Good News and Looking forward!!!

Introducing Betty, Our Newest Housemother

Thank you to the many people who have prayed for a Godly un-married woman to take the place of Rachel and be the new housemother to her precious children,  Knowing that they had lost so much (even more so now with the loss of Rachel) we knew that this was crucial to them feeling safe, secure, and loved.  We prayed (and asked you to pray along with us) for many months and in just the right time, God provided Betty.  She is young, energetic, hard working, often laughing, and has had a very teachable and humble heart.  The children and housemothers love her and so far she seems to have been the perfect fit.  Please continue to lift her up as being a full time mother to so many precious children has a lot of challenges.  Please continue to pray for her heart and energy to be filled by God so that she can be giving out of her excess to help heal and restore these precious children.

Side note – Ruth Update

Little Ruth continues to amaze us every day.  She will be turning 3 at the end of the month and has just about fully caught up with her peers in all areas of development, – physically, she is walking, running, jumping, and even climbing the rock wall at the preschool, she is loving her new housemother Betty and is showing great attachment there, and emotionally is dong great as well.  What an encouragement to see a life so transformed and changed by the grace of God.  We feel privileged and truly honored to have been chosen by God to be a part of it. 

Another Family to Join us!!!

We are so happy to be able to finally announce that Nate and Melanie Sweerin (along with their infant daughter Natalie) joined our MOL family here in April.  They have committed to spending a year with us and we are very glad to have them back here with us again.  Many of you might remember that Nate spent a total of 6 months with us here over two summers (in 2009 and 2010) and Melanie joined him for his time in 2010.  They were such a huge blessing to us then – Nate with his ability to fix vehicles, strong back, enthusiastic hard working spirit, and general handiness and Melanie with her love for people, servants heart and service of helps.  In fact they were both here when we arrived our first newborn baby, Genesis, born 6 weeks premature at only 2 kgs (4 lbs).  We didn’t know if she would make it but Melanie took her on, keeping her body warm by kangarooing her and waking up to feed her every 2 – 4 hours!  It is largely in part a tribute to Melanie’s care that Genesis is a happy active 2 1/2 year old now!

Now we eagerly look forward to what the next year will hold for them as they come to help us and the ministry.  The goal for the year is for Nate to help Jako with all of his tasks from fixing and maintenance of all the projects here, management of the projects, discipleship, friendship evangelism and community development while Melanie will be taking over the task of overseeing the community preschool (Twana little school) and helping the community with their goal of building (and opening?) a community grade school for grade 1 and 2 next year.  On a personal note, since the work out here can often be very lonely and tiring (always being on call 24/7) we look forward to having another couple around to bear the load, help prevent burn out, for friendship and support, and for the freedom that it will give us to be able to leave for various reasons (getting supplies, business, visiting the States the later part of this year).  We pray that God will show them clearly during their time here if they are to serve here longer with us or not.

Please pray for this courageous young family as they sacrifice the comforts of security of home to come and serve along with us here. For more info on them and their journey please visit http://nathanandmelaniesweerin.blogspot.com/

Another 10 years (and more) !!!

On a personal note, March 8th Jako and I (Amber) celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  

While our marriage has been anything but typical - from the way we met, to our mix of cultures, to where we live and the way we live our life, we have come a long way.  From borrowing vehicles, traveling from South Africa to Zambia, living out of a tent with barely anything to our name, to all that God has blessed us with now – an orphanage with 18 wonderful kids, a house, vehicles, and so many other blessings God has been soo good.  Our life is still far from easy but we think the song “Just another day in Paradise” by Phil Vassar describes it perfectly.  We are so thankful for all of God’s blessings these past 10 years and can't wait to see what the next 10 will hold!