I Get to Preach

I am always happy when I get to preach. Most of my adult life has been involved in preaching. 1968 in Roswell, NM, then a two year break to teach in a University, then 21 years preaching in Redwood City, CA. For several years in Kenya, I would go to various congregations and be asked to preach. Since we have been doing street ministry, I have encouraged the young people we work with to preach and teach, and I have done less and less. Last week I was in Eastleigh at the new congregation we have opened at the Eastleigh Center, and I was asked to preach. It was the third meeting of the congregation, there were 70 people, and 5 young men from the streets were baptized. That was a good day!

These days Francis Mbuvi invites me to preach at Kamulu on the Sunday before Darlene and I leave for the USA, so that means I get to preach two times a year. TODAY was that day. My sermon was on the subject "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made," and my illustration today was BONES and the human skeleton. I had an 18 inch model of a human body and a handful of the 206 bones in the body. I also had 99 candles and 99 matchboxes.

Since what bones do for the human body is give us FREEDOM - we can move about, raise our hands, nod our heads -- freedom of movement, freedom to do what we were made for. And the equivalent of bones in the "body of Christ" are the teachings that never change, that form the hardness of the body of Christ. I spoke of teachings such as that of sexual purity and "love one another" and "receive the Holy Spirit" -- great things that make the church what it is.

I also talked about the MISSION STATEMENT of the Kamulu Church. Some of the leadership has been meeting to talk about our future and the purposes of the congregation, and so today we started asking the whole church to agree on our mission statement. Essentially it is "we are free to be friends," a message we want to spread all over the community (free from greed, free from hate, free from fear). And the second part is "we love children." The third part is "we want everyone to know Jesus." Today's emphasis was "free to be friends."

I said that in Kenya everyone needs a candle and a matchbox, because the electricity may be out tonight. Everyone nodded. And we had put a label on each matchbox that says,

Free to be Friends

The Kamulu Church

Christians Meet Here

Call 0733 834507

We have 3 groups that often meet after church on Sunday. So I asked each group -- the youth group, the young adult group, and the women's group -- to take 33 candles and matchboxes each, to visit 33 homes in Kamulu, and to explain to each that we want everyone here to be "free to be friends" and to tell them why.

Should be exciting to see what happens!

Showing Off

I like to show off.

I like for people to see Made in the Streets. Visitors come to see us now and then, and they go out on the streets and alleyways with us and meet street kids. And they hurt inside, because they have never seen anything that touches their hearts like this. Then they visit our Centers and see the former street kids who are with us and how they have "cleaned up" and how good and smart they are, and they are impressed. I love showing off the ministry.

I like for people to meet the people I work with. The Kenyan Team that runs Made in the Streets - these are special people. This month two of them, Jackton Omondi and Irene Otalo, are in the USA traveling with us, visiting churches and friends. And people love them and listen to them. I love showing off my friends.

I like for people to know I am a Grandad. I taught two granddaughters how to ride a bicycle last month, and I'm still glowing with excitement as much as they are. I love showing off my family.

I like for people to know about the church -- and about the churches that are a rich part of my life. Eastside and Redwood and Campbell and Palo Alto and Conejo and GCR and Mt. Ave and Simi and Otter and Central and South Mac and Singing Oaks and Prestoncrest and Legacy and Hamilton and A&M and.... I love to show off the church.

I like for people to know that I respect Jesus. I confidently sing "He is here, He is here, He is moving among us, and He is here." I love showing off my Jesus.

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER by darlene

  Last week the whole Team of Made in the Streets sat and talked about their feelings and questions regarding the land problem.  Some had fear because of a man who brought thugs near the property, some were confused.  At the end, Irene Akinyi suggested that the best thing we could do was to ask God for help, and Jackton wondered aloud, "What extraordinary thing can we or can God do that will help us with relationships with community people?"  We all dedicated ourselves to pray for God to show us something extraordinary that will lead the community to love what we do for street kids, instead of hearing rumors.  

  Two days later some women from the church, who did not know that the Team was praying, dedicated themselves to pray and to talk with their neighbors.  And a week later, the member of Parliament who led the group in the invasion of MITS land came to visit, to see what we do and to talk.  The picture is a group of women who meet and pray together after worship on Sunday.

  God is at work!  We can't wait to see what the end of it will be.

Prayer for the Church

How's your prayer life?  

  Every day I get reminders about the power and meaning and joy of prayer.  Many things bring prayers of thanksgiving to my mind and heart

• The Eastleigh Team meets a kid who has just come out on the streets.
  
• I go to the park with the grandchildren and play and hike.
  
• One of the street youth students decides to be baptized into Jesus (such as Millicent last Sunday - she is one of the "moms" in our Eastleigh program)
  
• A Team member decides to be a long-term street minister with MITS.
  
• Darlene and I meet with a USA church that is excited about street ministry.
  

  

 There is also much that calls for sober and continual prayers for help

    A street student turns 18 and prepares to leave MITS for a job or internship.

    A student runs after being with us for two years.

    A student's relative dies and we deal with grief.

    Last week Francis Mbuvi sent me two pictures of the church meeting at Kamulu, pictures which he showed to the church and told them he was sending them to me so I could pray for them. Here is a pic of part of the church.  There's Jane and Mama Caro near the front and Kennedy waving from the back.  My heart is very  much with them.  Most of us will be with a church somewhere tomorrow morning.  When you sit down in the pew or chair, please stop a moment and pray for the Kamulu church, the street kids of the world, and give thanks for the church you are part of.  And God's powerful Spirit can then be unleashed in the church.

Travels

The Coulstons are on the road again.  February 22 we are at the Otter Creek Church in Brentwood, TN.  Sunday morning March 1 we are at Eastside Church in Duncan, OK, and in the evening we are with the Singing Oaks Church in Denton, TX.  On March 8 we are at the Legacy Church in North Richland Hills, TX.  

We have been in Tucson, AZ, and a great visit with the Mountain Avenue Church; we have visited with many people at the Conejo Valley Church in Thousand Oaks, CA, while spending time with "the kids" - daughter, son-by-marriage and the grandchildren.  

It is our great joy to tie together two worlds that have many differences but One Lord -- the street ministry in Nairobi and supporting congregations and friends in the USA.  And what we are most amazed about is the continuing compassion and generosity we experience in Christians in the USA.  

Maybe the greatest difference is that our world in Nairobi is "homeless" while our world in the USA has the comfort of good homes.  In Nairobi the street kids sleep outside, so our work is outside also.  And our congregation in Kamulu is "homeless", since we meet outside in the courtyard of the Learning Centre at MITS.  But at Kamulu we are providing a home for kids, with each street kid having his or her own bed!  And the same is true for the girls with babies at the Eastleigh Center.  Your support makes this possible, and we are all grateful.