Serving Together

We have a wonderful network of relationships within the church.  Made in the Streets has a happy relationship with Nairobi Great Commission School.  David Tanui does a wonderful job of leadership at the school, and we are happy one of our former street kids is a student at the school.  We are also friends with Healing Hands International and look forward to developing a model farm together.  A d we are friends to the Kenya Widows and Orphans (KWO) program, which is sponsored and led by members of Golf Course Road Church in Midland, Texas. They also have an active World Bible School program.  Our own Mauryn Mbuvi (married to Francis Mbuvi, administrator of Made in the Streets) leads those programs in Kenya.  We are happy to be associated with these great ministries.  The following is a report from Francis Mbuvi about the most recent KWO visit to Kenya.

"The last KWO team of the summer was meant to come last Friday and head to Sondu for the last medical trip. It was a week after the July team had left, three of them had gone to Malindi at the coast to work with another missionary there. Just when all was going well, a fire broke out at Kenyatta international Airport at the arrivals terminal!!!  The fire was so bad that it caused many flights to be diverted to Mombasa and Eldoret (nb from Charles: this included a group from Healing Hands) as well as some being put on standby at Entebbe, Uganda. We prayed that all would be ok at least by Wednesday but not much had changes by then. So we prayed that things would be better by Thursday but not much changed. Our TV stations showed hundreds of people stranded and some complaining of not getting help and information from the airlines they had booked with. To my disappointment, KWO was forced to cancel their last trip. We picked the three team members from Malindi and they had got a reservation for Wednesday the 14th!!! They had been gone from home for almost two weeks and the airport was in chaos.   Well, it turns out God had other plans and I must add, good plans.!!! The three KWO team members had a tour of MITS, got down to business, doing what they know best, dental work. At first it was going to be for a few people but Phillip ended up bringing all the affected students and team!!! Today, over 25 teeth were able to be filled, teeth extracted, and even expert advice on brushing!!  Now the team plans to work some more tommorow and even on Wednesday!!
I would not have knows what good was in the trip not materializing, but after seeing how many MITS students and team got a chance to be worked on, I know God had a plan and a good one at that.!!! God is good and we thank him and the team for going the extra mile to bless us."

Francis Mbuvi

It is our prayer that we can be of mutual blessing to one another -- and that through all our efforts, Jesus will be honored, the Good News of his love and sacrifice will be spread, and that many will turn to Him for their hope and give him their lives.  He is our ONE - and there is one more out there who doesn't know him.  Can you reach that one?  

The Story (at the half)

This report is from Francis Mbuvi about this past Sunday at the church at Made in the Streets.

Hi, it's been four months since we started the series on the greatest Story in the world. All parts of the church have been studying the same topic each week and everyone is being reminded of God's upper story and how it is amazing. Our story has been portrayed in numerous ways through various people and Kings which has left us humbled. 

Our bible classes every week have been going deeper in the story and our students have gained a wealth of knowledge and they continue to.

One of the major highlights has been on Mondays when students do a Discovery Bible Study on the Scripture of the week. This has been especially good because they do it all by themselves with one of them being the leader!!. So apart from learning the story and how to lead, they get to share among themselves. This morning they looked at Chapter 16 of the story focusing on 2 Kings 18 and 19.  We are happy to see God work in the lives of all here as we try to align our lower story with the upper story.

Blessings, Francis

Girls to Sponsor - and Why?

Beatrice Mbithe and Sharlene Shiriango are the two newest girls who have come off the streets to live with us at Kamulu.  In this picture they are already "cleaned up" - but we guarantee they were sleeping on the streets when we met them.

What a joy to find girls and rescue them from street life and all its dangers for young girls.

We want to have sponsors for Beatrice and Sharlene.  If you are interested, begin now to send $75 monthly to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027.  Put in a note that you are sponsoring a student and give the name.  Then send me an email to that effect at charles@madeinthestreets.org

We will get back to you soon with other pics and with information about your student.  We have others also, so if two people respond about one of these girls, I will get back to you with another suggested student.  We will also get your student to email you.

One reason why we need to sponsor kids -
because they wander the streets with
no hope.

Another reason to help these kids -
because they are depending on glue,
and God is called them to depend on Him.

Another reason - some of them,
like Eddie, will respond to
God's love and give their lives
to Him.  Moses has just baptized
Eddie and is welcoming him to the
Eastleigh Church.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Made in the Streets is that kind of place - always something good happening, always something bad happening.  After all, our service for Christ is to kids who are sleeping in the streets - and they came out of deep poverty.  Also, we work in a country with an enormous number of poor people and where many people do not see themselves as living under the rule of law.

So...bad news!  C. J. and Traci Wilson, newly moved to Nairobi to work with MITS and to make their home there, were attacked by three men while staying in the Coulstons' home at Kamulu.  C.J.'s leg was broken and his kneecap injured.  Traci was knocked out and severely cut on the head.  Several items were stolen from them and from the Coulstons' house.  When they were able to call MITS Team members, they were rushed to the hospital and given great care.  They have returned to the USA for a time of healing.  Traci has her stitches out already; C.J. is waiting for his bone to heal before having treatment on the knee.

This is a new development at Kamulu.  Almost all theives want only to steal and do not harm people physically.  We do not know why these men chose to be violent, unless it is because they were angry that the Wilsons had only a small amount of cash in the house.  But it has made MITS begin a new assessment of our security.  We have focused on making it difficult for people to enter properties or get through doors, and we have a few sirens in place.  We will now seek to find out what other methods -- monitoring with cameras, solar lighting, additional sirens, etc -- can prove effective in cutting down the likelihood of people approaching our properties.

It is impossible to take all risk out of street ministry. And it may be impossible to make buildings totally secure.  But we will do what we can to protect the Americans living in Nairobi, the visitors who come to help us and the MITS Team members who are so valuable to the ministry.

Now...good news!   Victor Ngatia, who is in the MITS Child Care and 6 years old, has received a visa from the American Embassy to fly to California for whatever urinary tract surgery is deemed necessary by the doctors at Cedar-Sinai Hospital.  He is flying today and will have his first exploratory surgery on Saturday.  We rejoice -- it has been a long and difficult road to getting Victor to the USA.  It is especially gratifying because the family of Victor's mother blame her for her children's difficulties (her older son recently experienced deteriorating vision and received a corneal transplant from the Lions Club (which is a story and a miracle in itself).  Nancy told her family, who wanted her to follow some older tribal traditions, that she would put her trust in Jesus for her kids' futures.  Her mother told her the last time she saw her, "We will just see what your God can do."  YES - we will!!

Here is Victor with Passport and Visa!!

The Hurt We Feel

We feel sad when our friends are sad.  We feel happy when friends have joyful news.  We feel hurt when friends are hurt.  And when our friends have sacrificed to serve the Lord and are giving their hearts to the Mission of our Lord, we feel especially hurt when they hurt.

C. J. and Traci Wilson recently moved to Nairobi to work with Made in the Streets and to serve medical needs among orphans in Kenya.  They have been staying in our house at Kamulu as they begin their work.  Last week some men came into the house and attacked them, looking for money and what they could steal.  They were not content with robbing, however, they were violent men.  C. J. was injured in one leg and a knee, among other bruises and scrapes.  Traci was knocked out and injured.  The baby was left alone and slept through it all.  It appears likely that the men had a stolen key, though as yet we have no idea how that could have been done.

As soon as C.J. was able to call Team members, they receive help and comfort.  They were taken to Aga Khan Hospital, where they received great care.  They went home with Larry and Hollye Conway. Since then they have been back to the doctors and they have sought counseling and have begun healing. They are returning to the USA this weekend to continue the healing process.  Decisions about the future will be made later.

The Team has begun the process of adding security to MITS until these men are arrested, and we are praying that God will remove this threat from the MITS community.  Additional guards have been added to the staff, and plans to upgrade fences are under way.  A rotation of locks will now take place more often than before.  We want all of MITS to be secure and for all visitors to our ministry to feel secure also - and to truly be secure.

We cannot stop doing our work because of the threat of danger -- in fact, our Team has always lived with certain dangers that exist in areas of deep poverty and high levels of crime.

Please ask God for the blessings of comfort, healing and joy for C.J. and Traci.  They are heroes of faith and full of courage.  We are grateful to know them.  May this event and all threats and dangers lead us to greater faith and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name is worthy not only to be praised, but also a name for whom we are willing to suffer.

Good News

We have two young boys for whom we have been planning good things.  Nephat has been losing his eyesight.  So there was trouble at school - he couldn't see the chalkboard (teachers write on the board and students copy) and the teachers had no sympathy, so they put him outside.  Darren Wilson took an iPad - loaded with lots of educational materials - he recently bought, so Nephat can learn at home, or go to work with his mother and study there.

In addition we have been working to get him a corneal transplant so he doesn't become totally blind.  It is not easy to get access to an eye for an 11-year-old, but GOOD NEWS! the Lions Club has located one and surgery was performed this last weekend.  Please pray for full success.

Nephat with his iPad

At the same time we have been helping Victor.  He was born with a blockage in the urinary tract.  A series of surgeries left him with two holes in his sides for passage of urine.  Now that Victor is 6 years old, he would start primary school, but his condition does not allow it.  Children who come near him are able to smell the pad he wears, and he has already been made fun of by kids.  There is not adequate equipment in Kenya for full testing of his condition, and the surgery is not available either.  So...we have worked with Mending Kids International and friends to schedule surgery in Los Angeles in July.  We were concerned that we would not get his birth certificate, a Kenyan passport and an appointment at the American Embassy in time.  But GOOD NEWS! we have been blessed with an Embassy appointment on July 3.  Plan calls for friends from Malibu - Hung and Corinne Le - to bring Victor back to the US with them on July 13, then keep him in their home until and after the surgery.  Please pray for full success here too!

Victor with a stuffed bear he received from a visitor.

HAPPY TO REPORT

We are happy to report that Charles Kimani, who has lived with great pain in his shoulder and back for more than two years - due to a tumor connecting his shoulder, ribs and lungs - is now without pain.  The surgery was successful - thanks to a friend who helped with this - and he is healing fast. He has already begun to do a little work in the woodshop.  We are bringing some things to the USA he has made.  This picture was taken four days ago near the chapel.

We are also happy to report that Brian Ochieng is doing a wonderful work filling in as the Catering and Cooking instructor.  Magdalene Wairimu had her baby, and she is on three months' total leave.  Brian had been managing our cafeteria at the Learning Center.  Tira Njue has taken over that job while Brian has gone to teach cooking.  He gets online to find recipes and new "presentations" of food.  We are delighted with how excited the cooking class is. 

Good presentation of good food!

Brian Ochieng the day his students did an exam -
a special lunch for some of us!  We enjoyed
the "chicken Maryland" and green beans!