In Episode 81 of the Charity Charge Show, Stephen talks to Brad Voss, Executive Director of Made in the Streets, whose mission is to love and serve children from the streets of Nairobi, Kenya – meeting their physical, emotional & spiritual needs; loving them fully; equipping them to earn a living & sending them out to a new life. Brad and Stephen talk about fundraising, seeing donors as a customer, and the benefits and drawbacks of running an NGO in Kenya from an office in Texas.
Brad comes to MITS with twenty years of valuable experience as a youth minister, preacher, consultant, and leader. Brad is passionate about developing the natural skills and talents of his team, so that together they can achieve their mission to love and serve street kids, in Kenya, across Africa, and around the world. Brad lives in North Richland Hills, TX, with his wife, Shannon, and their two children, Phoebe and Judson, where they all play an active role in their local church, schools, and community. Brad is a graduate of Abilene Christian University, where he earned two degrees: a BS in Communications and a MA in Religion.
On the two groups served by Made in the Streets:
My philosophy from the very beginning is that our organization serves two groups of people. We serve these kids who live on the streets in Kenya. We’re wanting to change their lives there, help them change their lives. But we also have this other group of people that we serve: donors. People who are generous, who want to be generous, who want to give. From the beginning, I looked at everything we do as, “How do we serve these two groups of people?” Because they’re both people who are looking to us to lead. The street kids are looking to us for food and clothing, skills, education, jobs, and spiritual formation. People in the West, in the US and Europe primarily, who have more wealth than they need, are looking for ways to make a difference. They’re looking for ways to change the world, they’re looking for ways to give smartly and generously and do more than they can themselves. Everything we do really is trying to set up and build relationships with those two groups of people.
Interested in listening to the full episode and hearing more from other nonprofits? Check out more episodes here Charity Charge Show
