Questions Answered..

Wow! I guess I'm surprised by all the interest, support, and questions about the Zambian Orphanage! I shouldn't be, but I am! So let me answer some of your questions as best I can at this point!

We plan to call it the New Day Orphanage, from Isaiah 43:19: "Behold, I will do something NEW, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."

We plan to be in the Southern Province of Zambia, because we feel strongly that God has called us to the Tonga people group. We especially like a location out in the bush called Mapanza, but we'll see where God leads us. The plan is to move there and first secure a tract of land. Sounds easier than it is! We can go through a chief, but there's the possibility that when he dies and a new man becomes chief, he can take our land. We can go through the government and buy the land, but that can offend the chief, so it will be tricky!

We plan to build all of our facilities. A dormitory, a cafeteria/auditorium/church, housing for Zambian staff, lodge-type housing for volunteers, and housing for us with a large attached guest room.

Things you can start collecting: We are projecting the orphanage being up and running (as far as school) in January of 2011. That is so far away it makes me sad! I hope we can do it sooner, but I know how time/building projects run in Zambia. It took 3 months to build our small hut! But there are still things you can start collecting! Crayons, glue, scissors, construction paper, toothbrushes, old books your kids don't read anymore... *Idea* You could just ziploc up some of your kids crayons and explain to them that they are for some orphans in Zambia...if 25 people did that, each orphan would have his own "set" of crayons...which you don't realize how SPECIAL that is..(I've got a great crayon blog that will soon follow..I promise!!!)

And, finally, I have no updates on Baby Lily, but I will try to find something out this week. Thanks for praying!