I came a couple weeks after the rest of the interns arrived in Kamulu so I am actually writing this after only being here a little over a week. But you don’t have to be here long to know that this place is special.
I am starting my senior year at Pepperdine University studying marketing communication and nonprofit management. I had heard about Made in the Streets from my classes and a couple of friends who supported the organization. I never would have dreamed that I would get to see their work firsthand in Nairobi.
I read something in a book called The Good News About Injustice by Gary Haugen a couple years ago that changed the trajectory of my life forever. He writes, “God knows that the powers of darkness and evil can manifest themselves into real things. And while never neglecting or subordinating spiritual needs, Jesus calls his people to respond to hunger with food, to nakedness with clothes, to imprisonment with visitation, to beatings with bandages, and to injustice with justice.”
I understand the fact that I did not need to travel halfway across the world to respond to this calling. My relationship with Jesus changes every interaction I have, whether I am in Malibu or Nairobi. My prayer will always be that I lead a life of love and obedience. I daily ask that Jesus is between my lips and the words I speak, in my mind and the thoughts I think, and in my eyes and His people I see. That being said, I find this season of my life so special because I get to learn from new people who are committed to that same calling in a different part of the world.
Since a lot of my first week has been navigating my new role with staff, I want to express my gratitude and admiration for the people dedicating their lives to these kids. If you have never had the chance to see the ground work firsthand, let me encourage you with this — the heart of this organization is beating hard, fast, and strong. They give so much of themselves to the work being done here. Their time, their energy, their prayers… with Christ at the center of it all. Even in my short time here, it has been an honor to watch them live out Jesus’ calling on their lives. I believe that leaders have a huge impact on what a group is able to accomplish. As I have received instruction from the teachers and administrators on how to do my job, I have loved getting to watch them as they do theirs. I only just arrived and my flight home seems too soon, but the people running this organization are committed to long obedience. They are moving forward with legs and lungs of endurance. They are showing up. How special it is to get to learn from them. To all the MITS staff, thank you.
Hopefully as the weeks go on, I will be able to put more words to my thoughts and events happening here. I am sure there will be big things, small things. Good things, hard things. But just this for now. Thanks for reading.
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