Word of life camp! Day 3

The day was really interesting, woke up, had breakfast, did some games after that. The Conways joined us later on. Justin gave today's lesson about Saul who also like Zaccheus had changed his way of life. Yesterday Omondi has asked how he could also change other people after he had been changed. He was answered today by the lesson. Let God use you to change other like God used Ananias to change Paul, then God again used Paul to spread His word to all the Gentile nations. Later we had a game.
While having the 10 o'clock tea Hollyie suggested we try to network with the Word of Life people, especially in the kitchen area. We got in touch with the relevant persons and expressed our wishes for our catering students back at the farm. The chef agreed and so did the camp management. All we have to do now is organize if this is possible for some of our kids to come out here when it really gets busy to have experience or placement. The months when guys are packed here is during the months of August through to September.
We did some crafts, which was a bit complicated but we all got it figured out. Then we had lunch. After lunch I took some time to get case stories of the boys. One case which really needs all our prayers, is of Franklin, he has no idea who or where his father is, his lost his mother while he was just a year old and he is HIV positive.
We plan to complete the rest of the case stories tomorrow. The boys got to wear their Badilika t-shirts and they were radiant in the camp compound. Everyone else wanted to know what this meant, and where the group was from.
As we leave tomorrow morning, we have definately made a mark here, the kitchen staff will definately miss us... and we have planted something in these boys that they will never forget. They have learnt that they still can change, no matter the situations they are in, life is all about changes and tranforming to God calling and will.
It has been a week of so much fun and blessing for me, I have made new friends, and drawn closer to God.

Word of life camp! Day 2

Woke up today and the day was beautiful, though cold, but we have not to worry because there is hot showers and hot breakfast with sausages, cereals waiting for us at the dining area. We proceeded to play some silly games which the Kenyan team led. A lesson was then given by Ed about Zaccheus, he taught us how Zaccheus changed by Jesus. The kids then did a skit acting out the story told to them.
After the lesson we did crafts and some coloring till lunch time. The lesson was really fitting because it involved handling of money and being honest. Clinton and Martin agreed and accepted that they really needed to change and turn their lives around from being liars and thieves.
We did lunch then went back to some more activities. We made made tie and dye for our badilika t-shirts and made key rings out of beeds. Free time followed, and the boys did what they like and love best of all, they played soccer. Dinner was then served and we had Art therapy and the kids made all sorts of shapes. Then the grand finale, the bon-fire, it was awesome, the fire razing to the heavens, as we shared what blessing each one of us is to the other. Its gonna be hard to sleep tonight because there is a lot of food for thought from the day's activity.

Word of life camp! Day 1

This week the team (Philip, Nzioka Anthony, Kennedy and I) will spend sometime with 15 boys from the streets. The Conways have organised this event and have put up a team of four to help with this weeks' event. We plan to get five boys who will join us in the boarding program in kamulu farm. We arrived, at Eastleigh, picked up all the 15 boys at two team members, Anthony and Kennedy. Then Jackton drove us all to the camp site. A long drive, or maybe because we have never been there. Reaching the camp we met a four man team. Ed, Justin and their wives. There was lunch, then we had a chat about the camp theme, (badilika) which means change. We also talked about plans for the week, rules etc. Then we did some crafts, making buttons name tags and folders.
Games then followed, magazines scavengers, hunt, bandanna necklaces, sports, soccer, which the Kenyan team and the American team both supervised. The boys took a hot shower, we had dinner. Since we were so tired we decided to call it a day.
We await Day 2, and all its fun activities.

South Mac in MITS

Camp Mtume (apostle) was a one life time changing experience for all the MITS staff and students. The camp lasted a whole week, filled with fun and activities like crafts, bible devotions and games. Tim and Anne Lewis ( who are both sponsors of Abdi Isaac), headed a 11 man team of councilors who had a great impact on the kids. The MITS team decided to cook all week just so the kids could be 100% be involved in the camp. As the team also made meals, it was a time of getting to know one another better and we all learnt something new about the other.
The kids had a chance of going to the movies, shopping trip and the camp ended with a bon-fire held at the boys compound till late at night. The kids shared around the fire how the camp has changed their lives, how having a quite time with God is really important. Some have learnt how to pray, to lead a bible study on their own.
We are so thankful for all the councilors who made this camp possible. South Mac has really made a mark this year in all our lives at MITS.
We are now all aware that we are the thirteenth apostles.

Road Trip

It's a lot of fun when all the students get to pack into the buses and take a road trip. We got to do that twice this week!!! On Monday, after chapel, we went to a place called Village Market to watch a movie. Don't let the name fool you. This "village market" is more like an outdoor mall resort that would rival the beauty and sophistication of many pampering centers in the United States. Over the past few weeks, I've grown accustom to dirt streets and walking through trash on the sidewalks. So, while I was walking by the fancy Italian restaurants on a beautiful concrete walkway spanning a small river flowing from a swimming pool, I felt as if a couple bouncers would come "escort" me out to the parking lot because I wasn't on the list. The movie theater inside this resort was one of the nicest theaters I've ever been to. It was a new experience. I'm used to watching 20 minutes of advertisements on the big screen before the actual previews start. Instead I found myself standing up for the national anthem while the Kenyan flag was projected. ....I don't even remember much of the movie......

On Thursday, after chapel, we loaded up again and went to Gikomba. Gikosh as the kids call it, is the second largest market in Africa (so I'm told) . It's not, however, anything like the Village Market. It's located next to a slum in Nairobi and it's really crowded. Despite the vast area the market covers, it's packed full of people... packed! The visitors from the South Mac. Church of Christ provided some money for the students. They bought a bunch of nice clothes and even modeled some of them at our fashion show later that night. I laughed pretty hard when Jackton introduced us all to a new line of white-torn-up-toga-flower-skirts. I only wish I had my camera then.

Ryan

Donation to Jubilant School

3 weeks ago the Jubilant Primary school had a tragedy of a fire in one of its dorms. Jubilant is a primary school which both has boarding facilities and day scholars. Visiting the site the dorm was pretty much razed to the ground. The good thing is that none of the students was present in the dorm while this happened. The were all in the afternoon prep time. The manage to salvage the bed, which are made out of metal rods and wire mesh. The fire was put out by the help of community and staff of the school. it is highly believed that the fire was caused by a small electrical failure since the dorm was still under renovations.
MITS has found it in their hearts to reach out to this institution, which happens to be a neighbor to us. John Wambu managed to purchase for them a truck full of building sand and bags of cement. he went to offer them to have their beds straightened out by oue welder and a nice coat of red oxide painted on them to bring back their nice colour.
The principal of the school, said that this was God's grace, as he had no idea where to get the money to renovate the same building which was still under renovation. We still thrive to reach the hearts of our friends, community that sourrounds us. All we want to is to share the peace that is really provided by the Almighty.

Street life

June has been cold to those living in the bases. We always pray to God to ask if He will protect them from it and He listens to our prayers. There are times when we visit them and bring hot tea for them, they are very grateful for it. The bases we have been to are Lilliput, Redeem, Rounder, Family, Jericho, Kiamaiko, Carlif, and Jamaica. The team is making home visits for those who stay in the slums and it has been very effective. By that, we do encourage them to keep believing in God for greater things. During base work, we have also introduced workshops with the help of three students who are from Kenya Institute of Social Work: Moses Gicharu, Mary Njiru, Victorine Achieng, and one volunteer Esther Ng’ang’a. Most of the time, we have workshops in the program but we thought it well to do the same in the bases. The topics we would like to discuss are HIV, Aids, health, and many others that involve their lives.

Briefing on Agnes Wanjiku
Agnes Wanjiku came to the mother’s Monday program two years ago. She used to stay at the 7th street base and was known as a notorious drunkard. As the days and months went by, she would come to the program to learn, and she took a step to change her behavior. Later on, she became pregnant and her husband was killed. The team is planning to open a small business where Agnes Wanjiku can work and support herself. In August 2008 she gave birth to Maryline Mwikali while staying upcountry, but the child got sick. She had a growth in her stomach and when she was 7 days old and was operated on twice. At that time, the Catholic Church paid for her medical expenses and Made in the streets provided food and housing. As the days went by, the doctors discovered she had cancer. Maryline was in so much pain, and the mother hoped she would get well. Agnes changed and was a great mother. She loved her so much in spite of the challenge. After a while, Maryline became weaker as another growth was found in her stomach, the swelling even spread to her legs. On 28th June, Maryline died. She was buried on 4th July and may the Lord grant her a peaceful rest.

Eastleigh programs

The Monday mothers program has been growing. Most of the them are learning to depend on themselves and not to relay on other people. This year the team is encouraging them to work and learn to appreciate what God has blessed them with. In two months, there has been a job from the area chief known as 'Kazi kwa vijana' (work for the youth) most of them have registered. The only requirement is to have a National Identity Card.They have managed to meet some of their needs. The number of mothers with HIV/AIDS, has increased too and most are week and cannot do jobs that involve a lot of washing because this brings their CD4 count down i.e their immunity drops. Others do refuse to be tested and if they are, they do not take drugs in the right way. The teenage boys program has been growing in numbers,they range from 18 to 25 in number. They had a soccer match with another organization that deals with streets kids, and it was really fun. This year the ministry will be taking in five of them to the boarding program in Kamulu farm. Towards the end of this month there will be a camp on 28th to 31st where they will go and learn and the five will be picked out from them. The girls program has not picked up in number, but we have to network with other organizations to get more girls into boarding program. The older girls do come to the mothers program and they are taught together with the single mothers. The older boys are doing well in their soccer matches.There are 22 of them who have registered for Identity Cards, although the process is very slow but they will get them.

Catherine, Millicent, and Elizabeth are doing well, especially in the process of changing their behaviors. Millicent is 18 years now, and she will be doing her eighth grade exam by the end of this year. Catherine and Elizabeth, who are also 18 years, had their age assessment done.

After Catherine’s father passed on, the rest of the family looked for her to find out where she attends school. They had never done so when the father was alive. Before the father died, he owned two shanty houses at Mukuru Kayaba slums. He wrote a will stating the houses would belong to Catherine. She has a brother who never took care of their father; even when the father died he was nowhere to be found. It was not till later that he appeared to claim the two houses. In the written will it is stated clearly: if the brother tries to take the houses from her, Catherine has the authority of reporting him to the police.

The McCartys' classes

Hello MITS readers. My name is Jimmy and I have finally made it back to MITS after a three year absence, but this time my wife Desiree was able to make it as well. I was here in 2006 and one of the greatest blessings of this trip is seeing how far some of the kids who were brand new at MITS when I was here before have grown and matured. During this trip Des and I have been doing many different things: teaching classes, painting the future nursery, visiting Eastleigh for the mothers program and whatever else we are needed to do.

One of the tasks I have been asked to perform is to teach a daily leadership class to the staff that ended today. We have talked about servant leadership, prophetic leadership and spiritual leadership. We have also taken some personality/temperament tests and begun using them as tools in working as a team leading the children. The staff had fun identifying who shared their personality and the ways in which everyone can bring their own strengths to the team. It seemed to be a productive time.

Next week Desiree is leading a marketing class for those teachers who create goods for sale in their classes. Hopefully these will help MITS to sell more of the jewelry, school uniforms, and wood products that they do such a good job of making. We will also co-lead a photography class for some of the kids who received donated cameras recently. The goal is for a few students to become good enough photographers that they can also start selling their photos. We are really excited about this.

One thing Desiree and I hoped to do while here is leave some people with practical tools that they can use long after we are gone. We believe the leadership, marketing and photography classes have and will provide some of those tools.

Grace and peace.

God of dark times!

It might be hard to explain how our God performs miracles in order to take care for his own children. One may lack words to say to God but have one word, which is thank you. Having passed through hell, do not stop. And if it fall on your hands do not hold it. That is the reason we are not discouraged by what might be happening in the world’s economy, for our God controls it.

Isaac was told by God to plant at a time when no man was expecting any rain to come. Really it was time of his dark time but God was in the midst of the darkness of it all. For M.I.T.S having the darkest times as a ministry and also in my department of agriculture, when there seemed to be nothing happening God is doing something in the spiritual relm that many people are amazed off. For now we have harvested seven hundred kilograms ready and packed for the school to use. Having in mind that there are still more which are about to be ready; and others still coming up. We are planting others seedlings for vegetables like Kales, Spinach, Giant nightshade, Amaranthus and not forgetting beans which we are expecting to have not less than three hundred kilo grams.That’s why I do say for those who know there is a God, they shall exploit his nature to their own benefit.

Ben