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.

Help Needed for Growth

Made in the Streets has planned for the future to build facilities for early childhood education.  This week we received word from a local law enforcement officer that a group was planning to invade the land we have set aside for this development -- and where we only have corn and a few fruit trees planted now.  So we have broken ground to build a "First Steps" building and a housing unit for moms and babies so that we can start a learning program for children of street girls and children of our own Team members and also for the local community as there is space.  

This will stop the group from invading, as it will protect two corners of the property with buildings.

We will need about $30,000 to build both structures, so as the Lord as blessed you, please feel free to bless our kids!  And thank you in advance for your help.  Send checks to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027.  

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.  

Donations to Made in the Streets

We are very grateful to all of you who help the street ministry with funds, with your times of prayer, and your encouragement to us.  It appears that an economic recession is in the future of many, but we pray that God is blessing you with great joy and hope and that you will be able to continue being a blessing to our kids and Team.  

If you have plans for any special donations, if there is a special project you want to help us with, if you are planning a year-end or holiday donation, NOW is a great time to give to Made in the Streets.  We are happy that the economy is such that we have the best exchange rate for dollars into shillings in years.  In May we received 59 shillings per dollar, and this week it is 77 per dollar, a sizable jump in what we can do with the money we receive.  We have no idea how long this will last; exchange rates are volatile and depend on many circumstances, but particularly with the flow of dollars into the economy here.  Think how much further your money will go!  Think of it as a challenge grant!

So...if you desire to give special help with 

   The trip to the coast (we'll need to spend about $2,500). Jackton has planned a lot of spiritual emphasis with Bible studies, group responsibilities and closeness, and so on, not to mention the fun of being in the ocean.

   Repairs on the 20 acres building (we had a freak storm that tore the roof off our building, which will cost about $3,000)

   Holiday trips, parties, events, visits to relatives (we could spend up to $2,000 if we have it)

   Additional skills training at outside schools for students (we have 10 preparing to leave us this year, and we may need up to $1,500 for training for them all)

  

University education for Team members -- Philip Kariuki, pictured here, is our education supervisor, and we would love to send him for a degree in education -- he is bright and committed and a pleasure to be around (cost is approximately $3,000 for the first year) 

   We continue to send Joel Njue to USIU for the business degree (we will need $1,600 in January)

    Irene Akinyi is attending Daystar U. in counseling 

psychology (we will need $1,700 in January) 

   New Staff -- we need to add a trainer for catering and one for hair-dressing.  We also are in need of a mechanic who can care for our vehicles and train students.  We need to spend a total of about $250 monthly on each of these.  The total for one year for one of them would be $3,000.  

Thanks again for all you do.  Please send donations to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027

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!