Baby Center Update

  Well, Jeremy left for West Kenya on Sunday after church with his group of 13 youth.  During the night on Saturday we got a call saying that the people who were supposed to transport them had decided to cancel.  So after a lot of scrambling on Sunday morning they were able to get some last minute transportation arranged.  But as of when they left on Sunday they still didn’t have enough tents…. so I’m not sure what they are going to do about sleeping arrangements.   I got a text from him last night saying that they had arrived safely to their destination, but that’s the extent of what I know about how things are going.  I was unable to go with the group due to a lot of needs at the Baby Center from us having been in the U.S. and many sick babies.  Also, there is a work team here now from World Gospel and they were in need of some help since none of them had been to the Baby Center before. 

  Last week we got 3 new baby girls at the Baby Center.  Their names are Elizabeth (4 months), Deborah (4 months), and Faith (3 months).  The ages are all just guesses since they were all abandoned and we have to estimate based on their development, looks, etc.   We are also supposed to get 2 more girls tomorrow.  We currently have 25 babies/kids (27 after tomorrow).  The older kids have been getting fostered or adopted a lot lately.  It is really changing the atmosphere here.  We currently have about 9 who are 2 years or older.   I will try to post pictures of the new babies later this week. ~Nicole

 

Off to the bush

Last shower for a while.  Wish me luck. ~ Jeremy

Back in Kenya

After the long and cramped flight, we are back in Kenya.  We arrived Tuesday evening and are adjusting back to life here.  We were very glad that we were able to make it back for my grandpa’s funeral.  He was a very special person, and we will miss him very much.  I will carry with me so many wonderful memories and feel very blessed for the time I had together with him.  My grandma and grandpa have always been there for me and gave me support in everything I did.  I am grateful for all they have done for me.  Our prayers go out to my grandma, my mom, her brothers and sisters, and the rest of the family.  The trip was bittersweet as we said our goodbyes to my grandpa, but we also were able to meet our two new nephews for the first time.  We were glad to be able to see our families and friends as well.  We have missed them so much.  It was also nice to be around our own culture again, if only for a few days.  Now, we are back to our busy schedules.  It has been a crazy few days as our church youth are taking a medical missions trip out into the middle of nowhere in northeastern Kenya.  I was very fortunate because an intern just started at our church a week before we came home, and he has done a terrific job helping to organize the trip while I was away.  Even so, we still have a lot of catching up to do as we prepare to leave on Sunday.  We have about 50 youth that are going from several churches.  We are staying in tents, but we have not yet been able to allocate them (AHHHHH).  All of our hopeful sources have fallen through.  It will be an interesting trip to say the least, though I am very excited about the impact that it will have on our youth.  I am not as excited about no showers for 8 days with 50 youth.  Hopefully I can find some nose plugs. ~ Jeremy

New Videos

If you read my wife’s previous blog, you know that we are in the states for a few days.  We wanted to take advantage of this time to upload some videos and photos, since the internet in Kenya is terribly slow.  Here are two links to some photos and videos we added from our safari trips with our parents. ~Jeremy

Maasai Mara Videos

Maasai Mara Photos

We’re Home… well just for a little while!

The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind for us.  My parents just left last week from visiting us in Kenya (which I still need to blog about) and we found out on Thursday night that Jeremy’s grandfather had passed away in his sleep.  We were faced with a decision we hadn’t encountered since we’ve been in Kenya.  We wanted so badly to be home with family during this difficult time but it’s also difficult to get half way around the world within a few days.  After a lot of searching we were finally able to find plane tickets for a good price and decided to come home for the funeral.  We arrived in country Sunday afternoon.  We are only here until next Sunday, but are really grateful we were able to come home.  Jeremy’s grandfather was an extremely special person, to us and his whole family, and he will be missed so much.  We are experiencing a bit of reverse culture shock right now.  It kind of feels like we are in a dream or something.  We are enjoying being back with family and having some American luxuries (Subway, McDonalds, milk, smooth roads, carpet, etc.) but will also miss the babies and kids at the Baby Center.  Life just doesn’t seem right when you don’t get a hundred hugs a day! ~Nicole