So it turns out Malaria is definitely something to avoid. Good news is I am feeling much better now. I feel almost completely back to normal. Still a little tired, but that’s all. I am back to doing nursing stuff with the kids during the day and it is so nice being up and out of bed again.
Jeremy is doing great with his duties at the church and helping around the baby center. He is also learning to be more tolerant of being peed on as well, which is vital when living with 29 kids/babies.
Once or twice a week I am going to try and start posting a picture of a child and what we know of their background and some general information about them (that is if our internet cooperates). Some of them have such interesting stories and really are survivors of unbelievable circumstances.
For the most part we stay busy enough that we are not terribly homesick, but there are times we just miss so many things and people. We are anxiously waiting to hear news from Brad & Erin about our new niece or nephew who will probably be born in the next few weeks. And after that Keith & Jenn will be getting little Collin Bradley. We are really excited about the new little arrivals and wish we could be there when they are born, sometimes pictures just aren't enough. ~Nicole

Malaria.....yuck

Hi everyone, I am writing this post from bed right now and still wondering how I managed to contract Malaria after only 2 weeks in Kenya. Really bad luck I guess. My family always jokes that if someone is going to get some weird disease, it will be me. I seem to attract these sorts of things.
I am slowly starting to feel better. Fevers are now consistently staying down between 100 – 101 degrees now, so that’s a nice change. I just remain really lethargic and achy. I am able to keep food down now as well.
It was actually kind of a relief on Thursday when we went to the hospital and had my blood drawn and were told that I had Malaria. Up until that point we didn’t know what was happening. At least once we knew what it was we could do something about fixing it. Malaria is the number one killer in Africa, and now I can definitely understand why. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford to go to the hospital and pay for tests, exams, and treatment. Most people here don’t have that privilege. Jeremy has been wonderful taking care of me. I don't know what I would have done without him.
Thanks everyone for all the prayers and support. We will keep you updated. ~Nicole

So Nicole’s introduction to Kenyan life has not been very pleasant so far. Though all the people have been wonderful to us, Nicole has already experienced the wonders of Kenyan food poisoning. At least, that is what we think caused her 30 hours of severe diarrhea and vomiting during our first week. We have also just found out that the fever, chills, severe stomach and joint pain that she has begun to become very familiarity with these past several days turn out to be the symptoms from malaria that a kind mosquito has decided to donate to her. Despite all that she has gone through, she still has been able to keep a positive attitude most of the time. I am so proud of how she has handled everything. We just got back from the hospital a few hours ago with medication, and she has finally been able to fall asleep, so she should be feeling better soon. We would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery and that Nicole can recover her strength and health. ~ Jeremy

I did my devotional today after finding out that Nicole had malaria, and this verse really stood out to me.
“We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe the truth, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people.” 1 Tim 4:10.
May this verse be an encouragement to Nicole and many others when they experience suffering in the midst of their ministry.

Gasoline Tanker Fire

Yesterday Pastor Meshack and I had the chance to go to the site of the recent gasoline tanker fire. It happened not too far from the baby center. Pastor Meshack is the new senior pastor at the Ngata African Gospel Church next to the baby center, where I am currently helping out with the youth. The site was very sad. We talked with one individual who lost one of his nephews. The place was devistated. The area burnt was something like the length of a football field. I have read that at least 120 people were killed. What I have also heard is that the tanker had flipped over. Then, people heard about it and came to take the fuel to sell. The local police, so I have heard, were charging people to take oil in order to make a profit themselves. One of the men got angry at a policeman and decided to light a match, which of course lit everything. I think they are going to have a mass burial site of many of the bodies because so many could not be identified. Hopefully, the local churches will be able to meet the needs of the victims' families. Next week our church is meeting with another local church to do a counseling seminar to help equip the leaders in the area to help the families. Our prayers are with them. ~Jeremy

Well, we have arrived and we finally have internet...sort of. It has definitely been a huge adjustment. We knew we were in Africa when we found a big bottle of spray for killing bugs next to our bed where we stayed the first night in Nairobi. We have begun settling in and have much to tell about our first two weeks. Everyone here has made us feel very welcome and at home. We want to especially thank Jamie, Stacie, Wycliff, Margie and all the other missionaries we have met so far that have been so helpful with our transition. We really appreciate all that they have done for us. We hope to be able to upload pictures soon and will give more detail in the next few days about our trip so far. We want to also thank you all for your prayers and support.

Packing AHHHHHHHHHH

After a weeks worth of running around like crazy, we are finally finished packing (hopefully)! It has been quite the experience trying to figure out how to pack for a year. The missionaries in Kenya have been extremely helpful in advising us on things to bring. Nicole, of course, has taken the brunt of the load with all the planning. I am just the work horse and just do what I am told. It works out much better that way as she has been so organized and has done a terrific job. Typically what has happened through this whole process has been that I, (the one with ADD), would start to panic as a thought came flooding into my mind among about 10 other thoughts (that is why I often will look confused or in a daze as my mind works a little differently) about something we really needed to take care of right away. I would then rush off to tell Nicole and would undoubtedly find that she had already thought and taken care of whatever we needed to do. She has been truly wonderful through this whole process of raising funds and planning. I am grateful to have her as my partner as we take this journey together. So after about 20 hours of packing over the past few days in addition to the couple of hours of weighing bags tonight and moving a few shoes and other items from one bag to another and back again, (one shoe even went into my guitar case, which turns out to stabilize the guitar quite well. who knew!) we have our bags packed full, and I mean full!!!! Nicole had to leave as I was stressing her out because our bags are probably going to literally burst somewhere over the Atlantic. We are so grateful for how supportive our families have been and have been EXTREMELY blessed by the generosity of so many friends and family, who have supported us through prayer and financial donations. God has already increased our faith as we had to trust that the money would come in when we both resigned and had less than half of the support we needed. We now have enough to go at least 9 months! We want to thank you all again for making this trip possible and for joining together with us in the ministry at the AGC baby center. We have had a mix of emotions as we are both anxious and excited that our departure date is finally here, but it has also been difficult to say goodbye to so many that we love. We are also quite nervous, but as a close friend reminded me recently, we have to first step out of the boat before we will walk on water. We continue to ask for prayer for wisdom, courage, and strength as we continue to say goodbye to the rest of our family over the next two days. ~ Jeremy

We finally have our leave date for Kenya!!! We are going to be leaving at 5:00PM on Tuesday, January 20th. We will be flying through London and arriving in Kenya January 21st! We are excited and also nervous about leaving. Currently we are scheduled to return to the U.S. on October 20th, but that is subject to change. We will try our best to keep this page updated while in Kenya. We are so grateful for all of the support and prayers that we have received and we are going to miss friends and family A LOT while we are away.