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

From Francis Mbuvi

Yesterday we visited the Mutindwa Base and met with 18 boys and two girls. We observed that they were using the new drug called "kalaloo" which is like jet fuel. We went ahead and taught them to keep themselves clean from those evils since they are God's creation. We also took them to a kiosk nearby and bought them "madondo" (beans with ugali). One of them said after the lunch that they would elect me their MP!!! We were glad to bless.

Francis Mbuvi

Notes:

A "Base" is a place in the slum where street kids gather at night to share the food they have gotten (by finding it in garbage, by begging, by working, by stealing) and sleep.

"Jet fuel" was an illegal brew people in various parts of Kenya started making several years ago. It only took a small glass to make someone drunk/dizzy. But if they drank it once or twice a week for a few months hair began to fall out, wrinkles appeared and they began to walk with a limp - aged before their time. The team is worried about what this new drug, poured in the hand or in a rag, sniffed through the nose or mouth, will do to the kids.

"Ugali" is a firm cornmeal mush that most people in Kenya eat. It is made by pouring finely ground corn meal in boiling water and stirring while it cooks. It becomes firm enough to cut with a knife and is then eaten as is or used to dip into a sauce of tomatoes, onions, and maybe cilantro.

An "MP" is an elected government official.

MITS Youth in Church

Francis Mbuvi reports about Sunday morning at Kamulu:

"Hi, hope you had a good time in church. We did here. We had a good time sharing in our morning class about the tongue and teachers with their responsibility. We started by reading the text then shared. He did a "Turn to your Neighbor" and a question-answer time. We were blessed. This is a pic of the group reading James 3."

Mbuvi also reports that Ken Wambugu continues to grow in his ability to deal with students at MITS and in his leadership role. Here is Ken leading communion in the worship period. Ken is now 18, has finished his studies in auto mechanics at MITS, and he has begun to work for the ministry as an assistant dorm supervisor, as a driver and as an assistant auto mechanics teacher. As time goes by, he will become primarily a driver.

Kamulu Church Life

Greetings!! Hope you had a good time in church. We had a lesson from the book of James and it was very powerful. After the sermon, a woman called Barbara called me and said "Asante preacher -- hiyo somo ni yangu Leo" (thank you, the lesson was about me today.) We talked about how to overcome temptations and she is going through a
hard time with her husband living with his mother in Kipawa. She just cried as she narrated her struggle. Mauryn and I later visited her and shared some food with her.

Apart from that we also had a baptism. Pamela Obare had been taught by the women and today she decided it was time. It was so much joy.

Blessings, Mbuvi.

(Note: recently we made home visits to people in our community, taking them a candle and a box of matches -- because everyone here experiences blackouts and need candles at night. On the box of matches we put a phone number for the church and the message: "we are free to be friends." That is one of our objectives as a church -- to create community and friendship at Kamulu. Our other goals are to love children and to help people know God. Anyway, the women have visited people and continued to teach )

Difficult Decisions

In their effort to help street children and youth have a new life, the Team at MITS face hard decisions often. The basic policy about runaways from our Center is that "you are free, so you can run but you can't return." Normally we hold to that policy rigidly. But recently one of our more vulnerable and young girls, Prisca Kerubo, ran away at lunch time. She was quickly missed, and the team searched for her. She went back to Eastleigh, and Moses Gicharu, one of the Team based in Eastleigh, found her at Mlango Kubwa area. She was high on glue. He got her to return to the Center, but she ran again. When they found her next, they were sure she had been raped, so they took her to a local hospital. While waiting for the doctor, she ran again.

Then the Team found she had a mother, so they took her there. She ran again. Now her father has also shown up, but she will not stay with either of them. Mbuvi reports this about the Team working together to make a decision.

"Prisca was brought by her dad to the centre after she ran away from home on Monday. She looked high and both the dad and her begged tocome back to the farm. I told him of our policy, but also told him we could talk about it in our meeting. Most of the team would like for usto take her because they think she will not stay home. Phillip said MITS is the only place she has ever stayed for months without running away. He believes we can help her change. I think we will try her one more
time. Next week we will ask Moses Gicharu to start the process to bring her back."

Please pray for our Team's ability to make the best decisions for the kids. At least if they err in this case it is for the sake of compassion. Some decisions are more difficult than this one.

Mbuvi also reports that Joel Njue and the VBS crew are in Nziu leading a Vacation Bible School. His crew includes some Team members and some students at MITS. And that this week some of the students were taken to visit relatives at their homes.

Larry Conway Reports

Hello Charles,

Here is a photo of Jane Muthoni from the Lillyput base. She was baptized into Christ today (Sunday worship at the Eastleigh Center).

Moses is teaching the baptism/new Christians class (we started this class at Eastleigh since there have been several baptism since the church has been meeting at the Eastleigh Center, and these young people need lots of encouragement. They need to develop hope and commitment; please pray for them).

There were 30 adults and 23 kids there today (we also have a kids' Sunday school class).

Blessings, Larry

FRANCIS MBUVI Reports

Greetings,

The two new students, Peter and Mary, are doing well and are loving being in the farm. We are going on with classes and the masonry students have also had their lessons started. They say the stones are very heavy, and Wambu says they are determined. I hope we will have a good number of them love it so that they will use it to sustain themselves.

The team is doing well and they send their greetings. In the farm, victor is trying and working hard. I think with time we will see lasting improvements. The boys have not moved to the new dorm yet, Wambu says some doors and plumbing still need to be done and also he must install the tank. The salon training area at the skills centre has also not been occupied and Robin is working on the final touches.

Most of the sign boards have been installed as you advised and the two remaining will be done this week. Some areas still need painting like the girls' doors and the new dorm and the garage gate. All the others in the list that Darlene gave me are done.

A follow-up
I did ask Jane to follow-up with Dennis Baraza, the street guy who had a broken hand and we prayed for him during the last week before you all left. She reports that on the 2

8th of July, that evening, Baraza was brought to the MITS Eastleigh Center in critical condition. He apparently drank rat poison because he felt he was a burden and his chances of recovery were low. The team there rushed him to Kenyatta Hospital where he was treated. He was discharged a few days later. She said they are trying to locate him so that they can offer him the operation option and check on the prices too. Keep him in your prayers and the team as they try to help him and others on the streets. The picture is of Dr. Chad, who worked a medical campaign on the streets in July, inspecting our street guy.

The VBS was good and Joel Njue says they had an average of 87 kids daily.

John Wambu has gone to the Lands today to check on properties.

Mbuvi.