Here in Kenya we’ve been ministering to a group of street boys for several weeks now.  They are precious.  Really in need of help.  I’ve not yet seen anyone reaching out to help them.  Several of them had developed a habit of huffing glue, but I believe that the Lord is setting them free of that now.

On of the boys, Tobias, is 13 years old and says that he’s been living on the streets now for at least 2 years.  He looks younger than 13.  He says he left his home in the Kibera slum because of an alcoholic parent and being beaten.

His teeth are obviously in need of dental work.  At a nearby clinic a doctor said that he can assist with the cost and place caps on the top front 6 teeth, from canine to canine, for around $100 per tooth.  If anyone would like to help with that please feel free to do so.

Thank you so much for caring about the poor and helping them with us and the Lord.  Be eternally blessed.

Tammy

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”  Luke 4:18

Here in Nairobi, Kenya we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to feed hungry street kids and adults and even help many of them come off of the streets and make progress in school and church and in their families and communities.

Now that we have many in settled and pushing along in school we’d like to get out and help more of the ones who are still on the street and in need of a helping hand with food, medical care, haircuts, shoes and counseling.  If you would like to help us help these people feel free to use the donate button on the site to contribute to this project.

Thank you very much.  May you have a very blessed year this 2016.

Simiyu is a boy who we rescued off of the streets last year.  His mom died some years ago, leaving him with his dad.  Then dad was sent to jail for crimes he was involved in.  That’s how he ended up living on the streets.  We saved him from the streets but since then Jesus has saved him from an eternity without being in the presence of a beautiful, loving, awesome God.  We are so happy for him.

We thought that Simiyu’s dad was going to get released soon from jail, but instead we haven’t heard from him for a while now.  Simiyu loves the street kids that he used to live with.  So much so that one time he stole a small cooking stove from the school that was used as a bunsen burner there.  He took it to the kids on the street so they could use it to cook.  Needless to say the school wasn’t happy about that.  Simiyu tried to retrieve it from his friends but to no avail.  He said he told God he was sorry and that God forgave him.  And indeed He did.  I told him how wonderful it is that he cares about the boys on the streets so much, but he can’t be a Robin Hood, then I had to explain to him who Robin Hood was.

Simiyu is a precious soul who is always smiling and is so happy t be in a good place and going to school.  We love him and are very grateful for the help of people to help us care for him.  The following video is kind o a rough one of him saying thank you too.  His ability to speak English is steadily growing.  God bless you.

A thank you from Simiyu ~

As I walked to the grocery store one day in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, I ran across some of the street boys who I had been ministering to for about a year by then. In the course of our conversation my little friend, Victor, asked if I would buy him some yogurt, a coveted treat for the street kids, besides bread and milk.

After completing my shopping and returning to Victor with his yogurt, I was surprised to find he was no longer there. An unusual occurrence when yogurt is on the way. Instead there was a boy who looked to be about 10 yrs. old whom I’d not seen on the streets before. He informed me that Victor had returned to the town of Kawangware, where the street boys’ “base” is, the place where they sleep in little sheet metal houses. It’s about a mile walk to there. Victor’s departure made this new boy the lucky recipient of his yogurt.

The boy told me his name was Melckzedeck, like Melchizedeck in the Bible. I thought that was neat because I had been listening to scriptures that day which talked about Melckizedeck, and “how great he was.” When I asked him if he wanted to come off of the streets and go to school he said that he did. I told him to be at that same spot at 6pm that evening as I would be coming back that way. Sure enough, he was there at 6pm. Over the next 2 weeks I looked hard for a long-term place for him to stay, researched his background, and every day or 2 bought him enough food to keep him from having to beg. He had found a safe place to sleep where he looked after a guy’s place while the guy worked overnight. Melckzedeck was always faithful to meet on time and obey instructions given that would help keep him safe while I looked for him a good place to stay. He even went to a certain church on Sundays by himself, where some people treated him really well and some didn’t unfortunately.

Melckzedeck’s nickname is Bush. For a while in Kenya I had a cat named Bush. One night I had a dream that I was holding my cat, Bush, and brushing bread crumbs off of her unusually full belly while her tail wagged showing she was very happy. But she at the same time she had tears streaming down her cheeks as well. I figured that the Lord was talking to me about Melckzedek, and the next day as I was about to get off of the bus to meet him I told the Lord that I understand the bread crumbs, full belly and being happy, but asked what the tears meant. I spotted Melckzedeck right when I got off the bus and could tell that he was upset. Up close I could see that he had white tracks down his cheeks, evidence of some tears. When I asked him what was wrong he said that an askari, or security guard, had beaten him quite thoroughly. He had the wounds to prove it. He hadn’t done anything wrong, just was standing too close to the mall and the askari took that as opportunity to unleash some fury onto him, as commonly happens to the unprotected kids who live on the streets. They’re looked down on a lot and some people don’t want them too close to a nice place like the mall.

I eventually learned that he did have a mom, who lived in the Kibera slum and a grandma as well. There had been some family problems that caused him to run away. We provided counseling for his mom and she improved greatly and was able to start working again. She now works in Saudi Arabia and he stays with his grandma and little brother. Sponsorship has enabled him to go to school and helps to feed him and his family. Last year he received Jesus as his Savior and is active in the youth group at our church. He’s also the prefect (leader) of his class now.

Thank you so much for helping us do the important work of rescuing kids from the streets and transforming lives in Africa. You’re awesome. God is most awesome! If you’re interested in sponsoring a former street boy let us know, there are some waiting for a sponsor. God bless you.

Melckzedeck & little brother.

Melckzedeck doing a magic trick.

Bush and little Bush

Melckzedeck and an ndovu (elephant) at the grocery store.

Two definitions for the word victory are, “an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition,” and “success in a struggle against difficulties.”
For the street boys who we love and help, victory for them sometimes means finding some food to eat before they return to their “base” or “kipanda (fruit stand)” at night. And it can mean making it through the night without being harassed by people who are up to no good. Those are their most common every day victories.
For the former street kids in our program, victory is often having the courage to stay in school when they are 18 years old and in eighth grade. And having the patience to stick it out in a shelter or children’s home when they’re not used to having rules to follow.
For the kids we help and for you and me we can all be assured victory as we walk with Jesus and trust Him to help us overcome the obstacles that could hold us back from the abundant life He desires us to have.
2 Corinthians 2:14a says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ,”. That is great news. No matter what struggle we may be facing or “enemy” or “opponent” might be troubling us, we can be assured of victory. How does it work? Well first we need to trust in the free gift of salvation through Christ’s work on the cross. When He did that He defeated every demon, power and principality. And when He is in us and we’re in Him we share in that authority and victory. So as we continue to spend time with Him and trust Him to protect and help us in this life, we can rest in the fact that we have what we need to overcome difficulties in our life.
Watchman Nee writes, “Christ is our life. This is victory! This is holiness. The victorious life, the holy life, are all Christ!” 1 John 5:4–5 states that, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world And this is the victory that has overcome the world‑our faith.” So be encouraged and stand strong in knowing that when you are a child of God, “… you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” according to Colossians 3:3, and there’s no safer place to be.
If you are in need of prayer and/or encouragement for a trial you’re facing please feel free to contact us with your request. If you would like to sponsor a former street child or contribute to our ministry you can do so through the “donate” button at the top of this page. God bless you! [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Survived the streets & now having victory in school.

When I worked in South Africa for 3 years I liked how at Easter time when I would teach the kids at the feeding program and
ask them which holiday we were getting ready to celebrate they would always reply with “Good Friday!” We put on a big
conference every year at that time, it was always so powerful. People were saved, set free and touched by the Lord in wonderful
ways. On the cross, on that Good Friday, Jesus did all he needed to so that people can be born again, set free from bondages,
healed of ailments and so on.

Galatians 3:13 says that “cursed is every man that hangs on a tree.” I’ve read that Roman upper class could never be crucified on a cross in that day because of a crime, because it was considered so very shameful. Reserved for the lowest, most vile criminals. So thecurse and shame that Jesus willingly took on on that cross He took on for us so that we’ll never have to. All of our sins are forgivenbecause of what he did. So that tree that Jesus willingly laid down His life on for our sakes has become for us a life giving tree. Jesus is the one Who has given us the opportunity for rebirth and for a Kingdom abundant life.

This coming Easter my adopted son here in Kenya is planning to get baptized as well as 3 of our other former street boys are wanting to as well. We are very excited for them about their rebirth and commitment to Christ. We are praying that each of them is filled to overflowing with the Spirit of God and that their walk with the Lord get stronger each and every day. We love that they want to get baptized on Easter. We hope and pray that you too have a blessed Good Friday and Easter and fall more and more in love
with the Lord as we think about all of the goodness and love that He poured out for us all on that day.

Martin and Brian being baptized in 2014.

Praise God!  After nearly 4 years of suffering regularly from the pain of fibroid cysts, our precious and beautiful Eva can finally face life without the worry of that pain, and without the need to take strong, expensive pain killers on a daily basis.

As a Kenyan it’s not an easy task to raise the funds necessary for such a surgery.  But by the grace of God and generous people whose hearts He touched, money was made available for the operation.

Eva spent 7 days in the hospital as they changed the date of surgery after being admitted, but finally they performed the surgery.  I must say that after Eva awoke from surgery I learned the Swahili word for “pain”, as she was repeating “chungu, chungu.”  I asked her brother-in-law if that meant “pain” and he said yes.  Poor Eva.  But eventually that pain subsided and now she is quickly on the mend.  I think it must have helped also that her mum didn’t eat for 7 days until she had the surgery.  Maybe because out of 14 children in her family there are 7 that remain.

So we praise God and think you for your prayers and support that helped our friend here in Kenya, Eva, have a much needed surgery and be able to enjoy her life to a much fuller extent now.  We know that God is fullness of everything good and desires us to live a life full of everything good that He has for us.

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  John 1:16

Eva, the day after surgery.