On Friday, December 11th, we were proud to hold a graduation ceremony for 8 skills students who completed their coursework in our Literacy Program and our Skills Program. We honor them today and pray for them as they go into the world. They are full of hope and we are full of hope for them.

In true MITS fashion, all the students, church members, families, aunties, and little ones joined in the celebration. To all our MITS family around the world who were unable to be with us in person, we felt your love and support in spirit and we pray a blessing over you until we meet again.

Class of 2015..... dismissed!

If you want to know what Full Life looks like, I advise you to come to Kenya… 
Just kidding. I mean, we all know that full life can be found anywhere and isn’t dependent on circumstances or environment but what is within each of us. If the strength within us is from the big guy upstairs, we will understand and view the world with the perspective of this full life we always hear about. 
The first person who truly explained to me what full life is, was my young life leader in High School. He shared with us a verse that changed all of my days from that moment on. 
That verse was 
John 10:10:
The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full. 
I shared this verse with some of the men on the streets in Eastleigh. 

Full Life.
I became so aware of it and I took notice in those who were experiencing it on a day-to-day basis. You learn to have an eye for it. You can see it in a random stranger walking down the street, even. And you can tell when the gears are turning in the mind of a person figuring it all out until it finally just clicks. 
Full life is everywhere. The difference with full life here in Kenya, is that it is more evident in my eyes because the transformations go from a way of life that is foreign to me, to a way of life that is so familiar because it looks like God. The people at MITS are to blame for this radical transformation. They know where it comes from and how to share it…

The students here in Kamulu are reaping the benefits of this unconditional love they are experiencing. I see confidence in each and every one of them. I see love and I see selflessness. I find myself in awe of them constantly. They blow me away with the way they treat each other and the way they treat me. When it rains, they help wash each other’s and the teachers’ gumboots. Even if that means getting down on their hands and knees in the mud to really make sure they get the boots clean.  They treat each other to lollipops and share their birthday cake. They listen without interruption and they love each other even more after bickering. They share a pair of sandals when playing football on the courts so that their kicking feet are covered. They treat me like I am one of their own and they show me such love—love I haven’t really ever experienced before like this. All of these traits may seem small but they come from hearts that are big and overflowing, allowing them to pour out even more. I love to watch the older students spending time with the younger ones and showing them a Godly way to live. I will see a boy about to graduate reading the word and then later that day see a boy, who just joined MITS this year and cant even read English yet, picking up a bible in attempts to read it. This isn’t coincidence—these boys are working off of each other and learning from each other for God.

When I go to Eastleigh and I see the street kids at boy’s program or at the bases, I am constantly shocked and taken aback because I find it almost impossible to envision our students ever in this situation. I can’t picture their eyes glazed over from the glue and I cant picture them stealing from each other. I can’t picture their faces torn and worn and dull because all I see now is their faces glowing with light from within. I don’t know how they are able to love me and teach me so much with so much grace when I look at where they come from. It seems like an impossible transformation. But then again, I guess God’s work is usually unexplainably mysterious in how it works.

Heaven on Earth is more an invitation than it is a book of compiled certitudes and explanations. An invitation to see if Jesus’ way of seeing the world might be the truest, deepest, most beautiful way of seeing. Soccer moms, C.E.O.’s, teachers, and retired war veterans are hungry for God. We can’t always name the source of our hunger, but it’s God and this book draws the hungry and thirsty closer to the source of real life. Framed by Jesus’ opening words in one of his most famous teachings, this book provides a framework for reclaiming the power of seeing a good life instead of a perfect life. Because Jesus was more interested in goodness than perfection.

"Transforming street children for God and country"

Those words are written on the walls of our school building in Kamulu. That is what we strive to do – transform street children to be servants of God and to better their country. At our 20th Anniversary celebration in Nashville, Tennessee, we got to watch a film by a former MITS student, John Dennis Kamau. John Dennis studied computers at MITS and always had an interest in photography. That interest turned into a hobby, which turned into a skill – and a very good one, at that – and eventually led him into videography. Today, John Dennis works for Fastlite Media, a production agency specializing in film and photography.

God always had a plan for John Dennis to share people's stories. John Dennis was able to transform his life through first the transformation of his heart. He is one of many students whose lives have been transformed for God and country. 

Lord, thank You for the last 20 years. Thank you for allowing us to be your vessels to minister to street children. We pray You continue to allow us to be a part of this journey, and that we continue to do Your will in Kenya.