Because of Jesus

We continue to see the lives of street children transformed, and it’s all because of Jesus.  He has taught us how to treat one another, and His ways are different from the ways of the world.  When we forgive a street boy for stealing and teach him what the Lord says about it, and teach him about forgiveness – he is affected by the love of Jesus.  When a street boy is welcomed in as family, rather than ostracized (as by the general public), He experiences the love of Jesus.  There are many ways to reveal the heart of Jesus to the outcasts, the least of these, and everyone else, and it is what the world is still in desperate need of.  One thing is for sure, no one remains the same once they’ve encountered Him.

God loves to provide education for His children

We currently have 16 boys in school.  Two of them will graduate high school this year, many of them continue to be prefects, or leaders, in there school in various departments – such as dining hall, dormitory and sports.  One boy is #1 in his class and another is #4.  And even better, they love the Lord and to preach and evangelize.  We’re so proud of all of them and are excited to be a part of their lives and see what the Lord does in them.  They’re still maturing and learning to leave a street survival mentality behind, and trust the Lord instead of those ways.  They can always use lots of prayers to help them with this process.

Young Men on the Path to a Better Life

Washington just completed the 1 year long Teen Challenge drug rehab program.  He was addicted to glue and using marijuana and cigarettes, and was becoming very sick.  He did a great job in the program and is now healthy, free and really loves to worship God and to preach.  Today we took him back to primary school to continue his education.  He’s been away from school for 4 years and can use prayers to adjust to that environment and complete his schooling.  

A boy named Alemba also went to school today for the first time in 2 years.  He was having a hard life on the street and we’ve been encouraging him to go to school so we’re so happy he did.  He can use prayers too for his transition. 
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This boy, Hans, hadn’t seen his family in Western Kenya for 4 years, so we assisted him in returning to there for a visit.  He enjoyed a great reunion with them.  A Kenyan sponsors him to attend high school but he doesn’t have family in town, so he spends time at our Center on the school breaks. 

Our friend, Laurie, shows the love of Jesus to our boys by spending time with them tutoring them in their courses, doing crafts projects with them and conducting the Mission for Character class for them.  They are transformed by her input in their lives, and have really improved in subjects like chemistry, biology and math. 

Visitors from Bethel Church in Atlanta, GA and Champion Forest Church in Houston, TX also showed the love of Jesus by coming to visit us again and bless us with their presence, prayers and donations – such as a water purifier and dog food!  We love visiting with them every year and are so grateful that they come so far to shower the love of God on us!  

New Wheels

Another huge blessing our Father above has blessed us with is another new vehicle!  Which we were able to purchase with the funds donated to us by very generous people at my church, Twin Rivers, in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Life Groups there.  With that we were able to purchase a Land Rover Defender.  Since we love to see people and things rehabilitated we got a great deal on one that needed some body work and our friends did a great job on it.  Now we have 2 vehicles to use to transport the kids and for outreach.  The photos here show a day when we used both new vehicles to take a team on outreach to a place called Soweto on the other side of Nairobi.  That day we ministered in a church, then did open air outreach with drama, singing, preaching and one on one evangelism and many people got saved.  God knew that we needed 2 vehicles for the work He has prepared for us to do.  We’re so grateful, and amazed, at the things the Lord is doing in our lives.  Thank you Jesus!

New Tunes

Also, through Life Groups at Twin Rivers Church, we were blessed with a keyboard and mixer!  That’s a huge blessing for us.  Our boys have been taking keyboard lessons for a while from Pastor Mike and now they can put it to use on our own keyboard.  In Kenya it’s very important to have a keyboard for church!  Now our church is very official since we have one, and the kids stay after church for a while practicing on it.  We’ll also use if for outreaches.  Thank you Jesus and Twin Rivers! 

Unfolding Treasures

The name of the church at our Center is Unfolding Treasures Watoto (children) Assembly (or UTWA), because we know that the Creator has instilled many treasures in the kids we’re helping, even if others think otherwise.  One treasure we’ve seen emerge recently from one of the boys is Peter’s talent for painting and drawing.  Peter was a street boy in town.  He left the street last year and now spends a lot of time at our Center.  I first learned of his talent when I asked him if he’d like to help paint one of the rooms in the Center.  He mixed paints to make a beautiful “sunset” color, then proceeded to paint acacia trees and giraffes, and it’s so good.  So I then asked him to paint a mural on a wall in our main room and it came out amazing.  Since then he’s done painting work for another organization in Kenya and drawings for visitors.  Since he didn’t finish school he’s hoping to make a living by using this talent. 

Please feel free to contact us at treeoflifemilele@gmail.com, or visit our website at http://www.treeoflifenations.com/ if you have any questions, prayer requests or just want to get in touch.  We love you!  Be blessed! 
With lots of love from Above,
Tammy Donahue