members.  Some go to the streets and some work with the mothers.  Jane has begun to teach, and the report is that she is wonderful!!  And she's a happy volunteer! 

There were two baptisms on Monday. The young woman with the red scarf is Jessica, and the one in brown is Esther.  Hollye wrote this about our new sisters

"Jessica - has been coming to the program for a long time...she came to the girls program for several years... has a beautiful singing voice and all are blessed every time we hear her... her husband is presently in jail ... she has a baby about 3 months old...she h

as been on the brink of going back to living on the street, but we have assisted her some to keep her and the baby off the street.

                                                                                   

Esther - used to work near Made in the Streets as a house girl for a family...she gave birth to a healthy baby and did not have money or any family to pay the hospital bill...she stayed in the hospital a month until social workers helped release her...the people who had employed her before the birth told her she could not live there after the baby came...Esther had nowhere to go and so she came to MITS knowing we assisted people in desperation...we have helped get her on her feet and she has been coming to the program on a regular basis...we rejoice with the angels as we bring them into God's family"

A nice week's work for the Eastleigh Team.  

Faith on the Streets

Team members of Made in the Streets visit the streets of Eastleigh in Nairobi daily.  They want to meet the new boys and girls who leave home for the streets.  They want to stay in touch with kids they know who live on the streets.  They want to teach all the time so that youth on the streets will always have opportunity to change their lives.  

They often play sports with some of the street kids, and Francis writes the following note after a soccer game one day.  

"On Thursday last week, we had sports with the older boys. When we got back to the centre, Anthony told me that one of the guys -- Francis Njenga -- was ready to be baptized. I spend a few minutes talking to him and then baptized him. He said he wanted to stop using Glue and Marijuana because they were affecting him and because his brother died from over-using them. I encouraged 

him to know this was a decision between him and God. He left happy and we pray for him and the many others out there in the bases. We are also thankful that ONE MORE soul has been won for Christ."

Here is Francis' baptism picture.  Please pray for power in the Spirit for him to make the changes he wants to make.

Growing Faith at Kamulu

Here are two pictures of baptisms at Kamulu Church of Christ on December 21 -- Frederick Kamau and Selina Njoki.  They are young people home for the holidays from boarding school.  They are the children of a lady from the community who was baptized a few weeks ago.  She is a part of a women's Bible study group led by Maureen Mbuvi that asked Darlene to teach them about baptism and Jesus.  Now she has taught the kids.  Reaching the community at Kamulu with love and the message and growing the church are important to Made in the Streets.  

Soon we are going to face the need to have a full-time evangelist or shepherd for the congregation.  For now Francis Mbuvi preaches as well as administering Made in the Streets, and he takes care of many of the Bible studies led by the church.  Made in the Streets is becoming a bigger work for him, and so is the church.  So please pray for a person to step forth for leadership in preaching and teaching and visiting and helping others.  

Street Kids Get it Right and are Baptized

It has been an exciting two months for Made in the Streets.  It started with a street kid in our literacy program asking a question about baptism because of studying about John the Baptist in Matthew 3.  That led to a careful reading of each passage in the New Testament about baptism and answering whatever questions the kids asked.  

Then four of the older boys in our program asked to be baptized.  A group of women asked for the same study of baptism the kids in the school had, and several of them were baptized.  Then a large group of kids were baptized on our trip to the Indian Ocean.  And then more.  Finally one of our Street Moms in the Eastleigh program was also baptized.  And last Sunday the final two of 36 were baptized -- Mary Wangui and Lucy Wambui Njoki.  Before Lucy's baptism, Francis Mbuvi said a few words.  He told about how Lucy had come to talk about baptism but said she knew she must make things right before receiving forgiveness.  She had a conflict with another girl and had said and done some wrong things.  But now she had made it right, reconciled with the other girl, and she was ready.  

These girls have been wonderful in the Kamulu program.  Next year they will be 16 and will begin their skills training.  We have two more years to encourage and teach and help them develop into great servants of Christ.  

Here Mary is coming up out of the water.  In the other pic Lucy is ready and has confessed her faith in Jesus Christ. 

Becoming Followers of Jesus

We continue to rejoice at the response that our young people in Made in the Streets, as well as community people, are making to being taught clearly about salvation, the work of Christ and baptism.  

Last Sunday, two more of our students were baptized -- Willys Odhiambo from the Kamulu program and Catherine Ndunge from the moms with babies Eastleigh program.  In this picture Francis Mbuvi is baptizing Willys, who was very happy.  He came to Charles Coulston recently to say that he has a girl friend whom he wants to marry some day, but that he is only 17 and know he will not marry for several years -- and he wants to do the right thing, so he has decided to be baptized, knowing God will bless him and keep him doing the right thing!  

Catherine was afraid of the water.  When we went to the Coast, she was reluctant to do down to the ocean!  So baptism was a fearful event also, but she was willing.  

These young people are so precious, as well as the community women who have been attending the Kamulu Church of Christ who have been baptized.  This makes 36 people in the past two months.  

This week we have prepared a small flyer to take out to the community telling about the congregation and what our spiritual life offers to people.  Please pray that we can distribute these to people who have need of the Lord and whom God is calling to himself.

Of Lions and Joy

Let joy roll down like waters...the most interesting things happen around Made in the Streets.  You know that we have property at an area called Mountain View -- it's about 45 minutes from Kamulu on the way to the Mombasa Highway -- we have 40 acres and dream of some day having a Christian camp for the churches in Kenya.  Since we first bought property there, we have had lions and a leopard on the property.  

Well, the lions moved recently over a rocky area just off our property.  Then the wildebeest started coming back into the area after making their migration from Tanzania.  So the lions chased wildebeest into our fence and tore it down.  It looked like the wildebeest got away too. 

And speaking of LIONS -- we are studying the books Wild at Heart and Captivating with our Team and kids.  We have developed mottos for them to yell -- "I am beauty; I am worthy" for the girls and "I'm a lion. I'm wild at heart" for the boys.  The young men are to think of themselves as being the image of the warrior God who protects his people.  The young women are to think of themselves are the image of the captivating God of beauty who draws his people to himself.  Part of being God's image is drawing near to God and be

ing what He wants in the world.  And these young people are drawing near!!!!

WE BAPTIZED 12 PEOPLE SUNDAY -- 16 November 2008 -- Among the 12 are 8 of our kids.  The other four are from the community -- Irene Muthoni, Grace Muthoni

 (Irene's daughter), Rispah Kwamboka and Frankjohns Bukhala (Frank is the 12 year old son of one 

of our church members).  Our 8 kids who were baptized are Anthony Githinji, Susan Wambui, Kevin Mweti, Eunice Wambui, David Mutimbi, Joseph Nderitu, Charles Kimani and Douglas Maninge.  

Our joy rolls down and flows up and overflows...we are so happy with the response of our young people to the Lord.  One of our young men who talked to me recently about being in love with one of our girls (but knowing he shouldn't get married for a few years and wanting to do the right thing) reported to me yesterday that he and the young girl are planning to be baptized in a week or two.  Pray for them -- for self-discipline, for ability to wait, for growing relationship.

Yesterday John Wambu took Maurice Colby (who is visiting us from Cedar Rapids, Iowa) to Mountain View, and Maurice reports it was a safari.  They saw Thompson gazelle and a herd of giraffe and other animals.  Our visitors are at Eastleigh today -- at the girls with babies program and on the streets.  Tomorrow they will do a first aid workshop with our team, and they continue to do Bible studies with the students.

So...joy continues to roll down on us.  peace and joy to you as well, charles

Multiply our Joy

Another great day for Made in the Streets.  When we started our session after breakfast, we asked Joseph to come forward and get his baptismal certificate.  If you look closely, you can see he is holding a booklet written by Steve Eckstein, a good friend of MITS who recently gave us some of his "I am a Christian" booklets with certificates in them.  This makes number 9 we have presented in the past 3 weeks.   Darlene and I taught our lesson this morning to the Team and kids, as we have each day.  Today we talked about the beauty God made in women and how He made them worthy.  And we talked about the warrior God who made men for battle and for rescuing and protecting women.  Then we talked about where a man or a woman goes to "get your question answered."  The question is "am I beautiful?"  "am I worthy?"  "do I have what it takes?" So we talked about not finding your answer in a man or a woman or in this world/culture but in God, in Christ.  Afterwards Francis Mbuvi gave the kids an invitation to commitment to Christ and to baptism.  17 raised their hands, saying they wanted to be baptized.  Francis decided that the 4 young ones in the group, who have only been with us a few months, should wait and study some with Team members.

We left for the beach, arriving at the marine park at 10:00 -- beautiful waves,

sand and an ocean that seems to go forever.  And we lined up the 13 kids in the ocean and took a picture. The young people are Nicholas Muiruri, Mary Waithera, James Mwangi, Joseph Mburu, Mary Muthoni, Brenda Adhiambo, Scholastica Adhiambo, Ken Owino, Fatuma Amina, Patrick Saulo, 

Mercy Kisya, Paul Zakayo and Titus (Pius) Musyoki.  

Francis asked them all together about their faith, 

and they responded.  Then they walked up to him one by one, and he buried them in the water.  They came up spluttering, smiling, laughing and satisfied!  You can see the happiness in Mary Waithera's face.

Joy at the Kenya Coast

FLASHMAIL -- at Made in the Streets we are a happy bunch.  Darlene and I looked out at the kids and the Team this morning, watching them juggling, talking in small groups, kicking a soccer ball, drinking a cup of tea, holding babies and playing with them -- and Darlene said, "we are more than a school; we're a family.  The kids ate mandazi and drank tea for breakfast, and one of the boys came by to offer some of his to Darlene and me. 

Then we went to the beach.  We are staying at Uzima Church of Christ in Malindi - in the building, in tents, in classrooms -- Jackton and Milly got one of those since she is pregnant.  We drove both buses through town to the Marine Park.  Everyone got out, and once again we are awed by the ocean, the wind and waves and bright sand.  

We walked down to the water, and Joseph Kamau and I waded out a little ways, while all the others gathered around us.  I told all the kids and team that we need to do two things -- one is to forever call him Joseph -- he says this is his new name from God.  He wants to put his other name behind him with the past, in which he did some really bad things which we will not discuss. The other is to encourage Joseph in faith, in obedience, in keeping his attention on Jesus. I ask him about his faith, and he answers with a very serious look.   Then he is baptized in the ocean - in the name of the Father, the Son, the Spirit.  He asked me over a week ago to do this for him.  He wanted a special memory to go with his joy at a new life.  

Conversion: Faith, Repentance and Baptism

What a wonderful day!  We are glowing at Made in the Streets.  October 12 four of our boys were baptized into Jesus - Francis Cugia, George Mwenda, Francis Wahome and Titus Kioko.  Many of these kids already believed in God when they were on the streets, but they didn't know and understand Jesus.  And they had very little knowledge of God's Word or of what God wants in our lives.  And one of the great things about conversion for them is that we have seen them come through repentance.  

All of the guys who come to live at Kamulu have turned away from a life dominated by glue-sniffing.  And many of them have been thieves -- picking pockets, grabbing food or purses and running, breaking into shops at night, taking things away from younger or weaker boys and girls, and so on.  And they easily slip into a life of lying -- to relatives, to strangers, to police -- about almost everything.  Many of them have been sexually active, even as young as 9 or 10 years old, and many have raped girls on the streets. When they come to Kamulu, most of that changes very quickly, and they seem truly glad to change.  For some the lying and violence takes a little longer to change, but we see real changes that are just short of miraculous in almost all the kids' lives.  

Then Sunday, October 26, four more boys came for baptism - Frederick Otieno, Duncan Kamau, John Mwangi and Edward Muhea.  They have all been studying and thinking and talking to one another, and we are so pleased with them.  I know that those of you who sponsor these boys are happy also; thank you for the prayers and support and love you show for them.

All of them can tell you all about the passages in the New Testament about baptism! 

20 Acres Update

We are making progress in our effort to stop those who invaded the 20 acres.  The local police commander has stopped the construction until the case is settled.  Our attorney has visited the farm and has all the documents and pictures; he believes we have a strong case and says this judge will take a strict view on protection of land.  The local authority that surrendered this land to us has written a letter stating that MITS is the only party that the land was surrendered to.  And today representatives from two television stations (KTN and KBC) came to take pictures, view the land and interview staff and students who were present at the invasion.  They think it will be in the news Monday.  

Meanwhile, life goes on.  For the past two weeks Darlene Coulston has been teaching the Bible classes at MITS.  The class was in the Gospels and ready for the work of John the Baptist.  The students were interested, so Darlene has carefully studied every New Testament passage on baptism.  Then today 4 young men were baptized -- Francis Cugia, Francis Wahome, Titus Kioko and George Mwenda.  After the baptisms, Charles Kimani said he will be baptized tomorrow.  Then in the afternoon Frederick Otieno told Charles that he will be baptized next Sunday.  So...Good News at MITS!