We were not able to post a blog about Christmas at New Day because the internet just wouldn't cooperate. We are in Lusaka where the internet is "better" so we will try to even add some pictures.
Most of the staff was gone for Christmas, so we had Christmas Eve with the children of the Luyando House and their house mother, Margaret, and a temporary helper named Mainza.
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| The children of the Luyando House |
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| We used soft nativity figures to help us tell the Christmas story |
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| The children watch as Misheck opens his gifts |
After the story time, Wes passed out gifts to the children one-by-one that had been sent by their sponsors in America, and some from us as well. We watched as each child opened their gifts. The most amazing thing was that no complained when they had to wait for their turn. In fact, Kelitah, who was last, came up to me before it was her turn and said, "Mama Lala, thank you." Sisi, who is so quiet, was jumping up and down and smiling as she watched the others receive their gifts. Probably the funniest part of the night was when Cynthia received a doll that cried, cooed, and made other noises as well. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve! Thank you so much to all who helped send gift to the children!
Christmas day was rainy and cool--wonderful for us Americans! Because it was Sunday, we spent Christmas morning at the New Day Church. We had planned to go to Mapanza Baptist Church across the river in the afternoon, but the rains prevented us from doing so. No adults came to church that morning because of the heavy rains, but the village children (about 30 of them) did not mind getting wet. The adults missed out on a good Christmas message and some special treats.
New Years was also rainy, but not as bad, so some of the adults came to church along with 44 children. It was a great way to begin a new year here at New Day.
Immediately after the holidays we had to get busy and finish the guest house for the arrival of three volunteers: Diana, Debbie, and Carolyn, who arrived yesterday with the Tidwells. Needless to say, we worked from sunup to sundown and even lost a few pounds in the process.
We are thankful to the Lord for giving us the strength to do the work. Mulenga worked on the plumbing, the bathroom cabinets, putting up the water tank, and such. Elizabeth finished the painting and helped Wes with the screens. Wes finished the cabinets, built the screens, helped Laurie move in the furniture, did a lot of running to town for supplies, and so much more. Laurie had the best job—decorating.
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| Wes spent many hours working in the guest house. |
In addition to all the work, we took time out for two birthdays, Michelle turned 22, and Elizabeth turned the BIG 30. We haven’t poured water on them yet, because we decided we would wait for the Tidwells to arrive so they can join in the fun.
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| Michelle and Elizabeth are answering the question in the birthday song, "How old are you now?" |
We are happy that the Tidwells have returned, and the next month we will be busy with helping the volunteers to adjust to life at NDO. We don't blog very well, but the Tidwells do a great job! So if you want to keep up with what is happening at New Day Orphanage, you can also check out their blog: http://www.tidwelladoption.blogspot.com./
