18 November, 2012

   We have had another very full week. We traveled to Nairobi on this past Thursday to complete paperwork for Dana and Carson on their visa's. That is an adventure that is very hard to explain, and we are very happy it is over.
   We also went to Aga Khan University Hospital for Dana's annual check-up from her cancer. We are so pleased to announce that the test came back favorable, 5 years cancer free, PRAISE GOD!!! They were so very good to us there. Dana was able to share some of her story with the staff, and tell them why we are in Kenya. She got a text this morning from one of the staff at the hospital, an amazing connection God has given her.
   We also have had many visitors this week. One of the visitors was the father of the twins, Naomi and Jonathon. This was his second trip here to see the kids. He is so appreciative of the care his children are getting. He also brought us onions and potatoes from his farm. It was such a wonderful expression of love to us that has really encouraged us.
   We had a team come from some local colleges that prepared meals for the kids and the staff and helped out with many small projects around the Baby Centre.
   Then this morning we had a group of women come from a church in Njoro. One of our caregivers attends the church and she had invited them. It was a wonderful example of the vision that we see spreading throughout the community. When I asked them how many had been to the Baby Centre before, none of them had. Before the end of the tour, half of the women were in tears. They had no idea what the Baby Centre was about. They spent a lot of time just holding and loving on all the children.  They assured us that though this was the first time they were here, it would not be the last.  They plan on returning to spend more time with the children and to bring some more much needed supplies.
   Days just fly by with all the busyness of the Baby Centre, the many visitors, and the other projects that are on-going.  It is hard for us to believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!  We ask for prayers as this will be a difficult time for us with being away from our four kids (son-in-law included), our parents and our siblings.   (We will definitely take this opportunity of our families being together to plan on skyping with them so that will be wonderful! Technology can be a great thing!)  We will celebrate here at the Baby Centre first on Wednesday by cooking a meal for the entire staff.  Then, on Thanksgiving day we will celebrate with Staci, Wycliff & kids, April, and Jim & Alice with the usual Thanksgiving day meal!
   We are thankful for our families, friends, and for everyone that is interested in this ministry and all that God is doing here.  Thank you for your continued support and for staying in touch through our blog.

Blessings,
D&D

11 November 2012

    We have been very busy at the AGC Baby Centre over the last two weeks.  We have received 11 babies over the last 13 days. Not all of them are infants, some are here for protective custody.  We thank God for a staff here at the Baby Centre that are versatile and willing to go the extra mile to accommodate these little ones at a moments notice.  We have also been working with the staff on efficiencies and procedures to make life better for the children and more smooth for the staff.
     Below is little Joshua K. that joined us just on Friday.  He is a sweetheart and weighs a little over
13 lbs. and is around 5 months old.  Please remember to keep Joshua K. in your prayers.

Joshua K.

Pastor Bones, Staci and Dan 

     This past Thursday we welcomed Pastor Anthony Bones to the Baby Centre to preside over the installation of the new administration.  Pastor Bones is the Pastor of Good Shepard AGC in Nairobi and is the Vice-Chairperson of the Baby Centre board.  In the process we now have a new organizational structure which is set up for the long term growth of the Baby Centre.  We have installed two new managers in the new structure.  Emanuel is now the Business Manager, and Robert is the Ministry Manager.  Please pray for this new management as we move forward.  We will be saying more about this in the weeks to come.  Staci also transfered the Directorship of the Baby Centre to Dan. This is bittersweet for all of us here.  We all know that God's timing is perfect, and He has brought us all here to this time.  We do thank Staci for all of her years of service and the heart that she displays for these babies every day.  We will miss her and Wycliffe, Gifton, Solomon, and Eliana.
     Also this last Saturday we travelled to Nairobi for a farewell party for Terry and Karen Duncan as they prepare to leave Kenya.  They have been such an inspiration to all of us and they will be sorely missed.
     Today was the opening of the Africa Gospel Church Nakuru Region.  The Bishop Robert Langat was here and presided over the ceremony.  It is part of the church's strategic plan to spread the Gospel throughout this country to every tribe and tongue.  Some of our Baby Centre kids had a part in the program.  They danced and sang and recited a poem.  They all did so well and were so excited about performing (I hope to post a video of them practicing at another time).

Some of the Baby Centre kids singing & dancing today.

Bishop Robert Langat

     We thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  Thank you for continuing to read our blog and stay updated with what is happening in this ministry.

Blessings,

D&D

Thank you Babu Bill

    As we write tonight it is with very mixed feelings. We are so very sad at our loss here on earth of Bill Dearmon, however celebrate with him knowing he has been fully healed now and is with our Savior forever. The impact that Bill and Melody made on this community is tremendous. I have spoken with many of the staff over the last few days, and have heard many stories of how they and their families were impacted by what Bill and Melody started. The AGC Baby Centre not only rescues the little ones that are abandoned all over Kenya, but provides jobs for a large number of people in the community. It also reaches into the economy of the Nakuru area in all of the business we do with the local merchants.
   God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Thank you to Bill and Melody for hearing God's call and saying yes to His leading. This past week has really been a good representation of why the Baby Centre is here. We have had 6 children come to us over the last eight days. Four of them have been a week old or less. Almost every one of these would have surely died if there had not been a place of refuge for them. Thank you to all of you who play such an important part in continuing the legacy that Bill and Melody started. Below are two pictures of babies that you may have already seen.

 
Here is Billy Ray(left) and Melody Ann the two latest additions to the Baby Centre.                                         




Please pray with all of us here in Kenya for the Dearmon family as they grieve the passing of Bill. He will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.

     Blessings,
     D & D

Tiny Additions

     Just when you think it is going to be a quiet day...meet our newest, very little, very precious, additions at AGC Baby Centre. They are Naomi and twin brother Jonathon.  They are just 4 days old.  Naomi weighs 3lbs.12oz. and Jonathon weighs 4lbs.4oz.  Their mother passed away just two days after delivering them.  Please join us in praying for these little ones to start eating well and begin gaining weight.

Jonathon

Naomi

Naomi and Jonathon all snuggled up keeping warm

     We are thanking the Lord for their young lives and that He has placed us here and given us the resources to be able to care for them and make them strong and thrive.

     These are days that put life in perspective for all of us. We feel like things aren't going the way we want them to, or we feel like we are having a very difficult day, and then this. Seeing people dealing with life and death issues, seeing two young lives that are very fragile. We are so thankful for God's provision in this place. These last two days have strongly reaffirmed why we are here, and why the Baby Centre exists. Thank you for your continued support of the Baby Centre and us.

Blessings
D & D

New Home, Friends and Nairobi

     Hi everyone!  Wanted to post a quick update to let you know everything that has been going on these last few days.
     As you read earlier Jamie & Jolinda were here for a Board Meeting and for a visit.  We were so blessed to have them with us.  Today we had to take them to the airport for their flight out back to the states.  Wow, that was really very difficult.  Not the drive, but saying goodbye to them, that was very, very hard.  It was so nice having someone from home being with us here in Kenya.
     While they were here they helped us move into our new home on the Baby Centre compound.  We slept there last night and it was so nice.  It will be good to have a little place to try to get away for some quite time (something that doesn't happen very often).  We were so thankful for Jamie & Jolinda's help, and for the workers at the Baby Centre's help with moving all our stuff.  It will be good to finally be settled in our home.  We have started unpacking everything now and finding a place for it all.
     Right now we are in Nairobi staying at Robyn Moore's house for the night.  She was so sweet to let us come and stay with her after dropping Jamie & Jolinda at the airport. We will be doing some paperwork in Nairobi tomorrow. Then we will head back to the Baby Centre in the afternoon.
    Next week we will start the process at the Baby Centre of reorganizing the management. It is an exciting time of bringing some very talented people into the mix of the top management. We are looking forward to seeing God's plans unfold. We are starting on several new projects. We will be able to update you on them next week. These are very exciting times at the Baby Centre. We have seen the local church really step up in the last few weeks by bringing donations of food and money, it has been very encouraging.
     Thank you all for reading, for praying, and for being an encouragement to us.

Blessings,
D&D

20 October 2012 Blog

     It has been awhile since our last post.  There has been so much happening here at the AGC Baby Centre.  If you are connected to the Baby Centre Facebook page you will know that we had two babies adopted on Friday.  It is always wonderful and humbling to see the children bond with their adoptive parents.  To see these families that the Lord has brought together makes our hearts full of joy and thankfulness that He has given us the opportunity to play a small part in their lives.

Rael and her mommy, daddy, and big sister

Susan with her mommy and daddy

     We've been busy here with a lot of groups that have come by to help out by having a work day, or just coming to learn more about the Baby Centre and the children that are here.  They have all been a blessing to us, to the Baby Centre staff, and to the children.   There were college students from Kabarak University that came last weekend and helped out by doing a lot of cleaning around the centre.  They all worked very hard for the entire day!  Not to mention they gave up a Saturday to come.  Below are a few photos from that day.

     We also want to continue to introduce you to staff members.  Christine has been employed at the Baby Centre for 6 years.  She holds a Diploma in Business Administration and serves as the Baby Centre’s Bookkeeper/Receptionist.

    Christine says “being a ministry to the little children I enjoy working here and see the amazing transformation upon their lives as they come in and as they join wonderful families.  I have learned  a lot working with the babies since I started as a caregiver.  I love those little friends who cherish my heart daily.  I feel blessed working here, as a church based institution, it is a service to the Lord!”

     Christine has a wonderful attitude and always has a smile to welcome you.  She is a blessing to the Baby Centre and we are thankful that she is a part of the team.  Please remember to pray for Christine.

     Last week we were blessed with our good friends, Jamie & Jolinda, coming for a visit.  We have been having such a good with them, and are very happy that they are here.  We have many things to accomplish while they are here so please pray for clear minds and abundant time to do what needs to be done.

     Please pray for the upcoming board meeting that is on this next Tuesday.  There are a lot of decisions to be made in the next few weeks as we move forward with some exciting changes coming to the B.C.

     Thank you again for staying connected with us.

Blessings,

D&D

School's Out

  We have finished our first three weeks of language school and are looking forward to the break. The last three weeks have been very intense. Our Kiswahili teacher Jacken has been great! He said that we are doing great. We will continue in January with our intermediate and advanced classes. It is intersting to go to church now and understand most of what they are saying. Carson is doing excellent and he can actually converse in Swahili already. Dana and I are a little behind him.
  As school has been going on, we still have had many other things going on as well. We have had sickness at the AGC Baby Centre with many babies having viruses. We cleaned the entire BC this last Saturday from top to bottom, Todd Eckhardt and Bill Bucher were here and helped out with carrying beds back in. They were also here in country to launch the Africa Gospel Church Men with Vision Chapter. We met to look at the MWV project for 2013. It will be a new training complex out next to water project in Salgaa.
  We are working on some updates on babies that will come out this week in our newsletter. We are also continuing to work on new projects at the BC. I look forward to showcasing some of these in the next few weeks. We have met with a Biogas company and are working with them to install one here at the BC to take care of all of the kitchen gas needs. These are some of the small steps we are taking towards self-sustainability.
  We praise God for being with us through language school these last three weeks. We praise God for watching over the babies and His healing touch upon them. We thank God for our guards and the protection they provide for all of us each night. We thank God for our prayer warriors. We thank God for our financial team members.
  Please continue to pray for us, missing family and friends. We also dearly miss our church family. Pray as we continue with changes and transitions here at the BC. We are re-organizing the office, and going through many operational changes, we pray for guidance and wisdom. We have some wonderful people here at the BC, and are looking forward to seeing how God uses their gifts, talents and abilities to further our ministry here.
  Blessings,
  D & D