New Year's Eve

Monday, December 31st
Still no electricity this morning when we woke up. And with no water truck coming today or tomorrow showers and toilet flushing needed to be severely limited. We heard from Staci that there was trouble last night by the hotel in Ngata from Staci. And we heard some of the workers had homes burned near them. We painted the upper railing today as well as the windows on the upper level. The men went into town using an alternate route as the main highway bridge was blocked by stones. They found one store open and it was very busy. Margie followed them into town as she was hoping to get some work done today. While the men were gone, Dana and I brought out all of the clothes, plastic pants, etc. that we brought from the people back home. It was fun organizing all of the little clothes. Staci came in to help us decide what was needed right now and what should go into storage. The item that she and the caregivers were most excited about were the plastic pants as they are not available here in Kenya. They were almost completely out of them because the frequent laundering wears them out quickly. Lucy and little Moses came over to check out the new clothes and held them up to themselves and said "Auntie - Smart!" (Smart is another word for pretty or handsome.) Some of the things future teams could bring are plastic pants, socks, vaseline and zip-up jackets. They will also need some bigger clothes as the babies are rapidly outgrowing the current sizes! The country is still in a media blackout, so most of the information we are getting is first hand from Kenyans or other missionaries. We also have some information from the states as they are slowly starting to cover what is happening here. Our families back home are starting to be concerned about us as they have heard some of the stories on the news. We decided not to go into town for New Year's Eve. The church also canceled their traditional New Year's Eve Service. After homemade pizza for supper, the girls (and Carson) made up a game using the dice from Yahtzee. You had three rolls to get a yahtzee. But before you roll you need to name what would happen to another player if you rolled a yahtzee. Michelle was the first to lose when Monica rolled a yahtzee. She had to paint her entire arm the next day when we were painting. Fortunately for her they changed the rules mid-game so Michelle was able to cancel hers because she later rolled a yahtzee. Some of the other players weren't so lucky though. It's amazing how creative you can be without TV! Since tomorrow was a holiday we decided to "sleep in" and then decide on a plan for the day. Everything was different now and our plans for the week were changing daily.

AGC Church and Lake Nakuru

Sunday, December 30th
We all attended service this morning at the Africa Gospel Church, Ngata. The message was very good. Pastor Charles spoke on why fear is doubting God. If we are Christians and believe God is in control then we shouldn't live in fear. Many of the Kenyans were frightened even to come to church because of all the unrest. He encouraged the congregation to be brave so they could show others their faith in God. We left right after church and went to the Lake Nakuru National Park. We ate lunch at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge. It was a very warm day so not as many animals were out. We enjoyed the day, especially the flamingos and baboons. We were on Baboon cliff when our driver came and told us they had just announced on the radio that President Kibaki had won re-election. Our drivers seemed pretty anxious to get us home as the sun was starting to set. As we went thru town there were many people out along the streets. Many were yelling but they did not seem angry, just excited. Our driver just kept honking his horn and going full blast thru town. One kid hit the side of our van with his hands as we were passing by, but again he did not seem angry. Several people were waving what looked like palm branches and I remarked "What is this, Palm Sunday?!" A group of about 20 young men were traveling side by side in a long train down the street as if they were in a parade. They were also excitedly shouting. On the outskirts of town it had gotten quite dark but we felt like we were out of danger when suddenly our driver swerved to the other side of the road. I thought for a moment he was going to lose control and as I looked back I saw the small car we had been following off the side of the road. Monica also noticed large stones in the road and thought maybe the car had hit one. Our other van came upon the car and rocks just as Jamie was finished talking to Pastor Dave during the 3rd service. The driver was starting to stop when Jamie and Dan both yelled "Don't stop, keep going!". They continued down the road in an "S" pattern as by this time there were more piles of rocks and small groups of people on the highway. We were all relieved to be back to the safety of the baby center but wondered what the next few days would bring. Margie decided to spend the night as nobody knew for sure if the roads would be open or safe to travel back on.

Love Wins

Saturday, December 29th
We had decided the night before that we should try to get the group picture of all of us with all 29 babies today. Dana had made shirts for each one with the logo "Love Wins" and their names. Pastor Dave was doing a series with that title when we kicked off the fundraiser for the baby center. We didn't expect any workers today as we assumed they were still on holiday. We worked on sanding the iron grates in the windows we were later going to paint. Jamie and Dan worked on sealing the block in each of the rooms. When Margie got there we began getting all of the babies ready for the picture. You think a family picture is hard to get ready for! Most of the babies cooperated pretty well. Although, in my best picture none of the babies are looking at the camera! You would think at least one of them would be accidently looking in the right direction! Margie invited us over for New Year's Eve. She said part of us could stay in her home and the others could stay at Jim & Alice Vanderhoof's. We had a short meeting with Staci regarding the future of the baby center and how NMC could best help. It went really well with some new ideas for teams as well as partnering on some different levels. We all came away encouraged and excited for the future. We worked on painting the railing on the upper level. Denny Mast dubbed the color of the paint "January Day in Indiana Gray". It looks nice though. And on this beautiful sunny day it is hard to remember what January looks like at home! After supper everyone was so tired that we all went to bed very early.

Sad News

Friday, December 28th
That evening we received a call from my mom telling me that my 93 year old grandfather had passed away. My first reaction was relief as he had been in the nursing home for a long time and could no longer walk or do anything for himself. And for the most part he couldn't communicate with us. Then the grief hit me that I would no longer see my grandpa's sweet smile this side of heaven. Jamie said he would fly me home for the funeral if I wanted. I considered it for a moment but felt strongly that God did not bring me half way around the world to turn right around and go home. I am so glad that I had spent my Wednesday's for the past year or so with him and my grandma. Maybe that should be a prerequisite for making a trip like this: To make sure if something happened to you or to someone you love while you were gone that you would have no regrets. Or maybe that's the way we should live our lives everyday! I will miss my grandpa but am confident that I will see him again someday in heaven.

Peter - December 2007

Peter was still a shy little guy when the NMC work team visited the baby center in December 2007. Although he slowly warmed up to many team members. In the top picture he was being held by Monica Lengacher. In the picture with the yellow shirt he was eating dirt! Boys will be boys! Peter is now a little over 1 year old.

Our Journey Begins

Wednesday, December 26th thru Friday, December 28th
I have heard Pastor Dave say when commissioning teams that it is so important to pray for them because "you can get into any country - you might not get out!" Fortunately at the time I didn't think it pertained to our beloved Kenya. We had been told the elections might possibly take place on December 26 when we were originally making our plans. But after conferring with several different missionaries felt we were going to be fine as long as we were out of Nairobi before the President was announced. They moved the elections to the 27th so we felt sure there wouldn't be any problems for our group as that was the day we were arriving and we were leaving early on the 28th. We were a little concerned when we found out another group that had arrived the same day as us had arranged security to travel with them back to Nakuru. They said we could join them but as they were not leaving until later in the day on the 28th, our drivers felt we were still safer to go on our own but leave by 7:30. We stayed overnight at the home of Missionary Robyn Moore who was back in the states for surgery. After breakfast and time spent in prayer, we set off. We had no problems leaving Nairobi even though part of our journey was a couple blocks from the Kibera slum where much unrest was expected to take place. What a relief it was to arrive at the Baby Center and see Dan and Dana Jacobs and their family who had been there for 2 weeks. And what anticipation we had to get to work. We settled into the guesthouse which is right above the nursery. (Can you imagine 29 babies 2 and under below you when you "sleep"! Our next project might be a soundproof ceiling installed in the nursery!) Then we went to visit the babies. Although there are only 5 more babies than when we last visited in March, they have all grown bigger so the room seemed much more crowded (and noisy!) At first they were quite frightened of all the new faces, but it did not take long before the older ones were saying "Auntie (or Uncle) - look!" I'm still convinced that somehow we got all of the cutest babies in Kenya residing here!

Simon - December 2007

Simon was about 10 months old when the NMC work team came to Kenya in December 2007. Simon always looks like he is thinking and studying everything around him. He will probably grow up to be a scientist or professor!

2007 12 Kenya Team Picture

Front Row:  Michelle Mast, Talia Jacobs, Carson Jacobs, Dana Jacobs, Dan Jacobs, Mackenzie Lechlitner, Brittany Lengacher, Monica Lengacher

Back Row:  Margie Helmuth, Denny Mast, Jolinda Lengacher, Jamie Lengacher, Staci Wells (soon to be Keter)

Team #6 Construction Pictures

Construction continues on the baby center. Here are the photos from Ed Mosier.

Team #6 Baby Pictures

Ed Mosier and Bob Leinbach returned with these wonderful pictures of the babies. They are why we are continuing to work hard to finish the baby center. God has blessed our congregation by allowing us to work in Kenya. Pray that the work will continue and more little ones like these will be saved!

Team & Construction Update

The construction process is going well. Ed Moser and Bob Leinbach returned from Kenya on November 20th while Kenny McIntyre left for Kenya on November 23rd. Kenny joined Verle Hostetler to continue helping with the construction of the baby center. The roof is complete except for a 20' area. The steel will not be in to finish this section until sometime in December. While this is a small set back it does not change our goal of finishing the center in January. Here is a small list of things being done: painting of interior walls, metal ceilings being installed, exterior and interior doors and windows being installed, cabinet construction, cleaning of site grounds and sealing of cement floors. Many processes are well underway and our teams have been nothing short of outstanding. I thank God for each one of them. NMC's next team leaves Friday December 7th. Those team members are Denny Yoder, Andy Farmwald and Steve Cross(New Life Member). These three men will return on December 18 with Kenny and Verle. I cannot thank Verle enough for his dedication to the babies of Kenya. He has done an amazing job and has quickly gained the respect of our Kenyan brothers. Keep praying for our teams and the people of Kenya.

Jamie Lengacher