Eastleigh Street Mothers' Program (by Mauryn)

16th August 2010

The attendance was 14 street mothers and 10 children. We started the programme at 10 am and had games together. We played my mother and your mother and Sarah Muthoni won the game. The other one was Kabuti and we didn’t find a winner because there were many who tied.
The last game of police case whereby we call names and you come inside the circle and dance.

We had some songs by individuals as they love that so much. Then I taught from the book of James, and the theme was the things that we hold to that don’t give us the freedom of Christ. They can have a better life which Christ died for, and it’s possible. They shared their
addiction to glue, prostitution and drugs, which they say they find it
hard to leave.

Veronicah, who had been at the centre hoping to be taken for skills school of hairdressing, ran away from the programme last Monday and today she came back and it was disheartening to see how she and her baby Stephen were looking. She was back on glue.

We served lunch for the mothers and children, and small children had some milk.

We thank God for the opportunity to be of service.God bless. Mauryn.

AND A NOTE FROM MBUVI ABOUT A NEW STUDENT AT MITS

Hi, it was a double blessing as Mary was also added to our family yesterday. She has shown desire to change by attending girls program always. She is 15 years and is 2 months pregnant. She will stay in the farm until 8 months pregnant, then we will send her to Eastleigh so she can go

to Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Please pray for her too.

Mbuvi.

Children's Center

Made in the Streets has been blessed by our Street Moms' program. It has brought many small children to Kamulu, forced us to open a Children's Center, and blessed us all. It is so great to see our young men who came from the streets gently playing with and carrying the kids around. And the moms are getting skills training in sewing, computers, cooking and auto mechanics. This picture shows some of the kids in front of part of the wall mural that Cathy Stephens and Susan Pratt from Conejo Valley Church in Thousand Oaks, CA, recently painted.

And here is a picture of Ron Stephens in the fort with the kids; he built it for them, and we all enjoy seeing them play in it.

Street Moms at MITS-Kamulu

Here are the 7 teenage girls with babies who are in our pilot program for street moms. We had a meeting with them to talk about their life together and plans for the future, then took their picture. Their children were all at our Children's Center at the time, so the moms can attend classes or skills training.

Last week all 7 of them and the kids moved into the same house, which is located next to the girls' center. We bought individual double size beds for mom and child together, and we repainted the house and repaired everything. They are all very excited about the new house, and it is great for them to be near the girls and the Learning Center.

SUNDAY AND MONDAY AT MITS

FRANCIS MBUVI REPORTS:

We had a blast at Church yesterday. I had 32 in my morning class and the sharing was just nice. Lucy Wambui shared that sometimes she is like the seed that fell on the path because she hears the word and

knows it is right but a few minutes after church she will have forgotten. Others shared too and it was a blessed time. In Church we looked at Mark 4, and it was mostly focusing on how we should be attentive to God's word. BFTS and the girls and the praise team all sang for the church - very encouraging.

Titus Mutiso did a small talk and said for me to greet you.

This morning we were led in choruses and the whole chapel was on fire. I wished Darlene was there coz I know how much she loves those. Katera and Andrew are here from China and they are loving it.

We did have a wonderful time on Monday with the street mothers. They were 35 with their children. It started with games and they really like one that is called “Kabuti” - the leader will call a name and they all respond then all of a sudden will be asked to turn. If you are facing the wrong side then you’ll be asked to go out of

the game until we find the winner. We have been getting winners in all types of games and reward them with different kind of gifts such as toothpaste and soap.

This Monday’s lesson was about learning the names of God, with the introduction of God’s names in Hebrew. It’s exciting to say the names and pray to God with those names. We started with ADONAY which means Lord, Master. We read about Moses who was a servant of God and we too are his servants and we pray to him like Moses did. We also learned that we should fully trust him, and we saw how God asked Moses to go to Egypt and rescue his people and even as he calls him ADONAY he still did have doubts. God told him to use the rod he has in his hands, but Moses continued to say he did not know how to speak. So God gave him someone to speak for him.

We asked God for forgiveness for the times in our lives we call him ADONAY but still don’t trust that he is able and he is our LORD and MASTER.

One of the mothers came later and asked me to give her a Hebrew name of God as a healer so that she would go and pray for her son to the God of healing.

The mothers in this program are growing spiritually which is so encouraging as they are learning that God is great and they are putting their trust in Him.

Next week we’ll learn about another name.

New Life, New Experience

It's a relaxed day...Saturday...MITS students are washing clothes, cleaning the property, looking forward to playing soccer in the afternoon. It rained all night. We've washed the car and cleaned it, and we're not expecting to drive it in the mud. At least, not today.

The phone rings, and it is Moses, our IT man and computer teacher. He wants to borrow the car - after all, I am like Dad to the Team. But it's not for himself. One of the girls needs to go to the hospital. She's in labor, or something, he says. He is the only driver around, and the other vehicles are being used. In a few minutes Moses is at the house, and this is a new experience for him. I make him nervous by asking what he will do if baby is born in the car.

It's Paulyne Adhiambo, admitted to the single moms' program in late September. So Moses and Irene take her to Pumwani Maternity Hospital and check her in. The doctor says she will have the baby by morning, so she should stay. Now Moses gets another new experience. He goes to the store to buy all the things a baby needs -- blanket and oil and shampoo and diapers, none of which the hospital has.

So in a few hours MITS will have another new life among us, someone to love and teach so that he/she will never be "on the streets." And Moses knows what to do next time.

TEAM RETREAT

The Team of leaders of Made in the Streets enjoyed a retreat at Mountain Lodge near Mount Kenya. The weekend retreat was organized by Hollye and Larry Conway and led by Dan Spann of Knoxville, Tennessee. Here they are pictured having tea in the great outdoors, which they enjoyed very much, along with Dan's teaching and encouragement. The Team divided into two groups, with one going the first two nights. Then they were joined for one day by the second group, who stayed two nights also. They do this because MITS has the street kids in boarding 24/7/365, and there can never be time off for everyone. Darlene and Charles Coulston stayed with the kids for the day the Team groups overlapped.

The single moms from Eastleigh came out to Kamulu during the retreat so that all Eastleigh Team members could go on the retreat. One of the moms had her baby two days before the retreat, and little Yvonne (since renamed Hollye Wanjiru) did very well.

Milly and Kehl are shown here on the retreat in their matching T-shirts, which were given by South MacArthur Church during their "Camp Mtume" week with the students. The Coulstons have noted remarkable growth in Kehl in the past 2 months. Sue Dansby of Denton, Texas, is visiting with us now, and her expertise is child growth and nursery school. She is working with Kehl, with Milly and Jackton and with our kids in what we can do to help Kehl develop. We are so pleased that God blesses us with the people we need at the right time. Sue is also working with our single moms to teach them both child care and child development.

SINGLE MOMS PROJECT

Good News! Our single moms program now has the 10 that we wanted for our pilot project. We are excited that new girls with babies or who are ready to deliver entered our Eastleigh program last week. We would like to have sponsors for these girls, all of whom have been in hopeless situations until now. Someone for them to write to, someone who prays for them, someone who supports their growth at MITS -- this will help their confidence and desire to change their lives. Please write Charles Coulston at charles.coulston@made-in-the-streets.org if you wish to be a friend and sponsor to one of these girls with a baby.

There are six of them who need a sponsor. Here are pictures and information about two of them so you can see. If you write and ask for one of our girls with babies, we will immediately write you back and send a picture and additional info about how to be a sponsor.

Veronica Wambui grew up in a house with an alcoholic father who beat his children, including the third born Veronica, and then chased her from the house. One night when sh

e was chased she ended up in the house of a man who got her pregnant; she was 14 at the time. She came to Nairobi to be with her aunt, who chased her away when she found out she was pregnant. Later her mother came and found her, but the mother has been diagnosed HIV positive and no longer cares for Veronica. Veronica gave birth a few days after entering our program. At first the baby was called "Yvonne" but now she is Hollye Wanjiru (the Conways are dearly loved by the girls in the Eastleigh program). This picture was taken on her first visit to Kamulu; the girls come out every other weekend to be with our family at Kamulu. Her date of birth is September 2, 1993.

Cecilia Mwenza grew up in Mwingi, a small city East of Nairobi. A sister and brother have died, so she has one brother. She completed the 8th grade and took the KCPE exams. She got pregnant with a boy in her school class, but he had no way to care for her, and would not. She came to Nairobi to live with her mother, who is a barmaid in Huruma (next to Mathare Valley). Her mother came home drunk always, would abuse her and would give her no food, so she was left on her own with the baby. Her little boy is named Eric Mwedaka (birthday April 5, 2009). Cecilia's birthdate is June 3, 1994. She says she wants to be a dressmaker.

These are just two of the girls who need your help, encouragement and love. Sign up today!

Seeing the Glory

misery to ministry

Meet Agnes. She grew up in the slums of Nairobi in the home of a mother who cared for 17 children and a father who was a thief and who eventually was killed after a huge bank robbery. Her mother did not have money for food and school fees and so Agnes helped her family by sleeping with men to bring in some income. She eventually married and was very happy with her little family, having a successful husband in the advertising industry and two sons. Then her mother-in-law brought a second wife into the home. Agnes endured one very horrible year and left.

Agnes’ next lover lived in a back alley of Nairobi, amidst towering piles of trash. Agnes joined Patrick there and conceived his child. One day as Patrick was drinking, he got into a fight and was stabbed in the neck three times, loosing his life. Agnes continued to live on the base until she was taken advantage of by other men. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Marilyn. But Marilyn was born with cancer and a huge tumor. She endured 3 difficult surgeries, managed to wrap herself tightly around our hearts and passed away at 10 months

Agnes' life was so empty and she decided that she desperately needed and wanted the Lord in her life. A few weeks after Marilyn’s death she wanted to give her life to Jesus. She wanted to “be close to God, wanted to be cleansed from her sin and wanted God to be glorified thru her life, as her life is a true testimony.” She will tell you, “The day I was baptized, I changed”. And she has and it has been beautiful to witness. I like to tell people that one of my favorite parts of our ministry is having a front row seat on God’s miracles!

Barbie Jones contacted me and told me of an orphan with cancer from one of their orphanages on the coast that was brought to a hospital in Nairobi. He is here and does not know anyone. I went and met precious Nyale and God put it on my heart to introduce him to Agnes. She is now Nyale’s friend, who visits him, loves on him and meets his needs. Agnes’s heart is ready to bless others for God’s glory. We have more plans and dreams for Agnes’s life, as does God!

,

Thank you for praying for us and this ministry. We send our love, Hollye

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.  

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.

Street Mothers Learn to Work

A STREET MOTHER LEARNS A SKILL

One of the young mothers -- Millicent Adhiambo -- got the chance to learn hairdressing at the Narcisse Salon for a month. The owner is Nargis Manji, who has been a great friend to Made in the Streets. Five of the young women who have been through MITS - Caroline Wanjiru, Catherine Ndetwa, Riziki Asha, Jane Wangare and Pauline Zainabu - are working for Nargis now. She has sent two of them to the Revlon Beauty Institute for advanced training.  Nargis took it upon herself to train Millicent, who is pictured with Nargis here.   It was something she enjoyed. Next week we will send Francis Cugia for training.

In this picture she is being taught how to mix hair chemicals as Nargis observes.

Millicent applies the chemicals she has mixed.