April 2017

Our rains have slowed and I have been spending more time at House of Faith.  I am preparing for a very busy seven months ahead.  Cleaning,sorting preparing planning and I am thankful things are coming together.  The shipment of clothing The Celebration Center sent the children in December of last year is again a Hugh blessing with hooded sweatshirts, warm Pajamas, underwear and socks. Our May Engedi Team will be bringing warm clothes so I am thankful I will not have to do a lot of market shopping this year.  67 children is a large number to find clothes for.  They where so excited picking their clothes.  We have them packed in a bag in the mothers rooms until mid May when the seasons change to winter for us here and when I start getting very very busy.  School just let out for first term and will go back on May 12th. Then I start paying school fees again for the Orphan School program and maybe organizing for warm blankets for the 156 orphan feeding program children.  

Chipigeo will be two in June and was so excited to receive his big boy pants :) Thanks Celebration Center!

We have had BEE's in the Activity Center at House of Faith for over a year now.  We had asked several people if they could help us remove them, they said yes but never came.  With so much activity taking place with teams this year we pushed to keep asking.  Mr Gideon was asked a year ago to help but he said he was told they left so he did not come.  The first night he went into the crawl space on the team room size of the building he stayed up there over an hour and decided he needed to make another plan.  The next night he came I tried to talk him out of it.  He shared there were 1,000's of bees under the rafter near the edge of the building making it very hard to reach.  Our night worker arrived along with Justine and they decided it was the night for the bees to leave.  I could not stay in the room while they were trying to get the bees so I walked the grounds praying.  1 1/2 hours later still no bees leaving.  After three hours two pans of comb and honey full of bees came down and so many angry bees outside.....  They shared the Queen was very smart and they felt they did not remove her but would give it a couple of days to see if she would fly away since they robbed her. 

The next morning they came to take a look and there were 100's  on the outside and they felt the queen would fly but the second day they had gone back inside.  They are making a plan to get the queen to leave.  Very brave men..... 

The Activities/Guest building at House of Hope is still moving and we are shopping this week for sinks, toilets, shower heads, wiring, light fixtures etc in Lusaka.  Keep praying it will be ready for teams...    

Victor, Royal and Baby Faith went with us for Therapy this month and Frances felt things are moving.  He suggested a couple of changes for Royal and we now have him in a different wheel chair that his body and legs can be in a more upright position and longer times in the leg braces.   This month Royal also was found at the bedroom door way!  He had done an army style crawl and was making his way to the Living room.  Mama Daisy was shocked to find him there.  He was laughing and smiling BIG at what he had done.  About a week later Mama Daisy found he had rolled over in his bed, again Royal was laughing and smiling.  Keep Royal in your prayers to continue to move forward in every way possible. 

Victor is very moody and I have found when I talk with him and  encourage him first before I try to get him to do something it works much better .  He needs time to think about things before he is ask to do them :)  He did show Frances he could walk pretty well with the walker. Problem is we don't have one of these at HOF.  He just uses a small chair turned around.  It works... 

With our little Faith her right leg and foot is kinda turned outward.  He told us not to be to worried right now and as she continued to learn to walk he felt it would correct it self but that she has flat feet.  She will walk differently than most children.  Exciting morning but everything was good. 

Money has been given for a toilet /shower building for teams at House of Faith. Michael went out this week to lay the building out.  We are hoping our June team with Creative Ministries will finish the building if the construction team can get the walls up and septic  system built and ready.  We will see.......

Michael's newest Mot Mot class in Bbilili is averaging 55 or 60 people in the class  each day.  He ask for 30 leaders but feels he can't turn people excited away right now.  Keep this new class in your prayers. 

Well for the middle of April we have been receiving clouds and showers after a three week dry spell.  So our roads in and out of the village have been messy again.  No flooded rivers :)

 Because  our winter here is a couple of months of COLD I normally give out coats to the children and then collect them wash and store for next years cold  time, they are still in very good shape and can be reused. This year we have been told by our  Zambian weather station that it will be a very cold winter becasue of all the rains we received.  I needed another 10 coats at House of Faith and after speaking with Mama Lizzy at House of Hope we decided to buy coats for the children this year even in the HOT valley area. Michael and I were there yesterday and it was the first  time in a long time I was not HOT.  Market shopping for coats is not to hard but finding small coats for our under 3's is difficult.  I was blessed to final find what I needed after a few hours walking checking each stall selling coats. I will now wash them and send them out.

Our building crew at House of Faith have finished the digging for the foundation  for our new  team bath house.  I am wondering what my husband is up to ...  the center of the foundation looks very different. 

Michael and Golden spent time together yesterday making sure things are on track with the activities/guest building at House of Hope.  They have been delayed becasue there was no cement in the area becasue of the road problem in the mountains where an area washed out.  Traffic or large trucks are now moving with limited loads in and out now that they have prepared the off road much better.  They are preparing for a large pour of cement for three floors soon and they need a few sheets of tin to finish the roofs.  I sat in the large room yesterday thinking the best way to lay it out for a kitchen, dinning and relaxing area the children can also learn in.....  Decisions will be made soon.   We are still praying to house two groups there in July.  We did buy toilets, sinks, shower heads plumbing and a kitchen sink while in Lusaka this month.  It's exciting to see it come together. 

At Christmas our housemothers where given a special gift from a very special person stateside to show appreciation for their hard work and love caring for orphans.  Mama Lizzy used her gift to plant corn.  She was so excited to show me a part of her harvest yesterday.  7 ox carts full.....   She had someone build her a bin to store it in and it was too small for her harvest.  The bin is FULL and she told me she still has 4 ox carts in the field...  She will be able to feed her extended family all year with this blessing.... 

Mama Daisy called me with sad news of a mother passing away and that the family needed our help.   We gave a tin of infant formula a bottle and instructions on how to feed the baby and how to clean the bottle and nipple and shared they had to go to their District SW office. About a week when the formula was finished they came back with news they had to see another district and they did not have transport money.  They only live about 5 km from House of Faith.  I called our Social Welfare office and it was decided we could help the baby until the age of 2 years when it  should be returned back to the family after the need of special foods and care are finished.  The father was very happy he would be able to visit his little girl nearby as she grows.  Her name is Tracy and she is 2 months old. 

Please keep our BEE situation in your prayers...  They are still there, not in the 1000s but now in the 100s.  A plan is being put into place and we are hoping they will find another home before our May team arrives.  We are preparing for our first teams arrival coming mid May.  

ROYAL
The wheelchair Royal was put in at Therapy is not working well for him.  I found this in Lusaka and money is being raised by Global Orphan Relief  to get Royal the chair he needs.  Please pray and help if you can.  The cost is $600.00 for the chair and at this time $300 has been raised.  There are only two right now in the country and one can be sent to Livingstone for us when the money has been raised.