15 Years of MITS

Well, it's over. We worked for weeks and weeks to prepare the property, a program and our hearts for the Made in the Streets 15 Year Anniversary Celebration. And it came off so well. We had some local preachers with us, some officials from the ministries of agriculture, and gender and children, lots of former students, a guest of honor who was herself honored to be here, some former team members and various friends of the ministry -- some from local schools and from Good News Productions.

We sang and prayed and ate and heard very short speeches and recited Scripture and poetry and cut the cake and talked, all the things people do at a ceremonial function. But it was more than ceremony - it was joy and glad greetings and inspiration and encouragement and a chance to show what students have done and can do.

We can get by for quite a few days on this happiness.

Moments of Joy

It was with great joy that we presented a "thank you" to John and Rosalyn Bailey at the MITS fundraiser at Legacy Church. The Baileys received a book chronicling their relationship with Made in the Streets titled "Tell Us Your Story." Life stories of three of the MITS girls are in the book as well as historical pictures. The woodworking boys at Kamulu made a wooden plaque with "Asante" (Swahili for "Thanks") engraved on it.

After the fundraiser, the Coulstons and family, along with Jackton and Irene and some Legacy Church members, went to DoubleDave's for pizza and fellowship. Jackton told us he had been praying for snow, since he has never in his life seen any. As we sat down to eat, a strong wind was blowing outside, and it began to snow. So Irene went outside to dance in the snow and was joined by the little girls in the group. Such fun to be with people experiencing parts of life for the first time, just as we rejoice when a street kid experiences having a bed of his own, or 3 meals a day, or a new pair of shoes, or an understanding of the God who loves him.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR HEAVEN?

Here at Made in the Streets in Nairobi we have had everyone painting Christmas stockings - all the students at Kamulu, the single moms at Eastleigh, the Team members, the other staff of MITS, the little kids in our family -- we have 89 stockings hanging up in the courtyard of the Learning Center and a few more to finish. I told them that Father Christmas only puts stuff in the stockings he finds. Darlene had fabric paint, so they have all been creative.

We watched the movie Polar Express, and we then gave the DVD to the girls. The boys have seen it. The big question is, What do you want for Christmas? Somebody asked me, and I didn't have an immediate answer, but I've been thinking about it. All I can think of that I really really want is a quiet, or noisy, afternoon with my granddaughters. I think that's "dayenu" as we say at Passover time about each of God's gracious gifts that are "plenty."

Then I started thinking about the gift of heaven and what other gifts go with it. And I was sitting in church at Kamulu on Friend Sunday yesterday (we had 186 before the kids went out for Sunday school, and I had 34 in my adult class - quite a few visitors at church), and two of our street girls sang a song for the church, and Titus led one of his wonderful prayers, and I looked around at all these kids, some in literacy, some in skills training, some in internships, some having jobs and with us on Sunday. And we set up all our tables and had chapati and bread and Blue Band and jelly and cookies and tea and coffee and juice and cake (did I mention it was Jeremy Mbuvi's first birthday yesterday and Laurent and Eliza's anniversary?), and everyone sat around

and talked and ate and the kids had so much fun.

And I thought -- this is what I want for heaven. This is the gift of heaven I want -- to be with these people eternally, along with some of my family and some old friends -- and Jesus, of course. I think that will do it for me.

BLESSINGS FOR JANE

Jane Njeri was a church member at Kamulu for about a year before she began to volunteer in street ministry at Eastleigh. She would go in on Mondays with Maureen and Team members who worked with the street mothers' program (more than 40 young moms from the streets with their babies) or to go out on the streets with Kennedy, Anthony and Larry Conway. She proved to be a great teacher and inspiration to the young moms. Her background in alcoholism and a broken family and subsequent decision to be faithful to Jesus gave her a good background for working with the girls, plus the fact that she came out of poverty also.

Jane had a problem, though. She had a growth on the side of her face at her lip that had been growing for about 15 years. Last summer she became a Team member at MITS after Ann Mwangi, our Eastleigh supervisor, left us to go to university. Then John Bailey, who was in Kenya on a medical mission program, had a doctor look at her, and we took pictures for the doctors to analyze. Last month doctors came again with Dr. Bailey, and Jane flew "fly540," one of our local airlines, to Malindi on the coast for surgery. It was her first airplane ride.

She was there for almost a week and returned with a swollen jaw. But she said she could tell the difference and was confident the swelling would go down.

Here are before and after pictures to help you see the benefit to Jane. And having her happy is good for MITS! We are all happy for her and grateful to the doctors who came with John and performed the surgery. MITS is blessed to have such friends.

There cannot be much better in life than seeing good things happen to those you love. So let me list a few --

1 -- Paulyne Adhiambo, one of our street moms who came into the Eastleigh program last month, went to the hospital on a rainy night to have her baby. Can you imagine how hard it must be when a street girl has her baby on the street in the rain?

2 -- Jane Njeri, our supervisor at the Eastleigh center, has been invited to fly to Malindi tomorrow to have a long-term growth taken off her lip and cheek. We doubt that we will recognize her when she returns at the end of the week.

3 -- we have good friends in Iowa, and you can imagine how they feel after the locals came from behind to defeat an arch-enemy in the second half.

4 -- Francis Cugia, one of our older boys who is in an internship in carpentry now, was honored in church today for his service to the church.

5 -- Kehl Omondi, Jackton and Millie's baby, came through hernia surgery on Friday just fine, thank you, and came home yesterday. Jackton shared the story of his birth in the communion talk this morning.

6 -- Susan Wambui, our student with diabetes, looks great lately. I talked with her today, and she is keeping her sugar level down, giving herself injections regularly, exercising and eating the diet she has been given, and she is enjoying her beauty school. She has taken mock exams, will take final exam in a couple of weeks, and has talked to some salons about an internship. She will be 18 in December and is looking forward to her life "out there." She also told me that she has already checked into a school downtown where she can go in the evenings and get her high school equivalency, which she will pay for herself after she starts work (unless we decide to give her a gift just because we are so proud of her!)

7 -- Joseph Mburu, our student who got a job in a computer shop, talked to me today about going to programming school. Looks like we'll have to get some money together to send him; it is nice to see such ambition in our kids. He has checked into a school, gotten a brochure, and will now get our IT man to write a proposal for him to present to the Team.

8 -- And there is Titus Kioko, a young man who has come out of a drugged-up life to become a fine young man -- we presented one of his prayers last week. Today he told me that his grandmother found him when the kids went on their last shopping trip and told him her house in the slum had falled down, obviously hoping he could get someone to help her. So he wants to find some way to help her build it back up (she is still sleeping in the fallen remains). We talked about how we could get our Team at Eastleigh to take a few of the older street guys down there with some posts and sheet metal and shore it up. What is important in this story is that this is the grandmother who did not want him. When our Team members first helped Titus get off the streets, they found his grandmother to talk about where he would live and see if she would sign off on him. But she said, "Titus is worthless..he will just run away," and she refused to sign. But there was another grandson, and she signed off on him. He came to Kamulu but soon ran away. But Titus is still with us, and now he wants to help his grandmother. I would say that good things have happened to that young man.

So...I'm happy today, in Jesus Christ I'm happy today....because my friends are blessed.

Have a blessed day

MORNING IN KENYA

Early morning the hyena are whooping, and many birds singing their joy. The mara in Kenya is a most marvelous place, even in a time of drought. Six AM coffee, then to the hunt. Two cheetah walking across the plain, a thousand gazelle dot the landscape and lonely acacia trees spot the land. Seemingly lazy giraffe walk in majesty and a lilac-breasted roller sits calmly on a branch in the wind. Lions are sleeping, and a few raise their heads and show golden eyes. Four Thompson gazelle run with all their might, and an eland stands quietly in the early morning sun. A black rhino casually saunters down to the river bank and up the other side, charging a secretary bird just for the fun of it.

And God said, "it's good."

Hard to find a better experience than seeing African animals in their own habitat. And then back for breakfast at the lodge- omelettes and fruit and coffee and toast until bursting. Happy conversation with friends, talking over what we saw.

We were the guests of Nargis and Minaz Manji, who are businesspeople in Nairobi and have part ownership of the lodge. Nargis is the salon operator who has trained and employs five of our street girls. Minaz has helped many of our visitors with safari plans at his travel business.

And on this trip they introduce us to other people, who are interested in the street ministry and willing to help. And they have ideas and suggestions and they know people who will give our kids attachments and maybe jobs in their businesses.

Nice to mix pleasure with ministry.

Prayer and Doing the Right Thing

Certain things seem to have power to work out. One of those is prayer - we know the power that God exerts in the lives of those who pray. When the local member of parliament here in Nairobi and a group seeking to gain money from a government community growth program invaded Made in the Streets land, brought thugs to attack two of our team members and a student and tore down our fence around our skills training property, we immediately began to talk to the kids about how to respond to trouble. No violence! No anger! Pray for your enemies, in obedience to Jesus. Seek to let the law take its course.

The law taking its course has not worked well. The police did not protect us nor did they deal with the invaders in any way. They fear the powers that be. Nor have the courts proven to be a place that upholds the laws of property ownership. Even the Ministry of Education has allowed an illegal registration to take place; it violates the policies they have tacked to their most visible bulletin board (No registration shall take place without receipt of copies of legal ownership of land where schools are built.)

But prayer has had power in the lives of our Team and kids from the streets. Last Sunday morning one of our young men, Titus Kioko, prayed in church for the health and well-being and blessing on the member of parliament. The character of our young people is being developed in prayer.

And today John Wambu came by to talk about some of his conversations with people in the community. There is a man in the community who operates a school, and he has been our "enemy," encouraging those who seek to take land away from others. Last year his school had a terrible fire. The only people in the community who came to their aid was Made in the Streets. We took them a load of sand and some cement to help rebuild. We re-welded their metal bunk beds, which were twisted in the fire. He told John that he has encouraged everyone he has influence with to leave us alone. So doing the right thing has power too.

This doesn't solve the current ongoing problem of the land that was invaded, but it does help secure that we will not be invaded again. And through prayer maybe those who are involved with get what they really need in their lives.

Visitors to Made in the Streets

We love having visitors at Made in the Streets. We love introducing street kids to visitors, giving our kids a chance to interact with all kinds of people. For two days Dr. Don Moore from the Otter Creek Church and Vanderbilt University has been with us. He talked about medical issues and answered questions from both our Team and kids, and the kids had lots of questions. He endeared himself most to them when he presented them with a soccer ball from his son.

Yesterday Greg Clodfelter, who works in Nyeri, showed up about 5 PM with David Roland and Keith Pilcher of Knoxville, Tennessee. They rode a matatu (our local transport, famed for its disrespect of the law and crowded conditions) from Nyeri. Four of our girls saw them as they arrived and directed them to our house. They enjoyed talking to the 4 girls, whom they said were quite talkative. That shows how much confidence kids gain from being at MITS. It was really great to have David ask us, "If I went back home and told my elders what you need here, what would you say?" That was great! So we told

him that 1) we need a hairdressing teacher, and we need to fund that teacher for a couple of years (and we could use someone here a few weeks from the US to train someone. And we said 2) we need a pre-school teacher, again with funding for a couple of years, since our single moms will need a place for the kids to be while they do skills training. Each of those is about $125 a month, in case a reader is interested. Donate online (see madeinthestreets.blogspot.com) or send to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027. We also told

David that we feel a need to send our Team on a retreat two times a year, since we are a 24/7/365 enterprise. It costs about $1,200 for a retreat, unless we do something really special such as flying to the coast and staying at a resort, which costs about $325 a Team member.

some of the men on the MITS Team

Coulston Address

We have a new address to receive mail. The family is now based in the Fort Worth/Dallas area. We are less than 20 minutes from DFW, so our flights to visit people on behalf of Made in the Streets will be easy to catch and centrally located.

Continue to donate online (see www.made-in-the-streets.org or www.madeinthestreets.blogspot.com for the online) or send to Made in the Streets, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027. But for mail about the ministry, or for sponsors to send mail for us to take to students, please send to

Charles/Darlene Coulston
P. O. Box 93165
Southlake, TX 76092

We look forward to hearing from you.

Matatus

Matatus are fascinating.  They are mini-buses that are used for public transport in Nairobi and all over Kenya.  They have 30 seats and hold 77 people - or they did until they passed a law in 1994 saying everyone had to have a seat.  Once Darlene and I turned off 1st Avenue in Eastleigh into Juja Road and there were 4 matatus abreast coming at us (and that's on a 2-lane street).  I guess they missed us; I didn't remember anything for a few days.  Here is a picture of two matatus coming down a street in Eastleigh with lots of trash in it.  Many of them are wildly painted, with all sorts of graphics and words on them.  And they play loud music and drive as fast as they can wherever they are.  The objective is to pass one more car.  And the method is to stop anywhere and without warning to try to pick up one more customer before another matatu does.  They cause lots of traffic jams by passing anywhere, especially if there is a slowdown, blocking cars from the other direction, filling up the round-a-bouts (traffic circles) and causing all traffic to come to a standstill.  Everybody hates them, and everybody rides them.  Of course some of our kids at Made in the Streets aspire to be matatu drivers. 

  And yesterday we were in a small traffic jam on the highway, following a matatu, and we saw written on the back of it -- Max Lucado!  Now that's fame!  

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.

The Reality of Who We Are

Every day brings a new adventure and a new twist in life.  We are struggling with regaining control of a piece of land that belongs to Made in the Streets but has been invaded.  The people, who call themselves the "Kamulu Residents Committee" and pretend to look out for the welfare of the whole community, but who are really a small group of men who gained the help of a politician for what they wanted, have built a building on our property with government money and bought a pickup and added to their houses.  

And the American Embassy has refused to help us in this issue.  They made one suggestion at the beginning, but have recently told us they don't want to do any more.  We had hoped for some influence from them, but we are little fish and don't matter much in the world.  I really mean that.  While I know that God loves me fully and I rejoice in His guidance and power and love, I know that what I am trying to do is small in the eyes of most of the world.  I am grateful that many of you who read my blog like me and believe that what we do for street kids is important.  

But we should not live with illusions.  When we talk with middle-class or more wealthy Kenyans and they ask what we are doing in Kenya, we talk about the street kids.  And they almost always respond with something like, "Can they really learn?"  or "The police really should round them up and put them in remand somewhere." or something like that.  Back home even unbelievers will say "That's nice" when they hear of street ministry.  

I am grateful that followers of Jesus count street kids as important as they are and believe that to raise them up to a new life is a really good thing!  I have found street ministry and the care of these homeless kids to be the fulfillment of my life, to be what I was born for, to be what God has always intended for me.  So it does not matter what people think who do not value these kids, nor does it matter whether anyone thinks we or what we do is important or not.  What matters is that these kids come to know God and have a new life.  

And I am certain that the end result of the land problem will be good for us, whether we win or lose.  It isn't winning that is important, but what our lives become, what we are.  So let us be glad for today and rejoice in it. 

peace and joy, charles

Back at Made in the Streets

Darlene and I arrived in Nairobi this week.  As always, there is much to do, and yet if we did nothing, this ministry would be a blessing.  We have visited with the kids, and they seem very happy, a good sign that our Team is doing good work.  We have 13 really industrious kids now who are on the Fast Track program -- they will take the 8th grade exit exams in December -- and they still keep up their chores, their skills training, farm work and life in the church.  These are kids who have had very little formal education, and we give them our basic literacy course, then set them on a study course to prepare for one year for the exams.  

  It has been very dry in Kamulu area for the whole year, but we have crops growing, thanks to our drip line irrigation system and the well.  The new equipment that came in the container - thank you, everyone - is working well: the tractor, the woodworking equipment and the sewing machines.  

  Our students are wearing uniforms with pride, and the sewing factory continues to develop, with two good contracts for uniforms.  In years to come, this will develop as a strong force in the ministry.  We have a new auto mechanics' teacher, who is working on probation for now.  Joel Njue and Irene Akinyi continue University studies in Business and Counseling, respectively.  

                                                                                       

 Take a look at the blog produced by the Team for the prize-giving day!  Great uplift for the students.  That blog is www.made-in-the-streets.blogspot.com   Moses Okoth (our technology guy and computer teacher) tells us that Alex Atemai is brilliant. His sponsors in Cedar Rapids, IA, and Mount Vernon, IA, will be happy to know that!

May you be as happy as I am when you look at your co-workers and those whom you teach!

In Honor of Street Youth

Darlene and I spent the weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Great "Poetry and Coffee Night" with the Central Church -- dessert, coffee, original poetry -- lots of fun and fundraising! Here is my poem, written as I thought about the pathos and pain involved with sleeping on the streets.

SHADOW PLAY

Shadows play on darkened alleyway

As boys gather at end of day

A shadow propped like a scene from the manger

Cut deep from bottle broken in anger

His story legion, abandoned one

Has not enjoyed childhood fun.

Once he was home, a child desired

New wife said no, Dad was tired,

Blind to the deeds of his mate,

Who for her own child's sake learned to hate,

Little food, no bed, driven out,

His worth, his hope, his heart, reduced to doubt.

In the city he disappears,

No one to listen or see his tears,

Slowly blood seeps into the shirt

And mingles with trash in the dirt.

Someone must come, come to bind,

But most of the world is blind.

If there is none to come, none to find,

Then the world loses piece (sp?) of mind.

Shadows play on walls we see

This child of destiny.

Lifted, bound, healed, sent,

He fulfills all that was meant.

But will he see the light of day,

Will he run and laugh and play,

Will he have his heart restored,

Is there someone who ceases to hoard

And answers the call from the dark place

And shines the light on this little face?

29 March 2009

by charles coulston

The true joys of life are not hard to find.  They present themselves to us in the ordinary movements of our lives.  We go someplace, and there the joys are to be found.  We come home, and the joys are there already.  

This weekend we are in Iowa - Cedar Rapids - to see old friends and visit with the Central Church. Richard and Diane Bradford have a daughter entering Abilene Christian University in the fall, and they have four 15-year-old sons who are a great mix of interests.  We've talked about school, and played table tennis, and looked at snowboards, and listened to drumming, and gone out for coffee together, and watched March Madness basketball and compared computers.  These are true joys with people we love.

And this afternoon it started to snow.  We seldom get to see snow, since most of our time is spent in Nairobi, Kenya, and when here we are often in Southern California.  And deer were running in the trees behind the house in the snow.  So I called California, and talked to a grandchild who loves the snow, who would be outside making snow angels no matter how cold it gets.  And that true joy told me about the great race at school and the award.  That's a true joy.  

And I share all this with Darlene.  True joys are all around and constant.  God made our lives for this, for joy that erupts in laughter and affection and hope.  All I want for my life is that I can share the true joys with street kids, who have borne the great abuse of having no one tell them how wonderful they are and how much they deserve to revel in true joy.

May your joy be full today, and true.

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.