Father Daughter Moments like these...

Yes i just had to post these cute pictures of Baba and our sweet little girl. This was taken last week just before Anjela's bedtime. I was in the kitchen cleaning up and all of a sudden it got really quiet and I walked to the living room and this is what i found....so sweet, i just had to give them both a sweet little kiss...And if you look real closely you will see she sleeps just like her Mama...with her eyes halfway open. She doesn't want to miss anything that girl!

Happy Mother's Day

This year I celebrated my first Mother's Day and what a special day it was. I never dreamed I'd be a mother this year especially so soon and suddenly. Yes we've been trying to have our own babies for quite some time now but God decided once again to do more than we could ever imagine and bless us with an extra special bundle of Joy in an extra special way. And now, WOW, I'm very blessed with a very special new daughter and a very wonderful husband who loves me and loves to make me feel special. Though here in Kenya Mother's Day isn't really celebrated Dennis went out of his way to be sure I was honored in our family. He surprised me with a big bouquet of flowers (which in this culture isn't just an easy trip to the supermarket or florist) and invited one of the college girls, Jackie to come and take care of Anjela, so that he could take me out to dinner and bowling. What a fun night we had. It was the first time we've been out alone since we got to Kenya. That morning at church he preached a very powerful Mother's Day message to all the husbands and fathers. Needless to say there were a lot of Amen's from all the Mama's in the congregation.

Here's the bouquet i received and And if you can't read what he wrote here it is: "To the best mother in the whole world. I always knew you'd make a good Mother, i just did not know you'd be this good! You have been a good mom to Anjela and an excellent wife to me.

Thanks Babe.
Happy Mother's Day!"

What a sweet husband I have!! I praise God for him.

Beach Bum like Mama

I have always loved the beach. It is one of my very favorite places to be in the world. I love the heat and i love the sand and crashing waves. I love walking barefoot and feeling the sand between my toes. I love looking out into the vast ocean. It reminds me of what a great and powerful and beautiful Creator we serve. I've always wanted to live near the beach. And by the grace of God He has called us to a place where there is a beautiful beach not too far away. In fact, the church we are currently serving at is located right by a very beautiful beach. Two weeks ago at our first Sunday at WOL church, Anjela got to experience sand in her toes and the feel of waves on her legs for the first time in her life. I've never seen her laugh and chuckle so much. We only got to spend a few minutes there but hope to take a family outing to the beach soon. Then we can put her in her little swimsuit and let her swim. I think she's going to be a beach girl like her Mama!

Anjela Grace Slideshow

One of our favorite friends in the world, Nicole Wilson surprised us today by sending us this sweet slideshow of all the pictures we sent her of Anjela Grace. Thank you Nicole. We love you!! Anjela can't wait to meet Auntie Nicole.

Journey to Adoption?!?!?!

Thanks everyone for your prayers for us and for Anjela as we traveled!!

So here’s the update of how our trip to Western Kenya to pursue adoption of baby Anjela went. It was quite the adventure that’s for sure. Let’s just put it this way, in just the 3 weeks that Anjela has lived with us she’s slept in 6 different beds, traveled on 4 airplanes, in cars, in several squished matatus (public transport vans), on a cow, on a boda boda (bicycle taxi) with her new Mommy, and bumped around with us in a broken down pickup truck. Welcome to the life of the Omondi’s Baby!! We love the adventure most of the time and hope that you do too Anjela!

We specifically asked for prayers for the plane ride with Anjela. and God truly answered them. Anjela did exceptionally well on all 4 flights. I saved her bottle til it was time to take off and on almost every flight she sucked the bottle and then fell asleep in my arms until we landed. She is such a good baby and we were so thankful.We traveled by plane to Nairobi and then on to Kisumu the same day. We reached Kisumu in the evening almost at dark, and that’s when the adventure began. Our brother in law Harun graciously came to Kisumu to pick us up in his little pick up truck. So all 4 of us squished in the front seat and we were on our way. The baby carrier auntie Jill bought Anjela in Germany came in handy on the entire trip b/c it served as her car seat strapped on the front of Momma. The drive to Busia from Kisumu usually takes 1 ½ to 2 hours but it turned into a 5 hour adventure. The little pick up truck broke down about 3 different times in the middle of the dark but praise God not too terribly far from a Petrol Station or place that had lights. Praise God for the mechanic we found just before he was leaving too . I have to admit I was a little scared. As many of you know its not very safe to travel in the dark on Kenyan roads so we praise God for his Mighty Hand of protection on us. After reaching Busia at about midnight we decided it was safer for us to go and stay with Harun’s parents, the Onyangos (they are the couple who represented Dennis’ parents in our wedding.) for the night instead of traveling all the way to Dennis’ mom’s place. And them being the good hospitality Kenyans that they are, just had to feed us a HUGE welcome meal at midnight. Yep, beef, chicken, rice, greens, the works…and if that wasn’t enough good ole Kenyan tea just before bed. YUMMY!!

Over the next few days Dennis went to town in Busia, first trying to get Anjela’s birth certificate and find out the process of trying to adopt her. It took about two days (which was amazing) to get her birth certificate, then we started down the rabbit trail to finding out how she can legally become ours. Well, the officials in Busia town all said that this was a legitimate case b/c of the condition of both of her parents and told us that it should be pretty easy. But they weren’t sure how to handle it so they sent us on a full day’s journey to Kakamega where there is an NGO who can handle adoption cases. So off we went on a 2 ½ hour ride by matatu and then boda boda ride (bicycle taxi) to the provincial hospital there. There we met Jane, the only social worker for Child Welfare Services in the whole region. She was new at her job but helped us very much with what she knew. She sent us on another trail telling us that we would have to go through the Nairobi office which meant we needed to change our plane tickets to allow us to pass through Nairobi a few days. Leaving that office we felt a little confused. As we reached town again and were about to board a matatut she called us back and said we needed to come back because one of the head social workers of the hospital needed to meet us and talk to us. So again we took a bike back and sat and talk to the mzee (older gentleman) for another hour. He told us that there was much more we needed to do than what Jane had told us. So we ended up taking Jane, the social worker, back home with us to Busia to talk to Anjela’s parents and see the situation for herself. It got dark so of course the social worker stayed the night with us. (can you imagine that happening in the States☺) Jane left the next morning and was suppose to type up her report and send it to the Nairobi office so it would be there when we arrived the following Monday.

On Saturday we traveled 2 hours to Kisumu again to try to change our plane tickets. We stayed with our friend Sally (a former college student with us in Mombasa) in a village just outside of Kisumu and Anjela got to experience just what it was like to take a bath outside with all the other village kids and chickens.

On Sunday we got back on a plane to Nairobi and stayed with our sweet American friends Danielle and Becca who are teachers in Nairobi. We haven’t seen them since our wedding. What a joy it was to spend time with them and introduce them to Anjela. At the Nairobi Child Services office we found that Jane had yet to email her report to them and again we learned something new. Because Anjela’s parents are still living, and adoption is looked at so differently in this country, she said that legal guardianship might be the fastest and best option we have. Of course we questioned whether that would allow us to take Anjela to the States when we go for a visit but 4 days later after returning home, Felistas called us back to say she checked with the US Embassy to confirm that. So right now that’s what we have to do, hire a lawyer to file for legal guardianship for us. We have no idea how long this may take but we are trusting God. For now, we are just thankful that Anjela is living with us and has become a part of our family. She really has adapted so well.

We can’t tell you the number of stares we’ve gotten and the comments that have been made to us as we walk in town. It just adds to the amount of stares and comments I already get as an mzungu (white person)☺☺ If they all only knew that I understand what they are saying. The most interesting one so far, is when we were at the airport in Nairobi and I was carrying Anjela on my tummy in her baby carrier. One man looked at Dennis and said, “CEO’s mboch” which meant, he was telling Dennis that he must be a chief executive officer with a white house maid. The comments we get aren’t always pleasant or enjoyable but we endure and smile anyway, happy to have the love of Jesus and be together as a family.

And here’s another funny story. Yes her name is spelled ANJELA…many of you are saying, but you spelled it ANGELA when you made the announcement about her. Well you are right. But here’s what happened. When we were in Busia we had to go searching for her birth certificate. When Dennis finally got it her legal name was spelled Anjela Grase Akinyi. As Dennis was requesting a certified copy of it he tried changing it to Angela Grase, but when he went to pick it back up the next day her name was now written Anjela Grace. They obviously changed the S in Grace back to a C, but decided they didn’t want to change the J in Anjela to G. We didin’t have any remaining days to spend in Busia so we decided to just leave her name as Anjela…still pronounced Angela but she will have the Swahili version of Angela. So now she’s “Anjela with a J” She’s a unique baby with a unique story so why not have a unique name to go with it!!


Anjela is such a happy baby…that is unless she’s hungry or very sleepy. Just in the last 3 weeks that she has lived with us she has gained several pounds, is learning to scoot on her bottom, has learned to make clicking noises with her tongue, clap her hands and wave bye bye. And of course her favorite words (really just sounds right now) are Ma-ma and Ba-ba and also tow-tow which sounds like mtoto, the Swahili word for baby or child. She’s so sweet and really lures people with her smile. What a little people person she has already become as we have welcomed so many visitors in our home.

We are home

HI Everyone, Not much time to write at the moment but at least wanted everyone to know we are back in Mombasa safe and sound. We were delayed in coming home a bit cause we had to change our plans and go through the Nairobi Child Welfare Office in the capital city in the last few days. But we are fine, very tired but fine. Anjela Grace (yep thats the spelling of her name on her birth certificate we found out...long story!!) did wonderfully all on 4 planes we rode on and even on the village bikes we had to ride to get to where we were going...lots of adventure for sure..welcome to the life of the Omondis. Thanks to all those who have been praying for us..

Traveling-Please pray

We will be traveling to Busia (where Dennis' family and baby Angela is from) tomorrow (Tues.) to begin the paperwork for the adoption process of Angela at Child Services there. Because the safety of the roads from Nairobi to Busia are uncertain we will be flying to Kisumu and then taking a taxi to Busia. Please pray for the safety of our travels both flying and driving. And also pray that the process for beginning the official adoption goes smoothly! We will be returning to Mombasa on Sunday.

Karibu Nyumbani Angela Grace (Welcome Home)

Psalm 92:4

For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands

The Lord has indeed made us glad!! We are happy to be back home in the heat and humidity of Mombasa. The Lord has been so good to us in carrying us this far and as we try to settle ourselves and get adjusted back to Kenya we are excited to share with you some more exciting Omondi news…

Surprise surprise, the Omondis have a big surprise….We have a new baby girl, a 6 month old, of course not biologically our own, but as close to our own as you can get…Her name is Angela Grace and here’s the story…..

Dennis has a brother who has a condition like a mild form of cerebral palsy and his wife is also a bit slow and has epilepsy. They both function on a very young level and aren’t very responsible b/c of their disabilities. Last year they had a baby girl. We met her in November when we were with Dennis’ family in Busia. At the time we could already see that baby Angela was not being taken care of very well. We cared for her and gave her lots of love and attention. By the end of that week she was like a new baby, smiling and laughing and acting normal. At that time Dennis’ mom mentioned that she was worried about Angela and wanted to take her to Mombasa with her, but she isn’t able to b/c she is a business lady and travels between Mombasa and Kisumu so much.

In November she briefly mentioned to us that she thought it would be good if we took Angela and raised her as our own. We weren’t really expecting that it might really happen, but since then we’ve been praying about it.Dennis is the oldest son and in the Kenyan culture he feels the responsibility of taking care of his brother’s children and the rest of the family. His brother’s children are considered his too. (It’s very common for children to be raised by other relatives here, especially if they have better means of taking care of the children).

We arrived in Mombasa just two weeks ago on a Wed. evening and Dennis’ mom had already brought baby Angela back here to Mombasa that same day. She came to visit us the day after we got here.

It’s been very apparent that Dennis’ family wanted us to take her. they brought her to our house every day for her to get used to us. We’ve been praying and have felt led to take her and raise her like our own child. Since she came to live with us last Friday the 11th we’ve really fallen in love with her and she with us. She’s already very attached to Allison and her Baba (Father in Swahili) loves to feed her and give her baths in her little tub.

We know it’s a huge and sudden responsibility and we are praying for God’s wisdom, strength and guidance. It’s a little overwhelming to be instant parents to a 6 month old baby girl but we praise God it’s gone very smoothly thus far. Angela is a really good baby. We see it as a great opportunity and blessing to bring her into our home.

We have already taken her to the pediatrician to have her evaluated. All of her blood tests came back completely normal praise God. She has had all her immunizations already and developmentally she looks great. She’s a great eater and sleeper!!! She has a small problem with her neck which causes her head to tilt to one side. It’s nothing serious, just something called torticollis; a muscle tightening that we hope a little physical therapy will help. We will be taking her to the physical therapist each week for a month and then we will be doing the therapy at home for her.

Right now she is living with us at our home and we are her guardians. (That just a normal thing in Kenya, and there are no questions asked since its family) We do plan to legally adopt her and will be pursuing that in the next week or two. The doctor at the hospital says it should be a fairly easy thing to do since she is Dennis’ niece. We would have to take a long trip to Busia and go to child services there with his brother and his wife and do paperwork. After that process, we have to get her a visa and passport and we can then bring her to America whenever we come. She will legally be our daughter and the first born Omondi child:)

SO THAT’S THE BIG NEWS!!! WOW. We are still in a little shock that we have an instant baby...not 9 months to prepare for one:) but she is a very beautiful, sweet and smiley baby. (When she’s not hungry, tired or wet:):)

Pray for us as we adjust to SO MANY things all at once!!! God has certainly been good to us and shown us so much grace as He has given us our own little Angela Grace!!

There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.
Psalm 86:8-9
Bath time in her blue tub

Sweet baby!!This is the little couch bed we rigged for her and her little mosquito net beside our bed until we can find a resonably priced bed for her. She loves it and she's a great sleeper.

She loves her new Mzungu Mama

This is her first bath at our home

Dinner time!!

Chaos in Kenya again...

You will probably hear or have already heard that there has been a bit of chaos in the central and rift valley parts of Kenya. We have seen the news yes it is going on. We are not affected and it is not related to the election this time but on a sect of people from the Kikuyu tribe called the Mungiki.

Mungiki is a politico-religious group and a banned criminal organization in Kenya. The name means "A united people" or "multitude" in the Kikuyu language. The religion, which apparently originated in the late 1980s, is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. Specifics of their origin and doctrines are unclear. What is clear is that they favor a return to indigenous African traditions and reject Westernization and all trappings of colonialism. This includes rejection of Christianity, and the practice by the Mungiki of forced female genital cutting. The ideology of the group is characterized by revolutionary rhetoric, Kikuyu traditions, and a disdain for Kenyan modernization, which is seen as immoral corruption.

Well their leader was arrested a few years back for illegal possession of fire arms. His wife was kidnapped and murdered this week and the followers are out to revenge. When their leader was arrested the government took over his palatial home in Nairobi. His followers have vowed to burry his wife at this home that is now government property. So the Mungiki people have been out destroying people’s property and causing traffic jams all over Nairobi by hijacking big trucks and using them to block the highways in hopes that the Govt will release their leader and let them burry the wife in this Nairobi house owned by the Govt now.

We are safe in Mombasa and we don’t live in fear since Mungiki sect in mostly confined to the central and rift valley parts of the country. We have missionaries in Nairobi that work in some worst hit areas and they have had to stay low for a little bit.

Other than that we are trying to keep up with the current events and live as wisely here in Mombasa as best as we know how.

Our First Day in Kenya

Yes praise God, we did get to Mombasa safely Wednesday night. This is the first time we've been able to get on internet. We didn't think our internet still worked because we canceled it before we left but Dennis turned on his computer a little while ago and and somehow we have a little (but very, very, extremely slow) connection. Go figure...hope we aren't being charged....its a little after 3am in the morning and yes i'm still awake...jet lag is really bad this time..so i'll just write until i fall asleep...hope you enjoy our adventures...wish yall were here:)

Our flight was long but pretty uneventful which was good....and all of our 7 bags got here amazingly. (2 of them were ripped open but so far we aren't missing anything that we know of)....This is a huge praise. Thanks Phyllis for personally praying that for us!. Our adventures continued at the VISA counter in Nairobi when I went through the citizen line with Dennis (thats what we were told last time to do) thinking i wouldn't get charged for a VISA cause we are applying for a dependent pass for me. But guess what...it didn't happen the way they said...go figure...and I had to go all the way back in the long VISA line to get a $50 VISA...and surprise suprise...we didn't have any US cash on us....so Dennis went to the ATM down at baggage while I stood there and he came back with Kenyan shillings of course...and then the guys at the counter REFUSED to take Kenyan money so Dennis had to go to the exchange desk cash the shillings in for US dollars. hmm....Kenyans won't receive their own money in their own country. All we could do was laugh and say Welcome Home to Kenya!!! and the famous...T.I.A (for those of you who have lived in Africa...ya know what that means:)

I was a little nervous about driving in the dark (a neighbor picked us up) from airport to home with 7 big bags just laying in the back of a pickup but I prayed the whole way and God truly protected us...

Of course our adventures continued on as we got home to to find nothing working(not really a super surprise though. Made for some more good laughs)....the water pump was broken so we took good cool basin baths, the fridge is broken and still doesn't work after calling several electricians today,(that was a story in itself watching them with a torch lamp near our gas stove trying to weld something behind the fridge), the light in the bathroom refuses to work even with a new bulb, the toilet wont' flush, and the car's battery is completely dead with 4, yes i said 4 flat tires!! and I think i'll stop there.....I can't help but laugh again......and praise God He has graciously given us good attitudes through it all!! We are very blessed and having a blast.

So needless to say my wonderful husband spent most of his day tending to these chores to get things fixed while i tried to filter a bunch of drinking water, put a few things away, and very tiredly but joyfully (thank you God for your grace in that) welcomed Dennis' Mom, another friend, and his little 6 month old niece Angela Grace in our home, as well as several other people who came by to pay us a welcome visit.

It reached 6:30pm and we don't have any food in the house yet and its not like we can order something from fast food so i had to just get some chopped beef from a shop close by and some onions, garlic , tomato and green pepper from the little veggie stand on our road, and made some ground meat for dinner along with a few potatoes...it wasn't half bad for a throw together meal....and i even used my pampered chef potato peeler thingy to make the potatoes stringy. Betty, my sweet friend came over just around dinner time so she helped in the kitchen as well and had a nice dinner with us. it was so good to spend some time catching up.

Then as we were getting ready for bed our adventures for the day continued...We thought we were going to be waking up our neighbor to borrow his car to head to the hospital for some stitches...at midnight. A bunch of our frames and a mirror broke in our luggage and somehow some of the pieces got on the floor and we didn't know it...until my foot found it tonight and it a big chunk went straight in. I looked down in pain and there was blood squirting out the bottom of my foot....and it hurtlike junk. What was so bad was my feet were awfully dirty from walking around the house barefooted all day. I managed to sit down and Dennis just jerked the piece of glass out. I held pressure for a long time, then just let go to rinse it out with "clean" (ha ha) water from the tap...Then finally i was able to stick some antibiotic cream and some steri strip and bandaid on it. I think its ok for now...but will watch and pray it doesn't get infected!!

So how was that for a Great Welcome to Kenya day!! And I have to say, as many know, Mombasa is really hot and humid, but graciously allowed us to get here during the "cooler" season so its not as hot as when we left in December...only in the 80s and praise God the power has been on all day and our fans are working!!!!

Hope yall enjoyed my long but fun blog post...sorry if its just a lot of blabbering...it is now 3:40 in the morning and i must make myself go to sleep.-----Allison

One Week from Today

We can't believe it...just one week from today and we'll check into the airport with our one way tickets in hand and be on a flight back to Kenya. Wow. Its so hard to believe how time flies and how God brings things to pass so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that we were praying so hard that Dennis would be able to get through immigration and into the States in time for our wedding day 9 months ago. And now all of our support has been raised and we are headed to where and what God has called us both to do. What an amazing journey it has been let me tell you!!!! Our entire relationship and now marriage has been one big journey, and one transition after another. Its been fun and crazy and stressful all at the same time. And now with one week left in the States comes more excitement, joy, some more stress, and lots of mixed emotions.

Even with the excitement of finally being ready to go, the Goodbyes and see you laters are never easy and the anticipations and unknowns of whats ahead can be a little overwhelming. But one thing i know for sure, God has been with us through it all, and He is the one that has called us to go, and He is going with us, and He will never leave us. He has been our Rock and our ONE and ONLY consistency! No matter how many more transitions and how many more changes come our way HE NEVER CHANGES and HE WILL NEVER CHANGE! And for this I praise HIM and am thankful. ---Allison

We certainly relate to the conversation Moses had with God in Exodus 33:15-17

Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth." The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

Please pray for Word of Life Staff

We received the following email from Word of Life Mombasa, our ministry friends and partners in Ukunda. Please keep them in your prayers!!! This is the location of where Dennis and I met and where Dennis will be preaching in the coming months.

Brethren,
Three staff houses on our property in Mombasa were reduced to ashes this morning at about 10am in the morning.We suspect the course of the fire to be an electrical fault, but this is subject to confirmation.Police and the Kenya Power Lighting company are still investigating to know the course.

We are thankful to the Lord since all the staff and family are safe.

PLEASE PRAY

• For the three affected families{Jonathan &Florence,Alphonse &Irene , Nyae & Sophia and all their children who are traumatized.
• Pray that God will give Juddy &me and Patrick&Esther wisdom to counsel and encourage them from the word of God.
• Pray for immediate needs of this families .They have lost everything from clothing,Utensils, furniture and important personal documents.
• Please feel free to call me for details we will send you any more detail in the near future.

We have put them in our cottages as we trust God to rebuild the houses.The damage was so much.
Until the nets are full,
Peter

Serve Kenya 2008-Video

Here's the latest short video Dennis put together to share about our mission and values as Serve International Kenya.

Kenya- Land of Extremes

Here's a neat video our teammate Jill put together for the missions conference at Denton Bible in January. She's a great video creator and has made several videos for our team. Here's links to some of our favorites:

Kenya 24-7

An Evening with the College Ministry

Kenya, East Africa 2005 Mission trip to Ujamaa

If you want to see more of her videos click HERE

Bitter sweetness

Our time here in N.C. has been very good so far. We've been in Hickory where my Dad lives for much of the time but have been in Charlotte visiting my mom, sister, and friends as well. We've visited several people and spent time with family and a little time packing already. Its been such a bitter sweet time for us. We are so excited about our return to Kenya but at the same time sad to be leaving family and so many wonderful friends back in the States. Its been so emotional for me as I play with my niece and nephews and it hits me that I won’t see them for a long time. It almost brings me to tears, but i've done good about holding it in in front of them. It really is starting to hit me that we are about to go. Bitter sweet is the only way to describe it...excitement about going and yet so sad to be leaving at the same time. Its overwhelming at times! We will be headed to Raleigh, NC on Tuesday of this week and be there for a little over a week before we head back to Charlotte to finish packing and get on the plane. Here's some of the fun times we've had so far...---Allison

Allison's nephew Allen, Niece Shelby and Nephew Carter. They are all so special to us.

Allison with her sister and brother. Karen and Kevin are twins.

Out to dinner with Dad and Stepmom

With Great Aunt Sue, Great Uncle Sid, and Great Uncle Fred. Sid and Fred are Allison's late grandfather's siblings. These are just two of 10 children. We had such a great time visiting with Uncle Sue and Aunt Dot and Uncle Fred, catching up on our family. We had a sweet time of fellowship and memories with them. They have Jesus shining all over them.

Dennis with Bradley, Allison's best friend Marcy's son. Check out that hair!!

With Gloria and Gary Nance and Marcy and Bradley Sykes...long time friends and faithful encouragers and supporters.

With the Swanger family, a dear and sweet family very near and dear to Allison's heart. She began babysitting the kids when the middle child, Patrick was two weeks old, and she was there when the youngest, Caroline was born. She lived with them while she was in nursing school. And now the kids are becoming teenagers. The oldest Erika, just got her drivers license.