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End of Year Giving: The Final Lap

12/9/2019

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The month of December includes some of the best seasons of the whole year.  December means winter weather season; the holiday season; and Giving Season.  As we close in on the end of 2019, there are some great giving opportunities that will make a lasting impact on kids who are currently living on the streets of Nairobi.

Online Giving

In a matter of minutes, you can give a secure donation online and make an immediate impact.  You may also choose to give your gift in honor or memory of someone, and your loved one will be thrilled to know that their impact on you prompted you to be generous toward street children in Kenya.  
Give Now

Stock Giving

With the current success of the US stock market and the change to rules for itemized deductions under the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, stock donations are one of the best ways to maximize your impact and reduce your taxes.  MADE IN THE STREETS makes it simple and easy to donate stock and make a life-changing difference for street kids.  Due to the new rules, stock donations can significantly reduce your taxes by giving you deductions that exceed your new increased standard deduction amount.  Stocks held for more than a year that have risen in price can be donated to MADE IN THE STREETS and provide a tax deduction equal to the fair market value of the stock at the time of the donation.  For more information on making a stock donation to MADE IN THE STREETS before the end of the year,  contact MITS’ Executive Director Brad Voss (brad@madeinthestreets.org / 817-688-6675) or MITS’ Finance Director Ericka Maple (ericka@madeinthestreets.org / 615-300-5724).

Monthly Partnership

Monthly Partners are the Champions of MITS who go above and beyond to considerably impact the monthly operating expenses of loving and serving former street kids who are enrolled in the MADE IN THE STREETS boarding school program.  Monthly Partners can choose a monthly donation level that helps to cover the ongoing costs of food, housing, education, and mentorship, and more for each of the students seeking to change their life in the MITS program.  MITS Partners are paired with a current student and agree to donate monthly at one or more of four different levels ($25, $50, $75, $150).  Some partners even choose to cover the entire monthly expenses for one student ($400).  In addition to the essential financial support, MITS Partners also send and receive letters and updates from the MITS students, along with special news and fun surprises.
Sponsor Today

By mail

Prefer to send a check in the mail? That's great!

Make checks payable to MADE IN THE STREETS and mail to the following address:
MADE IN THE STREETS
409 Franklin Rd
Brentwood, TN 37027
Anyway you give, it matters to street kids; thank you for for generosity!
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All About #GivingTuesday

11/11/2019

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What is #giving Tuesday?

Celebrated globally on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday kicks off the season of end-of-year giving. People all over the world come together online to give to others.

This year by December 3rd, MADE IN THE STREETS is hoping to raise $48,000!

Why $48,000? 
$1600 covers all the costs associated with moving a child from the streets to MITS boarding school program. We are trying to bring 30 new students off the streets and into school!

What is this "Never Give Up" thing?
The students at MITS have taught us what it looks like to never give up. We want to join them and share a message of hope to those still on the streets - never, never, never, never give up!

We need your help! Will you join us??

how you can get involved:

1. Spread the word. #GivingTuesday is spread and fueled by the power of social media and digital platforms. Post on your social media, email or text people you know. Get the word out about street kids! Use any of the images below to share on your social media:
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2. Make a donation. You don't have to wait until December 3rd to give...give today!
GIVE NOW!

​3. Become a fundraiser. It only takes a few minutes to set up a fundraising page. If 30 people raise $1600, we can meet our goal! Click the link below to get started:
FUNDRAISE!
Once you've opened our #GivingTuesday campaign, click the "become a fundraiser" button:
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​Create a fundraising team or set up a page as an individual:
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​Follow the next steps to set up an account and start fundraising!
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First Laugh

10/25/2019

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Katie Harvey, Storyteller Intern
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​This year one of the new girl students brought her precious baby, Angel, with her. When they first came to MITS, Angel was so little one might think that she was a newborn. We estimated she was around 3 months old. Angel was born on the streets and lived there for the first few months. Because of this, she was extremely malnourished. I learned over the summer that when babies are malnourished, they can’t laugh a ‘normal’ laugh. Which made sense to me because sometimes I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. 


While Angel has been here I have seen her grow and become stronger. One night when I was at the girls' place for a bible study I was holding Angel while the girls were finishing dinner. I will never forget this night because it was the first time I heard her laugh! I was filled with JOY to hear this sound! This laugh meant so much.

This got me thinking about the joy that God must feel when we have our ‘firsts’. Sometimes we might face trials and fall off track with our relationship with God. We become malnourished from lack of His word in our life. We’re fighting to stay alive. To be rescued. Once we come back and have our “first laugh” with God, like reading the Bible, I can only imagine He is overwhelmed with JOY. He is joyous because His child is coming back to Him. 

So, I challenge you today if you feel like you haven’t laughed with God in a while, talk to Him. Say a prayer. A simple prayer. Open your Bible, read a passage that once moved something in you. Find your way back to God. He hasn’t gone anywhere! 
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Darlene's Impressions: Back in Kenya after 3 Months

10/11/2019

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Darlene Coulston, Founder
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We have a rhythm of 3 months in Kenya/ 3 months in US. It gives a fresh look each time. This morning in chapel, Mbuvi announced the winners of this month’s Honor: Phillip and Stella. The audience clapped wildly.  That was fun. 

Outside the chapel, we talked with Jimmy Blinne (Onesimus). He works at Java House and has received two Employee Awards that I know of.  He’s here on part of his leave, happy to be teaching new things in the Catering dept. and talking with the kids in Literacy about “life outside”. ​
Laurent is here on his leave also – he was in our very first “school” in 1996.  My mom taught him to read.  He has been working in Kenyatta University catering dept. for all those years.  He too is happy to come help.  

I read Narnia tales to the newest students, have for years. While I was gone, an intern, Madeline, read to them – the kids loved it.  I can see a three-month improvement in these students’ manners and especially their English. Wow.  

Last week, we had some of the single MITS Team over.  We talked about the students, told funny stories, and Charles and I shared some early stories of MITS.  We fed our guests hamburgers, and then we wanted them to experience roasting marshmallows.  To start with, our “marshmallows” are from Mumbai.  Then, we didn’t have enough charcoal briquettes and no charcoal lighter (only thing we had was “surgical spirits” – bad idea), and only old files to use as paper kindling.  So imagine lots of smoke, and marshmallows that won’t lightly brown…..!  We still had fun but won’t do that again, ha.

​We love our two lives. This ministry is a joy to us.  We rejoice in the Team; they truly love the students and each other.  They have fun with them.  They know how to do “LIFE.” It is wonderful to see teens come in from the streets, learn and grow, and go out to honor Jesus in the workplace.
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Sleeping Outside

9/27/2019

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Brad Voss, Executive Director
When I was much younger I loved sleeping outside.  It was so much fun.  I slept in the backyard, on porches, in treehouses, on trampolines, in state parks, on football fields, in tents, in hammocks – even on the side of a mountain (or two).  Anytime I got the chance, I was so happy to sleep outside.  On balmy summer nights growing up in Texas I was thrilled to sleep outside with little more than a blanket of stars across the sky as cover. As I grew a little older I was lucky enough to travel to places like Colorado and New Mexico and Alaska where warm nights were replaced by much cooler nighttime temperatures and thin quilts were replaced by down sleeping bags and four-season tents.  Waking up on those crisp mornings and crawling out of a toasty sleeping cocoon was the stuff of dreams.  For most of my life sleeping outside was incredible.  It was romantic and exciting and fueled some of my happiest memories.

When I made my first trip to Kenya in 2016, sleeping outside took on a whole new perspective and meaning. It was during this trip that I first came face-to-face with children and teenagers who sleep outside every single night. And not because it was fun or adventurous.  And not inside a nice tent or wrapped in a down sleeping bag.  It was on this trip that I learned and understood for the first time that thousands of kids go to sleep - no, try to sleep - outside on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya (and in many other cities around the world).  It’s not romantic.  It’s not filled with happy memories.  It’s cold.  It’s dangerous. And it’s real.
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Each night tens of thousands of kids in Kenya and millions of kids around the world will lay their heads down on cold ground – not because it’s fun to sleep outside, but because there is no inside. They didn’t plan to be there, but because of abuse or neglect or lack of resources or a myriad of other reasons, they are there.  The nights are cold and scary and very dark. They will hopefully find friends with whom they can share the night.  They will huddle close together to increase warmth, and they will take turns staying awake to fend off the dangers that often appear in the darkness. And they will pray.  They will pray that the night passes quickly and that the sun shows itself sooner rather than later.  These precious kids love the mornings.  They love seeing the sun come up and feeling the heat that it brings. And they love seeing people (like the team at MADE IN THE STREETS) who love and care for them.
 
I still really like sleeping outside.  I like camping under the stars and the moon with friends and family.  But now, on every night I sleep outside (and on most nights that I sleep inside) I’m mindful of the many incredible kids that are also out there.  I pray that they find warmth.  I pray that they find friends for protection.  I pray that they find a softer, more comfortable spot than the one they found last night.  And I pray that somehow, someway, with God’s help and all of us working together, more of those kids can find their way off of the streets and into the exciting, fun, romantic, and adventurous life of sleeping inside.
 
For more information about how you can help street kids move from outside to inside check out the Plan A Fundraiser or Serve In Kenya pages on the MITS website.
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a mits intern experience from    a-z, part iii

9/13/2019

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Lauren Meandro, Filmmaker Intern
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R - RAIN
The rainy season came late this year and the roads around here get pretty muddy. The mud sticks to your shoes and if you don’t have “gumboots” (rain boots), clean feet will be a thing of the past. While the rain has been an inconvenience, it has helped the farms and we are thankful.
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S - SICK
If you don’t get sick here at least once, then I feel like you really haven’t been to Kenya (it’s pretty much unavoidable, since you’re exposed to so many unfamiliar bacteria). I might as well have been here four times then, since that’s how many times I’ve been unwell! Being sick away from home is never fun, especially in a foreign country, but I have been well taken care of here. I even got to experience a Kenyan hospital - which I can happily say was not a traumatic experience.

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God also sent a little blessing my way after all my suffering. While bedridden, I craved chicken noodle soup. When I showed up on Monday to work, the visiting group had made Chicken Pho for lunch! I could have cried I was so happy.

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T - TIME
Kenyan time and American time are different things. As I’m typically late to everything and patient with those who are like me, I figured I would fit right in. However, turns out it’s harder to escape my American roots than I thought. 
U - UNIVERSAL
Another one of my favorite parts about traveling is just discovering how small the world is. Some things that I’ve found to be universal are a baby’s love for silly noises, the love of a good beat, and sharing good food together. Oh, and all small children love the Baby Shark song. You can’t convince me otherwise.
V - VACATION
While on the outside it may look like a vacation, living and volunteering in a foreign country for the summer is definitely hard work. That’s why a break every now and then is so important. Our intern team was able to get away a couple of times to not only rest and be restored, but also to experience other parts of the Kenyan culture! Here are a few pictures from our visit to the coast and our safari in Maasai Mara.
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W - WORSHIP/THE WORD
Listening to people praise and learn about the same God in another language. There’s nothing quite like it. I think I really developed this love when I attended a German church when I lived in Leipzig. Seeing others praise His name in their native tongue, praising Him alongside them, though I don’t know the meaning of the words, learning the countless names for Him (Yesu, Bwana, Mungu, Baba)… It never gets old.
X - EXTRA
Sometimes you think you're going to need a lot more of something than you actually end up using. I for one brought so much sunscreen it’s not even funny. Guess how much I’ve used of it?
Y - YUM
Kenyan food is heavy, but it’s good. Chapati (which is kind of like a thicker tortilla) is a favorite. Also, like, all of the fruit.
Z - ZERO POWER
The power will go out a couple times a month. Sometimes for a couple hours, sometimes a couple days. It’s been an adventure cooking in the dark or coming home to charge a device only to realize you can’t. It’s just all part of living here so you just gotta be flexible.
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a mits intern experience from    a-z, part II

9/6/2019

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Lauren Meandro, Filmmaker Intern
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I - INTERNS
What a blessing it is to serve with this wonderful team!! Each of us is so different from the other, yet we are bonded by our common goal to love others well. I could write a whole blog about each one of them and the amazing gifts God has given them.
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J - JOY
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Whether you’re missing home, in a place you’re completely unfamiliar with, or just overwhelmed by your work and circumstances, it can be hard to have joy. I’m not gonna lie, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses for me so far. I’ve felt lonely, overwhelmed, and anxious. There have been days that I come home feeling like it would have been easier to just stay in the States.

Through these seemingly joyless moments though, I know God is still faithful. Along my daily path, He reminds me in little ways (like a new student walking home with me from Chapel or the sun shining just right through the flowering trees) that He is there and He is with me. I just have to look up from my trudging feet to see Him and to see how I can have joy in those moments. 
K - KARIBU
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“Karibu” is Swahili for “Welcome”. While I have felt homesick, God has also provided warmth and welcome through Kenyan hospitality! The other interns and I have been loved and welcomed into this community so well. 
L - LANGUAGE
The language barrier (or often, the accent barrier) has been rough on me for sure. I’ve never experienced a language quite like Swahili before. Since I have really no other language to compare it to, I have found it much harder to pick up on and understand. Being in a Christian setting has definitely helped, though. Seeing Bible passages I’m familiar with or singing songs I know in English has helped me recognize and translate certain words on my own.

On the flip side though, mispronunciation can sometimes be quite unforgiving (like the time I was practicing numbers with some students and was tricked into saying the word for an uncircumcised man). As with all language barriers and learning though, patience and grace are key. 
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M - MATATU
Oh, matatus. Matatus (buses) are the main mode of transportation here, if you don’t have a car. They can be big or small, colorful or just plain, but either way, the entire experience feels like organized chaos (but mostly chaos). 
N - NEW, NORMAL, AND THE "NEW NORMAL"
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​(I didn’t have any pictures of the things I mentioned in this section so enjoy this photo of Madeline with the biggest avocado I think I’ve ever seen.)


As I’ve said before, there have been so many new things it’d take forever to list them all out. However, I’ve been able to take comfort in the few things that are “normal”. Things like grocery stores and worship songs. American dinners and movie theaters. Nutella and Oreos. These things and others have been mostly the same and have made the “new normal” much easier to slip into. 
O - OVERWHELMED
With easy transitions come the hard ones too. I’ve found myself a couple of weeks ago becoming very overwhelmed for several reasons. For one, being a one-woman documentarian has been a difficult transition. I’ve been fortunate enough to do many of my previous projects with a team, or at least around other creative people. While I consider myself a very independent person, it’s been a hard transitioning to working completely by myself on multiple projects. 

Additionally, I found myself being overwhelmed with sadness for some of the former students. Many MITS graduates are successful, but MITS does not have a 100% success rate. There are students, though rare, that succumb to life’s pressures and go back to life on the streets. My heart is broken to think that any of the students I know now could ever struggle like that again.
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P - PRAYER
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​Prayer is the single greatest weapon we have against the enemy. No matter how big or how small, your prayers are needed. Please continue to pray for everyone involved with MITS - the kids on the streets, the students and staff in Kamulu, and the interns!
Q - QUICKMART
The first grocery store we went to. It’s honestly more than a grocery store though, as it has three floors and sells washing machines. It’s in the next town over, Ruai, and takes about 20 minutes to get there. It doesn’t have many American products like some of the larger grocery stores do, but it has Nutella and Oreos, so I’m not complaining.
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Broken clocks heal broken people

8/30/2019

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Samuel Montoya, Teacher's Aide Intern
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Time is funny, isn’t it? In the same forty minutes it takes to complete each class every weekday, one student could ponder how fast the class seemed to fly right by, while another, being continuously bored, could finally celebrate as a seemingly never-ending class had finally past. Time, it’s funny. It’s funny because we use time as a construct for everything. It was Einstein who once said, “time is an illusion.” An illusion that has overwhelmed our everyday lives keeping us going from one thing to another.

Time always seems to keep us in motion. Scheduled events of each day bookmarked by time stamps. Calendars of events earmarked by time frames. They say time is everything and that concept has never felt more real than these past couple weeks leading up to my inevitable departure from my MITS internship. As I count all my “maybe-last-times” to do something incredible, I’m reminded by my new Kenyan family that time is not as important as presence.

I can schedule meetings, plan events, organize classroom activities that all take time; but, when was the last time I planned a meeting just to talk with someone because I cared about them; when was the last time I hosted a social event with no planned endtime; when was the last time I scheduled a classroom activity that wasn’t just busy work; when was the last time I was present?

Being born into the fast-moving, always-going society of American life, it’s hard to be present with people. To be totally entranced by the moment that you forget (or ignore) all other time, meetings, schedules, and plans. If there’s one thing I learned while being here in Kenya is that you always have enough time to be present; you always have time to stay in the moment; there will always be time.

Sure, there may be a time when I go back to the states that I stop listening to Toto’s “Africa”; there might be a time when I stop trying to learn Kiswahili; there might be a time I stop missing the bumpy van rides to Eastleigh; and sure there might even be a time that I take my bracelets off that reminds me of the kids who made them for me. But what I’ll never forget is that time is just time, bracelets are just bracelets, bumpy rides can happen anywhere, Kiswahili is constantly changing, and Toto’s “Africa” will probably never go out of style, and being present with people gives them purpose. And when we give purpose to people, it gives them hope; it makes things...personal.
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a mits intern experience from a-z

7/19/2019

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​Lauren Meandro, Filmmaker Intern
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As I’ve lived in Kenya for over a month now, it’s hard to pick just one experience to talk about. So, I figured it was best to go back to the basics and go through the ABCs. This month I’ll focus on letters A-H.
A - AIRPLANES AND AIRPORTS
We had to take three flights to get to Nairobi. Traveling is already tiring itself, but tack on a nine hour layover and a missed flight and you have a recipe for some delirious interns. We survived though, despite the several days of jet lag that it caused us!
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B - BONFIRE
Within the first couple weeks of being here, a group from Lipscomb Academy came. They put on a bonfire and made smores with the students. Many of the kids had never tasted marshmallows before and, honestly, didn’t like them very much (they were just too sweet for them). They loved roasting them though!
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C - CONNECTION
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I’ve been able to connect with the students in many ways since being here. Taking selfies, painting together, and sharing music… but the biggest way has definitely been through my hair. I knew coming to Kenya with purple hair would get some stares, and maybe a question or two, but I never imagined that I’d have the same conversation about it a minimum of 5 times a day. 
D - DANCING
Boy, can these students dance! While much of the staff goes to visit Eastleigh bases on Eastleigh Fridays, the students have the day to hang out and just be kids. Many of the students play soccer on the field while others dance. I’ve been able to join in a few times, and though the students are far better than I am, I’ve definitely enjoyed the experience!
E - EXPERIENCE
Over the last few weeks I’ve definitely had many new experiences. One of them was pulling a banana directly off the bunch! Here’s a video of some of the other interns pulling bananas with MITS founder, Charles Coulston.
F - FLORA AND FAUNA
There are many things I love about being in different parts of the world (as you’ll see throughout this series), but there’s just something special about the different plants and animals that are native to the area where I'm living. Here are just some of the pieces of God’s creation that I’ve been seeing.
G - GABU
This. Sweet. Boy.

Gabu is sassy, smart, and just full of personality. He’s the son of Elizabeth, a recent grad from MITS, who is currently still living at MITS in Kamulu. Some students struggle to get all the documents they need to get a job after graduation. MADE IN THE STREETS tries to help the best they can, especially in the case of young mothers. I know Elizabeth and Gabu won’t be around us for much longer, so I’m soaking up the time we have left with them.
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H - HOMESICK
The honeymoon phase has definitely faded and I’m missing certain pieces of home. I’ve found myself missing my car a lot recently, though I think that really stems from missing the independence that I have in the US. For several legitimate reasons, there are not many places MITS allows me (as a young white woman) to go by myself. Abiding by cultural and carefully considered standards are often just part of living “sent”. It may be hard sometimes, but leaning into God’s purpose for me here is far better than focusing on what I’m missing. 
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Repetition is Key

7/12/2019

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Ashlynn McNeal, Teacher's Aide Intern
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​Coming to MADE IN THE STREETS as a teachers aide I did not have many expectations. I did not know the different levels the students were at or how much English they would understand and know. While being a teachers aide over the past few weeks I have found that it is both rewarding as well as challenging. 


What has stood out to me most so far would be the confidence the students have within themselves. One of my favorite classes is the beginners library class. They are all eager to stand up in front of the class and read. Most of the students in beginners don’t know English very well. So hearing them stand up in front of their peers with confidence and reading without hesitation brings me joy. I enjoy seeing the students want to learn and not giving up even when frustration takes place. 

A challenge for me has been one-on-one tutoring with a student that knows barely any english. The alphabet song has been played over and over again but we will continue to listen to the song until it sticks. A few small steps everyday is all it takes. I have learned repetition is the key to progress. It might not happen overnight but with time, difference is made. 
    
Through this, I was then reminded of repetition in prayer. Our prayers are not always answered right away but that does not mean to give up on that prayer. Over time it will be answered, not necessarily in the way we asked or hoped for but better than we could imagine. Just like the Lord does not give up on our prayers, I have seen the MITS staff never give up on the students. There will always be rewards and challenges but the key is to not give up because progress will take place. 

    
​I look forward to seeing the progress that will be made over the next few months and watching the students grow in confidence within themselves and around their peers. Like mentioned above it might not happen overnight or as fast as we would like but with repetition, all things are possible! 


“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” -Muhammad Ali

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