Message from the Director

Current Baby Center Director, Jeff Stanfield, sent the following message today:

Greetings from Tenwek.

Life here continues to be busy with traveling and meetings. This week I spent some time at the baby center. We are currently at 32 babies, with 3 in the final stages of being placed into families. While there it was clear that the sound panels (built and installed by the October NMC team) are being effective in dampening the noise bouncing around the rooms. Thanks for spearheading this project. Also, the "Pigeon control" is working well on the railings of the towers. It is a great first step in helping control the pigeon population.

A couple of weeks ago was the moving date for the toddlers. They are now in the "B" wing. My observations and those of others is that this is working out very well. The toddlers are able to do more "toddler" level activities without the caregivers having to be concerned about the infants that might be in the way. The infants have more freedom to crawl and explore their environment and to play with their age appropriate toys. The caregivers are grateful for the move. Now that the groups are separated we are looking at ways we can provide them with age appropriate toys, books, etc. that they can use in their respective areas.

Well I guess that is about it for now. Thanks again for everyting you all are doing for the Baby Center.

God bless,

Jeff

Children of Mathare

These pictures were taken when the NMC team visited the Mathare Slum. These beautiful children live in some of the toughest conditions I have seen. It is hard to imagine what their futures will hold. But one thing I know: God sees them, He loves them, He has a plan for their lives, He wants to give them a hope and a future. We were so blessed to show them God's love, even if it was just for a few hours. We pray that many more will listen to God's call and reach out to these precious children! I read that it would take 13 years of consistent international effort to eradicate the slums. That seems almost impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. I am going to pray that very soon, those 13 years will begin and the children of the future will not know the hardships that these young ones have known!

2009 10 Kenya Team Picture

Front Row: Vicki Holden , Margie Helmuth, Jolinda Lengacher, Kristy Mikel, Nicki Resler, Jamie Lengacher
Back Row: Myron Borntrager, Floyd Miller, Judy Borntrager, Linda Miller, Ashley Lamason, Greg Holden

What a day, glorious day!

Yesterday was such a glorious day as we worshiped the Lord together at Ngata AGC Church! I will tell much more about it when we get home as there is much to share! But for now, I just wanted to let you know, we are getting ready to leave for Tenwek and the Massai Mara. It is much harder to get reception, so I'm not sure when I will be able to blog again! We have felt your prayers in many situations and ask that you continue to pray for our safety on the roads and for God's presence to continue to be made known.

I will also be able to blog much more about the babies when I get back to the states. The internet here is slow and unreliable so pictures and videos will come soon! Check back often! And again thank you for your love and support - it is because of the prayers, love and support of the people back home that the work continues!

One-on-One

The team tried to spend a lot of one-on-one time with the kids today. The week has gone so fast! The men built little stools for the older kids, then we took them out of the play area and had them color them. They were so proud! When they came back for snack time, they lined their stools up along the wall and sat on them to eat. Then after lunch, they brought them back outside and sat on them in the grass. Some of the boys decided they made great building blocks so they would stack them up and then knock them down with a huge crash! The stools will probably have to be taken down to the learning center to protect the little ones!

Andrew and Jeremiah were feeling better today. They have had fevers. But Rony started in with a temperature this evening. David came over with Priscilla when she came to give Rony medicine. He is getting so tall! Priscilla said he will start school in January!

The pigeon warriors continued to tweak their defenses. Later that evening, a few brave ones still came and landed but they certainly were not comfortable and didn't stay long! The war is not over, but the pigeon warriors now have the upper hand!

This is the day that the Lord has made... We will rejoice and be glad in it!

Wow! What a day! We spent some time at breakfast in prayer for the board meeting Jamie would be in most of the day today. And the Lord certainly heard our prayers. Jamie reported later that the meeting went incredibly well! Some issues that he thought might be touchy ended up being no problem at all. Other areas where problems needed to solved, solutions were decided upon easily. And new ideas were given for improvements in several areas! The board was all in unison on whatever decisions they made were first and foremost for the babies well being above all else.

The women continued holding and loving babies today. In the morning, they were able to get a group of them together for a special picture (it's a surprise!). You can imagine trying to get a large group of toddlers to cooperate for a picture was not easy, but I think we were able to get a few that we could use!

Then in the afternoon, we walked with several of them down to the farm. It is so good for them to get outside of the gates of the baby center. They take in everything around them! All of them liked watching the Cuckoos (chickens) but a few of them were terrified of the Cows! Mesh even tried to pull some of the kids who were not afraid back from the fence because he was so concerned the cows might "get them"! We were able to see a baby calf that was born just one week ago! We also were there when some local women came to buy milk. God is providing for the babies in so many different ways!

Water is still being sold everyday from the front gate. As well as by delivery. We have been so fortunate to have been able to continue to have enough water for the babies even though there has been a drought.

In the evening, we were invited to Ann and Eliud's home for supper. We had such a good time of fellowship! Ann made us a buffet of different traditional Kenyan dishes to try. She had beef stew, chicken stew, vegetable stew, chepati, spiced rice, yams, boiled sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, sukumuwiki, and a bitter root. She also wanted us to eat it in the traditional Kenyan way (with your hands)! For dessert we had mixed fruit (paw paw, bananas, pineapple and passion fruit). After supper we sat around and talked, but most of all laughed! Pastor Habib and his family were also there and as he said, he has the gift of encouragement!

And the highlight at the end of the day was...no pigeons!!!! Well there were just a few, but the pigeon warriors have already figured out a plan to stop even those few! It will be so nice not to have those birds above the children's play area - they are so dirty! Now if we can figure out how to prevent them from dropping the bowling balls on the roof at 5am - we'll be really happy!

The Pigeon War Continues

Today we were able to spend the whole day at the baby center. And it was a very busy place! Jeff Stanfield was here as well as Robyn Moore. There were some Kenyan volunteers for the babies and we were so excited in the afternoon when several of our newly hired caregivers came for training! That means we will be able to open both wings and receive more babies!

It was a gorgeous sunny day - the nicest we've had so far! It was so cute to see all of the little babies laying on blankets in the grass enjoying the sun and fresh air! It is also a lot more fun for the team to be able to spend time outdoors with the kids instead of cramped up in the playroom! Although 3 of our team members got a pretty good sunburn. And 3 of our team members got peed on! Not the same three except one and I won't tell (Kristy) which one that was! Judy mentioned that for such a tiny girl, Lydia can sure burp loud!

In the afternoon we had to break away from the babies in order to put the storeroom back together. The men had finished installing the shelves and according to Jamie it was in record time! The rest of us moved all of the clothes, diapers, shoes and miscellaneous supplies back into the storeroom. Wow what a difference the shelves make! Now it is much easier to see at a glance what supplies are running low!

The pigeons remain a formidable foe. The fishing line and spike strips did nothing to stop them from perching on the water towers. They simply landed in between the spikes! And carefully balanced on the lines. We joked that maybe we should add some hoops, a trapeze and a little bell they could ring with their beaks! At least then they could provide some entertainment with their pigeon circus! Did you know pigeons eat rocks? I think they enjoy dropping them and letting them roll down our metal roof at 5:00am even better than eating them! Sometimes it sounds like a bowling ball they are dropping! Never-the-less, the pigeons still have the upper hand. Back to the strategy room!

Visiting Salgaa

We headed out right after breakfast this morning to minister at Salgaa. The local church began a ministry to the women there, some of whom were involved in the commercial sex business and are HIV positive. Pastor Habib and his team have been working there for the past six months. They are offering hope to many who have none. They have seen several give their lives to Jesus and begin to turn their lives around. Our only instruction was to show Jesus' love by showing them our love. We split up into groups and visited several homes. A group from Kabarak University also joined our various groups. It was interesting to see how the women lived and to talk with them about their lives. After praying together, we went to the church at Salgaa and sang songs and heard testimonies from many of the ladies. One ladies story in particular really touched the team. She had been involved in commercial sex but when she gave her heart to the Lord she knew she couldn't make money that way anymore. She had started a small business but lost it all in the riots. So she wasn't sure how she was going to pay back her loan and provide for her family. She had sold almost all of her furniture when she finally received some money from her beaded bracelet business. When one of the groups went to her home she was so excited to show them the two chairs she was able to buy. She had the most beautiful smile and the love of Jesus shone thru her eyes! After the Kenyan women gave their testimonies, Linda then gave her testimony and the team could see how the women were encouraged by Linda's faith thru very difficult times in her life. Thank you Linda for being willing to be used by God to minister to the women of Salgaa. We were offered a soda for a time of "swallowship" before we left.
Ashley (who is now fluent in Swahili) met her future husband Felix who is a student at Kabarak.
After lunch in town the team went to Elim's Curio Shop to do some shopping. We always like to visit Elim's because 10% of the profits go to a street kids ministry in Nakuru. When one of the shopkeeper's, John, found out we were buying some things for the Auction at NMC he wanted to donate something. We thought something small would be nice but he kept insisting we take the large giraffe. So if it makes it home in one piece, you'll have to watch for it in the auction! We were able to spend a little bit of time tonight with the babies. But look forward to a fairly free day tomorrow!

Meeting the Babies

We finally were able to meet the babies this morning! They were very excited to have wazungus visiting. It didn't take long for everyone to fall in love! In between playing with babies, the team painted steps, went to the grocery store, built sound absorbing panels and made meals.

There has also been much discussion on how to keep the pigeons from roosting on our water towers. The first solution didn't work and the pigeons invited their friends over to laugh at the attempt. We have some very determined team members though that intend to get the last laugh!

For 5 hours in the afternoon, several of the ladies sorted clothing from our team and from other teams. The men were making shelves for in the store room so that all of the wonderful donations could be neatly put away. This all has to be finished before Friday because the Board Meeting will be held in the conference room where all of the clothes are at. Thanks so much for everyone who so generously gave - our needs are well supplied!

Judy's Song

After supper tonight Judy shared that God had given her a song about her experience in the Mathare Slum. She sang it to us and it was beautiful! She gave me permission to share it on here.

In the slums of Africa
I looked into his eyes
And saw these precious tears
Little arms stretched up to mine.

Reaching down I picked him up
Tiny hands around my neck
Just wanting to be loved
His head upon my chest.

Never the same
No, never the same
Forever my life's changed
I knew that God's love came
The day I held an
Orphan in my arms.

Our eyes were filled with tears as she shared her song.

Robyn Moore told us today that it is encouraging for her to come to the baby center because she can rejoice in how well our babies are being taken care of. And for that we are encouraged to continue the good work that God has called us to here.

The Great Rift Valley

A tradition for our teams on the way from Nairobi to Ngata is to stop at the Rift Valley overlook. It is a beautiful spot and hard to capture. Ashley took a panoramic picture that is close ask her to see it! Before we left, Linda did something she never thought she would do! We spent the next few hours driving in the rain to Ngata. The Baby Center Gate was a welcome sight. We actually did not see the babies the first day! It was cold and yucky and dark by the time we got settled in. Everyone is chomping at the bit to see the babies in the morning!