A princess who has never smiled all her life!

Once they live a king who had her only most beautiful and lovely girl in his village. But something was bad with her gaze what? She had never smile all her life, king was worried about her .he did everything to make her smile but she didn’t smile at all .one day he invited all princes to come to his palace so that they will so anything to make her smile they did all they can but she didn’t smile. He didn’t say a word so he thinks what will make her daughter to smile. One day they were celebrating her birthday on the road a man pas by and he was dancing with a tortoise then, he was passing princess saw that she smiled. The king was surprised to see he daughter smiling he asked his servant to go and call that man, they came with his. King told him to do what he did that made her daughter to smile he did again her daughter smiled, king was happy with him and her daughter. Then king told him the cause he made her daughter to smiled her will marry her daughter, the princess agreed with his father from that day she used to smiled and he they lived a better life.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Something I can say is that love is important to us we need each other in many ways without love we can’t help each other I think princess she didn’t smiled cause of what fun man was did but cause of loves had her smiled ,we can’t live in this world without love love is important to us.

by JACKIE N.

Meaningful Thoughts Also in The streets

Thinking is a word derived from when man is in focus,there are both good thoughts and bad thoughts,whichever way one chooses, it forms character, and then comes achievement or loss in his /her future life.
On as usual we hid the streets again. and this time towards Buruburu the Nairobi outskirts,we met guys of all ages Men,boys,young mothers and babies, the Base was named Family Base,were welcomed and felled at ease,one thing in life to deeply think about is when you tent to visit a people who seem to be already have realized on how to be self dependent,therefore you must talk to each other as equals,and exactly this is what we meet.We the MITS team know how to live to all levels,so we come to their level.their leader was called to speak to us,and took us around the road sides showing us,Kale's,flower seedlings,a hand pulled cart,and a car washing place. all of what they imagined and did for their survival on the streets,what i did not see was a house they just sleep on the cold,
This guys are truly trying to be self reliant,and so we came in with the word of God,as i shared i saw their beaming faces ,i shared on how God so loved humanity, that he decided to create man in His (Gods)own image and that we should depend on Him (God) alone,in all we want to do in life,By asking Him (God) to give us the power to do it,through praying,they shook their heads in agreement to the word,
Therefore making choices is deeply embedded in human thoughts,let excavate the good thoughts and follow through to its completion, and leave a good legacy,to the coming generations,thus making our future times good and not bad,this is SIMON K MARTINE Bible,math,science educator from MITS,Nice time til then see you.

Focused and a lite future!

Friday we ventured the streets again and this time decided to go into another suburb known as Buruburu (an estate on the eastern side of Nairobi). We came across a new base called 'Family base'. All of the team present, were really filled with pride and joy when we were welcomed by the guys at that base, later on the master(leader of the base) joined us and introduced us to all his friends on the base. He later told us of the various projects that he and the guys have been involved in. A few girls were also present, with babies. If you ask me, this is a base that is so well organized and has stuff like projects running in order to support and maintain themselves and the community. They are involved in tree planting, nursery beds were present near the base. They have registered with the local authorities as the 'Family Base', involved in tree planting and other projects like a car wash, transportation services using a hand cart. They have had other organization visit them, and encouraged them. We as MITS reached out to them in the best was we know how, by sharing the Gospel, telling them what we are about, inviting them to join our league of soccer tournaments.Philip and Kennedy shared on info on how to get National Identifications as a large group, Anne told her side of the ministry and the work going Eastleigh. Ben told of the farm side of the ministry and what we do at the farm, and our involvement with street youth at Eastleigh and Mathare. We later went to other new base just near that same location.

Exam week!

We had our exams this week and as usual, everybody was tense and eager for what was coming. We all know that when we hear of an exam or test of any kind, there is that fear that grasps us and so we have tried to teach our students to embrace the concept of exams knowing that in life, there will always be tests that come our way. It does not necessarily have to be in classes but also in life and how we come out of it grades how well one can handle great situations.
As usual the kids did not disappoint and did their best which is always what I ask of them. The main exams they take are Math, English, Bible and Computers but we also added home science with one class. We have a class called the fast track class which comprises of those bright students who can really excel in even higher exams. We enrolled them to a major primary level exam which is done after eight years of primary education which takes one to high school. Their exams comes from the government and the seven students performed averagely, and we know that by the time they get to do this exam at the end of November, they will do very well. They need our support and prayers right now. For them they are graded on English, Math, Swahili, Social Studies and Science.
All the teachers have great confidence in our students and we know that they can win in every situation they come up to and we see it by the way they perform in their exams.

Phillipo

Moving out of the nest

One of the hardest periods for our students is when they are exiting from the program. Its a period where they need a lot of assurance that everything is going to be alright and that we are here for them. It has been a learning experience for the teachers too because at this time the students mostly are not themselves. I guess it usually draws us back to the time when we ourselves were in that same situation of moving out from the comforts of our homes into the harsh world. I also know that the times also are different too,much harder for them.
This time around we have some students moving out of the nest, that is Halima, Patricia, Cugia, Tabitha, Mary and Kung'u. Hey people! they need lots of encouragements and prayers from friends so that they know they are not alone and have the strength and courage to step out there boldly.

Joel

Finished Projects

John Wambu a.k.a Boss, (Construction Department) has made it known that all current building projects has either come to a completion or is near completion. The only major things remaining are maybe the paint jobs. The new chicken house is done and is in use, the girls new kitchen and study room is also done plus their toilets. What remains is painting. The Skills complex at the 19acres is all done, some of the older boys in the program have volunteered to help in the paint job.

Before Discovery Its Microscopic

Discovery is a word when mentioned someones name is in the offing,life is all about discovering who we are,anything we don't know is still to us micro, ,but after knowing we become the masters of it,then it goes into the past,and becomes History.
No wonder after our morning time with the students at MITS,i found it good to look at the microscopes,and as i was looking at a well prepared slide of pollen grains under a small electron microscope, some of the childrens' got interested and come to see(view) what i was doing,and so i let them also view as i continued to focus the slides for them, with a lot of interest and questions it become a class,as the team grew larger,some students could not believe what they were seeing, cos of magnification,they could not see anything on the slides,but under the microscopes they so big (magnified) materials, no wonder discovery makes humanity enthusiastic about life,so reader don't worry about what you don't know now, cos you don't know what you will ever know and that will be discovery to you.

Anything we don't know, it is still to us microscopic,Many of the worlds people live under fear,they run when nothing pursueth them,dig holes for others and fall in themselves,but anyone who is focused and wants to learn and discover the unknown soon becomes masters,and thus celebrities,so move on brother/sister and know more in the world,what we don't know someone else has known it,adios enjoy life and stay focused,this is SINOM K MARTINE an educator of Science,Mathematics and Bible at MITS,be blessed,Thanks for reading

Party time!

This Friday we had a great time in the evening . Loosening up from class work, farm work and all other duties. The team and students engage in a session that brings us together every month. We were celebrating the birthdays of Joseph Mburu, Fatuma Habiba, Irene Akinyi and Abraham Oteba. We had a whole goat to ourselves and cake there after. A lot of thanks goes to the cooks who made this event really possible and work. To the guys who missed out, check out the photos!

Mothers' program

The mothers have been progressing well. Catherine at this moment she can do her duty well especially in the kitchen chores she has her duty which is on Thursdays she can now wake up early enough and prepare breakfast and now she can cook even dinner for everyone before, it was not easy for her. Tabitha assists her. They are together. At first she could not even dare to try, but we all did appreciate her for having confidence in herself. In education she is also doing well especially by doing her homework as required. At this moment she has some interest in education. Catherine still has some problems in relating with her son Mutua. There are times when she becomes very angry at him which would make him not want to see her or even be fed by her. This at times makes her feel bad because Mutua would crawl away from her to any other rather than to her. We also did some birthday party for Mutua he is now one year old and nine months. Jane is trying to teach her to love her son. We have also realized she did not experience the motherly love. Her father was so harsh to her.Millicent is back to classes but she also plaits the dummy to improve on her hairdressing skills. (she was taken in by Nargis of Narcisse Hair Salon, a prestigious salon in the town. Nargis agreed to train). During the weekends we planning for her to go to the farm (Kamulu) and help in the saloon too.

Eunice is doing well in education especially in mathematics. Although she has fear of trying to do anything, she fears to fail and at many times she would be correct but because of the fear she ends up failing. She still has a problem of shouting at her son who would not at times listen to her. This irritates her so much.
Elizabeth now back to books but not fully because she still has to take cake of her son Larry. Larry is very healthy we’ve been so hard on her to continue to breastfeeding him. During this time Muna'a had some skin infection. After tests she had scabies due to dirt and we were wormed it was infectious and due to that she was prescribed to use antiseptic liquid.

Ann

The making of RTGZ and Christ warriors!!

Just like "Making the Band" in MTV, the making of the RTGZ group and Christwarriors has been a long journey that has seen a lot of ups and down. From the word go, the RTGZ trio men that is Anthony, Kennedy and Karis had a passion for rapping and entertaining people with their theatrical jokes,rap songs and comedies,but one thing was lacking for them to break through and serve God through music.They needed other people who would complete the package for that perfect group and sure enough God didn't let them down for they were able to get Caroline and Zainabu. A perfect fix."We have always wanted to know what God has given us so that we can appreciate Him for all that He has done for us", says Kennedy. "And this is our way to say thanks for the talents that He has given us and for all the doors He has opened". Kennedy says that they want to give other children opportunities to go to school even if its one kid for now with money from their salaries.Their song "Twamtaka" has been getting a lot of air time in various TV stations in the country, Channel 5, Citizen Tv, KTN and also M net station in South Africa.

Currently they have a lot on their plate, they want to shut another video for their song Psalm 113 scheduled for November this year with Good News Production International Africa(GNPI) who have really helped them to achieve their goals with the production, exposure and marketing done for RTGZ. The other group that has been inspired by RTGZ.

The Christ warriors
Joseph Wambua, Ken Wambugu, Mercy Wanja, Moses Kung'u, are also following suite and are also currently planning to do their fourth song.They tell me that they also want to take the same path the RTGZ have taken.So far RTGZ have done 9 songs and their plan is to release a collabo album with Christ warrior which will be a great achieve for the two groups.You go guys!!". They thank the Coulstons for the support that they have given them.

Joel

Eastleigh progress

The programs have been progressing well. This past two weeks we had lessons both in boys and girls on how to be hard working and save out of what they get from what they collect either trash, metal scraps some carry luggage, wash utensils in small hotels, washing clothes and other odd jobs. The boys were eight and girls were seven. As in the programs we had discussion with girls why they get these jobs but most of them are not able to maintain them.

By;

1) Not keeping time.
2) Not being hard working.
3) Not being honest.
4) Not keeping cleanliness.
5) Not being correctable.
6) Looking down on themselves.
7) Not being focus.
8) T o others value the drugs more than what they do.
9) Others are lazy and do not think about tomorrow.
10) Others they have lost hope of life.

Many are willing to be assisted to succeed in life and also become great people in future. The soccer game has been going on well; national ID is still a problem. The lesson taught to them is to get to the right path to heaven there are so many thought to be but there is only one through Jesus Christ. There is still more to be done to progress well in all the programs and most of all being effective. In the past two weeks the team from the farm (Kamulu) combined with the one in Eastleigh and managed to come across two new bases Bagdad and Mamba. Bagdad is before one reaches to downtown it is almost to another base called Grogon. The people in bagdad ,we found mothers with their children we introduced ourselves who we are and what we do but the most important thing is to build a concrete relationship with them and friendship.
They had some comments like there are some other organizations that visit them and promise to help them but they disappear so they requested for us to visit them regularly. During the week we also visited another base it’s not new but it has new people; mawaya. It’s in section three Eastleigh. In that base there are older boys they welcomed us well they also new Anthony and Larry were familiar to the place because they had been there two years ago with Jackton. The boys did leave their work to come near us and listen to us. There are some who thought we are from another organization and they had taken them some pictures promised them help but did not come back. We did the introduction to those who did not know about us and for us is to teach the word of God, build a relationship with them too.
The leader of the base is called Chairman and when he spoke we noticed they respected him because there was one who had taken bhang and he was disturbing, one of them told him to be silent but he did not hear. A big fight came up, at that time Larry and Anthony and others did intervene he was almost injured. At least we were there to keep peace. Almost all of them were in need of national ID. They go to look for better jobs like in building and construction rather than collecting of trash but they are asked for the national ID. They also requested us to visit them more often.

Anne

Farm updates

Farm is not farming until a farmer involves him/herself in farming. There is a verse in the bible which says don’t be weary in planting during the morning, evening and also in the afternoon. For you don’t know which will bring forth the harvest, all along its time for you to plant. But the question is what do I plant and when. The answer is just simple, a good farmer does not depend on one variety of seed. Reasons is because one may fail another one may bring forth the produce and mostly during this time when most of the weather has changed.

To us M.I.T.S we are so grateful for what the lord has blessed us with. Last month we were able to get four new born kids (goats). And early this month on 7th September our cow gave birth to a calf. We still have not figured out a name for her. That is why we are making an open bid to whoever thinks has an attractive name, so that we christen her. As of now we call it 'Nameless' literary.
Now the school will be again having enough milk. The new chicken house is finished, and the chicks have moved in.
That is why I do stand with the point, no matter what, we have to come back to where we lost our face, and that is back to farm.

Benjamin

Did you know!!

Did you know that for every 80 streets children that are living in the streets of Nairobi, 10 or more die every year.Yeah its true!This Monday like all the other Mondays, we got an opportunity to visit the streets, Kennedy took Larry and I to a new base which is opposite the Eastleigh military airbase runaway.
This is a sad spot to be in, with a lot of garbage around, dirty animals all around and insects zooming on you. We were glad though to be received by several young men who to our surprise we pleased to have us visit them.This doesn't happen a lot in the streets. In the base there were some Muslim guys also who received us well too. As we encouraged them and Larry read from the Bible, it was astonishing to note the hunger they had to hear us.They said that people come and take pictures and make lots of promises but they never return again.I also noted that one thing stood out in our conversation with them too, the issue of Identity cards. In the streets when one attains the age of 18, one of the biggest dilemma they experience is how they will get this document.You cannot get a decent job or get around well without this Card.
After that base visit, we called the lady that had helped us secure IDs for the first group of 18 guys from the streets and she had good news for us that her bosses had agreed to help us.This had taken us 1 year to get where we were. This was good news for us considering the time and money we had spent getting this guys come to the center, go for age assessment, get them cleaned up, i can imagine how the Eastleigh team felt when we hit a dead-end. When we did a follow up of the 80 people that we had started with in this process of getting the IDs, we discovered that of the 80, 10 of them have since passed on which was a surprise revelation that life for a street person is very short.Well sometimes life is too harsh.

Joel

why Life is in Cycles

Earth is a place, built in a cycle, some insects have to undergo a cycle to mature, man has to live this world at a time ripe enough, that was Gods plan, we have nothing to do than live everywhere we go better than we found it.on Fridays as usual we have to be in the streets,helping and ministering to street guys,and so we were in Eastleigh ,divided in two determined groups, and left for new bases,our first stop was at Baghdad base at the banks of Nairobi river in Ngara we had a good day there then our Friends introduced us to a new base named globe-rounder base,here we met people of all ages.
Then a lady was introduced to us as the mother of that base, of about twenty one, males, females boys and girls, she welcomed us and I was given the opportunity to share God's love to this creations of God, and mind you, He, God created them so in his own image, they are, so with that at the back of my mind, i never mind, teaching Gods word, remember this is a place where the Mungiki sect is usually found, they don't believe in Jesus, so when sharing know which verse in the Bible to start from.so i only shared Gods love to all humanity, thank God it was received with all joy by all who were present.but most boys were in their early ages of about nine to thirteen years.
And therefore we were to circle the streets back to our place at Eastleigh, and they continued to circle the streets in search of food, but after being in a a circle to receive Gods word, at the new Globe-rounder base, thanks for reading,this is SIMON K MARTINE a volunteer at the MITS, therefore life is all in circles for us to complete our duties to humanity wherever you are serve whole heartedly,and one day you will reap, from Gods own table. Good day.

Flying or street doctors!?

While at Eastleigh Center, we started with small time games with the young ones that are there, as we waited for instructions, we even went to the extent of trying to teach them how to drive!

Fridays are days when everyone is waiting and planning for a greater weekend, but the guys at MITS are all too happy to walk the streets of Nairobi. We decided to divide again into two groups and pay visits to the new bases we had found the previous week. We went to Baghdad base and thereafter went to a newer base still named 'Globe'. Here we found guys of all ages.
In the afternoon we all decided to visit Lilliput base. We found them as enthusiastic as ever and each of them was so eager to learn our names and hear a word of encouragement from the team. Finishing and starting the trek back to the center we came to learn that one of the guys from that same base, was knocked down by a mini-truck. (these mini-trucks are used by local business men to ferry khat or what is known to us as miraa). As the crowd was building up, we also joined in. A guy had started collecting money in order for a taxi to be hired to rush for the hospital. at first it was a bit rowdy and Anthony had to intervene, he took all the money from him and contribution towards that course continued. The guy who was knocked down was extremely in pain as we noticed, and Philip our medic practitioner was there. Believe me, we made splints for the broken limbs, both limbs, out of wood, and sugarcane, tied it up with handkerchiefs and clothes strips from a local tailor. It worked. He had head injuries but according to me they were minor(what do I know!)

We called Jackton and he was there in a flash. I tell you, this guy should apply as a Formula1 speed racer or something like that. The roads were jammed but we were going through, either on the wrong lanes off on pavements, rushing to hospital. The good thing is the Police understood. We continued chatting with the patient not to go into shock or pass out. At the hospital we were not bugged as we expected, but we were served and our patient was admitted. We got into trouble though with the authorities, for taking photos at the hospital premises. But a quick explanation sorted it out.

What an experience!!

Moses.

Choosing Death Than Life "Gosh" God Forbid!

Choosing is a game many would want the best to be on their side. Yesterday I took literacy one class for a lesson in counseling, and I dealt with life stories, so the students got interested and wanted to participate.

One of the students, told us and I quote him,

"One day while we were living on the streets, at a base named Jam-street, one young man named Njoro become sick. Our base leader was called Master, and so Njoro had a oozing wound that made him suffer in pain. Master tried all he could but in vain, he fed him on Jombii (food collected from dump sites). So one day Njoro called his age mates and asked them to summon Master. So Master had build his Polythene paper house just next to the one the young street boys were living in. On arrival Njoro asked Master to do him one favor, he told him to finish (kill) him so that he could rest from that deadly decease.

Master answered "That is a simple thing to do" He went to his Polythene made house and boiled a knife in hot water, then placed it on hot burning coal, and came to where Njoro was sleeping. He told him turn and close his eyes. He then took the knife and pierced Njoro at the belly. Njoro did not open his eyes, he died. Master then took Njoro's body, threw it on the compost heap, and called the police, telling them that somebody was dead around his area. The police came took the body to the city morgue.

Today Njoro is forgotten, I believe he is buried with unclaimed bodies.
Pray for the MITS staff and the Coulstons help these hurting street kids.

*the names Njoro and Master have been depicted to hide the identities of the real persons.

Writing is a volunteer at MITS
SIMON K. MARTINE

Reconciliation from dead ends trip

I took one of the students, Scholastica, home to gather a few documents, which were to help start the process of a aquiring an identification card. The journey started at 9:00pm and we went all the way to smoothly to Nakuru town, which one of the towns outside Nairobi but as we reached this small town in the great rift valley the road started to be dumppy and full of postholes to near aonther town called Kisumu.and the all journey took us the all night to reach her grandmother's place which is also far from the main road and we had to be carried by bicycles from the Siaya town which is also another town far from Nairobi which i had to pay eighty shillings for each of us and that not up to the grandmother's place, a light from the bicycles and again walk a distance of about 3 kilo metres to reach her place. We walked on the equaterial sun which rise up every early in morning tied from the long trip and also sleepy on the arrival the grandmothers place we did not find her and Schola had to go and look for her and it took her three hours to get her grandmother,after her coming she greeted me and welcomed me to her home and she did her few left morning chores.

We had an introduction session and she asked me a few things about myself and what i do for living and where i come from, and thanked me so much for bringing her granddaughter home because she did not know the whereabouts of Schola and was thinking that she had died long time ago. But before that long i had to do RECONCILITION between schola and the grandmother because the grandmother was fed with wrong information about schola and she talk me that if is was not for accompaning her home she would have not welcomed her home. i also went ahead and told her about made in the streets which is where schola is schooling. i also met her aunt who brought her to Nairobi where she was mistreated and made to take care of the babies, which led to her to report the matter to the police and the aunt and the husband to be arrested and she was taken to the children's juveniles court and was sent to remand and when the aunt heard that she was around she was not happy and she asked me alot of questions and gave her answers but she was not satisfied with them from the look that i saw on her face. Many thanks from Schola and the grandmother for the friutful trip.

victor

Wondering Planets Salvaged

As human beings we need a Transformational step that is disarmingly simple. Unfortunately the concept of change in this way has been so obscured, so wrapped in extra ideas and extra words that many have been robbed of the wonderful simplicity of its truth, how important it is that we not allow this to happen to us at MITS.

But remember "A new character being finite, can still make mistakes and actually does so. But that is not the primary fact, it is that all of the persons powers are employed in a new way. That his/her movements are dignified by a new direction. Know that a person like you and me are like a wondering planet which becomes stable in its movement by entering a new orbit. A street boy or girl I have come to realize, are like that. Once they come to MITS. Here they are watching for generosity, patience and mercy of a loving person, and you will be shocked to see how their lives becomes stabilized.

Therefore my humble advice to the whole world and readers is that everyone living on planet Earth is under construction, we are being transformed from inside out. The chief architect is God as a loving Father. From my little experience in the world, is that when man is truly changed and God fearing, some dramatic new patterns emerge i.e harmful habits leave, attitudes, thinking and language move to a new level. Motives must come under scrutiny. Selfishness gives way to service, relationship with others becomes healthy. Bitterness, envy, jealousy and hatred diminishes, as true love increases and this inward unseen change soon becomes visible. True love, mutual respect are forged at work, and I close by saying that I would love to get the workplace as close to the Garden as possible knowing I can't, but I shouldn't stop trying to make MITS a haven of peace fatherly (Gods love).

This is a volunteer Educator at MITS
SIMON K. MARTINE

God's Amazing Mind

Its with great humility to report that God is amazing. I come to MITS when a new Team of street kids were being selected from the streets of Nairobi, and I took to educate one of the new class Literacy 1, and it has to take much patience to be able to teach this kind of class, so I kept on asking God for strength, humility and wisdom. Just in a flash of one month, there is a boy named David who could not read or do mathematics. He surprised me. He now does mathematics and even helps me help others do mathematics. I want to tell you my reader there is nothing hard with God. This boy even just reading was a nightmare, but now he reads. I'm amazed by this.

Sometimes we look at issues and want to give up, never give up. Draw your strength from God and pull up your socks with Humility, and face the battle ahead of you. I know the hard choices that fall solely to all humanity , but humility, prepares us to make those choices with an open mind. the road to success is not straight. There is a curve called confusion, a speed pump called friends, Red lights called Enemies, Caution lights called family, but if you have a spare called Determination, an Engine called Perseverance, you will be able to make it to a place called SUCCESS. (this is God's amazing Mind)

Writing is a Volunteer Educator at MITS
SIMON K. MARTINE

African Football A.K.A Soccer!!

For those who have visited us at the farm, you'll know that when it comes to sports or games, another description for unity is presented but when its soccer, everyone's title is left in the office or in the classroom. we only have players, no administrator, no teacher, no farmers, no girls but simply players. it gets so intense that when one gets hurt, it is not realized that time but maybe half an hour after the match!

we usually have a day that we have designated for soccer and everyone's gets to release their tensions, frustrations for the week, skills in the field. this is usually fridays in the evening. this friday's game was exceptional. everyone took part except for a few who were doing various duties. as usual it was exciting and there was alot of shouting, cheering, falling, getting up and falling again! since kamulu area is still developing and people are starting to build houses, some of the places are just large pieces of land unoccupied. it near a national park and so sometimes we have rabbits or small deers occasionally coming in.

It was quite a sight when we saw a hare coming into the field just during the match. everyone forgot the match and we started chasing after the hare, Mbuvi leading the pack! here we are thiry or more people running after one hare. the girls at that time were so surprised and could not help bursting to laughter. i did not know people could run that fast!i cannot fully present the sight!!! all i can tell you guys is that it is going to be a great weekend!

phillipo

A night with the Elephants!!

A few of you can say that they have slept in the same compound with an elephant!,and thats what just happened to the Sunday school children when we took a trip to Nanyuki Sweetwaters last week .For them, no one except the teachers had ever gone seen the animals let alone camping and they had been waiting for this day from the time we started planning for this trip in January.They were really excited and anxious to go and enjoy what God has created and placed in the earth.As we arrived there,we were received by welcoming committee which included the baboons who are not the kind of animals you would want to welcome you, but for us we had the baboons as well as an even bigger welcomer in the camping site, An Elephant!. When the children heard that an elephant was in the compound that night there was a mixture of fear and excitement in the air.Most of them had only seen a shadow of the animal that night but the next day in the Sweetwaters park, they were able to see exactly how their last night visitor looked like.
They had some much fun playing, seeing animals,singing around the fire and telling each other scary stories at night.Dennis and the other boys said they don't mind staying there for a whole month!but as usual a wonderful time always ends quicker that you expect.

Joel

Sunday Report from Mbuvi

I hope you are well. All is fine here and the kids are doing great. The new boys have adjusted well and working hard both in and out of classes. Sunday this week was just fun. The morning class had over 32 people which is good. We were reading Acts 12.

Among some things that seem miraculous to them that some people shared included...

Joseph Mburu, that one time he and Edward had been caught stealing at a mechanic shop and and all they had stolen was put before them. They were beaten and some of the mechanics were so angry they said they should burn them. They got tires and even poured kerosine on them and then one of thm pleaded saying "Ni wadogo sana" (they are very young), and we should just beat them and let them go. He said that was a miracle for them just like the angel walked Peter out of jail and it was hard even for Peter to believe. He also said it was hard for them to believe that they were not burned and he says maybe God wanted him to tell the story to our class some day.

Martin said it was a miracle for him to buy a piece of Land and Anthony said for him to visit the states was a miracle.

In our worship, Joel led singing with some Bible reading from a student. Wahome did an illustration for the Lord's table with the new Omo washing powder pack. He said that the pack said it removes tough stains ten over ten and he said that we have an even better Sin remover in Jesus. Some of the boys did a skit on giving about the rich man and the widow. We also had our fellowship tea.

In the Afternoon we had even more fun with the kids presenting about the united kingdom. This week they all really prepared and read their parts. The awards went to Group no. 5 with Joseph mburu, Mary Wangui, Alex Atemai, Nicholas and two others who all had a lovely skit about Nathan telling David about the rich man with a lot of goats and the poor with only one. They had come with two of our goats one which was big and one which was just a few days old. They had even bought some Ugali for the party!!!! The pic is of Nicholas, the poor man with his one and only goat.



Later they went for a soccer match. We are enjoying ourselves here. We miss you here but we know what you are doing is helping us in so many ways. Our love to all.




The second picture is of our students during the afternoon class acting about Solomon's wisdom. The two women are talking about who should keep the baby because one of the mums had her child die. They are working hard on their assignments.
Mbuvi.

Thank You, God

I kindly thank God for availing guys like you and Mbuvi for allowing me to serve God at Made in the streets at Kamulu and in the Bases in Eastleigh. We just discovered a new Base at Ngara Market near Nairobi River called Bagdad under the leadership of a guy called Tyson. We meet street mothers, fathers and children. I was given a chance to speak and was overwhelmed with joy how these guys so respected us and welcomed us and asked us to be coming to them always. Thank you so much for allowing me serve as a volunteer at MITS.

Yours kindly in the Lord and praying for always for you,

volunteer,
Simon K. Martine



Simon is pictured above (in red) with Joel ministering on the streets.

(Note: Simon is a young man at Kamulu (with a wife and 2 kids) who comes to adult Bible class and worship. The quote above is from an email he sent to the Coulstons. He is a church member who has been volunteering in the street ministry. He has tutored students at Kamulu, and he goes to Eastleigh to help with ministry there.)