Meeting the babies!

When we first arrived at the baby center we walked around the corner and several of the kids were lined up at the fence wanting to be held. I had warned the group that I wanted to take a tour of the baby center BEFORE we played with the kids. The last several trips we didn't do that and sometimes never got around to taking a tour. When the kids saw us and our team saw them; it was all over! Maybe next trip we can take the tour when we first arrive!

Little helpers

There were always little helpers as near as possible to the fence as they were building it! It provided a lot of entertainment for them during the week!

Welding and attaching board after board!

Painting, Sanding and more Painting

Although we wanted to just sit around and hold babies all day long, we forced ourselves to help with the fence project. Board after board needed to be sanded and painted. It seemed like a never ending job, but with all of us working on it, it actually went pretty fast!

Team Picture in front of Baby Center

Masai Mara, Masai Market, and goodbyes

On Wednesday afternoon we were able to experience God's wonderful creation once again. Monica and Brittany experienced wild life in a "room invador" way. While out to lunch, they left the back porch door to their room open and many of God's little creatures (monkeys) came in and stole their granola bars and cereal. Brittany tapped some of the event while Monica tried to retreive her "favorite" granola bars. She found out that monkeys do not share or return what they stole. The only thing left were the wrappers.

The major memorable moment came over the radio to David our driver. Rinos had been spotted. :) We raced over to the spot to see a mother and yonger rhino. We thought we were the only van headed to find them, but all of a sudden we looked behind and saw many others coming from different directions. It suddenly became the GREAT RHINO HUNT. When we arrived, the rhinos were headed into the brush. :( However, all the vehicles started to go in towards when the rhinos went into the brush hoping to catch them again. All of a sudden, the rhinos charge the closest van. They take off thinking the rhino is going to run into them. It was very exciting to see :)

Wednesday night was extra special because we were able to have our own "Bush Dinner." This was in an opening in the woods with bon fire. We had almost finished dinner when we heard this LOUD noise which made the majority of the group practically jump off their chairs. The Masai had arrived. :) They started their dancing and making the noises famous for the Masai. It was very entertaining to see the Masai dance.

Thursday was spent driving from the Masai Mara to Nirobi. It was a long, rough, dusty five hour drive. After arriving in Niroi, we relaxed and had a nice dinner out.

Today!!!!!! Today we went to the Masai Market. We tested out our skills at bargining for souviners. We were able to trade many things for different items. Ben won the trade off buy trading his watch, airplane tooth brush, and 2 pens plus shillings for one of his purchases. Jan was very hesitant to start off at the market. However, we were supposed to meet at 2 to leave and Jan was still bargining for items. We finally had to go up and pull her away from all the excitment in the market. She ended up a bargining shopaholic :)

Tonight we loaded the luggage for 8 of the team members who were leaving tonight. After that we headed to the Brazllian Restaurant. Here we were served many types of meat. The food was very enjoyable. Once we were done eating we headed to the airport. We unloaded luggage and said our good byes as we split up the team.

Pray for the safty of both groups as we start our travel home. We will see you all soon with many stories to share.

Written by Alyssa Christner

Jambo, Jambo Bwana and the Big 5

The rain Ben prayed for at supper last night came but was not enough to stop us from taking the alternate route to the Mara. It was a rough journey but was very interesting to watch the beautiful landscape and people. We arrived in time to have lunch at Keekorok Lodge. We settled in our rooms and visited the hippo pool and the many monkeys around the lodge. At 4pm we headed out on our first game drive. The grasses were high but it didn't take us long to discover two young male lions. They were perched on a rock outcropping and looked a lot like the Lion King movie. A van holding a foreign couple got stuck in a marshy spot near the lions and our driver had to get out with the other driver to attach chains. They kept looking behind them and saying "Where are the Lions?" We were also able to see elephants, giraffe, mongoose, topi, thompson gazelle and many more little creatures. It was amazing to see the beauty of His splendor through the nature He created! On the next morning's game drive we started out the day by waking a young male lion, we saw the beginning of the wildebeast and zebra migration. It was amazing to see the massive herds! We also saw a hyena with a kill and 3 lioness' with a kill. The highlight of the day though was seeing 3 cheetas. They are magnificent creatures! We thank God for this opportunity to see what he has created in Kenya.

Time to say goodbye:(

Monday

Today was the last day to spend at the baby center. We needed to finish up a few things (the many leftovers for one!) and spend as much time with the babies as possible. We decided to take them for a walk down to the farm. We asked for 7 babies since there were 7 of us going. But of course, about 16 babies came out with there shoes on ready to go. We couldn't say no to those sweet little faces so we decided we could manage. What a long and exhausting walk even though it was just a short distance to the farm. We had several kids lose shoes, want to be carried as well as those who wanted to take off even though there were large trucks coming down the road! Somehow we managed and the kids loved seeing the Mbele? (cows) and cuckoo's (chickens) although several were afraid and just wanted to sit on someone's lap. We wondered if it might be a good idea to bring a cow down to the baby center for when the kids didn't want to sit down! We also visited the water project. The gardens are beautiful! What an awesome thing to see how much the water is going to bless so many other areas of the baby center. We also got to witness many Kenyans coming to buy water at the gate. This will provide much needed funds to continue the work of caring for the orphaned and abandoned babies of Kenya. In the afternoon we went to Priscilla's (baby center nurse's) home to celebrate David joining their family. He already seemed to fit right in as if he had never been an orphan! He especially liked the soccer ball that Greenlee's got him and the shoes the NLF team gave him. After eating a delicious supper of chicken packets (made by Ben), we spent the evening packing and getting ready to leave. Right before bed, we went down to give the babies one last hug and kiss. They were so wound up, it made it a little easier to say goodbye. Yet each of us were sad to walk out the door.

Team Picture

Where is my toast, where is my tea?

Well it's been another interesting day in Kenya. This morning we got up and went to the Ngata African Gospel Church. We all thought that the service was excellent and the worship was definetly Kenyan. (upbeat and crazy :) During the church service, we were asked to sing a song. Our group sang, while Brittany and Ben accompanied on instruments. Although we didn't practice alot, we sounded pretty good! After we sang, the Church staff gave us some kangas as gifts of appreciation for all we do for the Baby Center. The ladies helped in the children's sunday school class, while the men listened to the sermon. We made one hundred bags but there ended up being one hundred and thirty children there so we had to improvise. We opened each bag and split its goodies to the children. We had a great time of fellowship and fun with the children as we sang children gospel songs. After church we went to Nakuru to eat lunch at the Merica Hotel. Everyone agreed that the food was very good and filling!! After lunch, some of the group members wanted to see Lake Nakuru closer then we can see it by the Baby Center. We ended up driving down a bumpy road to see a great view of the lake. When we got back to the Baby Center, we just relaxed and played with the babies. We took a group picture by the fence with several of the babies. It has been so rewarding to watch God at work within each team member. None of us will be the same. Keep praying for us. Pray for stomachs to settle and for our time with the babies. It will be hard to leave.

Crampin our Side...(janolinda)

Today, we finished the fence!! It looks really great and the kids are going to have a lot more room to run around in:)

We went to town for lunch and souvenier shopping. We ate at a restaurant that served an assortment of food from chinese to mexican:) It tasted good! After we finished lunch, we went to Jeremiah's shop (a Kenyan that we knew from past trips). His shop gives half its proceeds to street kids in Nairobi. It's a great shop and the team found really neat things!

After town, we came back and relaxed for the night. All of us were exhausted and so it was a great refresher to have time to rest. Things are going well with the team; a few of the members are not feeling the best so please keep them in your prayers! We want them to feel healthy and energetic so they can love on the babies more before we leave on Tuesday. We love you all and thanks for your prayers!

Baby Album - June 2009

The Floaters

We have had a great couple of days since the last post! Our group is getting along so well, we intentionally irritate each other:) We already have lots of inside jokes and quotes to put in "the book."

The fence is almost complete. We removed the old fence and the kids were enjoying the new space to run around in:) Today, we got the last load of lumber which we will sand and paint tomorrow morning. So far, we have already done 380 boards! Chuck, Carl, Ben, and Mwangi all worked hard at attaching the boards while Phillis and Kelsey tightened the bolts. We should be done soon! Yay!

Yesterday, we went to the "ladies meeting" (men also came). It was so much fun and we had a great time of fellowship. We enjoyed the Kenyan's enthusiastic dancing and singing and we got the great priviledge of watching Jan and Dawn share in front of everyone! They conquered their fears and God showed up in a neat way. So much happened that you'll have to ask the group when we get home!

Alyssa and Ben thought it would be funny to put green food coloring in Jamie's coffee, which he drank without noticing. Then today for Alyssa's birthday, Jamie returned the favor and made her a green pancake:) Ben got a little one too.

Today, Jamie had a board meeting and before he left we had a time of prayer. Once again, God proved He was bigger than any of us could ever imagine! The board was supportive of the idea of expansion. There is a possibility of another baby coming on Monday:) Pray for the new arrival!!

This morning, we took the kids two by two to the learning center for foot and hand prints. We decorated our shirts with 24 little hands and feet. Most of the kids enjoyed it, but Malachi cried when we put the paint on his foot. It was a fun time watching the kids get messy.

Everyone is falling in love with the babies. There has been much talk about sneaking them back with us to the States. We have come up with many different ways to bring them home, and let me tell you, they are creative:) The babies are so sweet and anyone who came and held one of these children would fall in love as well.

Continue to pray for our team as we travel to town tomorrow and continue working. Pray for our groups strength and health and for the babies.

Settling into life at the baby center

Our first two days here have been busy ones as we've adjusted to a new culture, firm beds, crying kids all night and no suitcases. Yet we are all doing well! And to all of you who were praying that we were "stretched" on this trip - you can quit praying now! Just teasing, we still need your prayers! By the way, we did finally get the last of our luggage early this evening.

We have spent the last two mornings with the children one on one in the learning center. The kids have loved the constructive activities and the attention. We also found April Hershberger's suggestion to do one activity at a time with all of us and our individual children worked really well.

We were able to start the new fence and it is going well. We received the rest of the needed lumber today. It was supposed to arrive at 9am but didn't get here until 6pm. It is here now though and we are excited to get the fence finished!

Jamie, Margie and Jolinda were able to go to Shadrach's house to visit their family this evening. It was so good to see Lucy in her own home and see how well she is doing. She is even in school and showed us some of her "homework".

A woman came in today and spent some time with the babies. We found out later that she is interested in Peter. Peter is really shy so it was neat to see how strongly he attached to the lady who may soon be his mom. In fact when she left he cried!

The past two days it has been fun to see people standing outside the gate buying water. This seems to be working well and is a definite means of support for the babies of the baby center.

Thanks again to all of you that are praying for our team and the babies. God is answering those prayers and we are witnesses to it!

Nairobi to Ngata

It felt good to sleep laying down for a night. I think most of us finally got to bed at 2:30 AM. Its been a long day but we are excited to be in Kenya.
We left for Kenya at 10 AM with one piece of luggage. Maybe tomorrow is the luggage theme we keep hearing. Along the route to Nakuru there is a place to overlook the rift valley. The valley is just massive and beautiful. These little overlook spots have small vendors who try and sell you all types of African items. These overlook areas have small concrete walls lining the property so you don't fall down the side of the mountain. These walls are usually painted with advertisements or african landscape scenes. Our team did the usual picture taking barrage while leaning against the protective barrier. Imagine the shock when we noticed Dawn and Alyssa had new words written backwords across the front of their shirts. Dawn's shirt was the best as "photo" was perfectly clear The area of the wall they leaned against had just been painted.Laughing is good for the soul and Dawn and Alyssa provided us with a great start to our day. I will say the rest of our trip was uneventful unless you consider there is no curb too high, no space too small and no pedestrian too close for Kenyan drivers. There are rules of the road in Kenya but nothing like the USA. It is each vehicle for itself. We have great Kenyan drivers who we have known for years. I thank God for them as does each team member! They are always looking out for our best interest.
Arriving at the Baby Center is always fun especially for the first time. Jolinda has tried for a couple years now to have us take a tour of the facility before we get to the babies. I'm happy to report she is still batting zero trying to accomplish this.The tour maybe lasted two minutes before each person had kids in their arms. You just gravitate to these kids. They hunger for love and we are more than willing to oblige. The afternoon and evening was spent loving these kids. It was a blessing to watch our team pour themselves into each child. The highlight today was watching David get to go home with his new mom. Presilla, the Baby Center nurse, adopted David. This was a first for me and to see David's face was something I will never forget. There are times I've wondered if these kids really know what is happening to them. After today I can tell you they KNOW! David was just one big smile and he kept saying "Mommy let's go home". Tears are flowing down my face as I write this. Tears of joy. To be able to witness a portion of God's perfect plan for David is a memory that will last forever.
After supper we had a time of sharing. The question was asked "what was your first impression of the baby center or Kenya?" These are the responses:
Alyssa- seeing wild baboons and zebra up close during our ride to the center. Seeing all the children lined up along the fence holding out their arms for you to pick them up.I ran to them.

Monica- the excitement I felt pulling up to the center. I just love them all. Watching David go home was awesome.

Kelsey- how easily the children attached themselves to you.

April- the awesome job the caregivers do taking care of so many children.

Jan- the attention the kids are craving. The close bond our team has developed so quickly. Knowing Jeremy Greenlee from high school sporting events yet meeting him for the first time in Kenya!

Phyllis- individuality of each child. They are each so different. The beauty of Kenya. Team has meshed so well together. Accomodations far exceeded what she expected. Very nice.

Dawn- english writing on everything. Nairobi was very modern looking. The caregivers have a large responsibility. Overwhelming

Carl- people are everywhere even in areas that looked remote.

Ben- how nice the nationals are until they start driving!

Chuck- when comparing Kenya with Haiti it does not appear as poor as expected. The number of people Margie and I both know from college. It is a small world.

Jolinda- the babies are so valuable. To see Joy for the first time and know she was abandoned under a tree breaks my heart yet I'm thrilled she now has a chance at life.

Jamie- I never tire of coming here. The attitudes of this team are remarkable.

Brittany- She slept with her head on the table for most of the meeting but did wake up long enough to answer the question: I love seeing the babies and they love to see us everytime we come. The bonding of our team is so cool. I love it.

Today has been a great day. To witness God at work in people is one of the greatest blessings in life. NLF, you are making a difference in Kenya and I thank you for the opportunity to be a part of it.

Jamie Lengacher

we made it but nothing is easy!

To say it has been an interesting journey would be an understatement. After running through Heathrow to make our connection the plane had technical difficulties and was delayed for two hours. It was a God moment as He knew we needed a short break from cramped airline seats. We were each given a 5 pound voucher for lunch which was nice. After a nice 8 hour flight to Nairobi and clearing immigration we were surprised to see a large poster laying on the luggage belt with all our names on it. It was a list of people whose luggage was still in London. We received one piece of luggage out of 25 and it was for the babies. So at least we will all be stinky together! Pray we get our luggage by Wednesday. I'm so proud of each member of this team. They just laugh the troubles away!The good news is we are safe and all healthy after the long journey. God is faithful as always! We will arrive at the baby center Monday around 1 PM. I can't wait to see all these bundles of joy and energy. We feel your prayers which sustain us.

Jamie

On our way!

We are sitting at O'hare about ready to board the first flight on our journey. We fly to London with a very short layover then on to Nairobi. It is an honor for me and my wife to be leading the first all NLF team to the baby center. Your commitment to these children is second to none. We hope each team member catches the "baby center fever" that so many others already have. This mission is greater than any one church or individual and it will take all of us working together to accomplish the goals He has placed on our hearts. Pray for each team member Dawn, Chuck, Allysa and Kelsey Christner, Carl and Phyllis Metzler, Jan and Ben Schrock and my family Monica, Brittany and Jolinda for safety, smooth connections and most importantly that we grow deeper in our relationship with HIM.

Jamie Lengacher

Waiting and Trusting God - Work Team 2009

I keep a blog for both Nappanee Missionary Church and New Life Fellowship for the baby center. New Life's blog has a lot less information on it since it has been involved in the baby center for a lot less time than NMC has. So when I set it up I added a few extras to it like a world clock add-on that shows both Kenya and US times and a Kenyas headlines add-on so you could check out the latest news in Kenya. This morning when I was adding an update to NLF's blog I noticed a headline that said something like: Delta cancels direct flight from Atlanta to Nairobi. I thought that sounds like our flight! I read that article and then Googled "Delta cancels direct flight to Kenya". It came up with a bunch of articles - mainly from other countries in the world - not US. In fact I had a hard time finding any from the US. Various stories of why the flight was cancelled were printed. One of the things that seems constant though is the fact that the US Department of Homeland Security contacted the US Department of Transportation and asked them to cancel the flights indefinitely. The US is saying it is because it needs more time to look into safety issues. Other countries are saying it is because of a threat of terrorism to that flight. I even read in one of the articles that they believed the terrorists were planning to shoot down the airplane with a surface to air missile when it was landing in Nairobi. Somalian terrorists have been wreaking havoc in and around Kenya lately. It has escalated some after US Navy killed some Somali pirates who were holding a US Commercial ship captain hostage this past spring. Travelling to Kenya has always been an adventure at this time the adventure has begun before we even left home!

When I read several articles confirming that this was the flight we were supposed to be taking to Kenya, I called Jamie to ask him if he had heard anything. He said that Dan Jacobs had mentioned that Reuben Langat had flown with a team he was taking to Kenya to the Atlanta airport on Tuesday. And after arriving at the airport was told the flight had been cancelled. They were rerouted I believe on KLM and were able to continue. I'm not sure if his entire team was able to fly together on the new flight or not.

Jamie then called our travel agent Ron Yoder to ask him if he knew anything. He said he had not been notified, but thanked Jamie for calling and said he would get right to work on it!

He called Jamie later in the day and said Delta confirmed that our flight had been cancelled and that our information was sitting on someone's desk waiting to be resolved. He said we have two options: 1. Wait on them to resolve it as they are promising to honor the low price ($1,200) with the new flights. Or 2. Cancel out and book new flights ourselves. Jamie checked into pricing on several other airlines and all of them were in the $3,000 area. We decided to wait and trust Delta to reroute us!

So that is where we are - waiting and trusting God to get us to Kenya in his timing!