Christmas Celebrations Begin

It has been awhile since I have blogged because we were busy with a team and lately the internet just hasn’t been cooperating. It “seems” to be working better today, so I’m going to try to finish and upload this blog.


The last few weeks have been busy here at New Day as usual. A team from Clanton, Alabama came and helped us with painting and cabinet making in the guest house and volunteer hut. They also did some Bible stories, games, and crafts with the kids in the afternoon, as well as some evangelism and teaching with Mapanza Baptist Church.

After the team left, we had to get busy with Christmas celebrations, as several of our staff members were heading home for the holidays. The day before they left, we had our staff Christmas party, but of course we included the children in the activities.

The adults played a white elephant game where they each had to choose a gift either from the pile in the middle of the floor, or they could steal one from someone else who had already opened theirs. It was lots of fun, but poor Eness, the assistant cook, everyone kept stealing her gift.

The children also played a little game similar to musical chairs. They walked around a circle with Christmas music, stepping from one number to the next. If they were on the number that was drawn from the basket, they received a goody bag. Of course everyone received one. Although Axer is the youngest, she kept pushing the others as they were just not moving fast enough for her!

We celebrated four birthdays at the party with cake, popcorn, drinks and sweeties (candy). We celebrated the birth of Jesus, little Laurie’s birthday, Cynthia’s birthday, and Michelle’s spiritual birthday. The morning of the party, Michelle had come to realize she did not have a true relationship with Jesus, and she made the choice to give her life to Him.

A birthday party at New Day is not complete without a little water being thrown on the birthday people, so after the party, the children and adults filled their cups, bowls and buckets and had a water party. I (Laurie) just happened to mention that Josh would not be here for his birthday, so everyone decided that Josh looked a little too dry. Somehow I managed to stay dry, but I know that my day will come!

It is the rainy season here in Zambia now, that means lots of bugs, mud and humidity, but for the Zambians it means time to plant and hope for the future. Here at New Day we want the children to learn the good things of Zambian culture, and one of those is how to plant a field. So, that is what the children are learning to do. Each morning they go out to the field with their hand plows to dig up the ground, plant seed, and learn how to do things the Zambian way.

Well, that’s all for now. Hope I’m successful at uploading this blog. It is doubtful the pictures will upload, but I will try to add them bit by bit.

The week started out at New Day with a workshop with the staff on “Godly Discipline.” It is our goal here at New Day to bring up children who fear the Lord, and we know that they must learn how to obey their parents (in this case, all of us here at New Day). It is amazing how much God’s Word has to say about discipline. Did you know that children feel more secure when they have boundaries? Together the staff at New Day looked into the scriptures to see how God would have us to discipline the children of New Day so that they will have the greatest opportunity to become godly responsible adults.

After Wes and I took them to Scripture to see what God’s Word says about discipline, Josh and Christy Moran shared from their own parenting experience some very practical ways to put the scriptures into practice. They started out with an activity where we were all asked to go from the school room to the kitchen using any route we wanted. However, we were told that there were dangers along the way but failed to tell us where they were. After we all made it to the kitchen, Josh informed us that none of us had made it safely. Some of us took the path that led to the water filled with crocodiles. Some of us walked right off the cliff. Some of us walked through the den of lions. There was only one safe path, and none of us took it. This helped us all to see the importance of letting children know their boundaries so that they will know of the dangers that face them.

After the workshop, we had a surprise graduation party for Elizabeth, our Social Worker. Although Elizabeth finished school nearly two years ago, the school had not held an “official” graduation and she had not received her certificate. Two weeks ago she was informed that the graduation would be held on a certain date, but then it was changed at the last moment to another date. Elizabeth made the first trip for the graduation, but decided not to make the second one. Wes picked up her certificate, but we knew she was feeling sad about not attending the actual graduation. We told her that she needed to go put on her graduation suit that her sister had given her. She thought it was all part of the workshop and that it had to do with obedience. Elizabeth, being the sweet young lady that she is, walked back to her house and came back wearing her graduation suit. When she entered the room we were all singing and dancing in her honor, with Kalenga on the guitar and Mulenga on the drums. She still did not know what was going on until we pointed to the board where we had hung the words, “Congratulations Graduate.” After that there were lots of hugs, cake and pictures.

I can't tell you all that is happening at New Day right now, because I'm writing this from Botswana where I have traveled with IMB missionary, Staci Powers so that she could attend a wedding. I do know that the electric company has been working at the orphanage the last few days, but Wes says they still have much to do before they are ready to switch us on. We are excited that they have kept their promise to come out this week, and we look forward to having electricity very soon.

A Fun-Filled Weekend

It is very hot here this time of year. In fact, we could probably cook our food outside on the porch without using any charcoal. Last week at our Wednesday night at Bible study, we could tell that the heat was getting to our staff; they all looked so tired. No one had much energy to sing and dance as usual, and the thought came into my head, “Our adult staff deserves to have some fun!” So, we scheduled a game night for Saturday evening.

We decided to have the game night in the dining area so the children could watch a movie while the adults played for a change. We asked Josh and Christy Moran to head up the games since they work with youth in the states and have lots of fun ideas.

We played two games, one a rhythm memory game, and the other one called “Three on a Couch.” Both games provided lots of laughs and we all forgot about the heat for a few minutes. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine,” and I think it is also a good distraction from the heat.

Kalenga, Mulenga, Wes, Josh and Abby won the most games!

Laurie, Hildah, Michelle, Lizzy, Christy and Margaret didn't win as many
but they were the fastest winners!

On Sunday mornings, we meet at the New Day Church, which is in what is called the “shelter.” In spite of the heat, we enjoyed some great singing and Bible study and preaching. At the end of the service, the headman stayed around and talked to Wes. He said God’s Word had touched his heart so much that he had wanted to get down on his knees and pray and ask the Lord to enter his heart right then, but he waited until the end to talk to Wes. The heat did not keep this man from giving his life to Christ, and we are thankful that God’s Spirit moves in spite of the physical elements.

Kalenga, our cook, loves to worship the Lord. Here is is encouraging

the New Day children to get excited about singing praises.

After church, we had an African meal of chicken, cabbage, and nshima followed by another birthday celebration, this time for Mrs. Choma the Sunday cook, and Mulenga our maintenance/jack of all trades man. The children and staff threw buckets of water on them. They were drenched, and I was envious. It was so hot, I’m sure the cold water felt wonderful.

Mulenga and Mrs. Choma did not seem to mind the cool water on such a hot day.

We are already in a new week so I had better get this blog finished.

A Day in Town

Going to town should be a special treat when you live out in the bush, but actually, coming back to the bush is the special treat.

Each week we have to make a trip to Choma, the town nearest to New Day Orphanage, to buy groceries for the orphanage, for ourselves, supplies for the store, building materials, fuel for the generators and vehicles, and other things that come up.

We got a late start because of lots of business to take care of before leaving the orphanage, so we arrived in Choma about 10:30 a.m. We knew we had a lot to accomplish, so we went in two vehicles so that we could divide and conquer. The Morans went off to put in the order at the butchery, while we dropped off the order for the New Day Store at “Happy Investments.” We knew that it would take them several hours to find all the things on the list, because the typical Zambian store does not have everything you need, so they go and find it at other stores and sell it to you. We also stopped to check on our order for window and door frames and they assured us they would be ready by 2:00 p.m.

After we both finished our first assignment, we met at the bank so that we could get money out of the ATM. The lines were long as it was Friday and I guess everyone was planning a BIG weekend. We wanted to buy groceries last so that the food would stay as fresh as possible, so we went and ate lunch at the outdoor restaurant at the Choma Museum. The big trees provided some great shade and a cool breeze was blowing. If we could have stayed there all day, our outing to Choma would have been very restful.

After lunch, we divided up the grocery buying, and while the Morans headed to the grocery store, we headed to the open market to buy vegetables and dried fish. The market was crowded as usual, but we were able to buy what we needed and get back to the store to help the Morans as they checked out. We found them with looks of frustration on their faces as the people behind them were actually pushing their groceries forward thinking this would move things along faster. Maybe Fridays are not such a great day to shop.

Next we set out to pick up the “promised” window and door frames frame and get fuel. We were thinking we would be back at New Day by 5 at the latest. However, when we arrived to pick up the order, we found that they were not done. They still needed to be painted. Finally, Wes made an agreement with the shop owner that if they would give him the paint, he would paint them.

While Wes and Josh were at the shop trying to sort out the problem, Christy and I and their two children, Riley and Wes went to a little coffee shop across the way and had ice cream. What a refreshing treat on such a hot day. Little did we know we would wait in this shop for nearly an hour.

Wes and Josh finally settled the  problem with the frames, but now there was a traffic jam in front of the shop that kept things from moving. When this cleared, the guys tied the door and window frames down in the back of the vehicle, and off we went to get fuel.

There was only one station in town that had fuel, so the line was long and it was obvious that it was going to be a battle. Thankfully we got in the queue (the line) of vehicles and inched forward. Of course there were those who were trying to push their way in, but we managed to keep our place. When we finally headed out of Choma, we all breathed a sigh of relief that we were going back to the bush where all we have to listen to are drums beating at night, cow bells waking us in the early morning, and the sounds of birds singing. I’m glad we live in the bush!

Happenings at New Day

Here are a just a few things that have been happening around New Day Orphanage.


Birthdays are a BIG deal here at New Day, and last week Muchoni celebrated his seventh birthday.  I’m sure it was his first birthday party ever, and he seemed pleased. The children and staff chased him around with buckets and cups of cold water—which has become the “birthday tradition” here at NDO. It was a very hot day, so he didn’t seem to mind a bit. The party ended with cake and drinks, and a present. After the party, the children enjoyed some tumbling fun with Josh and Christy Moran who had them line up to do some fun flips.

Muchoni enjoyed getting wet on such a hot day!

The children laughed and laughed when Josh and Christy lined them up to do flips

Wes and I continue our work of putting together our house, which is coming along slowly. We are hoping that our kitchen cupboards will arrive soon so we can have a place to put things. We've made a makeshift kitchen, but we are eating most of our meals with the Morans, who are staying in the Tidwell house while they are in the states.

Speaking of the Morans, God knew that we would need some help in these early days at New Day. They are helping us in building projects, cleaning projects, shopping and organizing as well as helping out with the Bible studies that are ongoing here at New Day. Thanks Josh and Christy, Riley and little Wes, for coming to Zambia at this time!

There is some building going on at New Day, and Wes and Josh are in charge of making sure the workers are in place each day, have the materials they need, and are doing what they need to be doing. The second orphan house is one of these projects. The bricks were made a long time back and the foundation poured, so last week the men put up the walls, and now they are waiting for the windows and doorframes to arrive so they can continue.

There are lots of other things happening around here, and one of those is the education of the children. I’ve been dropping in periodically to visit the school. I've enjoyed sitting in on the Math, Phonics and Tonga classes. Teachers Abigail and Hildah are doing a good job and the children seem to be having fun while they learn.

Teacher Hildah used a fun song to teach the children counting and simple addition



We are still waiting for the electric company to hook us up and turn us on. Wes paid a visit to them recently, and they showed up today to look things over. They have made us a promise that they will come back two weeks from now to finish the work. We are praying that they will keep their promise this time.

Speaking of electricity, it is time to turn off the generator and go to sleep. The days are very hot now, but the Lord has blessed us with some cool nights so that we can sleep.



Our New Home

After five months in the states, we are back in Zambia at our new home at "New Day Orphanage." Although we have lived in Zambia for 13 years, we have never lived in an area as rural as the one we are living in now. Our last home in Gwembe was a rural village, but there was a lot of English spoken there, at least half the homes had electricity and running water, and we would see an ocassional vehicle pass by our home. But this is not the case in Mapanza, Zambia, where the orphanage is located.

New Day is off the main road, which is a dirt road, about a mile. It is completely surround by rural villages. It is not the prettiest place in the world with all the tall grass, red dirt and thorn trees everywhere, but the sunsets are amazing, and the skies on a clear night are brilliant.


On the first morning after our arrival at New Day, I began the process of unpacking boxes. When I reached down to open up the first suitcase, a small rat jumped out, touched my hand and ran off. Surprisingly I didn't scream. Such critters are part of rural life in Zambia.

Another part of rural life is DIRT! I've lived with dirt the last thirteen years, and even before that in Zimbabwe, but Mapanza dirt is different--it is red. I don't think that we will wear too much white at Mapanza. Amazingly, however, the Zambia women who come to wash our clothes by hand are able to get the clothes remarkably clean.


Probably the most challenging part of life at New Day is the lack of electricity. New Day has been waiting for the electric company to finish the work so the electricity can be turned on for over a year now. In the meantime, a generator is used to pump water to the houses, to keep the food in the freezers cold, and to provide lights for a few hours in the evening. Sleeping is a challenge, but at least we have battery fans. One good thing about no electricity are the sounds--birds singing, roosters crowing, and cow bells, are just a few of the sounds that we wake up to in the morning.


Our new home is like a BIG village. We are not alone by any means. The Tidwells live next door and soon we will have a completed guest house which will house some volunteer teachers. Also on the New Day property are two staff houses, one orphan house, and a multi-purpose building (school/kitchen/dining hall). We can get good excercise walking from where we live to this area as it is about....


New Day also has a new church meeting temporarily on the property at what we call "The Shelter." The shelter is a round open hut (or rondavel). It makes a nice place for the new believers to meet each Sunday for worship. We call the new church, "New Day Baptist Church."


Well, this is just a preview of our new home. We have a lot to learn about life at New Day, but one thing we already know--there's no place like home no matter where you live! We thank the Lord for our new home and our new family.

Family Memories

During our time in the states, God blessed us with some special time with our families. Wes enjoyed getting together with his siblings at his mother's home for the 4th of July in Carthage, MO. They shared a traditional July 4th meal together and had some games and of course lots of laughs. 

Laurie’s family reunion was a little longer than a weekend. From July 19-August 3, family members from Washington State, California, Bristol, England, North Carolina and of course Nebraska  came together for some great family memories like:  fun with nieces and nephews, a family fun day at the church, a softball game, trips to the zoo, and celebrating birthdays.

The hardest part was saying good-bye and realizing that it will be a long time and many miles that will separate us all, but we are so grateful that the Lord allowed us to have these very special memories.

It was a joy to meet my new niece, Christiana who belongs to my brother Jim (in the background).

He and Wes are the same age.

 Two trips to the zoo with my nieces and nephews was a special treat. Above, my six-year old niece, Anita, (from Washington) relaxes on a butterfly bench at the Omaha zoo. Below, my three nephews Augie, Dakota and Vanya share a special bonding moment.

Augie and Dakota are from Bristol, England and Vanya lives just a few blocks from my parents.

Nieces Amanda Gowen (from everywhere) and Ashley Heggi (California) share a private joke during an "Apples to Apples"game at our family fun day.

One of the highlights of our family time was a family baseball game. Above my parents prepare to hit a home run, or at least give it their best effort!

Fiftieth birthdays only come once, so we threw my brother Mike, from England, a surprise party. It was lots of fun! (From left to right: sister Pam, brother Mike, me, brother Craig and in the background, sister-in-law, Pru.)

For my birthday, the girls went out for a brunch, and my nephews sang happy birthday several times and gave me silly cards. It was a great day!

A Generous Response

The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity. Our travels took us to Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas. In each place we shared our story and asked people to join us in our new ministry at “New Day Orphanage.” People listened and responded in different ways, some committing to pray, others committing to come, and still others committing to give. We are so thankful for all our new and old ministry partners—old, not in age, but in years of working with us.  

Last week we were the missionaries for the LifeSpring Church VBS in Bellevue, NE. This is the church where we have our membership, but because of our travels, we are not there much. However, last week we were able to be there every day sharing about New Day Orphanage. Each morning during the opening session the kids of LifeSpring met Muchoni and Sisi, our first two orphans, through a daily puppet show.  It was a lot of fun! 

The highlight for the week was a competition between the boys and girls to raise money for the orphanage. This was called “Nickel Knockout.” Each day, after the puppet show, the nickels that had been collected that morning were brought in to the sanctuary in big buckets and weighed on a scale. Although it was a close race, the girls won the overall competition. On Friday we were presented with a check for $4,768.20 for New Day Orphanage. To say the least, we were in awe. Thanks so much kids (and parents) for your gifts to New Day.

During our travels, we did find a little time for fun and fellowship (see pictures below).

Wes caught a really nice fish in Purcell, Oklahoma, when he went fishing in a pond while staying with great friends and supporters, Keith and Sandy Huddleston. Thanks Keith and Sandy for the great time while in Purcell!

We had the opportunity to fly to Houston to visit Eric and Anna Tuitjer and family, German friends who live in Lagos, Nigeria. We met Eric when we were missionaries in Zimbabwe many years ago, but had never met his wife and children. We had a wonderful time with the Tuitjers. Thank you Eric and Anna for your love and support!




















When visiting Aransas Pass, Texas we had the opportunity to go salt-water fishing in the bay. It was lots of fun. I caught the most fish with a little help from Doyle, a member of First Baptist Church, who took us out in his boat. Thanks Doyle!  Poor Wes, although he had lots of fun, it wasn't his day. He did catch a few but let the "BIG" one get away. Can't win them all.

Melvin and Christine Williamson, Cleveland, Texas took us to see the Houston Astros play the St. Louis Cardinals. Wes was happy when the Cardinals won! It was good to be back in Cleveland where we lived for 8 years before going overseas. The people of FBC Cleveland will always have a special place in our hearts.

We could go on and on telling you about all the places we've been and people we've spent time with, but this blog entry would be too long. We just want to say thanks to everyone who fed us, housed us, entertained us, listened to us, supported us, and encouraged us! 

Reminiscing

      Today was a day of reminiscing. Wes and I and his mother took a trip to the town of Bolivar, where Wes grew up, we met, went to college, and spent our first eight years of married life.
      We decided to take the back roads to reach Bolivar. It was a beautiful but curvy drive through the rural areas of Missouri. We passed through quaint little country towns where Wes had a story to tell about many of them. The trip took longer than expected, as there were a lot of detours, but it was an enjoyable trip.
      Arriving in Bolivar we went to visit Wes' Aunt Carolyn in a nursing home, enjoying a nice lunch with her and Wes' Uncle John. One of Wes' cousins, Mary, joined us as well as his sister, Teresa.
       Before leaving town, we surprised a friend that we had not seen for years and had a sweet reunion.  We also stopped by to see an older gentleman who had been Wes' neighbor for years. He looked at me, looked at Wes, looked at me again and finally said, "Wes Wilcox."  I guess we've changed a bit!
      It's fun to go back and visit the past, but I wouldn't want to go back. I enjoy what God is doing in the present and look forward to what He will do in the future.

On The Move

        We have been in the states for two weeks, and will be here until mid September. During our time in the states, we will be visiting family, catching up on what is happening in America, enjoying some good food, exercising because we are enjoying good food, and traveling around the states speaking for New Day Orphanage. 
        While we are here in the states many exciting things are happening at the orphanage site in Mapanza. The first orphan house is finished, and Mom Margaret has joined the team.  Social Services came out and gave their stamp of approval, and Blu and Darbi will be ready soon to head to Lusaka to the government offices to receive official orphanage certification. It won't be long and little children will be running around the orphanage.
        We are also excited about our house that is being built while we are gone. When we left Zambia we were able to stand on slab of our house and walk from room to room, but there was only one layer of bricks. Now the walls are up to the top of the windows, thanks to the Tidwells and all the workers!
        As we travel around the states, we will "try" to keep you updated on what is happening in our world. You notice I said "try," as we don't know if we will always be in places where we will have great email. 

Our new home in Mapanza, Zambia is going up quickly thanks to the Tidwells and the many Zambian workers!

It's really starting to look like a house!

The first orphan house is ready for children!