Kenya thru Bev & Bernie Lambright's eyes

Bev and Bernie Lambright were members of Team #5 and Team #9. Bernie is also one of the leaders with the water project. These pictures are from their trip in October 2008.

Baby Fever

Baby Fever. What is it? It is the love and passion you get for the little ones at the AGC Baby Center. After seeing so many pictures and hearing so many stories, to experience it myself was amazing. I want to thank all of the people who worked so hard to build it, all the sweat and time you put into it. I enjoyed the fruits of your labor....being able to stay right there above the babies and able to go and play with them after supper. I think we got the best end of the deal! Oh, we worked at painting and building cabinets ect. But the best part was having my nose pinched, and all the children yelling "Auntie, Auntie" when I walked by. Thank you to Pastor Dave and Jamie and Jolinda for passing the fever onto us. Pastor Dave talks about the eyes of an orphan, it is true there is something about the eyes of an orphan. They tell a sad story without saying a word. If God is calling you to catch the fever, you should follow His call. It is the best thing we have experienced.

Pete and Tina Carpenter

A note from Jamie

On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 4:08 PM, Jamie Lengacher wrote:
I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone at NMC and beyond for the support they have given to the baby center. God has taken us on an unbelievable ride over the last two years. We have went from having very little vested in this project to being heavily vested. God has taken ordinary individuals and given them a burning passion for the “throw away children” of Kenya. NMC has went from having a very small voice to having one that is being heard in board and leadership meetings. One of our goals has been to create income streams to help sustain the center within Kenya. Over the next year the water and farm projects will be monumental in reaching the goal. We should have a well drilled within the next week and be on our way planting more cash crops at the farm. Things are happening quickly and I’m honored to be a part of it. There are so many of you who need a big THANK YOU! I knew our church was generous but I never understood how generous. Even in the most depressed economic times many of us have ever seen the resources keep coming in. God is good all the time! I will keep the blog updated on the water progress. I cannot wait for that first load of water to be delivered FREE! One of my greatest pleasures during this project has been watching new team members develop “baby center fever”. Its not a bad thing but an anointing of the holy spirit on them. Watching people of all walks of life get their hands dirty for these little ones is a God thing. We have people who pay for their own trips, people who get support from others, people who sell their cows to come, people who save for years to come. The point is if you are willing He will provide. I want to thank our most recent team for making our trip one to remember. When you laugh and cry together you develop quite a friendship. I challenge those of you who are thinking of getting involved in a mission to “get in the game”. You will not be disappointed because Jesus will never disappoint you. Jamie A. Lengacher

Random thoughts about our trip to Kenya

• "Good morning sunshine!"
• Hello rain!
• Watch out they pee!!!
• Wet paint in the sink, on the floor, but none on the wall.
• "The best dip ever!!!"
• Fahrenheit to Celsius?...we don't have a clue.
• Ruffles, pink clothes, and tights are ok for boys, right???
• Auntie! Auntie! Uncle! Babu???
• Need a sedative? Try a swing.
• Fall asleep before 9pm? Hakuna matata. We'll wake you up in time for milk!!!
• They'll sleep anywhere and on anything.
• In case of emergency, we provide our own cow midwife!!!
• Climbing like monkeys, laughing like hyenas, screaming and crying like howler monkeys, but in the end they are all precious little angels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jodi Polhemus & Stephanie Wong

More bumps and dust and a cheetah!!!

This morning started out with a game drive on our way out of the park. We spotted a group of vans and went to investigate. When we got there we discovered that someone had spotted a cheetah way out in the distance playing with a tiny baby gazelle. It was fascinating to watch the cheetah toy with its prey. Then we continued on our bumpy, dusty journey on the typical roads of Kenya towards Nairobi. Tomorrow we plan to do some shopping and bargaining in the market before we catch our flight to London around 11pm. Please pray for a safe journey home and that all our flights will be on time and all our luggage will make it to Chicago.

Jodi P. and Stephanie W.

Our Goal: A Rhino!

We woke this morning to two elephants eating trees off our back porches. It was so amazing to be so close to such enormous wild animals. We then headed out for an early morning game drive in order to catch the animals at their busiest. We had good luck as we were able to see the elusive leopard lounging in a tree. Number 4 of the big 5. We saw many herds of zebra and wildebeast and various other animals. We were just heading in to breakfast when the drivers got the call that there were lions close by. We found two male and one female laying very near the road and were able to get a close look at these majestic animals. We were also able to take a lot of great pictures! We went back to relax at the hotel until the afternoon game drive. The local monkeys were up to no good and went into two of our rooms. After diligently warning everyone to not leave their door open because the monkeys would get in, Jolinda decided to just run a few doors down to borrow a transformer. When she arrived back moments later she realized she had not shut the door and walked in on a monkey sitting on her bed. He had helped himself to a sucker and mint out of her bag. Then later, after feeding the monkeys some peanuts, Brent and Joan were surprised that one of the monkeys decided to boldly open their patio door and run in to the room for the jar of peanuts. They stood there in shock and yelled but it took a guard and a rock to get the jar back. Our team was unaware that at lunch our drivers prayed that we would find a black rhino in the afternoon. And only heard about it after we very quickly found a black rhino right out in the open that afternoon. We also enjoyed a beautiful African sunset before heading in. The hotel treated us to a "Bush Dinner" by candlelight out under the stars complete with Lobster and Steak Kabobs! The Masai dancers took turn seeing how high they could jump. The one who jumped the highest was supposed to get the girl. And in this case Abigail was chosen. She respectfully declined. Pete also joined in on the dance and a great time was had by all.

Leaving the babies

We left the baby center this morning with only a few tears shed and lots of last minute hugs and kisses. It was hard to think some of us will never see these little ones again. And even those who do come back will miss those that have been adopted. Our prayers will remain with them always as we continue to pray for families to come forth to adopt them and that they know Jesus as their personal savior. We traveled to Tenwek Hospital with a stop at the Tea Hotel for lunch. The road back to the hospital is still one of the roughest in Kenya, but hope is on the horizon as there is a new road being built. It surprised the team that the area right around Tenwek is so crowded with people selling food, cooking food, etc. It was like it's own little city with a lumber yard, school, etc. The hospital even has a tailor, restaurant and power provided by a hydro electric dam. It also surprised the team that the area where the missionaries homes were was so beautiful with flowers and plants everywhere. The work that they are doing is of great value and we prayed that God would continue to bless them. We learned that they will soon be able to perform their first cardiothoracic surgery. A team is coming that will help them set up an open heart surgery suite. They will also provide education for the doctors, nurses, etc. We were able to spend some time with Jeff & Christine Stanfield, Faith Shingledecker and Anna who are missionaries at Tenwek. It was a lot of fun and a valuable experience for everyone.

2008 10 Kenya Team Picture

Front Row: Katelyn Bussard, Stephanie Wong, Tracy Bussard, Jamie Lengacher, Abigail Carpenter (?)
Second Row: Joan High, Beverly Lambright, Pete Carpenter, Jolinda Lengacher
Back Row: Brent High, Bernie Lambright, Tina Carpenter, Margie Helmuth, Jodi Polhemus