Monday at New Day!

Sometimes it is CRAZY when we have volunteer teams back to back, but it is so fun to see the teams get to build on what the team before them did! I remember our South Dakota team working so hard to build the giant storage shelves, and now some of them are filled with towels for our current team! And it's awesome to see the Rosemont team's drills all being charged in The Ark with plugs that the Bartlett team installed just a few days ago!

I put a lot of pressure on myself to blog while teams are here, so their families back home can see what they are up to, but please bear with me as this is a team of TWENTY-TWO people!! Remember, we have 60 acres of land at New Day, so it's hard to keep up with everyone!! Regardless, here are some Monday pics for you!

Blu getting ready for some ceiling work!

Lindsay holding up the bunkbed! Poor Lindsay is getting the boot and being "forced" to come and stay at our house!! She is a few months pregnant and won't be able to sleep at The Ark with all of the paint/stain fumes there!

Look at all these trim pieces painted!

Chris & Tim are heading up the bunk bed building crew

A serious discussion of some kind...

Haleigh is a hard worker!! She painted ALL day!

Kelly & Pam both are 4th grade Math teachers, so they will be taking over my class for the rest of this week to help me out with teaching length conversions!

Randy, the team leader...this is his umpteenth trip to Zambia (8th..9th??? 11th??)

The kids at morning devotion - Wendy is at the other end of the table leading it

Wendy, Michelle, and Will painting away!

This is Geoff, Wes's friend from high school. He is here for one month to help us out at New Day!

Sam, Will, & Ben are now the ceiling crew for The Ark!

Chris & Tim finishing a bunk bed

American cereal!!! Thank you Randy & Hannah!!

Love these three - Kailey, Haley, & Kelsey on their way back from Reading Tutorials

Mary Beth & Lexi (Not sure what Lexi did, but my 3 kids came home talking all about Lexi. Cason worked hard on making her paper hearts all afternoon....) :)

Afternoon playtime with the younger kids

I finally saw Russell around 3pm - he looked EXHAUSTED!!! He spent the day with one of our workers, Godfrey, removing the entire goat pen roof!!

It is almost 5pm and we just spent an hour walking to a nearby village (nobody was home!) We found three children alone, ages 2-4! I stopped by The Ark and saw that one bunkbed is completely done and the others will go up FAST now!! Ready for a nice evening of supper and team devotions!

Good pics!

These are some pics that Warren on the Bartlett team has taken that I loved! Not sure why some are sideways, but enjoy!

Abby's second grade Science class

This is how Blu looks when he comes home EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Blu and the boys cutting a door for The Ark

Carolyn's first grade Language Arts class

Chad lets the boys watch him fix an outlet in their house

This is why I love volunteers - look at that race! (Sisi totally won...)

Wednesday reading time with Muchoni

Saturday Kids Club

A great view of Debbie's house

Glory jump roping

Hildah's Kindergarten Math class

Jenna with her Bible class in the library

Sweet little Kefi :)

This little boy at Kids Club is representing ATX with his Austin shirt!

I never get tired of posting Kids Club pictures of kids getting fed!

The kids check out how the outdoor lights work

All lit up!!

Patrick teaching the kids the "cabbage patch" :)

The Ark - almost done!

The Bartlett Team - they've worked SO hard and leave for Livingstone tomorrow!!

The Redeemer Drama

If you know me or have heard my testimony, you know that I struggled with moving permanently to Zambia in 2010. I felt that my kids were going to be forced to give up so many things - Little League, prom, dance class..things that I know have no importance at all in the grand scheme of things, but still made me sad for them to miss. God revealed to me in a simple little church service that if I sought Him first, "all these things" would be added to me, and to my children. Tonight was one of those moments where I got to see some of the "all these things." My kids were able to participate in essentially their first school production, The Redeemer Drama. It is an evangelistic drama that they have been practicing for for weeks with Teacher Jenna. They will be performing it MANY times over the month of April in schools, villages, Easter Sunday, and of course for our many volunteer teams! Tonight I was grateful to God - as my kids were running around the house absolutely crazy excited for their first show, as I cut fresh flowers to present to their "director" on opening night, as I watched them come out and got those mommy nerves in my stomach for them, as I tried not to cry during the standing ovation, as they took their final bow...I was grateful. I know the drama is not about me, and it's certainly not about my kids - it's about the message of Christ. But tonight, I felt like God whispered in my ear, "Remember all these things?" at a time when I've been longing for the USA. I needed that.

Joseph and Muchoni ready for the show!

Teacher Jenna introducing Cambree & Laurie

Caedmon & Machila dancing

The wall of sin

Jenna with her full cast!

Papa Wes gives Misheck a congratulatory hug!

Tracey gets some love from the kids!

Blu, Glory, & Joseph being silly

Jesse showing everyone the ingenius mouse trap he created!

We all enjoyed walking home with these lights!!

I doubt you can see this, but I had to post it....Cason somehow convinced Chad to carry him home while Patrick carried his bike home....

Thursday!

I thought I better blog this morning! Thursday afternoons are my "at home" time, where I write Friday's youth Bible study and Saturday's Kids Club lesson, so I may not be out and about! Here is what people were up to this morning!

Patrick doing some final connections! I rode my bike down to the orphanage part of our land last night and everything was so lit up - gorgeous!

Tracey was frustrated, so I asked her to give me her best frustrated face!!

Warren doing something...I have hardly seen Warren's face this trip because he is ALWAYS working so hard!

Wes working - notice his poor hand - he had a cancerous spot removed from it yesterday and was still at work today!

I saw Mandy in the office nursing a cut and then later doing this...pretty versatile nurse we have! :)

We have gone round and round with the government about Jenna's visa...it looked like last night she was going to be leaving us a month early! :( But this morning, we got a call from the visa office saying they had agreed to extend her visa for FREE for 30 days!! Wahoo!! We celebrated by putting her to work with a paintbrush :)

So thankful for the Cooks and Kailey as they spent their day in Choma yesterday shopping for our team of 22 that arrives on Sunday!