The Last Day :-(

Its a really sad day at Kamulu, made more dreary with the light rain and overcast skies this morning. We all said our good-byes during chapel and have exhanged letters with many students. I am happy to be getting back to Texas to see my family, but still reluctant to leave knowing I'll miss the relationships I've built with many of the students and staff. Everyone here works very hard every day to keep things running, and I would like to stay and help. I have been thinking about some things this morning and will try to sum my experience up in a few major points.

1. God is bigger than we think.
2. Miracles still happen on a daily basis.
3. The parables about the one lost sheep and the prodical son are real.
4. Everyone should visit Africa once in their lives to gain perspective.
5. I shouldn't have waited 39 years to come to Africa.
6. A smile and a friendly nod is part of the "universal" language everybody knows.
7. We don't need 9/10th's the stuff we think we need.
8. I hope that God will lead me back to visit MITS at some point in my life.
9. I have been blessed beyond my expectations and beyond what I deserve.
10. I do not want to spend the next 24 hours sitting in a plane.

We leave today at 10pm Kenya time and arrive at DFW on Friday at 6:00pm. I am sure we'll have some follow up posts once we hit US soil. Pray for our safe travels.

Bargain Hunters

So we set out on our shopping trip this morning...74 people loaded up on two buses and we set out for Gikomba the 2nd largest market in Africa (yes that's right 2nd largest on the entire content). There were 60 kids and 14 staff-this included some of the kids and staff from Eastleigh.

You are going to imagine what 74 people can do with $450 U.S. We all split up and each student received 450 Ksh which is equivalent to about $7. (now i consider myself a bargain hunter/shopper) THESE KIDS ARE AMAZING...Every student was able to buy a pair of shoes, and each one of them was able to bargain their way into a deal of at least one shirt and even a air of pants/shorts. I asked one of the kids, Charles, what he purchased and he showed me, a pair of shoes, 2 t-shirts, a pair of jeans, a half ear of corn and 5 sweets(candy). FOR $7!!! All of the kids were able to shop, we then went back to Eastliegh for lunch...all 74 people were able to then eat lunch, still under the original total...Can you believe it?

THE SMILES ON THE KIDS FACES=PRICELESS

One of the rules for going shopping today was that we could not be around the kids when they were shopping, because if a white person is around the child will not a get a bargain. The kids knew this as well-but what they did was so sweet. When Jerram and I were walking around we would see the kids and they would look at us and not say anything, but i would wink at them and they would SMILE and giggle and squeeze my hand and keep walking straight past us. AWESOME.

The only think I bought today was a Coke, 4 sausage links, 8 ears of roasted maze(local favorite) for 64 Ksh, which equates to a dollar...

Today was a great way to end our three weeks! Everyday the kids end Chapel with an encouragement and the SMILES we saw today will be my encouragement for a long time!!!

Shopping Day

Wednesday is shopping day! Jerram, Emily and I have pooled enough money to take all the kids shoe shopping in town. After chapel in the morning, all the students and staff will load up on the buses and drive in to Nairobi for what should be a very interesting trip. Each student is going to have 450 shillings (about $7 US) to spend and we'll just turn the loose at the market. From what I understand, this isn't going to be your typical trip with the kids to Target. Keep in mind that I have yet to see ANY clothing items for sale that appear brand new. The students will be bargaining and negotiating on their own with vendors whose inventory is laid out on the sidewalk or next to the street on a blanket or possibly set up in a small open-air kiosk. My prediction is that these kids will REALLY surprise us with how savvy they are in finding what they need and closing the sale. We'll make sure to post photos and stories when we return.

Finishing Up Our Work

Our time at MITS is quickly coming to an end. As we reflect on what we have accomplished, we feel pretty good about everything we've done. Here's an overview...

We installed Windows XP on the eight desktop computers in the Learning Center. This gives them a total of fourteen XP workstations at the Learning Center and twelve at the Computer Shop. The virus threat on all of their machines has been neutralized...at least for the time being.

We were able to get the three wireless/radio antennas mounted at about twenty-two feet in the air, connecting the computers at the girls center, with the computers at the shop and at the Learning Center. This allows computers at all three locations to access the file server and media server. This is a BIG deal.

We installed all of the audio and video files and teaching and learning resources onto the file server. All together, there was about 200 GIG worth of resources copied over. We were also able to install a lot of productivity software on the work stations...Open Office, Picasa, Audacity, iTunes, PhotoStory, etc, etc, etc.

We went into Eastleigh and visited the bases on two occasions and ventured into Mathare Valley once. The primary goal was to get photo and video footage to be used in future MITS presentations. We have enough footage (both on the streets and back on the farm) for several feature-length movies. The real work on this will begin once we get home and start editing.

We introduced blogging to the students and staff. This morning, we set up a blog at www.made-in-the-streets.blogspot.com that the students and staff will HOPEFULLY begin posting to soon. There are so many people all over the world that care about them and pray for them, I really hope they will keep us all posted on a daily or weekly basis. This could make the biggest change for them of anything we've suggested, so I am hoping they will follow though.

We spent a lot of time with Moses and a few other teachers and we feel confident that they are capable of moving forward with the upgrades we've suggested. We have been really careful during our visit trying NOT to impose our agenda or way of doing things on the staff. We want to support their work without taking ownership from them. They are already doing SO MANY things well, we didn't want to American-ize their system. We are leaving everything in VERY CAPABLE hands.

I am not going to list the time we have spent getting to know the kids, visiting with staff, walking and talking, throwing the frisbees, roasting corn around the campfire, hugging and handshaking, listening to life stories and visiting classrooms, because it hasn't seemed like work at all. That time has been the most rewarding and will produce more benefits than anything else we've done. My hope is that I will be able to return next summer and pick up right where we leave off this visit.

How Great Thou Art...

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

I used to watch both my mom and grandmother sign this song in church, I would even catch my grandmother singing it around her house from time to time. Both of them have even sung it to me as they lay me down to sleep. I am blessed to have memories like these.

There are times I question how great God truly is when I see people living in the conditions they do here (Eastleigh), when I hear of terror and hate in people all over the world, why is there sickness, why is there hunger, why do people die,why does God allow these things?

I question because (I think) it is human nature. Then I even go as far to question myself- Am I a bad person to question God's greatness?

I have seen his greatness here as well as at home in the states. Here there are over 50 kids who have a safe place to live, food to eat, clean clothes and that are not on drugs or glue. In the states I have a home, a career, two beautiful children, friends and family.

I guess I can answer some of my own question-The greatness of Eastliegh is the students that have lived the was they did making the choice to move out here and learn a better life, they were given a choice, a chance if you will...

And back to my grandmother she died almost 17 years ago and when she did I was very angry and still am from time to time that she is not here. But the greatness comes in the fact that I had time with her at all, I got to know her and love her...and the calmness comes because I know I will see her again.

Progress

A quick update before we head back into Eastleigh this morning one last time:

We have done very well at accomplishing all of the big items on our task list for this trip. The computer lab has windows XP installed, the network is operable, the server has a shared fileserver for all computers to use and the 3 different facilities are able to communicate via wireless antenna's (running simply on 802.11g routers). I'm a bit surprised, myself, that we were able to get all of this done, expecting more roadblocks than we had. Granted, it wasn't easy and there were defenitly problems along the way. Tomorrow (tuesday) I plan to try getting a media server communicating from the coulston's house down to the learning center - not sure if the bandwidth is there for that to happen, though. All-in-all, we've done what we came to do and much more...

Now, time for chapel and one more trip into the slums.

Nine New Boys.........UPDATE

UPDATE on July 26th: Charles let us know today that six of the nine boys have sponsors. Its not too late to email him and Bill to tell them that you'd like to sponsor a new MITS student. If you are quick enough, I can take a portrait while I am here and bring it to you when we get back. Below is the original post from yesterday...


We arrived safely last night from our safari. We were very happy to learn that the nine boys had been moved into the boys dorm on Tuesday. Before chapel this morning, I was able to visit with them and they were very happy to be out here. Some can speak English and others will be learning it, so I had to have one of the boys translate for me. They all agreed that they hoped that they could stay out here forever. In chapel, everyone welcomed them in and we all sang "we love you with the love of the lord" to them.

I discovered that they do not have sponsors for all of the new boys yet. As new kids arrive, sponsors in the US are recruited to help support them, paying $75us per month to cover food, clothing, teachers, etc. My family has been blessed by sponsoring two girls (Mary and Mwanahawa) and are further blessed every time we receive a letter from them. If you have been following this blog at all, I hope you are convinced that MITS is doing a tremendous amount of good in the lives of these boys and girls. I am truly convinced that God is at work here, in the staff, the teachers, and the students. I would like to challenge you right now (Friday, July 25th) to commit to sponsor one of these boys. Relatively speaking, its small cost each month, but it literally has been a life and death opportunity, both physically and spiritually, to these boys.

Before the day is done, please email Bill Smith (smith1858@comcast.net) and Charles Coulston (charles.coulston@made-in-the-streets.org) and let them know that you'd like to support one of the nine new boys. With the number of people who have been reading the blog during our trip, I believe that we can get all of them sponsored by the end of the day. You will be blessed and God will be glorified.

Photos from the Masai Mara

I had a chance this morning to upload a few photos from our safari. These are straight out of the camera and haven't been run through Photoshop yet, and I am pretty sure the monitor I am using isn't color calibrated anyway. That being said, this should satisfy your curiosity until I get back home. Here goes...

Kick Ball

If anyone out there is a PE teacher applaud yourself and if you know a PE teacher hug them the next time you see them. As a Special Education Teacher, I have the mind set that PE is an easy job. NOT THE CASE AT ALL!!!!

Jerram and I set out to teach the kids how to play Kick Ball. Well we had about 45 kids and for a game that really only needs 18 to 20 kids split into 2 teams. Some how we managed to get them all to a spot. As we tried to convey the rules and the idea of the game, Mbuvi saw not only our struggle but the kids as well, so he translated everything in Swahili. Which helped. We had a slow start to the game-most of the kids in the outfield were doing head stands and some of the kids were juggling rocks. At this point we could tell the kids were not interested. But we were persistent and once they saw how far they could kick the ball and that they could run around the bases to score points their interest peaked. After both teams took the field and kicked twice we were on a roll the kids loved it.

We played for an hour and a half and one team scored 10(which is the number we used to name the winner), and as we walked back to the boys dorms the kids wanted to know when we would play again. We are scheduled to play again on Sunday.

We played Frisbee the rest of the evening until the sun went down-it was a really fun afternoon with the kids. Playing, laughing and building relationships.

Yummy....

On Safari we were able to eat some pretty incredible food, and one of Darren and my favorites was the chocolate brownies the last day. So I asked for the recipe...

Toffee Brownies
350g dark chocolate(broken)
250g unsalted butter(cut into pieces)
3 large eggs
250g dark mascavado sugar
85g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

1.)Butter and line the base of a shallow 23cm square tin. Melt butter and chocolate together and stir well and cool.
2.) Whisk eggs until pale then whisk in sugar until thick and and glossy, well combined. Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture, then sift in the in the flour and baking powder and gently mix until smooth.
3.) Pour mixture into prepared cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until firm to touch.
4.) Remove from the oven and allow cooling for at least 1 hour. Cut and serve;-)


Now for all of you bakers in the US have fun converting the metric units to US customary measurements...and you probably noticed that there is not a temperature listed to set the oven for, that is because everyone here cooks in propane ovens, can't really regulate temperature on those.

So we were wondering if anyone was up to it, if you could make these wonderful brownies and meet us at the airport next Thursday when we return...(wink-wink-Eric-you know who you are;-))

Psalm 113:4

The Lord is higher than all the nations.
His glory rises to the skies.
No person is like the Lord our God.
God sits high in heaven.
God is so high above us that he must look down,
to see the sky and the earth.

God lifts poor people out of the dirt.
God takes beggars from the garbage dump.
And God makes those people important.
God makes those people important leaders.

Charles and Darlene shared this verse (from the Easy-to-Read translation) with us last night and talked about how they have seen this verse played out in the streets and the slums time and time again. They have seen God work miracles in the lives of street children. They have a front row seat to what God does every day.

I am sure we all are given the opportunity to see (and even partake) in these miracles, but somehow I think we miss those in our busy lives in Irving. How do we change our daily routine (or just change our perspective or mindset) back home so that we can participate? There is no doubt in my mind that its a possibility, we just have to be open to it. Any thoughts from our readers?

NOTE: Charles and Darlene are flying back to California today. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel back home.

WE ARE BACK

I am not sure I am going to do our experience any sort of justice by trying to describe the past 4 days while we were on Safari.

Safari in Swahili means a journey, and journey it was!!!!

As we landed in our double engine prop plan on nothing more than a strip of red dirt, we immediately saw animals. There were giraffe grazing on the tops of trees, zebra eating on a small patch of grass and wildebeest looking at us like we were crazy. Joesph (our guide) loaded our stuff in an amazing Land Cruiser, that both Jerram and Darren marveled over for the entire trip, and we were off. He took us first to the Mara River were we saw about 20 -25 hippos basking in the sun, they looked very peaceful-until Joesph mentioned they are probably the most dangerous land mammal in the Mara. As we pulled up to camp we were greeted by Masai Warriors who were dressed in there traditional beaded, bright red attire. They grabbed our bags as we were steered to the right and handed a cool towel to wash our hands and face and a cool glass of pineapple juice, we were then greeted by Jarrod the manger of the camp and he went over the do's and don'ts of the camp. (only rule we really needed was do not leave your tent at night with out a armed Masai Warrior) Trust me I paid extra attention to that one. We then went to our tent, which was amazing, it was beautiful. It had a queen bed and two twin beds, two areas to hang and store clothes, a cute tik-wood bathroom, all of the windows had been rolled up so we could see the trees and flowers (and skinks), and a welcome note from the staff greeting us again. The staff was very friendly and personable-I know I am probably sounding like a commercial for Kicheche Camp-but they were all really nice. After we settled in the lunch drum sounded and we went down to our first meal there-which to US standards all of the food at Kicheche would be considered 5 star!!! WE were then off to our first afternoon game drive, we saw giraffe, wildebeests, zebra, different birds and then we saw two leopards. Both cats were asleep at first, but we waited and waited and waited and they finally woke up and we were able to take some great footage along with Darren's amazing pictures. We then set off to film the sunset and have our sundown snack. I have never seen a sunset that fast-the sun went from seeing a beautiful pink ball in the sky to 3 minutes later completely gone. Then Joseph took us back to camp-we cleaned up and prepared for dinner.

The first nights sleep was a little rough for all of us, you have to realize we were sleeping in tents (made out of thick plastic) in the brush of the Mara Valley-nothing protecting us between the animals and elements. We all agreed we had never been anywhere that dark either. I could not even see my own hand in front of my face. It was a little cold but one of the nice perks the camp provides is they put hot water bottles in your bed for heat-NICE!!!

Our second day was very exciting as well, we saw all of the animals that we saw the first day but we also saw rhinos and lions. LIONS 10 to 15 feet away from our jeep-LIONS!!!! The guys thought it was great I was freaking out on the inside-Joseph assured me we were safe, I'm not sure I believed him. We were able to go out on 6 game drives, each one exciting and different from the last. WE saw sleeping animals, lions eating (bone crushing an antelope) a herd of elephants (with 2 small babies) vultures, baboons (eating a gazelle-which we did not realize baboons were carnivores) ostriches, the only thing we did not see was a cheetah. Joseph said cheetah are very rare and hard to see, because they are so fast and they hide well.

Darren and Jerram got some amazing footage and photographs which I am sure some of which will be posted soon.

Another part of the camp that I really enjoyed was meeting all of the interesting people from all over. We befriended two couples one of which who was from Scotland who was doing work in Kabira(which is the largest slum in Nairobi, Mathare is the second largest) kind of like what we are doing here at MITS, and the second couple was from London and they were on their honeymoon.

We were sad that our mini vacation had to end but we were also eager to get back to the farm to see how things were panning out with the 9 new boys. Mbuvi picked us up with the good news that all 9 arrived at the farm on Wednesday. The girls welcomed us back with hugs and smiles. It was good to be back!

Sam, this is for you!

Sam - for any time that we EVER complain about our gigabit network, our 80Megabit internet connection (about to be doubled), etc, etc, etc...

You can keep this pic - click it for better resolution. Green is download speed, yellow is upload... note the totals for the hour and 45mins we've been on this time. ;)

Today = Brick Wall

Beating. Beating. Beating. Beating. Beating.

Everything I touched today broke. It started this morning at at church trying to record the singing and didn't stop until this evening when I spilled spaghetti down the front of my shirt. I think I might have actually created more problems than solutions. I am really frustrated. I didn't have the tools I needed. I didn't have the access I needed. I certainly didn't have the patience I needed.

I am not asking for sympathy, so please don't feel obligated to post a comment to this post. I am just needing to let off some steam. I was thinking that it might be wrong to smash a computer or yell out loud in frustration on a mission trip, so I will just refer back to Rule #1 which was... BE PATIENT.

As an aside, once I figured out this morning that Audacity wasn't recognizing the USB microphone, I did have the presence of mind to close the laptop lid and immerse myself in the singing. I didn't want to miss hearing the voices singing, hands clapping, and see the faces smiling. That cannot be captured and taken back home. That one hour of singing made the entire day worthwhile.

Frusterated....

Darren and I just completed our first attempt at a lesson with the kids. Let's just say we feel a little beaten down. We had this great idea...lets divide the 50 kids into groups and send half of them out with the digital cameras, and the other half of the kids into the computer lab to type up a story and after 45 minutes we would switch the groups.

Let me give you the scenario....after church it seems like every Team member from MITS had some place they had to be, Jerram is exhausted and resting, and the kids are being released from Bible class at 3. So that left Darren and I with 50 kids. Our first thought-we can teach them the outside games we have been wanting to work on (kickball and teaching the girls basketball), the problem there was the all the balls we brought are locked up. Second thought-we can teach the kids how to play the Wii we brought, it too was locked up, we got it out and started to plug it all up-not enough transformers. Third thought-we will teach them a lesson using the digital cameras and typing their stories, problem ALL of the batteries in the cameras (mind you they are all brand new, I took the batteries out of the plastic myself) started dying. SERIOUSLY!!!! At this point Darren and I were at our wits end.

Ok so back to our actual lesson. We sent the first group out with the cameras and told them to be back in 30 minutes, each person was to take 5 pictures. An hour later I am still waiting on the groups to return. Mean while we had had the kids partner off in the lab because we had what we thought 13 computers they could work on, slowly one-by-one we were down to only 8 computers that worked. WE both took a deep breath at this point. As the groups started returning with the cameras and the typers were wrapping up they exchanged spots and the cycle started over again.

Our lesson did not go as smoothly as we had hoped for-heck the entire afternoon has not gone as smoothly as we had planned-but we made it through, and the kids had a blast and were none the wiser to our frustration.

It is Sunday... Time to Relax a Bit

The cell phone charles gave us worked quite well last night. Despite having no credit or ability to call out, we were able to receive a call with no problem. You only pay on your outgoing calls here in Kenya. Celtel is the originating company that began offering cell service here in Kenya and Safaricom is providing competition now, apparently just recently approved as a public IPO deal. (see this blogger's comments and here is another article about safaricom)

Tomorrow we head off on a dream, once in a lifetime safari with Kicheche. We will be staying at the Mara camp if you wish to get a feel for our locale and it supposedly 'the great migration' time - wildebeast migration! We leave in the morning to take a small airplane to the Masai Mara reserve where we will be transported to our tent facilities and go on our first exploration. We will take our cell phone and hear that we should have service of some type. Blogging will probably be minimal, however, as we won't have the modem with us that we have been using here at the farm. We stay for 3 nights and return to the farm on thursday.

Yesterday was an extreme polarity reverse from visiting Eastleigh and Mathare valley on Friday. After making some excellent progress in getting two distant centers to 'talk' to each other, we went to town with the Coulston's. Darlene kept assuring us that the 'shortcut' we were taking (i don't know how it can be called a road) in their Toyota Land Cruiser (80's model) was ONLY a kilometer and a half and was very well worth it. Needless to say, we soon found ourselves driving on well paved roads, passing extrodinarily extravagant embassy housing and pulling into the 'Java House', a coffee/internet/restaurant. While the internet was actually slower than the farm when we were there, we enjoyed wonderful food, great coffee and some traditional chai tea. Following the Java House, we visited a lavish market center with a WalMart'esque store called Nakumat. We bought groceries, Darlene picked out some paint for the new house and we roused Charles about his recent application for medicare. :)

The gap between where we were in the slums the day before and what we experienced yesterday is too big to describe, but amazingly enough, Eastleigh was simply just down the hill from the main embassy road - literally less than a kilometer away.

Cell Phone Service in Nairobi and Kenya: Traveling and Tourist Advice

Ok, my original plan turns out to be quite good. Charles had a spare phone so we didn't need to buy one, but you can buy a phone for around $30. Pre pay service is the standard, you pay by the second, and you do not pay to receive calls.

This means it is easier for people in the states to get calling cards and call your temporary cell phone number. $100kshil (kenyan shillings -about $1.50 US) got me a little over a minute of talk time from here to the US. I'm out of credit and waiting to see if I can receive a call (which I am told I will be able to)

We'll buy some more credit before going on safari Monday, but are stuck with none for the evening. Our number until we leave Kenya is: 011-254738423834 (the 011 is the country code)

We will have this cell phone on us until then. We did find out that some calling cards do not list Kenya on them so you would want to be sure to get cards in the US that allow calling to Kenya.

Hope this helps out some future travellers!!

One more...

Mathare valley is home to 500,000 people that live in small 6' x 6' to 6' x 12' houses made from wood and sheet metal. Behind the photographer is the same picture - this is just looking across the 'river'.

More more more pics

We're going crazy with our 'fast' interweb today.

Jackton took us to 'the hood' (according to him) to look for bunk beds for the new boys. We drove a BUS, people - a BUS - through this street and stood on top to get this picture and some video.

A large bag of Maize makes for a meal with a row of boys sitting on the ground along a wall.

Jackton works on relationships with boys living on the streets. This was the 2nd base that we stopped at. Soon after this picture was taken things once again got really hectic. The large woman that sells glue came up, Anthony had to get physical with a rowdy line of boys waiting for bread and Jackto had to break up a fight.

Life on a base. The hand you can't see is holding a bottle of glue.

Holding the bottles of glue in their mouths, the street kids inhale it constantly. They have glazed eyes, sway and drool.

More more pics

Darren, James, and Abdhi


Does this need a description?? David's baby brother back at his house when we visited his mother and father to get permission for him to come to the farm. His father was beyond appreciative and grateful.


Tony's 26 year old sister and one of her children. She told us that Tony's mom was very happy that he had found MITS.


A typical walkway in the Mathare slums. Half a million people live here.


Duncan's mother thought he was gone, lost, dead. He had been missing for 7 months - since December. This was the moment that she saw him again for the first time. Neighbors have been accusing her of eating (she was pregnant) while her son was 'lost'. They had been calling her names and treating her badly. She was relieved that he would have such an opportunity at MITS.

More Pics!!

We have a super duper fast 7kbps UPload speed this morning! That doesn't even touch our 20kbps DOWNload speed!!! :) So... here's some more pics:



Em opening the gate to the learning center


The boys LOVE playing with the Bamboo tablet... it's like a mouse but it is a pen used for drawing.


Figuring out the next step.


The next step.

God was at work today.

God is at work in the hearts of nine young boys in the Eastleigh slums of Nairobi. He has softened their hearts and led us to their parents who have agreed to allow us to "adopt" their child and teach them about Jesus. We witnessed God at work today.

God is at work among the MITS team members who visit the toughest bases in Nairobi every week, seeking and loving the lost and feeding the hungry. He gives them the strength, the love and street smarts to win over the boys, despite those who work and scheme against them. We witnessed God at work today.

God is at work among the filthy, smelly, muddy alleys of the slums at Mathare. We saw eyes and smiles light up and come alive from the dirty, snotty faces of children who ran along side of us saying "how are you, how are you" as they reached out to us with open hands. We witnessed God at work today.

God is at work in the heart of a girl named Mary. At 13 years old, she is the mother of two babies, all of whom live at the center in Eastleigh. She is learning to cook and care for her babies, fighting odds that seem almost insurmountable. She smiles, she laughs, she hopes, and she is coming to know Jesus. We witnessed God at work today.

God is at work with the three of us. Despite sitting in an 8x8 tin shack of a house, looking at each other through tears of dismay, we were able to encourage the parents and bring a smile to those around them with a kind smile and warm handshake. He brought us to unimaginable places and put us in front of unimaginable people, and gave us the ability to capture that in a way that will bless people across the globe. We witnessed God at work today.

Just Imagine

Just imagine that you are a little girl and you wake up to your mom leaving for work, you can hear the roosters crowing and the smells of breakfast enter your bedroom. As your mom walks out the front door you watch as she walks up the street around the livestock and on her way. You then leave yourself to go play with your friends and talk to people passing by. You may play with the the pigs, chickens, roosters, ducks, cats or even the dogs that may fill your front yard. You wash your face and hands and begin your day like you would any other mid winter morning.

Now imagine this same little girl is 3 years old, left alone in the muddy, fecal lined pathways of the slums of Eastleigh. She is left to be tended by probably nothing more than a mildly concerned neighbor, she can smell breackfast being cooked but may only get the scraps of what another may not eat. She walks along the paths falling and playing with the animals and the other children wiping her own nose and putting her hands in her mouth as any young toddler would. Wondering aimlessly around her 6x6 tin roof house for something to do she quickly becomes board and goes back out side to the front yard that is more like rolling hills of tin huts that she shares with over half a million others not including the animals she shares her play area with. The water she uses to wash her face and hands with is the water that runs over the paths and streets listed above, it is the same water that is used to cook with, wash clothes with and maintain the sewer system.

I saw this little girl today, not only did I fight back tears along with my gag reflex more times than I can count, but I prayed. I am not going to lie i was scared to death as our group set out to the streets. As my foot left the safe haven of the MITS Eastliegh center I started with Dear Heavenly Father- andI prayed for 8 hours straight. I prayed for our group, our safety, the 9 new boys, the team members that were going a different way than us, the people on the farm, our families, their families but before I brought my prayer to a close I prayed that my 4-year-old daughter Izabella will never have to live like that and thanked God for the blessings he has given me to provide for her.

-Amen

The Real Deal

No BS. No filter. No holding back.

As you walk through the streets of Eastleigh, you can capture the pictures (well over a 1000 from today), you can capture the sounds on video (a mixture of languages, stares, trash, people, food, etc), but you absolutely can not capture the collision of smells. Burning wood charcoal drifts through your nostrils followed by rotting food in the garbage. The sweet aroma of coffee is paired with burning plastic, roasting maize and multiple different body odors. Thick exhaust is a constant layer to it all.

Darren, Emily and I went with Jakton, Anthony, Martin and Willy to capture as many images as we possibly could during the morning. Armed with Darrens amazing still camera and my high definition video camera, we marched out of the Eastleigh center with confidence and anticipation - a list of shots in our minds we wanted to aquire. Things went as planned until we reached the first 'base', apparently one of the tougher ones to go to. A base is simply a place, a location, that kids gather as to as home ground. There is a leader and a hierarchy to follow. Everyone inhales glue. Eyes are glazed. Boys of a variety of ages stumble around as their eyes focus, loose focus and focus again. The smells of bodies that have not showered in weeks if not months fill the air thicker than the exhaust from the streets. The story is too long to post now, but we were greeted by a man causing problems, a man who makes money off of the street kids (whether prostituting them, selling the glue, etc). Surrounded by concrete buildings with my camera secretly rolling, Anthony and Jakton talked with the boys at the base and the man causing problems (dressed well, claiming to be working with the government). Before long, we were surrounded by around 100 inquisitive street boys and girls. Our cameras stood out like sore thumbs (they are being told that we are making hundreds of dollars off of taking their pictures by the agitators) and things were obviously not going well with Jakton and Anthony (both big guys and both very well known on the streets). We were directed out and told to keep walking, being followed by a group of boys that knew Anthony.

We moved on to another base where we gave bread and milk to a rowdy line of boys and more conflict arose between another female glue seller and Jakton. He approached it very well, very calmly and it was easy to see how she was simply trying to protect the continuation of her clientele. 11-3 was a solid adrenaline rush. The glazed eyes of boys hooked on glue, hungry, fighting for scraps, searching through mud for bits of metal is still too much to soak in. We captured both amazing pictures and footage. Arriving back at the Eastleigh center, Jakton announced that even that morning stroll had worn him out. He did have to stop a fight after all...

We had Ethiopian food for lunch... amazing. The little restaurant next to the center was simply perfect. It has been many years since I've had it, but all the flavors came rushing back to my palette.

I'll stop there and let someone else pick up on the rest of the afternoon. We didn't leave Eastleigh until 8pm. I dare you to Google 'nairobi after dark'. :) We have now experienced it. Shopping for bed frames at dusk led to probably some of the most amazing shots from the top of the bus... But you'll have to wait to see those. ;)

Being a small group of 3, the team didn't hold back on where we went or what took place. There was no watering down, no holding back, no slowing down and no lack of excitement. This was street gangs, slums and the life of street kids experienced with a wide angle lens. The Real Deal.

Into Eastleigh

Tomorrow after chapel we are going into the Eastleigh slum for about 5 hours. Anthony and his team have identified nine boys who may be coming to live at the farm. They have spent the last week with them doing intensive interviewing, taking them to a camp outside of Nairobi. They boys have to be willing to give up glue, stealing, and a lot of the freedom they have come to know on the streets. There were twelve that attended the camp, but only nine have decided to come, I think.

Going into Eastleigh is a big deal to everyone here. It is the geographic center of their mission and everyone here has that neighborhood in common. It is a messy, chaotic, overwhelming place, from what we could tell from our short drive through there a few days ago. We will be following some of the boys and documenting the entire process of walking the "bases", doing home visits, getting documents signed, and getting tested for diseases at the dr.'s office. If all goes well, some or all of the boys will return with us tomorrow night and spend their first night in the dorm.

I will be bringing one of my two Canon camera bodies and one "L" lens. Jerram is bringing his Canon HiDef camcorder. We have been told that we are the first US team to be allowed (by the MITS staff members) to bring camera gear into Eastleigh. We will be escorted by team members and have been advised to stay close, pay attention and to do exactly as we are told. I was also told that if we were to be approached by anyone who was prepared to take our gear, that we probably wouldn't be injured if we just let them take what they want. That was certainly reassuring.

As you say your prayers tonight, remember the three of us, the MITS team members, and of course the nine boys who are hopefully sleeping on the streets tonight for the last time in their lives. Its ultimately their decision to come to the farm (and their parents if they are around) and some boys cannot choose to give up everything they have come to know on the streets. We prayed tonight that God would soften their hearts and bring them to us tomorrow as we walk the bases looking for them.

Letters from the Boys

Dear Emily
I like to be with you so much and I like your jokes so much. I want to be your friend forever. I hope God bless you when you go back to the states. I no you are my best friends and I hope when you go back to the states you will tell them of me. God Bless you and your husband and your friends and you family. Good By.

Love for your friend-GEORGE

Memory Verse Heb. 10.21
"WE should think about each other and see how others to show love and good things."


Dear Ameli
How are you, me and you area good friends. I thank you for helping the boys, please when you go I will just pray that you go well. I will pray that you come again and that you come good. I wish when you go that you pray for me and God will bless you.
Charles

This letter was accompanied by the cow bead;-)

Dear Emily
I have sent for you a gift and love and please open this paper right now and you will git some gift for you and because yo will help me and to the boys place and bless you Emily. I would also like you to pray for me to get a good job and god bless you-Fredrick

The gift was a sticker and a stick of gum;-)

I was over come with emotion this evening as I read a few of the comments from our friends and families back in the states. The three of us are so excited when we receive a messages of encouragement from home we share them with each other.

It is such a blessing that we have so many people who love us and support us back at home, and yet these children here have only each other for family. The children look to us for encouragement and yet I feel that it is us that are being encouraged by them.

I THINK I SPEAK FOR ALL OF US WHEN I SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT, LOVE AND PRAYER YOU HAVE SENT OUR WAY-as we end our first week we are well aware of all our blessings, please keep the comments coming:-)

Emily the COW

"Emily?....Like the cow?"
This was the first question I was asked by the children when I arrived at the farm. Not sure if emily was Swahili for cow...or if they were just making fun of me. They were correct though the cow on the farm's name is Emily. So for the past 5 days when the kids forget my name I remind them y asking them what the cow's name is.

Last night when Darren, Jerram and I arrived back to the boys dorms, Charles ran up to me with an envelope, I quickly opened it and to my surprise out dropped a cow charm/bead. I am not sure were they found the bead but the boys were very proud of it and that little bead means so much to me now. These boys have little to nothing and yet they are staying up late writing us letters and scrounging for little tokens to give us.

I will write more later, because we are without power and the battery is about to die.

I will share a few of their lettrs when I am able to get back on.

Until then-em

Chapel Singing

Thanks to Angela and Sarah back in Texas for helping us post an audio file to share with you. This is just a short clip of the singing in chapel on Monday. We've been trying to get it uploaded from here for three days, and it wouldn't go through. I emailed it to them, and bam, here it is on the interweb. These kids really know how to sing...listen and be blessed.

CLICK HERE to hear the short sound clip (you need to click the link and cross your fingers for good luck at the same time.)

We have been recording singing every morning, so we will have a lot more to share when we get back. Thanks Angela and Sarah. We'll bring you back something really good.

Words of Encouragement.

I have had the privilege of delivering many letters from sponsor families in Irving and delivering them to the students over the last few days. Because of that, I have become the unofficial post master, receiving several letters to bring back with me. A few of the boys have picked up on this, and come up with a clever scheme. Paul, has written me several letters of encouragement and just today brought two more letters...one for my daughters Laura and Kate, and one for my wife Buffy. Paul has never met them, but I did show him photos of them on my iPhone. He delivered those letters and asked me tonight if I could email them. (We've been talking a lot about the internet and such, so he has just put two and two together.) Anyway, I thought that these were too good not to be shared. Keep in mind that Paul was living on the streets, stealing for food, sniffing glue to forget his hunger pains and sleeping on the dirt just 12 months ago. Read and be blessed.

Dear Buffy,
How are you doing? I hope you are doing fine. My name is Paul. Darren is my best friend. I told him my story. I love you in Christ and I pray for you every night even though you are not my sponsor. God loves you very much. God made you to be His. You are God's idea. Heaven and Earth will pass away but the name of Christ will never pass away. Love Paul.

Dear Laura and Kate,
How are you doing? I am fine here at MITS. Darren has shown me your picture. I have told him my life history. I hope he will tell you my story too. God loves you very much. When I went to bed, I prayed for you and your mother. God made you special in his eyes. He made you, so you are God's idea. Your friend, King Paul.

Thank you Paul for reminding us how we should be talking to one another.

Teaching @ MITS

Yesterday was very interesting not only for me but for the kids as well...I was able to teach one of the English classes. After the kids finished their Bell Work we split off into groups all of the kids range in cognitive levels. I was working with one of the lowest groups. As I looked around the room to figure out my approach I thought it would be a great idea to work sitting on the floor so we could spread out our flashcards and the students notebooks. When I sat down on the floor and invited the boys to join me, I could see it in their faces they were not sure if this was OK. I assured them that they would be able to learn just as well sitting on the floor as they could sitting at the table. Fredrick in his broken English says, "On the floor? Me work on the floor?" I responded, " Don't you think your brain works just as well on the floor as it does at the tables?" The fact that I joined them on the floor I think was a new concept as well-both boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and sat down. WE went through a stack of English flashcards, I asked the boys to use a few of the words in complete sentences and then they wrote 6 sentences using the words we reviewed.



The next class I was a part of was the Video Viewing class, we watched a movie called-Mighty Pawns. It is a movie filmed probably back in teh early 80's, a documentary that follows a inter-city chess team that ends up qualifing for the Nationals. Freddie (main character) is faced with temptation in the movie and has to choose to do right or wrong. After we watched the movie I lead a talk about how even in times of temptation that we as Christians must remain strong and reject the Devil's ways. ( The kids made the parallel of the temptation and of the streets to the antaganist in the movie-Miles) We had a lot of fun with our discussion. They asked if I would be back tomorrow (today) to watch another movie...we shall see.



Today (Wednesday) I will hopefully be working with the girls during excersise time. I plan to teach the girls how to play basketball and Jerram and I want to teach all of the kids how to play kickball.



We are working away in the computer lab today, the boys hit a few glitches yesterday but they eventually made progress. Some of the boys have really shown an intrest in what we are doing with the computers, which brings smiles to all of our faces.

Usiku Mwema.

Its just nine o'clock and we are exhausted. After dinner, we played games and visited with the boys again, and could hardly keep our eyes open. We worked very hard today and got a lot done. Moses and Jerram worked some serious magic in the computer lab. We are about half way done with the Windows XP installation and server upgrades. Emily taught some classes today and the kids had a great time. She will be teaching again tomorrow. I worked with Victor, one of the teachers who teaches in the computer shop (classroom) and observed his classs today. There is a really big gap in what we do back in Irving with what is done here. It is really astonishing. Tomorrow I will be installing Audacity, ArtRage and PhotoStory on his computers (which are already runnning XP :-)) and showing him and his students how to use them. We brought 5 digital cameras, 8 mp3 players, 3 usb drawing tablets, and a host of headsets, microphones and cables that hopefully can useful to them.

I forgot to mention that we started out the day by recording the chapel singing. Chapel is each morning at 8 and consists of about 30 minutes of singing, a student-led prayer and devotional talk, and announcements from Mbuvi. They have a home-made songbook that we are going to sing through the next two weeks (a few songs each morning) to compile an audio cd for them to take to other local churches to use. The singing is fantastic. The songs are generally call-and-response type songs usually led by one of the girls. We have tried all day to get an mp3 uploaded so you can listen, but the internet connection won't let us do it. Sorry, you'll just have to use your imagination and be patient.

Succss! (we think)

After a morning filled with technological defeats, we think we have replaced a Linux box with a working and activated copy of Windows XP. Moses is SO happy! We haven't cleared all of the hurdles, but this is a big one. It didn't look good earlier...

Amazingly, the Eee PC that my boss, Sam, let me take along has somehow not been thrown against the wall yet. I've reinstalled the system, ran out of room, had every device port filled and dealt with devices working sometimes and other times not. That all being SAID, though, I am writing this post on it while connected to a '236.8Kbps' Edge network connection (one of several USB modems that they have out here). Trust me - it isn't 236.8kilobits per ANYthing, but it's something.

I'm still trying to get some audio uploaded from chapel this morning, and will keep trying. The modem doesn't really like the 800kb file.

We also reinstalled the administrators laptop (Mbuvi) because he had a nasty virus on it called the 'odinga' virus. We made a fake copy of a document and brought him in to look at his 'fresh' laptop thinking that it had gotten the virus again. When he opened the document to see, he was greeted with a nice 'GOT YOU MBUVI!' Hahaha... good times...

more pics

Other than the highway, these are the roads that run through the countryside by the farm.



This is the learning center - classes are held here, church on Sundays and lunch in about an hour.


Moses, the computer manager and site technician is our team leader for what we are helping with regarding computer facilities.


This lab is causing frustration. These machines are all running the Linux operating system and we are trying to upgrade them to licensed versions of Windows XP that we brought with us. They are NOT cooperating to say the least.


A few girls are responsible for preparing lunch every day - just one more example that shows how MITS is built around sustainability.

Emily Teaching

Photos are VERY slow to upload here at the farm...

Tex-Mex

We went into town yesterday to pick up our luggage. Mbuvi drove us in and we made some stops before we went to the airport. We got some petrol, fixed a flat tire and stopped by the Center Eastleigh to pick up a letter to be delivered. The photos and video that we will bring back will be completely inadequate to describe what the slums at Eastleigh are like. The "roads" are nothing more than driving "suggestions" determined by the rows of street vendors lining each side of the street. It was overcast and lightly raining, and the volume of people walking in the rain and mud was just astounds. The crazy thing is, that they seemed as if they were just going abou their daily business. Some even talking on a cell phone and some even smiling back at me as we drove by. The entire scene was just unbeleivable. We are going back on Friday.

On the was back, we stopped at the Nakumat for some groceries and to eat some lunch. The Nakumat is a large Kenyan version of Wal-Mart. We bought some things to eat for breakfast back at the farm and then stopped at a restaraunt nearby. The first thing I saw as we entered the restaraunt was a sign prominently announcing "Tex-Mex" offerings on the menu. Now anyone that knows me well, will know that that sign definately got my attention. Jerram and Mbuvi both ordered hamburgers, but I could not resist ordering their "spicy beef enchilada plate served with rice and beans." Mbuvi advised against that, but I'd figured I have a good story either way. That being said, those Kenyans really know their Tex-Mex. It had a different taste than we're used to in Irving, but overall, I give it two thumbs up.

On the way back to the farm, I was hit by the fact that I really take most meals for granted. I even joked at the table saying that I had already eaten breakfast and if my lunch wasn't that good, I could always have a big dinner. I was really saddened by that as we drove home past thousands and thousands of people on the brink of existance. I will try to remember that there's always something worse than Kenyan Tex-Mex.

Settling In

Picture this:

Dirt paths (really roads) with two hardened tracks from vans and mule carts, not straight but with an obvious destination, intersecting at what appears to be random places at first. Along the roads are some large houses with tile roofs, some tin shacks where families live, a few shops (with self made speed bumps to slow down traffic ... for increased business?) and a variety of goats, a few donkies and cows. Roosters crow and the sound of six pair of boys shoes, tattered mostly, creates a percussive beat in the cool, misty morning. An older boy, Joseph, leads the pace with an obvious sense that if alone, he would be running twice as fast. Following the pack, keeping 'pace', is me - a tall white guy with longer strides that do not match the boys rhythm and are echoed with the sounds of burning lungs. They know it means a slower run, but they love waking me up to come along.

Aside from establishing a morning running routine, we are settling in now that we have our bags and have really started to get to know both the children at the farm and the team members that we are working with. Staying at the boys facility, we see them more often and they eagerly wait for us to return from our tasks at several points in the day. Names are becoming easier to match to the many faces and it is easy to see that these boys who were forced to act like 'men' at such a young age, crave interaction with adults, crave the feeling of being able to be a child amongst elders.

After my run (and without a shower), we ate a quick breakfast and attended chapel with the whole crew of students and team members. Charles gave the team members a very 'on target' talk before class about rules and procedures and encouraged each teacher to be cautious of letting rules 'rule' our environments. Like the pharasies, this becomes dangerous. 'Relationships come first,' he spoke. The Coulston's have done an amazing job at making this facility a well run place. They give appropriate guidance when needed, but leave the program to be run by Mbuvi, a former street kid turned program administrator. Made in the Streets is run not only by Kenyans, but by people who grew up in the street environment and have taken the opportunity to change their lives. They know what they are up against in so many ways. In addition to having the right people in place, the program has an amazing sense of sustainability from the food grown on the farm, to the students cooking their own meals every night, many ways of empowering the kids to take responsibility and support the whole group and the list goes on. Whether this was pre-planned and well thought out or whether it just had to be this way in order to make it work, Made in the Streets empowers kids who have nothing. In addition, the Coulston's both work in the relevance of Christianity in ways that reflect the nature of Christ.

After this afternoon, we have some what of a gameplan which is helping me feel a bit more settled in as well. Tomorrow morning, Darren will observer some classes to assess what areas we can best help the team members, Emily has plans with Darlene (as well as plans to put her experience with teaching tough kids to work in working with the teachers here) and I will be helping Charles weld a pole to extend an antennea in the hopes of establishing communication between a few of the facilities. None of know exactly what we'll be doing, but we know when to show up.

One other intersting note was talking with two older boys, both nineteen, who are not technically in the MITS program but are staying on one of the piecs of property (the 20 acres) for different purposes. Evance ran across MITS serindipitously and Mbuvi saw a sharp kid that could help with the farm and help with the boys. Kennedy was forced out of his home about 1 1/2 hours north of Nairobi during the violence this past December/January after the elections and was able to clarify what has been happening in Kenya between tribes and how many people are being displaced as they are threatened with their lives to leave. Simply because he is of a different tribe, he was chased from his home, spent 3 nights in the forest and was able to get a hold of Mbuvi. If not for Mbuvi's open doors, he very well could be in a displacement camp, truly a humanitarian disaster with people living in tents with very little to eat and nothing to resolve their violent removal from their homes. We get snippets in the U.S. - in fact, we saw CNN at the airport today when getting our bags, reporting on none other than the UFO 'mystery' in Texas?!?! Reporters live at the scene, money spent on 'experts'?! When you see that after driving past a displacement camp filled with thousands of hungry and beat down people, after watching a man high on who-knows-what spinning through a sea of cars in the slums, after seeing men pulling carts stacked with more than a thousand pounds of weight, after hearing the story of a girl who is at MOST 13 years old (probably younger as her feet swing from the chair when sitting) who just had her second baby one week ago while living on the streets... you start to wonder why we think so much of ourselves back home.

Day 2: Sunday Blessings

We woke up to cool temperatures this morning...maybe around 50 degrees. Sunday class started at 9:00 and services at 10:00. Worship service was simply amazing. We sang songs in English and Swahili that were accompanied by a lot of clapping and genuine smiles all around. This was truly a time of worship...the Kenyans really get it. Their thankfulness and happiness really shines through in everything they do.

After lunch, which I'm pretty sure was goat chili, we spent the entire afternoon getting to know the kids. In travelling back and forth from the learning center to the boys dorms, I was able to see and visit with many of the locals who were walking down the road. Its really odd seeing so many people walking. You know, when we drive around at home from place to place we stay so isolated. When walking, it is impossible to miss or ignore someone you are passing at arm's length. I have learned to say "habari" which is the equivalent of "what's up." Its so funny to see the looks on their faces when they see us coming down the road. Without fail, we have been met with big smiles and an assortment of friendly hellos.

This evening was really something special. We ate dinner with the boys and brought our ipods and iphones to share with them. Its was amazing to watch them after we turned them loose, they learned so quickly. Between the three of us, we had something like 2 iphones, 4 ipods, 8 pairs of headphones and two splitters, so they tried every combination of sharing setup imaginable.

I was sitting with a group of the younger boys and asked one of them to tell me "his story." That's all it took. In the next hour, I heard the life stories of about four or five boys, and how they came to MITS. They were all sadly similar, commonly including a death of one parent, being beaten or abandoned by another, running away, living on the street, stealing, lying, being beaten, sniffing glue and finally being rescued. I am convinced that they would not be alive today if they hadn't of come to live here.

They openly and enthusiatically credit God for rescuing them from their lives on the streets. They humbly recognize that they have changed their lives and live for God every day. They talk with such a clean heart and clarity of thought for anyone there age. We talked about how God forgave their sins from the street, how he provides daily for their lives, and shared how they pray for their futures. As I was leaving for the night, one of the boys took me aside and told me that I was the first American that he had told "his story" to. He went on to tell me that if God were to bless him with a job, a wife, and a child, we would surley tell them about me and my kindness. He said a brief prayer of thanksgiving and gave me a hug and a stong handshake. That was my Sunday Blessing.

Good night.

Monday Day 3...

Last night the guys and I went and spent sometime with the boys in there kitchen/game/t.v. room-we played games with them, watched and listened to to some of them signing, then we brought out our iPods. The boys loved them.

This morning I woke up and realized I was locked in my room-Jerram had left out to run with a group of the boys and locked the door behind him-from the OUTSIDE. When the running group returned from there run and were stretching on the basketball court, one of the boys noticed I was waving from the window, and he came to my rescue...thank you Alex.

After breakfast I along with 6 other women climbed into one of the vans with Joel, and he took us over to Eastleigh to the the Women's Shelter. On the trip in Joel drove us through town, there were thousands of people walking everywhere ( I think I mentioned the droves of people in a prior post), he explained that since the election and all of the "displaced people" just roam the streets. I can't really explain the sights I witnessed I am trying to catch as much as I can with pictures, but Joel says that some of the people are not as receptive to getting their pictures taken, and the people may try to steel my camera if they see it. When we got to the shelter we were greeted by 6 or 7 little children, they came out of the building running and giggling. Maureen was leading a women's Bible study for a group of women who are "Street Moms", this is a group of women who live on the streets and every Monday they come to the shelter for the class and a hot meal. Paula and I had the opportunity to play with the babies so the moms could participate in class, they ranged in ages from 3 months to 1 year. We played with 6 babies on a 2'x4' foam pad. They were so sweet and just cuddled up close to us. The entire class was in Swahili, so I was not sure what was being said, but I would watch the women's faces and I could see the eagerness to hear the word. After the class came to a close we served the moms lunch, and then we got to serve the kids, all of them were very thankful.

We stayed til about 2 and then climbed back into the van and headed back to the farm. On the ride back Joel pointed out some of the "Bases" which are places where boys gather, do drugs, sleep eat, and live. Bases are along the same lines and US gangs. One fights his way to the top, the lower members are sent out to find food and things to sale to buy glue and other drugs. The biggest drug here is the sniffing glue-some of the boys have described the glue as making them not able to feel. When you are living on the streets they say they don't want to feel anything. It was truly an eye-opening experience. Joel also pointed out many of the factories, butcher shops, dairy farms, and a military base-I assured him that I would not be traveling into town with out him.

Good news for the Irving 3-today we got our bags finally.

We are now starting to work in the computer labs...

Until tomorrow-em

Day Two: Sunday Blessing

We woke up to cool temperatures this morning...maybe around 50 degrees. Sunday class started at 9:00 and services at 10:00. Worship service was simply amazing. We sang songs in English and Swahili that were accompanied by a lot of clapping and genuine smiles all around. This was truly a time of worship...the Kenyans really get it. Their thankfulness and happiness really shines through in everything they do. After lunch, which I'm pretty sure was goat chili, we spent the entire afternoon getting to know the kids. In travelling back and forth from the learning center to the boys dorms, I was able to see and visit with many of the locals who were walking down the road. Its really odd seeing so many people walking. You know, when we drive around at home from place to place we stay so isolated. When walking, it is impossible to miss or ignore someone you are passing at arm's length. I have learned to say "habari" which is the equivalent of "what's up." Its so funny to see the looks on their faces when they see us coming down the road. Without fail, we have been met with big smiles and an assortment of friendly hellos.
This evening was really something special. We ate dinner with the boys and brought our ipods and iphones to share with them. Its was amazing to watch them after we turned them loose, they learned so quickly. Between the three of us, we had something like 2 iphones, 4 ipods, 8 pairs of headphones and two splitters, so they tried every combination of sharing setup imaginable. I was sitting with a group of the younger boys and asked one of them to tell me "his story." That's all it took. In the next hour, I heard the life stories of about four or five boys, and how they came to MITS. They were all sadly similar, commonly including a death of one parent, being beaten or abandoned by another, running away, living on the street, stealing, lying, being beaten, sniffing glue and finally being rescued. I am convinced that they would not be alive today if they hadn't of come to live here. They openly and enthusiatically credit God for rescuing them from their lives on the streets. They humbly recognize that they have changed their lives and live for God every day. They talk with such a clean heart and clarity of thought for anyone there age. We talked about how God forgave their sins from the street, how he provides daily for their lives, and shared how they pray for their futures. As I was leaving for the night, one of the boys took me aside and told me that I was the first American that he had told "his story" to. He went on to tell me that if God were to bless him with a job, a wife, and a child, we would surley tell them about me and my kindness. He said a brief prayer of thanksgiving and gave me a hug and a stong handshake. That was my Sunday Blessing.

Good night.

Day 1- His Smile

Well, we finally arrived in Kenya yesterday around 6:45 in the morning local time and we were met by a cool Kenyan morning - about 55 degrees and I am glad I had a sweater. I was a tad tired seeing as though I did not sleep on the 8 hour flight from London - I couldn't as I was to excited! We stood in line at the customs counter for what seemed like an eternity and there were probably over 100 people standing in line to get the stamp that would allow them to take the escalator down to the exit door to what whatever awaited them on the other side. For some it was a safari, for some it was a different sort of vacation, for some missionary work, and for some it was home. Shifting back and forth in the line, I will admit I was not listening to my inner voice that was telling me to be patient (which was rule #1 yesterday). As we got closer to the counter I could see why it was taking so long - the agent was having to enter each person's information manually. Did I mention there was only 2 lines for people who were not Eastern African residents. Any how, we made it through. Down the escalator, Jerram and I went to find our bags. Now mind you we had been on the ground for an hour and a half, plenty of time for the luggage to have made it to the carousel. Well ours did not make it. Usually that situation would stress me out, but not this time. So as jerram was asking one of the baggage people if that was all, I walked out to see if I could find the representative from MITS who was meeting us. Unaware of where I was walking I walked straight past the second customs counter ( the one where they have to check your stuff to see what you are bringing into their country) and up to a huge glass window that spread the entire front of the baggage area. There were so many people standing there some had signs with names on them, some where taxi drivers, and some i suppose were family members. As I scanned the crowd I became well aware that I had no clue who I was looking for I prayed that someone one would have a sign with our names on it. Darren had said earlier that he thought Anthony or Mbuvi would be picking us up. I had met both guys when they were in the states a few months ago, but at that instant all I could remember was both of them men had amazing smiles. As I panned the crowed of faces I didn't see anyone I recognized, then in the back I saw an arm come up and I could tell the person was trying to find an open hole to show their face and there it was-Mbuvi's smile. With a exhale in relief I smiled and waved back, and then returned to the men who were filling out paper work to claim our bags when they (if they) ever make it. So we met up with Mbuvi and walked to his van. Walking out into the Nairobi air was like walking into a car's exhaust pipe, it was very smoggy and polluted. We hopped in the van, careful not to hit our heads, and we were off. We were warned about the ride from the airport out to the farm, but there was no way one can truly prepare for the intake of everything we saw in that short 45 minute ride: the military caring AK47, road spikes 5 inches high, cars passing at 30km/h one inch from our van, people walking in every way, people collecting water from the creeks on the sides of the road, (one of which a man was peeing in) huge pot holes, there were also beautiful mountains in front of us and once we hit the main highway( which was a two lane paved street) we saw banana trees, the air started to clear up and finally the FARM.

WE MADE IT!!!!

And since I an typing this by candle light and it is 2:00 a.m. local time I am going to try to fall back asleep.

I will write more when I am able to use the larger keyboard and i have better light.

We are here!

Just a quick note for now - we'll try to get some pictures up tonight...

We made it - withOUT our luggage - but I fortunately have enough clothes for Darren, Emily AND myself for now. ;)

I ran 5 kilometers with a group of 12 boys today (AT 1700meters!!!... huff, huff, huff), played soccer, recorded 30 minutes of High Def audio at a morning church service, started building relationships with the kids, etc, etc. Every hour feels like a days worth of experience that is crammed into my mind. What a WONDERFUL place to be.

We have a laptop in our room with a cellular internet connection now, so we'll hopefully be able to get going with our postings. It is still very slow... (Sam, the Eee PC won't accept ANY peripherial connections except for the webcam... no go so far and I'm going to have to try to reinstall XP as it looks like an install issue - the modem is USB and won't install!!)

We're going back down to the boys living area right now to continue some fellowship. We have 4 iPods going and two splitters and they are having a hay day listening to music and watching videos. Just like kids in Irving, they pic up on the technology really, really fast.

More later...

What I have learned while traveling so far...

What I have learned from this trip so far is....
1. BE PATIENT
2. That being crammed next to the window at 3:00 a.m can be the most beautiful place on the planet (I saw the sun come up over the Atlantic at 35000 feet-I wanted to take pictures of the colors, but i couldn't get Jerram to move)
3. That the term "pound" in London is a good thing
4. I have learned that someone very small designed the interior of even that largest airplanes. ( Being 6'3'' the fit is quite tight)
5. And I have learned that even though Stewards and Stewardess are supposed to be the billboard for Customer Service-that does not always mean that they are NICE...God Bless them all, I would not want their job!

We are heading to gate 14 now to get on our plane to Nairobi, 8 more hours and we are there. Hopefully we are going to get some much needed rest on this leg, because when we land it will be 6:00 a.m the begining of a work day at MITS...Can't wait!

Some Pics from the Airport

My Sleeping Plan...

So, I think the three of us have all gone about our sleeping pattern approach differently on this trip. ;) Last time I went to Europe I never really let myself fully adjust to the time and was kicking myself the whole time for that. So, with 6 total hours of sleep in the past 48+ hours, I think I'll be tired enough to sleep a good 6 hours on the last leg to Nairobi. Getting there at 6am means we need to be awake for a full day and be ready to go as soon as our feet touch ground. Hopefully I'm on target for that... took a 2 hour nap and a 1 hour nap on the flight to London, enough to keep me foggy and groggy.

I was able to use some leftover pounds to buy us some food and drinks at the airport. A Starbuck's 'Grande' coffee costs $1.75 pounds which is about $3.50 US. I'm down to change, so at least its all used up!

Half Way There...

We are spending a few hours at London Heathrow Airport waiting for our last leg to Nairobi. We got off to a very slow start at DFW. Our 5:15 flight to Atlanta didn't leave until 7:50ish. It had something to do with pilots not wanting to fly in severe weather...blah, blah, blah. That put us VERY late getting into Alanta, so we gracefully ran from one end of the airport to the other, arriving at our gate at exactly the same time that the clerk was trying to give our seats away to those on standby. Luckily, we convinced her that we needed to be on the plane. Eight hours later, we find ourselves here in London. Emily was fortunate enough to watch the sunrise above the clouds over the Atlantic ocean this morning. She said it was amazing. Next stop...Nairobi. We hope our luggage makes it!

This little light of mine....

It is now almost 8:30 a.m. and I am completely packed. Well almost my daughter is drawing a few pitcures to take with me. I have e few last minute things I have to take care of before leaving for 21 days, sitting here in my living room 21 days sounds like an eternity, but I know once I am in Africa it is going to seem like 21 minutes.

Last night the 3 of us went to South MacAuthur Church of Christ, to meet a group of Elders from the church. This was my second encounter with the wonderful people from South Mac, as Jerram was thanking the group for opening it's doors and arms to 2 complete strangers ( he and I) and sending us across the globe to carrry out this mission it hit me yet again... God is good. After the Bar-B-Q at Tim's house a few months back and meeting the Coulston's and some of the people who have gone over to MITS in the past I was excited and ready to go. Now that the day has come and again being around some of the people who have gone over last night-I can't wait!!! It is amazing to watch the peoples' faces light up when they talk about everything over at MITS, I hope I return with such the glow...As the old song goes, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let in shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine..."

As a Christian I know I am supposed to shine to all, but as a human it is sometimes hard and my light goes dim from time to time...one of my goals for the next 21 days is to really focus on my inner light(spirituality) and come back with and stronger glow.