May 2011

This month found many projects happening, all at the same time at what seemed like lightning speed.  Probably the most visible difference to the landscape was the building of the education center (left) and Alyssa’s flat (below) but Jako was especially excited about the floor to his covered work area being cemented and completed.  It was exciting to see the dreams becoming reality every day as the buildings grew higher and higher, brick by brick.

Although we were able to hire local builders to do most of the brick work that does not mean that it was with out effort on our part.  Apart from the general supervising to make sure things were being built to correct standards, bricks and rocks had to be transported, water had to be pumped more frequently and tools had to be borrowed out, assigned, and accounted for.

Moving House (or tent so to speak)

We decided that Alyssa’s flat would best be built on the slab where our first permanent home stood (our permanent tent).  The foundation there was quite strong and larger than necessary and a few years back an additional slab was built next to it to accommodate a different, more temporary shelter tent to house extra wood.  That second tent didn’t work out as ideally as we had hoped with the wind and the rain and so although the open slab worked great for sorting and processing the harvested sunflower and soya beans, when we measured it we realized that with a bit of extension on the front end it would fit our permanent tent perfectly.  So the process to move homes started : )

After removing all the cemented metal poles from their old location, digging and replanting them in their new location, and rebuilding new A-frames to fit the new angles, we were happy to have the help of the local soccer team (who lately have decided that it would be a good idea to help around here and the orphanage once a week in exchange for assistance with a soccer ball and team uniforms) to help move the tent.  While they have been mostly hard at work digging bigger beds for the trees in the orchard, having all of them on hand the day of the big “tent” move made the move much easier and kept us from having to completely break the tent down and set it up again.

Unfortunately in the deconstruction process, it was discovered that the wooden door frame that was built 2 years earlier had been badly damaged by termites.  While the initial plan was just to replace the damaged parts that quickly changed when the local kids accidently knocked it over directly onto a wooden stool that shattered the supporting wood and shredded the metal mesh attached with it.  So…. onto plan B – building a termite resistant metal framed door.  While the effort required in building it will reap it’s rewards in the long run, the extra two days required to build it, when it seems like 1000 other things need to be done and everyone is needing your time and attention, often seem the straw the breaks the camel back ;)

Daily Interruptions or God appointments?

It sure does seem like we have had a lot of these lately.  Apart from the tasks that we seem to be busy with on a daily basis, there always seems to be something else that “pops” up and requires our immediate intention.  While some of these things we are happy to help with, other’s we wish we could just close our eyes and have God miraculously “fix”.  All of them take time and energy, we are also learning that God doesn’t allow anything to happen without his permission, authority, or just by chance.  With this in mind we are trying to see our often daily interruptions through God’s eyes, trying to lean on Him for understanding and wisdom in how to proceed, and what He wants us to learn from it.

Some examples this month included… tending to villagers medical needs (including giving stitches), fixing the generator, fixing the fridge, blown tire on the Land Rover, redoing the lights on the Land Rover because of an electrical short somewhere, tightening loose bearings on the trailer, unexpected visits to the chief and Livingstone, villagers requesting Bibles, having to move clothes lines several different times due to building around here, and receiving a new baby at the orphanage

Baby # 5

On May 31st we received our 5th baby of the past year.  At two months of age, we were surprised at how well he looked considering that he had only survived on a mixture of cow and  goat milk since his birth (due to mom being so sick and then subsequently dying).  Given the name Mapenzi (meaning trouble) at his birth, we asked the family to choose a new for him and everyone agreed on the name Nchimunya (meaning normal).   While I was a bit unsure whether this name was any better the house mothers and Charles assured me that yes, this was a good name and so little Nchimunya came to be under our care that very day.  With a father that was  unknown (thought to be a relative of the deceased husband), Nchimunya has two siblings age 3 and 5 and two others that passed away at age 1 and 2 due to hunger.  The husband had passed away a few years ago and the mother has been sick  for a while.  The family that brought him was a relative of the mom but felt that they were already strapped to provide for his two siblings and their own 2 year old daughter.  It was a special time when we were able to pray and dedicate him to God (in the presence of the family) and remove the charms that had been placed on him from birth when he was dedicated to the spirits.  He is a sweet precious baby boy (the older boys were more than happy to add another male to their numbers) who has taken well to his new environment and just thrived on formula.  We praise God for sustaining his life up to this point and look forward to seeing what will become of this precious life.   

Another full time house mom

Unfortunately, the addition of the 5th baby to our orphanage house brought forth a staffing dilemna for us.  While the first house is equipped to hold two families of ten kids each, we all recognized that 5 babies between two mothers would be a bit too much for them to handle with all the middle of the night wakings, bottle feedings, and nappy (diaper) washing.  We had to make a decision on what to do and quick (we often have no warning as to when a kid or baby will come).  After some time spent in prayer and weighing all our options we decided that we would hire Belita (one of our part time helpers) as an additional full time mother for at least 6 months (when baby Esther will be returned to her father at 1 year of age – she is the only baby that has a living parent and that we made an exception for when her mother died).  She will either go back to her part time hours after that or stay on depending on if we get more children in the mean time or not.  That now brings our total to 3 full time moms, 1 part time mom and the need for a possible second part time mom.  Belita has done a wonderful job adjusting to her new role (and everyone enjoys having her around more) but please pray for wisdom for us and the logistics involved in whether or not to hire an additional staff worker.

Clothing and Shoes donation

Praise and thanksgiving to God (and a group called runners for Africa) who provided quite a large donation of clothing and shoes  to us in May.  Alyssa spent many hours sorting and organizing them, as well as inventorying the clothes that the orphanage children have so that we could determine what their current needs were.  Every year tattered and torn play clothes get turned into rags, last years nice clothes become this years play clothes, and each child receives at least one “nice/church” outfit.  In trying to keep with the standards of community living we try to make sure that the kids don’t acquire “too much” and that any excess that they do acquire get’s redistributed to other orphans in the area.  We were happy to find that this year, we have received enough donations so far to distribute to some of the 30+ double orphans that we are helping to support in the community and another 30+ that are single orphans, many being raised by widows struggling to make a sustainable living.  We believe that if we can help support these families to care for these children on their own then not only the children, but the community in general will be the better for it.  Our goal for the orphanage is only to accept those children who have no one that is willing and able to care for them.  While we are still praying for enough donations to provide blankets, clothing, and educational assistance to most of these children, we are so blessed by what we have already received.  We pray that God will continue to bless those that have given and that He will continue to provide for ALL the needs of those living in the community as well as those in the orphanage.