Team Bob & Dee from Collierville, Tennessee!

Well there's good news and there's bad news! The bad news is that my new camera Blu got me for Christmas broke. :( The GOOD news is that I am now using my old camera again which means the pictures are not as high quality, meaning I can upload tons of pictures very quickly to my blog! So now I don't have to be selective in what I post -you get to see a little of everything! That IS good news, right??? :) Is it just me, or are the colors in Africa brighter than anywhere else? :)

Ever wondered what the Lusaka airport looked like? (See, I told you I didn't have to be selective with pictures now!!)

Axer getting a checkup from Dr. Bob

Axer - quite possibly the most photogenic child EVER :)

This is my view from my kitchen window out into our backyard - I LOVE this tree!

I like this pic because you can see Blu on the roof with the bucket of water!

Dr. Bob wrote a children's book about going to the doctor, and he gave each of our kids a signed copy! They LOVED it, especially the coloring page in it!

Catching a chicken :)

These are our layer chickens. They lay 30 eggs a day, and the orphanage uses 140 in a week. We sell the rest to ourselves or the villages around us.

Bob working on the new school roof

Love this picture of Christina!

I also love sweet Gertrude - she has finally started to adjust and her behavior is much better! She LOVES to sing and dance!

Sorting gifts that Bob & Dee brought us - such cute clothes for the kids and lots of great new games!

Dee with the "3 Musketeers" - Cambree, Laurie, & Purity

Dee's job for the 10 days she is here is to take Cason, Axer, and Phillip out of the Stars class and work with them so that Teacher Carolyn can focus on some of the newer non-English speaking children who have come recently and are behind the others.

These are Felix's two wives. Felix and his wives recently accepted Christ in our new area, Nabukowa. They come to church at New Day every Sunday and we are eager to see them grow in their faith.

Look at all that Dr. Bob & Dee brought us!

Jenga! The kids love this game, and Purity is the New Day Champion!

Joyce & Michelle

Look at this boy who came to Kids Club last week - as my sweet friend Laura Taylor would say, "God love him!" :)

Local ladies cooking for Kids Club last week - that's a LOT of nshima!

Cason might be a little spoiled being the "baby" at New Day, you think??

Bob & Blu have built 6 bookshelves for the library!

And finished the library ceiling!

Mapanza Baptist Church, where Maxwell is pastor and we have women's Bible study every Tuesday afternoon

House Mother Margaret with the New Day girls

Martha the Cow who has STILL not had her calf!

Love Misheck's smiling face!

Teacher Carolyn working on Phonics with the Moonlight Class

Moonlight & Rainbow classes ready for Music!

The girls LOVED the new handmade dresses from the team!

This is how we eat supper often when the electricity is out!

Blu had the kids do an obstacle course on our big playground during P.E. last week!

The kids love the rope climb!

Working on puzzles

The kids love the racetrack that Bob & Dee brought!

These are our lazy dogs, Shadow & Sonic :)

Every day at school the kids have snack time where they get a box of milk (Thanks Uncle Charlie & Aunt Martha for paying for this!), cornflakes or crackers, raisins, and an apple or orange.

All of our teachers and kids at New Day (we miss you Teacher Diana!)

After all of those pictures I'm sure many of you are very thrilled that my new camera broke :) Thanks for praying for New Day!

Graduation!

Today I was privileged to attend the high school graduation of our friend Elizabeth. It was quite the Zambian experience - after 4 hours I still had not seen her get her diploma (lots of dancing, skits, etc.), so I finally had to leave. I was exhausted and very sunburned! It was a neat experience though!

Elizabeth is the 3rd daughter of our dear friends Aaron & Sophia, pastor and wife of a church in Monze, who both passed away over 5 years ago of AIDS. Elizabeth and her four sisters were left as double orphans were farmed out to live with different family members. Back in 2003, we paid Elizabeth's 6th grade school fees while her mom was still alive. When we got back to Zambia in 2010, Elizabeth found us, having just moved from her uncle's house to live with her aunt in Choma. She had been out of school for almost a year and really wanted to complete her education. My parents, who got to meet Sophia in 2004 when she cooked a meal for them, offered to pay for the schooling of both Elizabeth and her younger sister Memory. Elizabeth chose one of the best private schools in Choma to attend, and today I got to see her graduate from 12th grade. It was surreal to sit and watch her. I kept thinking, "Aaron & Sophia should be here." But because of poor decisions Aaron made at a time when he turned away from God, they were not. And though he repented and turned back to God and led the church in Monze so well, one of the consequences of his sin is that he could not watch his daughter graduate. Elizabeth had nobody there to see her graduate. Surrounded by well-to-do Zambian and Indian families watching their very intelligent children graduate, I sat alone, the only one there to see Elizabeth. It broke my heart! I pray that she will pass her Grade 12 exams that she takes next week and that she will make something of herself. But most of all I pray that she will hold tight to Jesus so that one day she will see her own children graduate from high school.

Birthdays/Independence Celebration!

Today is Mulenga's birthday, along with Zambia's Independence Day (48 years!) We partied all day long with games for the kids, a birthday celebration, and 2 movies! Mrs. Choma is 52, Mulenga is 30, and I am 32! That was a lot of candles!!

Sisi & Cynthia dancing at the party

Mulenga got a raincoat, a discipleship book, and Skip-bo, Mrs. Choma got a blanket, and I got a puzzle and puzzle book (from Wes & Laurie!)

Blu had a plan to climb onto the roof and pour water down on us - fortunately, we heard him before the water came down!

Soaking wet, but it felt SO good!