Nairobi, Kenya

Rivers of sewage run through the Mlango Kubwa slum in Nairobi, Kenya, carrying litter, bacteria and human waste across the only patches of open space where the children can play. An estimated 180,000 people live here without electricity or running water. Thousands of children have no home but the streets of the slum and no shoes to protect against infection. To eat they must turn to begging, stealing, prostitution and drug dealing and are thus condemned as outlaws and untouchables by local citizens. They have no money for school fees and no hope of breaking the cycle of poverty.

To survive, children commonly live together at a base that might simply be a corridor or an abandoned bus with the older ones looking after their younger siblings. Most of them are victims of physical or sexual abuse, and almost all sniff glue or gum to relieve the hunger and loneliness of the streets.

Several factors have contributed to the recent explosion in the number of children on the streets of Nairobi and other cities in Kenya: urbanization and the breakdown of the extended family support systems, ethnic tension between tribes heightened by the legacy of colonialism, lack of social services and affordable education, skyrocketing unemployment, recent drought, and abusive family situations. Perhaps none, though, are as immediately apparent as the AIDS epidemic. Families are being decimated by the virus, and children are left to fend for themselves. Some of the children on the streets were born HIV-positive and many others have lost parents to AIDS.

Dr. Tom Olewe, the director of the Luke Society in Kenya, began visiting these kids while he was still in medical school, and their desperate plight moved him to devote himself fully to helping improve their living conditions. After graduation, with virtually no money to his name, he began VIPs Street Child Ministry, Nairobi's first ministry to focus on the health of the 60,000 street children in the city.

Mlango Kubwa is a haven for the most notorious criminals. Even its name, which translates "the wide gate," refers to a place where everyone is found from car-jackers to prostitutes to thieves. Police are afraid to even step foot in the ramshackle village. But because Tom spent so much time getting to know the children, caring for their problems and earning their trust, he and the volunteers who assist him are able to enter this violent world without fear.

"It was very unsafe initially when we went," he said, "but the more we visit these people, the more they accept us. We've had occasions where we've had to treat some thugs who were assaulted the previous night. And those end up being our security details. They won't let anyone touch you."

Tom chose to call his ministry VIPs Street Child Ministry because he believes that someone needs to show these kids that God loves them and that the body of Christ wants a better future for them here on earth. These children are outcasts in their own society and often have very little self-worth.

"When I was given a chance to talk to the kids, I told them they were very important people," he said. "We really feel honored to be called by God into a ministry that would be a part of the Great Commission."

Tom's main concern is "Christ-centered, street-child friendly medical care." He regularly treats the skin infections, wounds to the feet and legs, eye and respiratory infections and intestinal parasites that plague the children of the slum. Their conditions expose them to violence, substance abuse, malnutrition, and unsanitary water. At night, they must huddle together for warmth and comfort, further spreading disease. Tom attends to their needs at a base just inside the slum's boundaries. It would be impossible, though, to only treat the injuries and infections without concern for their overall condition.

"Half of the kids have scabies," he gives as an example. "You treat it, screen them the next week, and they're gone. Screen them the third week, and they have them again. There's a lot of work to be done in this area. Improving the drainage, just finding a way of keeping the children away from this water, getting them into schools because they have nothing."

VIPs is a holistic ministry, going beyond just the health concerns of the children and looking to their pressing needs of food, education, clothing, shelter and even counseling. Tom works closely with a network of other Christian ministries and churches in the city. He has helped get sponsorship for many of the children with Christian child sponsorship organizations. He regularly works with these different agencies providing annual screening and ongoing treatment for the children they are serving.

One of the key partners and supporters of VIPs Street Child Ministry is the Mlango Kubwa Kenya Assemblies of God Church. The front pew of the church is often the operating table for victims of violence or other trauma. Tom has also been involved in the church's food program, where teaching, preaching, singing and sports are coupled with serving more than 100 hot meals each day. The church has also organized a vocational training program in carpentry. Some of the older kids who never had an opportunity for formal education learn how to build furniture that is sold to help fund the project.

"As the boys learn new skills," Tom said, "you begin to see hope in their eyes. These kids are so grateful for so little. It's not so much the material things, but simply the love of a brother. Most of them don't have fathers."

During VIPs medical evangelistic outreach programs, Tom and other medical professionals he has rallied to the cause of the children visit different slums around the city, handling all kinds of cases and hosting other activities for the kids.

"We are able to see between 500 and 1000 children in the morning hours," Tom said. "We use a lot of volunteer doctors and pharmacists. In the afternoon we'll have a children-driven evangelistic crusade. The children will pray, they will preach, they'll do the presentations. And the pastor of the children where we work will do the altar call inviting people to receive Jesus Christ."

In a safer part of the city, Tom established a clinic called VIPs Health Services. Many of the patients he treats can afford to pay for health care, and they help support the other costs of the ministry. Here he is also able to bring children from the slum who need more serious care than can be given on-site. Everyone is treated the same at the clinic, regardless of economic status, and this, as much as anything, has a tremendous impact on children who have been looked down upon all their lives.

The modest clinic has been greatly improved since it was opened. It now has a very comprehensive lab, two consultation rooms and a pharmacy. Tom is working on setting up a dental unit because the dental needs among the children are great. The clinic is also a place for counseling and Christ-centered guidance.

"There's a lot of emotional trauma," he said. "A lady had been treated in so many hospitals; she was HIV-positive. One doctor told her she was just wasting time. She needed a place where doctors would spend time with her and give her the support she needed. We were able to spend time with her and were able to pray with her. She became a Christian, died, and we hope to see her in heaven."

Another important part of the ministry, according to Tom, is just spending time with the children, getting to know them and earning their trust. He has done this by visiting them often, seeing where they sleep and where they spend their days. He has also organized a soccer team from the slum.

"We realized that one thing that will bring all those kids together is football," he said. "Bring a soccer ball and go to the slums, and you'll have thousands of kids with you. And it's worked so well because we have a very subtle way of sharing the gospel with each of these children as we play football. We insist that we're not rivals; we are on different teams, but we are brothers. If you play rough against your friend you have to apologize because that's what Jesus says."

When the kids focus on teamwork and accomplishment, their minds begin to clear and the exercise helps their bodies get the glue toxins out of their systems. They begin to care about things. Soccer has also helped build some sense of community for the people of Mlango Kubwa.

"We have a very good soccer team because when we win, the slum wins," he said. "They really support us."

Lastly, Tom has instituted the VIPs Community Health and Human Rights Education Program. A passionate advocate for the rights of children, Tom believes that Kenya has failed its children on several levels. Even in many of the children's homes and programs, the children aren't being treated well.

Human rights has become an issue with refugees pouring into Nairobi from Ethiopia and Somalia, many of whom are being referred to the VIPs clinic.

"We've found that the issue of their rights are so important to them," Tom said. "Most of the Somalians are Muslims, and the only entry point for evangelism for us is to discuss their human rights. And we end up agreeing that these rights cannot be enforced because of our fallen nature as human beings. That gives us a way of sharing about God who is the custodian of our rights."

The love of God is evident in all that Tom is doing for the children of Mlango Kubwa and Nairobi slums, and many have turned to Christ. Their testimonies are both joyful and heart-wrenching as they tell of their past troubles.

One young man named Steven told of the hopelessness he felt before getting involved in the ministry.

"I just want to say, 'Thank God,'" he told a group of his peers, "because when we were at the base, we really didn't know about our God. When [we came here], still we didn't understand about God. We still would come with the gum that we would sniff in the toilets. ... But when we continued, and they continued to teach the Word of God, and we came and thought about it ourselves, we realized gum had no profit. We ceased the sniffing, we gave our lives to the Lord, and we made a decision to continue."

With God's help, many more have found the power to leave their lives of thievery and drug addiction and are telling others of God's saving grace. The graffiti on the wall of Tom's base used to read, "King of Hell." Now scribbled on the side of the building are the words, "King of Heaven" and "I love Jesus as much as I can." But the lives of these young believers remain full of challenges as they still must endure the horrible conditions on the streets of the slum.

The three pillars of VIPs are "Vision, Passion and Integrity." Tom's vision to lift Kenya's kids out of the poverty they face is a large one. He wants to expose doctors from all across the country to the community health programs that are in place in Mlango Kubwa and teach them how to set up a place for street kids in their cities.

In his own city, he wants to continue training volunteers to serve as street children workers and equipping them with the knowledge and tools for community health and preventative initiatives. Projects like getting clean water into the slums are also paramount.

Tom has seen the difference that can be made in the lives of these kids when people have compassion. The burden on his heart remains heavy for those that have not yet been reached, but seeing the transforming power of God's love shed light in this dark world keeps him energized. Clinging to his three pillars and to God's word, he is bringing healing and hope to the street children of Nairobi.