The Tidwells: From A (merica) to Z (ambia)

The Big Picture

2012-02-03T11:41:00.001-08:00

If you read yesterday's post with all of the details of our day, you can see that life can sometimes be crazy here at New Day. From keeping track of finances to supply trips to Choma to Bible studies in another language...sometimes we can lose sight of the big picture. Every now and then, when we do get a glimpse of it, it is overwhelming.

Last night I got that glimpse at our weekly staff prayer/praise service. As we sang songs about Jesus and the 14 kids here at New Day jumped around, sang, and danced, I was literally overwhelmed when I stopped to think about the fact that these children will grow up learning about Jesus...they will know who He is....He will be all they can ever remember..... And it's not about us. I wasn't in awe of us and what WE have done. I was in awe of this amazing God who handpicked these children from the hopeless situations they were in..simply because He loves them.

As I held three year old Axer and she sang "Na na na na na na" from the song "Every Move I Make" at the top of her lungs, I was grateful that God chose her...and that God chose us...and that God gave me a tiny glimpse of the big picture.

A Typical Day...

2012-02-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

One question that I got over and over again in the USA was, "What does a typical day look like for you?" When running an orphanage, there is no "typical day", but to help answer that question, I will give you a glimpse into our lives yesterday. :)

The morning starts at 7am as we all pull ourselves out of bed. Our kids usually get up before 6, but everyone is still recovering from jet lag, and I'm not complaining! Our mornings are the usual rush of breakfast (cereal or oatmeal), teeth brushing, throwing on school uniforms, fixing hair, finding shoes, etc. before Blu, Caedmon, & Cambree head out the door at 7:40am. They walk down to the school and Blu drops them off and then continues on to the shelter for the morning devotion.

I stay behind with Cason and do my Bible study (No Other Gods by Kelly Minter). I then hurriedly clean my house before my house cleaner comes. (If you know my personality, this will not surprise you!) I feel her job is to remove dirt, not to make my beds or pick up my kids toys! Lois arrives at 8:15am, followed by Justin, our yard worker. Lois works until lunch and Justin works all day. We have a great garden of lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, etc., but yesterday he spent most of the day slashing (mowing by hand) outside to keep the snakes away from our house! Yesterday was also laundry day so I pile everything up on our porch and Sarister and Joyce arrive at 8:30am to begin hand washing our clothes (they finish at 1:30).

Now that my friends are settled into their jobs, I sit down and realize that it is February 1st - I have to write the prayer newsletter!!! So I sit down and spend about an hour doing that.

While this is going on, Laurie is at her house finishing up the recording of the January receipts so that she can turn the financial books over to me. Wes is at the orphan house building screens so that they can keep their windows open at night while keeping mosquitoes out. Debbie is spending her day in the New Day store, learning Tonga, visiting with customers, and seeing how Cecilia keeps books. Diana is observing in the schoolroom from 8-10am, and Carolyn is observing from 10-12am.

Meanwhile, Blu is walking around the land collecting registration cards (identification cards) for our workers because we have to start paying retirement for them. He brings them to me and I fill out what I can on the retirement forms. We then load up into the car with all the forms and go and ask each of these workers details about their spouses, children, beneficiaries, and have them sign. We also take a big box of old clothes and shoes over to the store to sell for dirt cheap - most of them are gone by lunch!

It's back home for me, while Blu takes Cason to the orphan house to play with Axer. Blu helps Wes with screens until lunch, and Laurie brings over the receipts, so I get busy entering them into Quickbooks. I first have to find the exchange rate for that certain day, convert the kwacha into dollars, and then enter them in. Whew!

The kids are home from school at 12:30, and we have a quick lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. They're off to play and Cason is down for a nap. Blu rests for about 30 minutes and heads off to build screens. I now take all of the January receipts and glue them to typing paper for our record books. At 2pm, Caedmon & Cambree are back to school for an hour, and the house is quiet again.

Laurie spends her afternoon walking down to talk to Margaret and Michelle and organizing the many boxes Wes has brought from the container in Lusaka. She usually would have a new believers' Bible study with Michelle on Wednesday afternoons, but it was cancelled yesterday. Debbie is still in the shop, and she discovers that one of our chickens has laid an egg, which made her happy :) Diana & Carolyn are working in their house on the student assessment they will give each of the kids next week, and they wait for Hildah & Abby to show up for a meeting at 3:30.

I am also waiting for a visitor at my house - Pastor Maxwell's wife, Priscilla. While I wait I clean out the boxes in my guest room (mostly clothes for our orphans) and organize things into plastic tubs and footlockers. I also periodically check on the laundry hanging outside and fold clothes that are dry. Before I know it, it is 4:30 and time for my daily call to my mom. We talk for 5 minutes and I go and visit Carolyn & Diana. Still waiting for Abby & Hildah! Debbie is cooking supper for them tonight, so they continue to wait. Abby & Hildah finally show up to meet with Carolyn & Diana at 5.

I start supper as I realize Priscilla isn't coming when she finally shows up at 5:15pm! AAHh!! Staff Bible study is tonight and I have to get supper going! Luckily, Priscilla is a close friend so I am comfortable with continuing cooking while she sits and we visit. I give her all of the gifts we brought her from America and she stays about 20 minutes. It is now almost 6pm and it is getting dark. The generator should click on in 30 minutes, but it is already almost dark outside and the wind is blowing. Supper is ready (chicken & rice) so we eat quickly as Bible study starts at 7pm. But at 6:30 the storm has blown in and thunder, lightning, and strong winds have hit. I run outside to grab the rest of the wet clothes on the line, and I run over to the ladies' house to tell them we have cancelled Bible study. I call Wes & Laurie and they tell us that 1/4 of their fence has blown down! We have some tree branches in our yard.

After sitting in the dark for awhile, Blu heads down to Mulenga's house to turn on the generator at 7. We heat a little water for the kids to take a lukewarm bath and get them in bed by 8pm. Crazy night!

When the kids are in bed, Blu & I take showers (cold, but it feels good!) and play 2 games of Bananagrams. We then head to bed, where we usually watch an episode of 24 but tonight we are too tired. Wes & Laurie call at 9 looking for their house keys but soon find them. Everyone is sound asleep by 10pm, and we are ready to start another day at New Day.....

We are HOME!!! :)

2012-01-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

We definitely had an eventful trip back to New Day! We rented a 30 seater bus to take our family and the 3 ladies back. We had about 27 pieces of luggage, plus about 16 carry-ons. When the bus got there (30 minutes late...), we saw that the trailer they said they would bring would fit about 5 suitcases!

So we crammed everything on the bus and barely had room for us each to have a seat!

The trip was going well, and at Monze I was so excited to realize we would be at New Day in less than 2 hours!! But that came to a halt about halfway down the Pemba road....a short 30 minutes from home......when we got to the river. Yep, there was no way we were crossing that!

The driver wanted to do it, but Blu assured him that we would be swept away. So we turned around, drove 2 more hours (Cambree burst into tears at this news), and finally got to New Day in time to unload and throw together a quick supper!!

The reunions were amazing - I should have taken pictures but I wanted to just enjoy them. The kids gave the biggest hugs to each other and it was awesome!
After about an hour I heard this loud commotion outside, and it was all 14 kids piling onto the trampoline! :)

Giving our gifts to the staff was so fun - everyone gave me huge hugs but Mrs. Choma probably topped the list. She threw herself on the ground and started rolling around, then jumped up again and lifted me off my feet and nearly flung me over her shoulders. This is all for the set of 4 tupperware and chronological Bible storying cloth I got her! It was....an experience. :)

Internet is working but not fast. My kids went back to school today and were so excited to be there. My 15 trunks are unpacked and things are almost organized.

When I walked down to the orphanage part of New Day this afternoon, all of the kids were on the soccer field, running, yelling, and laughing....and as cheesy as this sounds, it felt like all was right in my world. :)

New Background!

2012-01-27T10:56:00.001-08:00

In honor of our return to Zambia, and the fact that a downpour of rain welcomed us (we even had to take buses from the airplane to the terminal!), and since it IS the rainy season...I have changed my background to pretty blue raindroppy looking things..for your own enjoyment :)

Culture Shock!

2012-01-27T06:15:00.001-08:00

Today we threw our ladies into the tornado of Zambian cultural experiences by taking them grocery shopping at Shoprite...on a Friday.. :) We had four shopping carts and were exhausted by the time it was over! Forget jet lag - I think they'll all sleep good tonight! :)

I had a great picture of Carolyn holding an umbrella and a toilet brush - the necessities! :) My computer is being third world and won't upload it :(

We made it!

2012-01-26T05:41:00.000-08:00

Our last few days in the USA are a blur, especially now after the plane rides back to Zambia! The flights were rough with the kids, and we are SO exhausted, but we are glad to be back and ready to get to New Day!

Last pic of the cousins (minus AJ and Brenden!)

Hugs for Paw & B-Maw

Us at the DFW airport with Diana, Carolyn, & Debbie, our 3 full-time volunteers!

BB & Joanna came to see us off!

Recovering from jet lag and heading to New Day on Saturday! Thanks for praying!! :)

Our trip to the USA....in numbers!

2012-01-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

109....days we were in America

16...number of churches we spoke at about New Day

21....number of beds we slept in

11....states we visited

28...number of pounds we gained

4....number of grandparents our hearts hate to say goodbye to

8...number of orphans we can't wait to wrap our arms around!!!!!!!

We leave tomorrow for Zambia, so I wanted to go ahead and write my last blog from this side so that I can enjoy family time tonight! I want to say a special thank you to anyone who has fed us, housed us, babysat for us, prayed for us, and given to us these past 3 1/2 months! We had a great time here and are eager to get back to our home at New Day! I apologize to anyone we missed and we hope to see you next time!

I will try to blog at least weekly from New Day so that you can keep up with what is happening! We appreciate your prayers for safe travel for our family and the 3 new volunteers: Diana, Debbie, & Carolyn!

Signing out from Texas!

Tough Day!

2012-01-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today was a day of many tears as we attended our last church service in the USA and said goodbye to Mama Dee & Grandpa. In the midst of the sadness, God reminded me that we have so many blessings and so much to be thankful for. I am grateful that we are so close to our families and that they support us and love us. We will miss them more than words can say!

Dad getting ready to preach! It was a really good sermon from Jonah - the book of Jonah is about disobedience, surrender, and triumph!

The kids last children's sermon in the USA!

It was Carolyn's commissioning service today - what a privilege to get to be there and pray around her with the church!

Caedmon giving Jessica a hug goodbye

We'll go ahead and arrange this marriage between Ty and Cambree :)

My mama :)

My daddy :)

Crazy Chaos!

2012-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

The last few days in Temple have been chaotic! We finished our speaking engagements by visiting Heights Baptist in Temple. It is always great to meet people excited about New Day and who are praying for us! Here is what has kept us busy the rest of the week....
Just realized today that Cambree's passport expires in April!! I can get it renewed in Zambia but some of the paperwork and the passport pics are easier to do here - isn't she cute? :)

My mom laughed when I told her I was going to try to pack the kids toys in one trunk--she was right! It took two. With two birthdays and Christmas here in the USA, we have accumulated some toys!

In the midst of all of that, we finished up another week of homeschool!

The kids are completely wired and excited with all the packing, so today we took them to Walmart to spend their "USA money", and then we hit the mall to see Beauty and the Beast!

We will get to attend Carolyn's commissioning service :) and say goodbye to Darbi's family :( on Sunday. Thanks for your prayers!

A LONG drive back to Texas!

2012-01-17T13:23:00.001-08:00

We are back in Texas after a 12 hour trip yesterday! Our 11 day road trip was a blast and we had fun together and getting to see and meet tons of people who love New Day!
Jess and her mom-in-law, Bert :)

Cajun!! Crawfish etoufee and shrimp salad :)

We stopped in the DFW area on our way home to see the Daniels. Jason & Blu were good friends in Alvarado and the Daniels love New Day too! :)

In 7 short days we will be on a plane back to Zambia. Please pray for us as this is a crazy, chaotic, and emotional time as we pack up and say goodbye to our families. I won't be blogging for awhile as I enjoy the people around me, but you'll hear from me before we head back :)

Mississippi!

2012-01-13T19:03:00.001-08:00

After a quick stop in Collierville, Tennessee on Wednesday night to speak there about New Day, we finally made it to Purvis, Mississippi to stay with our VERY good friends, Landon & Jessica!! (Remember I came back for Jessica's wedding August of 2010!) We are staying with them for 3 days and then speaking at Landon's dad's church in Hattiesburg on Sunday! Fun times!!
Landon is the new full-time music minister at Good Hope Baptist Church in Purvis! Jess is subbing and hoping to get a teaching job in the fall. Jess was in the 10th grade when Blu was her youth pastor so it's kinda weird to see her all grown! :)

Landon & Blu looking up dumb trivia stuff online...

I was super excited to get a Taylor Swift cd from Jess! :)

Apparently this is a scentsy. I've always wondered what those were! (Blu put some Tabasco in it to see if it would blow it up :)

We ate some yummy chicken fingers at Raising Cane!

Hugs! :)

Pics from New Day!!

2012-01-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

I got tons of pictures from Josh & Christy Moran from their time at New Day!! Here are a few to whet your appetite :)

Love these smiles!!

Sisi and Cynthia

Ready for school!

Alabama!

2012-01-11T06:08:00.000-08:00

Well here we are in Clanton, Alabama, home of some of our favorite people :) (and this really amazing peach water tower!!!)

We spent one night here and had fun playing Settlers of Gatan and Monopoly Deal with the Morans, the Karns, & Nathan!

Here we are with Steve & Trish

Remember these faces? The Morans got back about 3 weeks ago from Zambia so we loved talking to them and hearing about all of the things happening at New Day!! We are so grateful for them going to work and serve at New Day for those 3 months!

Time to hit the road again - headed to Collierville, Tennessee today!

Oklahoma!

2012-01-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

We have enjoyed our time in Oklahoma! We were able to meet with 3 different groups about New Day! The first was our Oklahoma Baptist University mission team that is coming this summer! The boys will most likely be doing a soccer camp and soccer games/evangelism and the girls will be doing children's ministry and evangelism/survey work!

Our connection to OBU is this sweet girl, Dayla, who we met at our mission training in Virginia in 2003! She was a 16 year old missionary kid then and is now a missionary serving at OBU leading mission teams!

The team asked us if they should wear chacos in Zambia. Um... sure! (What are chacos?) These are chacos! Yes, you can wear these! (Must be an Oklahoma thing??)

We then drove 2 1/2 hours to Sayre, Oklahoma to see McKenzie!! McKenzie spent 2 1/2 months with us in Zambia for a summer in 2004. We had such fun together, and now her husband is a youth pastor and they are bringing a team to New Day in July!

These youth interns, Jacob & Shauna, reminded us of us back in the day :)

And then we drove 2 1/2 more hours to Purcell, to visit Lance/Staci and speak at Union Hill Baptist Church! Lance & Staci came to Zambia last year and we got to meet them. They are also bringing a team next summer - two sisters Madison & Mackenzie. Mackenzie is the International Brahma Queen! (it's a cow thing..)

This church is so supportive of us and we walked away with $3000 in donations (which brings our van fund down to $2280 remaining!!!) Lance & Staci also gave us a new Kindle Fire! Yay - now Blu will leave my Kindle alone!! :) We were amazed to see the area they had set up in the youth room to raise money for New Day!

Thanks our sweet Oklahoma friends for your support of New Day and love for us! We now have to hit the road to head to Clanton, Alabama to catch up with some friends and then on to Tennessee & Mississippi!

Road Trip!! (again!)

2012-01-07T06:00:00.001-08:00

We are currently on an 11 day road trip to various states to talk about New Day! Thanks to grandparents for keeping our 3 C's while we are gone!!

We started the trip on Thursday evening with a Fish Fry in Alvarado, Texas. We were able to finally get some quality time with some of our favorite "wise" people from FBC Alvarado :) There are just some people where a 5 minute conversation at church just won't do after not seeing them for 2 years! This group of people has been so faithful to pray for us, and we had a great time with them!!

Friday was our 11 year anniversary, so we headed to Dallas! After first spending an hour at the bank (blah), we went to Academy to buy shotgun shells (to kill snakes at New Day!!) and we went to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary campus (Blu's old stompin' grounds) to see the newly constructed chapel - gorgeous!! Of course, we had to hit Lifeway while we were there for some things for us and New Day! We had a great lunch at Applebee's (our favorite!) and then headed to our hotel room and stayed put due to Cottonbowl traffic!! We enjoyed the exercise room, room service, and I stayed up WAY too late reading a book!

This morning we are headed to Oklahoma for our first round of speaking!

2011 Book of the Year

2011-12-31T13:53:00.001-08:00

Well, it's the time you've all been waiting for...my annual book of the year recommendations! :) I read 39 books this year (I am finishing one up right now, so it'll be 40 before the year is through!) This was a unique year as far as book-reading goes, because I read many more autobiographies/non-fiction books than I am used to! So here goes......(drum roll please)......

FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR:

This was a no-brainer for me. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins was absolutely amazing. The characters were beautiful and intriguing and I couldn't put them down. There was no language, although the books are quite violent so I definitely wouldn't recommend them for young kids. Absolutely a brilliant plot - I can't sing their praises enough! Team Peeta! :)

NON FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR:

I read some good non-fiction this year. I REALLY enjoyed Laura Bush's autobiography. But I think my favorite non-fiction book is "Left to Tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It tells her true story of survival during the Rwandan holocaust. It opened my eyes to what we as humans are capable of in a given second, and how God can intervene in any circumstance, no matter how hopeless it seems.

I have a unique plan for my 2012 reading...classics only! We'll see how it goes! :)

Another Year Gone!

2011-12-31T13:43:00.000-08:00

We started out 2011 with us moving into our house in Mapanza and getting ready for our Nebraska volunteer team! We are ending the year in the USA (Brownwood, TX specifically) with our families! We are eager to see what 2012 holds for New Day and of course for our family as well! God bless!
Just clowning around...

We spent New Year's Eve at the Abilene Zoo :)

Van Fund!

2011-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

We had another $1,600 come in for the van fund in the last couple of days - THANK YOU!!!! Only $7,400 to go!!!

At 4pm - another $1,870 has come in today!! ONLY $5,530 TO GO!!!!

A Bus for New Day!

2011-12-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

We have been talking about purchasing a 15 passenger van for New Day. We have 8 orphans and 6 staff children at the orphanage, and we are currently finishing up a house to hold 8 more children, so we definitely need a way to carry our kids!! GracePoint Church in Arkansas has raised $19,000 to go into our van fund, and we had another donor give $1,000 today, so we only need $9,000 to purchase a brand new van!! If you are interested in doing some end-of-year giving, your money will go into our van fund! Remember you can give online via paypal at our website www.newdayorphanage.org or you can mail a check to:
New Day Orphanage
3112 West Avenue R
Temple, TX 76504

Thanks and God bless!

Merry Christmas from Brownwood, Texas!

2011-12-26T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today we traveled back to Brownwood to spend 7 days with Blu's family! We started off with our Christmas celebration, and we have lots of other fun things planned for this week!

Me & my baby boy, who fell down the stairs today!! Thankfully he is ok but this mama sure was scared!!

The kids got kites from Uncle Cloud & Aunt Sammy! The adults had more fun flying them!

My cute purse from Sammy!

Hugs for Brenden from Cason!

Caedmon's wooden car he can build/paint himself from Andie!

Shanna "Bo", Blu's cousin looking cute :)

B-Maw cooked the entire Christmas meal for 17 people ALL BY HERSELF!

Blu's new video game console from Shade - yay Mario!! :)

Paw & Blu :)

Merry Christmas from Temple, Texas!

2011-12-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We started our day with Advent and placing Baby Jesus in the manger, went to church, opened presents, had a delicious meal, and will spend the evening playing games! How wonderful it is to celebrate with our families this year!
Our family Christmas pic before church this morning

Grandma Marie loved her new coffee mug :)

Mom & Dad admiring their gift from the Kimbrough's - an engraved ornament!

Our kids' gifts from the Kimbroughs!

Grandpa, that is Cason's truck! We'll get you your own to play with!

Blu got me a new suitcase. :)

Cute flowers for my hair were in my stocking - Santa has style!

My sister got me the movie The Journey of Natty Gann-one of my all-time faves!!! :)

My mom hand-quilted a tree skirt for my Chrismtas tree!!!!! She's super talented!!

The three innocent little Tidwells :)

Children's sermon at church

Cason enjoyed his stocking!

Cason loves Blue's Clues! He got new books, plus Santa brought him a giant Blue's Clues dog!

Our kids enjoyed shopping for each other this year - Cambree got a pony from Caedmon

Cambree's gorgeous jewelry box from Mama Dee & Grandpa

and a Barbie from Cason!

Santa brought Cambree a baby doll and we got them matching pj's!

Caedmon's stocking (he got a Darth vader costume and light saber as well!)

Checkers from Cambree!

Mancala from Mama Dee & Grandpa!

Blu was a little embarrassed opening his stocking.... ;)

Blu & Mama Dee te-bowing with Blu's new book!

Our Tidwell ornament from the Kimbroughs!

I got Blu the whole series of 24 - one of our favorites to watch in Zambia!

Merry Christmas from New Day!

2011-12-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

We heard from Wes & Laurie today and everyone at New Day had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you to the kids' sponsors for sending them gifts! We will get pics to you as soon as we get back in January! Wes & Laurie did tell us that the kids LOVED opening presents and were just as excited to see what the others got as much as they were to see their own gifts! :)

Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

We had a good Christmas Eve - trying to keep the kids calm!! It was a cold, rainy day and there was definitely excitement in the air!!

We spent the day tracking Santa online using noradsanta.com. We were able to see him travel and watch videos about the different countries he was "visiting!" :)

I got the idea from a friend to use sugar cones to have the kids decorate "Christmas trees!" They loved it!

Cason had one hand in his mouth most of the time!

We went to Ocker Brethren Church this evening for the annual Christmas Eve service. Here are four generations!

The kids with Grandpa before the service!

A fun day!

2011-12-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Today we took the kids to the Temple Mall to see Santa Claus! They were so excited to realize as we drove to the mall that Santa was actually in the car behind us, driving to see the kids at the mall! We got lots of waves from him and then went on to the mall where we saw the movie Arthur Christmas!

Later this afternoon we drove out to Bartlett to see my best friend from 8th-10th grades, Tiffany! I hadn't seen her in 11 years - we are so old now!!!

New Day Pics!

2011-12-20T18:12:00.001-08:00

Laurie and Elizabeth at Elizabeth's graduation party! She graduated with her social work degree but wasn't able to attend her graduation, so New Day gave her a graduation party!

We miss these guys.. :)

Wes with Cynthia, Sisi, and Sankwa! Love this!!

Wilcox Christmas Newsletter

2011-12-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Newsletter of Wes & Laurie Wilcox December 2011
A New Day With the Wilcoxes
Zambia, Africa

Our First New Day Christmas

This year we will be celebrating our first “New Day” Christmas her in Zambia. Although we have celebrated Christmas in Zambia many times throughout the years, we have never had the privilege of celebrating it with our New Day family. We started our celebrations with an early Christmas party, as several of our staff members are taking holiday leave for much of this month.

The staff enjoyed a white elephant gift game where they each had the opportunity to choose a wrapped gift or steal an already opened gift from another staff member. We told them it was the only time they were allowed to steal. There were lots of laughs and a few that were brave enough to steal from others.

We played a game with the children similar to musical chairs, where each child received a goody bag when they landed on the number that was called. Little Axer, our three-year old, is showing signs of leadership. We just have to find a way to teach her that a good leader does not push people but just encourages them to move.

The party also included a story about Christmas, decorating the tree, and of course eating Christmas cake, popcorn and candy (or sweeties as they are called here).
It was a good day, but just the beginning of Christmas celebrations to come. We will have our own Christmas with the orphans on Christmas Eve, and then go to Mapanza Baptist Church on Christmas Day for a more Zambian style Christmas.

Margaret is our house mother for our first group of orphans. She is in her 60’s and the children call her “Banene” or “Grandmother.”
We first met Margaret about ten years ago when we were church planting for the Baptist Mission of Zambia. A team from America was helping us in survey work, and evangelism in a new area where we hoped to plant a church. The target for the new church was Mapanza, a place totally unfamiliar to us all at that time.
The team just “happened” to be a church that the Tidwells had invited, and so Blu and Wes were together when they met Margaret. They had gone to the home of a young man named Maxwell (now the leader of the Mapanza Baptist Church) to witness to his wife. Margaret “just happened” to be at Maxwell’s village that day, and after hearing the good news, she along with Priscilla, both made a decision to follow Christ.
Maxwell, his wife Priscilla, Margaret, and another young man named Maskell, were the first four members of the new Mapanza Baptist Church. It wasn’t until a few years ago that we learned that the people in the community started spreading rumors that we were Satanists and that these four were helping Wes to drink the blood of children. Each of the four members of the new church had a job to do in helping Wes find the children so that he could drink their blood. The people believed the rumor saying that this was the reason Wes was so big, and that the trailer he often came with is where he stored the blood.
In spite of these rumors, a new church was planted and today is one of our strongest rural Baptist churches in southern Zambia. As we watched Margaret grow in her commitment to the Lord, we knew that she was to be our first mother.
Because of her age, Margaret struggles sometimes to move around as quickly as the children, so her niece Michelle is her helper, and a woman from a village nearby, helps her wash clothes and clean house. In spite of her limitations, she loves the children and they love her.

Prayer Requests:
Here are several prayer requests that you can lift up to the Father on our behalf.

Please pray for Margaret as she cares for the eight children of the Luyando House (the House of Love). Just before coming to us, she injured a knee and it is giving her lots of pain. Pray for complete healing so she can give her best to the children. Pray for wisdom and strength, as she has a huge responsibility to bring up these children in God’s way.

Each day we have many decisions to make for the staff, children, building, and concerning community relationships. Pray that we will seek God’s heart and not try to do this ministry in our own strength and wisdom.

Working with children and being in contact with lots of people can bring many sicknesses. Recently Laurie had ringworm, the first in all her years in Zambia, and the Morans have had malaria several times. Pray that God will keep all of us healthy here at New Day.

Mavuto came from a far village asking for help in going to school. Because he speaks good English, we gave him some work to translate. In the process of translating the book, he realized he had never accepted Christ and was depending on his good works for salvation. Mavuto accepted Christ in his home. We will be going to his village soon to meet his mother. We are looking at possibly planting a church in his village. Pray that God will give us wisdom to see if this is the place for us to begin a new work.

Each day Wes goes down to the shelter to do Bible study with the community workers who have come looking for jobs. He says that they are really starting to open up and ask questions. Pray for these workers to understand and accept the truth about the good news of Jesus.

We are waiting patiently (perhaps some days not so patiently) for electricity. Recently they came out and did some work, and now they are saying we have to replace ten poles before that are being eaten by termites. Please pray that God will provide the funds to replace the poles and that the electric company will not delay in doing the work. And, pray that we will be patient as we wait.

Thank you for your prayers and Merry Christmas
Wes and Laurie Wilcox
Wilcox@zamnet.zm
www.wilcoxzambia.blogspot.com

Grace Point Church - Bentonville, Arkansas!

2011-12-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

We had a great time getting to see our friends at GracePoint Church! We spoke for 3 services, and next week 1/3 of the church's Christmas Mission Offering will go to New Day! Thank you GPC, and all of our friends there, for your love and support of New Day!! :)

Best hamburger of my life at Five Guys!! And good company too with Mike, SaraLou, and Rob & Dawn Whorton (& Caleb & Jacob!)

The New Day building annex at Grace Point Church!

Pastor Mike McDaniel and his family: wife Lori, children Jordan, Caleb, and Joshua - They served in Zambia from 1997-2001 and worked with Kalenga!

I saw an old friend from Bartlett, Texas! Kim and her husband worked in the youth group when I was there! Now their 2 year old boy is a senior in Bentonville!

Remember these faces? Paul, Scott, & Rob!

Sara Lou (led the sewing class!) and me! She cut my hair in the church bathroom!

Blu, Aaron, & Misty

On to Nebraska...

2011-12-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

Lebanon, Kansas is only 2 hours from Beatrice, Nebraska! I bet you didn't know that! :) Laurie's sister lives in Beatrice, and her parents who live 90 miles away drove down to meet us too! Wes & Laurie have been apart of our lives for 8 years, so it was great to be able to finally meet Laurie's family! Pam & Lance (Laurie's sis & bro-in-law) treated us all to Sam & Louie's pizza, and then some of Pam's famous chocolate cake! (Laurie's amazing cooking is obviously an inherited gene). What fun!

Us with Pam & Lance (Pam & Laurie look SO much alike! Same mannerisms too!)

It has been unanimously decided (by me & Blu) that Jim & Lois are pretty much the cutest two people in the world :)

On to Missouri as we head down to Arkansas for Sunday!

Road Trip - We're not in Texas anymore!

2011-12-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

I am weird. I will admit to that. I like to travel, and I like to take pictures of everything. And I LOVE to go to places I have never been!! So I was super excited for this road trip with Blu to be able to see Kansas and Missouri!! :)

So these amazing people, the Maydews, help Zambians and non-profits in Zambia by shipping containers to Zambia filled with things! Brian agreed to let us drive a load up to Kansas - mainly school items/curriculum! What an awesome ministry!
Here is the barn in Lebanon, KS that we unloaded into...

Here is the hole we got stuck in for 30 minutes before we could unload anything...

Here is the load we carried from Texas to Kansas!

The view from the barn - Kansas is gorgeous!!

Well who knew that little ole' Lebanon Kansas is also the geographic center of the continental USA!!! I was a little bit excited about this!!! :)

They even had a US Center Chapel where Blu pretended to preach :)

Ah..goodbye Kansas..you were great! (except for that nasty motel in Wichita..but that's another story...)

Christmas Cantata

2011-12-16T21:13:00.001-08:00

We got a preview of the Christmas Cantata by my parent's choir at Ocker Church! We will miss it this Sunday but they were amazing!!!

I told Blu when it was over "We should do something like that at New Day!" He said "Uh, yeah...but we'd have to translate it into Tonga..." Oh yeah...

My grandmother Marie is here for 3 weeks from Oregon to see us! We always tease her about her lack of a smile in pictures, but bless her heart, she tries!

There's mom in the choir! She hits all the high notes!

There's dad on the back right! He wins the prize for having the best facial expressions while singing!

Well looky there! It's Ms. Carolyn singing in her last Ocker Christmas cantata for awhile, since she will head with us to New Day in 6 weeks!

Dinner and Eyeballs!

2011-12-13T07:56:00.001-08:00

We had a fun dinner party (me & my mom love Christmas entertaining!) with the Brinkley family! John (quite possibly my MOST devoted blog reader over the past 3 years) builds prosthetic eyeballs....HOW COOL IS THAT!! (kinda gross too...but still cool!) Anyway, John & his wife Robin are planning a trip to Zambia possibly in 2013 to build some eyeballs for some young people in the Mapanza area! He also has a friend who does prosthetic legs who would probably come as well! What a neat way to minister to the people of Mapanza! I'm sure John would be revered as a white witch doctor who can make eyes, and it would be an amazing opportunity to share with others about the One who opens the eyes of our hearts to see HIm!

An eyeball discussion....

Taylor & Erin (who will most likely be coming to Zambia as well!)

Great Pics :)

2011-12-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

We love Wade, Laura, Brindley (BB), and Joanna (Jo-nee-na-na) Taylor!! Joanna took these pics of our kids! :)

Paybacks...

2011-12-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Blu's time as youth pastor at FBC Alvarado (2005-2009) was eventful... Blu was always talking the youth into doing weird contests that usually ended in someone throwing up....drinking a gallon of milk in one hour....eating habanero peppers...pizza eating contest...eating a stick of butter...

So these youth (who are now college students!) got Blu back this weekend. It all started with a simple comment, "Did you know it is impossible to eat a teaspoon of cinnamon in less than a minute??" Of course, that was all the challenge Blu needed..

I am a witness....it is actually NOT possible to eat a teaspoon of cinnamon in less than one minute. Do NOT try this at home :)

Bowling!

2011-12-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend visiting in Alvarado! We got to attend the college Sunday School class's Christmas party, where we also spoke to them about their mission trip to New Day in December of 2012! It was surreal - watching these youth who were freshmen when we left Alvarado driving to the bowling alley in their own cars!!

Friday Night Lights!!

2011-12-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

We love football! Specifically, we love high school football in Texas! Our Alvarado Indians made it all the way to the State Playoffs this year, so we went to their State game on Friday night at Cowboy Stadium!! Alvarado has some amazing Christian coaches, led by Coach Dixon! We did not win the state game.....final score was 20-19!!!!! But we had a blast and are so proud of our Indians!!
Blu & Bro. Wade

Cambree's first taste of cotton candy - she wasn't very impressed!

Me & Laura :)

I love run through signs :)

The jumbo tron! Blu got all of us on it...(if you know blu, this is not shocking at all...)

Warming up!

Family Time!

2011-12-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

We had a fun night tonight as my Aunt Ginny (my dad's sister) came over for supper!

Hehehe :)

This Christmas season we are doing "Advent" with my parents. This was something we did as children, where we go through the 4 Sundays before Christmas, reading Scripture, singing carols, placing pieces in the Nativity scene, and lighting candles. It is such a special time!
Cambree placing the second wise man in the nativity scene

Blu leading us (and Cason doing handstands!)

The boys got to blow out candles tonight

If you have young children, I can send you a copy of the Advent program we use (my dad wrote it!) - they would love it and definitely learn the true meaning of Christmas!

FBC Grandview

2011-12-05T08:27:00.001-08:00

This past week we spoke in Grandview, Texas. We only knew one person there, but we had a wonderful time and the church was so kind to us!

We then spent the afternoon at "Mrs. Telly's" house, a very good family friend in Alvarado! She spoils our kids :) I love Caedmon's face!

That evening, we went to FBC Alvarado for their missions banquet. We are speaking at their church next Sunday, so we got to just sit, eat, and enjoy the banquet! It was also Debbie's commissioning service, since she will be moving to Zambia with us on January 24th! (Sorry for the terrible picture!)

Casting Crowns Concert!

2011-12-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

We have been looking forward to a special date to go and see our favorite Christian band, Casting Crowns!

Blu brought me roses before our date!

Getting ready to leave

Cambree wanted her picture taken with Mama too! :)

It was a good concert! We also enjoyed seeing Lindsay McCaul, The Afters, and Sanctus Real. The tour was called "Come to the Well", and the lead singer talked about how we constantly try to draw from holes in the ground, thinking they are wells. We draw from our own talents, or from the opinions of others, and then want Jesus to sprinkle "Jesus dust" on our plans and make them work. Instead, we should quit drawing from holes in the ground and instead go directly to the source - the Well.

It was a refreshing, encouraging night! We definitely miss American worship when we are in Zambia! :)

Pictures from New Day!

2011-12-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Michelle's Graduation Ceremony!

The second orphan house, which was only a concrete slab when we left in October!

Our precious 8 - how good to see their faces!!! :)

Christmas Decorating!

2011-12-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

December is here! Time to pull out the Christmas decorations! :)

We found a box of my Grandma's old Christmas decorations. (She passed away one month before we moved to Zambia in 2009.) It was strange to unwrap the things she had so lovingly wrapped 3 years ago. It was an amazing feeling though as the smell of her house filled the box. I took a few things out but left most things inside so that we can smell it year after year!
Here is me opening Grandma's box

After answering "How long until Christmas?" about 17 times today, my mom had the bright idea to make a countdown Christmas chain for the kids to keep track of it themselves!! ;)

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BANGS, TEXAS

2011-12-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

We are blessed to be supported by FBC Bangs on a monthly basis! We are more blessed to know that the Wednesday night crew at FBC Bangs prays for us every week and mails us letters they have signed letting us know they have been praying!! We are blessed again by the fact that they are helping to send Diana to New Day as a full-time teacher in January! They are the perfect model of a church that is PRAYING - GIVING - GOING! :)

Here I am with Stephanie Bond and the pastor, Pepper Dill. Stephanie's 1st-2nd grade class put together backpacks filled with goodies for the kids at New Day! THANK YOU!!

Crates!

2011-11-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

We spoke at FBC Bangs last Sunday, and it was great! I forgot my camera, but we speak again there on Wednesday night (more of a question & answer time and showing videos), so I will TRY to remember to take it then!

Meanwhile, we have been BUSY loading up 2 crates for the 3 American ladies who are coming to New Day with us in January! Crating is NOT fun, although it is fun to open them when they arrive 4 months later in Zambia! :)

Mrs. Carolyn, Mom, & Blu's mom sorting through things!

Dad & Blu trying to compress the mattresses down!

Dustin, Blu, & B-Maw making it fit!

Cambree liked helping me sort through clothes! "Mama, I need this! Save this for me!"

Sorting....

Cason turns 3!

2011-11-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Cason LOVES getting birthday cards, but I have to say his one from Abigail in Zambia was his favorite, because it was his favorite color! He said "ORANGE!!"

He also loved his card from Isabel!

And his card from Mama Dee...

At the cake table!

Cason loved his pinata!

Cason's Woody car and "Monkey George" movie from us!

Mama and her baby boy Cason :)

Cason's birthday party table - racecar theme!

Cason loved his "kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-choo-choo!"

Cason's present from the Kimbroughs in Zambia! His most favorite book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Somewhere amidst all of this chaos, little Cambree (who just turned 5!) lost her first tooth! Yes, that is very early!!

The boys love watching Power Rangers with Paw!

A mean game of horseshoes...

Cambree helped me make 2 pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving! She did a great job!

Cason LOVES his Aunt Sammy! I think he has a crush on her :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Brownwood with Blu's family, plus my parents! We have had a great day so far! Here are the first round of the pictures - more will come later as we all shift to Cloud's house for football and Cason's 3rd birthday party! :)

Cambree, Cason, & Andie

The girls

My mom & dad

The original Tidwells

Our family

Only in Texas can you eat your Thanksgiving meal outside...in shorts..oh wait you can do that in Zambia too!

The whole family

Field Trip!

2011-11-21T15:30:00.001-08:00

We are taking this week off of school due to Thanksgiving, but today we took the kids on a field trip to the Science Spectrum in Lubbock! We all had a blast (though nobody as much as Blu!)

Slumber Party!

2011-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

We spent Sunday night with my best friend from 4th grade, Whitney & her family! We reenacted our slumber parties of days gone by.... :)

1) Put the kids to bed

2) Be silly

3) Drink coke floats

4) Things our husbands do become hilarious

5) And the night ends with happy feet :)

I am so blessed to have Whitney's friendship for the last 22 years!!!

Fellowship Church Lubbock

2011-11-20T11:14:00.001-08:00

If you live in or near Lubbock, Texas, you should check out Fellowship Church! It was an awesome worship service, and the people treated us like family!

Here is the 2010 and 2011 teams to Zambia, reunited! (missing Debra, Beth & Johnny Boy in this pic!) You can see that our kids remember our teams!

When I saw Denise, i said 'Oh you look so different!!" She laughed and said "no..this is what I look like in America!" If you've been to New Day, you understand!

We love Johnny Boy :) We had a great time staying with John, Pat, & Rachel in Lubbock!

Our kids have been to 7 different churches in the 7 weeks we've been back in the USA! They are troopers! :)

Fellowship Church faithfully prays for us, financially supports us, and will be sending their 3rd team to New Day in 2012! Thank you FCL from all of us at New Day! :)

The school must go on!

2011-11-16T14:00:00.001-08:00

We are still homeschooling Caedmon & Cambree (grades 1 & K) while we are in the USA! We do school Mondays-Thursdays, wherever we happen to be! Here we are during History class making an American flag!

Ocker Church!

2011-11-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

We love Ocker Church! As Baby Cason says, "Me go Ocker Church! Me eat goldfish!!" :) My dad has been the pastor at Ocker for almost 11 years! His first Sunday as pastor was the day after Blu and I got married, so we feel like Ocker has been there since the beginning of our marriage for us! We have been so blessed by this church - they have prayed for us, given New Day over $28,000 in the past 2 years, and now they are sending Ms. Carolyn full-time to New Day in January to serve as one of our teachers!

Blu preaching and sharing about New Day

The church presented Ms. Carolyn with a "Texas" quilt for her room at New Day!

The 3-6 year olds made a wall hanging for the Luyando House!

Caedmon & Cambree helped with the children's sermon by singing the Zambian "abc" song!

Here are the Noah's Arks New Day is presenting to our supporting churches!

We have a busy week here in Temple, and we head to Lubbock next weekend!

Happy 5th Birthday Cambree!

2011-11-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun today celebrating Cambree's 5th birthday in America! We had a Strawberry Shortcake party in Mama Dee & Grandpa's backyard! We were so excited to have Mama Dee, Grandpa, Paw, B-Maw, Caity, Andie, AJ, Cloud, Mrs. Carolyn, and Hope & Jordan here!

The presents chair :)

Cambree was very disappointed that she did not get water poured on her in Zambia for her birthday, so we told her in America they pour leaves on you for your birthday! :)

Winnie the Pooh from Mama Dee & Grandpa!

The strawberry pinata!

A personalized pencil bag from Cambree's cousins in Zambia! Cambree also LOVED the cards Isabel & Abigail made her!!

Uncle Cloud drove all the way to the party, but Aunt Sammy & Brenden are in Mexico! Cambree LOVED her Minnie Mouse set!

The kids enjoyed peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches and strawberry yogurt!

Gorgeous outfits from B-Maw & Paw!

Cambree trying to bust the pinata!

Remember Hope, the muralist who came to New Day this summer? She brought the cake & cupcakes to Cambree's party!

Look what Hope & Jordan got us to take back to Zambia!!!! A Kindle for Darbi and a new laptop for Blu!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Hope, Jordan, & family!!!!! :) :) :)

My favorite things about West Texas....

2011-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

If I did not live in Zambia, I would live in West Texas. I think it is simple and beautiful and I love everything about it. :) Here are a few of my favorite things from West Texas...

The Phipps Family :)

Oil Wells.. I have taken a picture beside this oil well every time that I left West Texas for the last 20 years! :)

Look at these cotton fields..how can you not love that?!

And of course, the Lamesa Skyvue drive-in movie theater... where Blu and I had our first date on April 11, 1998 :)

Second Baptist Church - Lamesa, TX

2011-11-06T18:49:00.001-08:00

Today we spoke at Second Baptist Church in Lamesa, Texas. Our connection to West Texas and Lamesa goes way back, but I"ll blog more about that tomorrow!

If there is anyone who is like a second family to me, it is the Phipps! Whitney and I have been friends since 1989, Andrew and Bethany are like my siblings, and Ben and Robbo are like second parents. As I got ready this morning in Whitney's old room, I looked around and thought about all of the "little girl secrets" those walls in her room have held over the years. :)

Andrew, who is now 26, and his little boy Noah!

Bethany, now 24, and her twins Ethan & Gracie!

Ben is the music minister at Second Baptist Church in Lamesa, and they have faithfully supported New Day for the past 2 years!

Some things never change.. :)

I tried to be normal :)

Our kids with Whitney's girl, Hannah

Robbo, her sister BethAnn, Whitney, and Mama Sue!

It was a fabulous weekend, and this sweet church surprised us with a $1,500 love offering for New Day! God is good!

Viva Las Vegas! (and Garth Brooks!)

2011-11-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

We took a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas Thurs-Saturday to celebrate Blu's 30th birthday! It was a crazy experience--from the strange sights on Fremont Street, to the absolute jam packed public bus we rode for 15 minutes standing up, to the yummy food! But the best part was seeing Garth Brooks perform at the Wynn! It was an AMAZING show...anyone who is a fan of country music would LOVE it!

We tried fried oreos and twinkies on Fremont Street!

We had lunch at a mediterranean cafe with one of our fellow Zambians, Audra! She lived in Zambia when we were there in 2003-2005. She grew up in Zambia as a missionary kid and now attends college in Vegas!

Here we are waiting for Garth! :)

After five flights in a 2 week period, we are officially done vacationing for awhile! But we are blessed to still be able to spend time with friends, as we are in Welch, Texas tonight getting ready to speak at a church in Lamesa tomorrow about New Day! More blogging to come on that later!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed Halloween in America! Our kids have always had fun dressing up for church carnivals and trick-or-treating, so they couldn't wait to be back in the USA this year!

Batman, Batgirl, and Baby Batman

The 6 Tidwell Cousins - Batman, Batgirl, Baby Batman, Bride, Pumpkin, and Mike Wazowski

Trick or treating at Grandpa & Mama Dee's

Trick or treating in Bangs, Texas!

More Churches!

2011-10-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today we were BUSY!! We headed to First Baptist Church in Bartlett, Texas first. This was the church that my dad pastored from 1992-1997, so I spent most of my youth there. It is also the church where Blu and I were married! This small church has donated $9,765 to New Day over the past 2 years! We are excited because they are planning their first overseas mission trip to Zambia in 2013!
Before church

Darbi leading the children's time

This evening, we headed to Immanuel Baptist Church in Temple, Texas. This church has a special place in my heart as well, because my dad got saved when I was 3 years old, and this was the church my family started attending. This church was the first place where I ever heard the name "Jesus" and where I heard my first Bible story! It gave me goosebumps to speak in this church 28 years later!! :)

We got to speak to both the AWANAs and the adults, and it was fabulous! Thank you FBC and IBC for opening your churches up to us and to New Day today!

Back in Texas!

2011-10-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't do so well blogging the rest of our Disney World trip, but we had a blast! We spent a day at the outlet mall in Orlando, taking advantage of sales on summer clothes that we need for Zambia! Meanwhile, the boys spent the day golfing at one of the nice PGA courses at Disney.

We spent the next day at Hollywood Studios and LOVED the nighttime Mickey Fantasmic Light Show - technology is amazing!!! Our last day was spent relaxing by the pool, doing some souvenir shopping, and staying up LATE to watch the Rangers game!

Now it's back to work - we speak on Sunday morning at a church, stay afterwards for a mission trip team meeting, and then head to a different church to do two presentations in the evening!

Universal Studios Island of Adventure!

2011-10-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

We spent today at Universal Studios' Island of Adventure! Yesterday was fun with Mickey & the princesses, but today was big kid fun - we rode every ride/roller coaster in the park! My favorite was the Harry Potter 4-D ride and the Incredible Hulk roller coaster! :) Tomorrow we take a break for the guys to golf and the girls to shop!

Lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

Spiderman!

Cloud over Shade...LOL

DISNEY WORLD PICS!

2011-10-23T17:14:00.001-07:00

BEAR WITH ME PEOPLE! :) THE SIX GRANDKIDS ARE STAYING WITH PAW & B-MAW IN TEXAS, SO I'M POSTING THESE PICS SO THEY CAN SEE PICTURES OF THEIR MAMAS & DADDYS WITH SOME OF THEIR FAVORITE DISNEY CHARACTERS! :) (DON'T THINK WE'RE CRUEL...WE'LL TAKE THEM IN 2015 WHEN THEY ARE OLDER!)

WOODY!!

ME WITH SLEEPING BEAUTY! (BLU GOT IN TROUBLE BY ME SOON AFTER THIS FOR ASKING HER DUMB QUESTIONS AND CALLING HER SNOW WHITE....)

SHADE & CAITY

MY FAVORITE PICTURES OF THE DAY - SAMMY WAS SOOOOO EXCITED TO SEE MICKEY MOUSE!!!

THIS WAS SAMMY'S FACE AFTER SHE GOT HER FIRST GLIMPSE OF MICKEY!!

STANDING IN LINE WITH THESE GUYS IS ALMOST AS FUN AS THE RIDE ITSELF :)

ME WITH CINDERELLA! SHE SAYS "HI CAMBREE!"

COOKING BRUNCH BEFORE WE HEADED TO MAGIC KINGDOM THIS MORNING

ME & BELLE!

CLOUD & SAMMY

SHADE & CAITY WITH MICKEY

CAITY & CINDERELLA

CAITY & BELLE

BUZZ!!

US WITH MICKEY!

READY FOR OUR DAY!

ALL OF US WITH MICKEY MOUSE!! :)

PRAYER REQUEST

2011-10-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

WE ARE ASKING THAT YOU PRAY FOR NEW DAY THIS WEEK AS WE DEAL WITH A DIFFICULT SITUATION THAT HAS COME UP. A GIRL LIVING ON NEW DAY LAND (NOT ONE OF OUR STAFFERS, BUT A NINETEEN YEAR OLD GIRL WE WERE HELPING GO TO SCHOOL) RECENTLY BECAME PREGNANT. AFTER COUNSELING WITH HER AND HELPING HER MAKE A PLAN FOR HER FUTURE, THIS GIRL SADLY TURNED TO TRADITIONAL MEDICINE TO HAVE AN ABORTION. THIS GIRL WILL BE LEAVING NEW DAY THIS WEEK. PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL HEAL HER HEART AND REVEAL HIMSELF TO HER AS SHE DEALS WITH THIS DECISION FOR YEARS TO COME.

MEANWHILE, MANY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SITUATION AND ARE TELLING US THAT WE NEED TO PERFORM A TRADITIONAL CLEANSING CEREMONY ON OUR LAND. IF WE DO NOT DO THIS, OUR CURRENT ORPHANS COULD BECOME SICK OR EVEN DIE. WE HAVE REFUSED TO PERFORM THIS CEREMONY. NEW DAY'S FIRST VISION IS TO PROVIDE OUR CHILDREN WITH A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW, WHICH MEANS THAT WE TURN TO CHRIST, NOT TO TRADITIONAL BELIEFS, FOR SALVATION (AND PROTECTION!). PLEASE PRAY THAT THIS SITUATION WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US AT NEW DAY TO SHOW THAT WE ARE DIFFERENT, AND THAT THE HEADMAN AND OTHER ELDERS IN THE COMMUNITY WILL RESPECT OUR TRADITION, AND EVEN BE DRAWN CLOSER TO JESUS BECAUSE OF THIS DECISION.

PLEASE LIFT UP WES & LAURIE AND JOSH & CHRISTY AS THEY DEAL FIRSTHAND WITH THIS SITUATION IN MAPANZA. THANK YOU!

Wedding Pics!

2011-10-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

I realize you probably don't want to see a bunch of pictures of people you don't know...too bad ;)

The two youngest- A.J. and Cason

Cloud, Blu, & Shade with their cousin (and beautiful bride!) Dawn

The brothers..

Cambree & Daddy enjoying a dance

Two-steppin' with Paw!

Me & Sammy & Cambree

The six grandkids again..getting tired of taking pictures..

The six grandkids before things got crazy!

Our family decked out in the wedding colors of purple/red

Paw & B-Maw with all of their grandkids!

Me with my gorgeous sisters-in-law, Caity & Sammy

The whole family

It my party...!

2011-10-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

We are in Austin for Blu's cousin's wedding today, but Blu wanted me to have a special birthday, so he planned a surprise little party for me here in Austin! We went and got pizza from Cici's, and then we went to a miniature golf place for some golf, presents, and cake! It was a little chaotic with 6 children under the age of 6, but it was fun!!

Caedmon took the game very seriously and refused to cheat.. :)

B-Maw, Cloud, my sisters-in-law Sammy & Caity, A.J., and Brenden!

I got a beautiful matching bracelet and earrings and a new shirt! Fun day! Now it's time to get ready for the wedding! :)

Cambree's Prayer

2011-10-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

"Dear Lord, please let all the kids in the world have Bibles, and please let us have a good day (Blu leans over to remind Cambree to pray for Grandpa), and Lord please help Grandpa to feel better, and please forgive Daddy his sin for talking during the prayer. Amen."

It's my Birthday! :)

2011-10-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

OK, WELL REALLY IT'S TOMORROW, BUT HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF SOME OF THE FUN :)

GRANDPA TOOK CAEDMON FOR A FLAT-TOP :)

I WAS TRYING TO PICK OUT A CAKE, AND I PASSED THESE AMAZING LOOKING ICE CREAM TREATS, AND IT WAS WHAT I WANTED!! SO THAT IS MY "CAKE" :)

MY FAVORITE PART OF BIRTHDAYS IS GETTING TO SEE WHAT THE KIDS PICKED OUT FOR ME! CAEDMON GOT ME A LIGHTER FOR OUR GAS STOVE SO I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIGHT MATCHES ANYMORE (HE'S SOOOO THOUGHTFUL!), CAMBREE GOT ME LOTION (SO THAT I WOULD SHARE WITH HER) AND CASON GOT ME SOCKS. HE HANDED ME THE WRAPPED PACKAGE AND VERY SERIOUSLY SAID, "SOCKS." :)

AND BLU GOT ME A KITCHEN AID MIXER, EVERY MISSIONARY WIFE'S DREAM!!

MAMA MADE ME AN APPLE TABLE RUNNER, AND MY PARENTS GAVE ME $, WHICH I QUICKLY SPENT ON BOOKS AT LIFEWAY!

OUR FAMILY AT TONIGHT'S WEDDING REHEARSAL! I LOVE MY NEW BOOTS! :)

New Day Updates!

2011-10-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

For updates on what's actually happening at New Day while we are in the USA, please check out Wes & Laurie's blog at:

wilcoxzambia.blogspot.com

Fall Fun!

2011-10-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our last couple of days!

I love this Daddy/Son moment of at the park!

Trying to take a decent picture.....see what I have to put up with?? :)

It's tough having to share. :)

Fun in the leaves at Rugrat Holler!

I love Cason's face!

Sometimes it seems that we try to cram as many memories as we can into the 3 months we are in the USA! I was so grateful that my kids got to spend a couple of days with my favorite Uncle - Uncle Charlie from North Carolina!

We shared a traditional meal of nshima, chicken,a and cabbage with Uncle Charlie & Aunt Martha! Here I am washing Aunt Martha's hands before the meal! (our kids were SOOO excited to eat nshima!!)

Uncle Charlie loved it!

First Church!

2011-10-18T18:03:00.001-07:00

First church - as in our first speaking engagement since we've been back in the USA

First church - as in our first church we attended as a married couple!

On January 14, 2001, eight days after we were married, we walked across the street from our brand new one bedroom apartment to Parkway Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. This was a crossroads in our marriage (though only 8 days old) and in our relationship with God. Parkway was where we were forced to decide - are we going to be part-time Christians, or are we going to commit our WHOLE lives to serving God? We learned at Parkway about how to minister to others, how to share our faith, and how to avoid the perils of church softball teams. ;)

Parkway is where Blu was FIRST told by someone (Pastor Chris) "I see a call on your life from God." This opened our eyes to the fact that maybe God did want to use us, and we had to decide if we would allow Him to.

Parkway has consistently supported us in our mission efforts in Zambia, and it was awesome to speak there this past weekend!

Another first - New Day's first "mission team" consisted of Steve and Josh Duncan back in April of 2010! They camped in a two man tent out on the land when there was nothing except for 2 boreholes! Our kids especially bonded with Josh and were so happy to be reunited with him!

Blu & Josh

Steve & Kathy Duncan have been our mentors since they taught our newly married Sunday School class in 2001! Baby Zach, their sixth little one, is SO cute!

Here's the Duncan 6 kids, plus our 3! They easily added us into their family's mix as we stayed Saturday night with them!

Remember these pretty faces?? Lyndsey & Allison spent 3 weeks with us at New Day this past summer! It was great to see them again!

Our kids loved playing with Adam & Lyndsey's boy, Truitt, while us adults played a card game..of course :)

FAMILY TIME!

2011-10-14T06:42:00.001-07:00

WE'VE ENJOYED THE LAST FEW DAYS WITH OUR FAMILIES AND GETTING OVER JET LAG! :)

AT "RUGRAT HOLLER" (DARBI'S PARENTS), WE RESTED, SLEPT, RESTED SOME MORE, AND HAD A DAY FULL OF DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS! WE TRIED TO DO SOME SHOPPING AT TARGET BUT QUICKLY GOT OVERWHELMED AND LEFT QUICKLY :) WE ENJOYED SOME MCDONALD'S, JALISCO'S, AND APPLEBEE'S! WE ALSO HAD A GREAT TIME AT THE ANNUAL HARVEST SUPPER AT OCKER CHURCH WITH MAMA DEE & GRANDPA!

THE KIDS ALSO HAD THEIR FIRST TUMBLING CLASS IN TEMPLE! THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. CAMBREE KEPT SAYING "NOBODY HAS A TUMBLING UNIFORM LIKE ME!!" :)

WE THEN HEADED TO "THE MOUNTAIN" (BLU'S PARENTS) AND HAVE ENJOYED TIME WITH BLU'S FAMILY/BROTHERS/COUSINS. LAST NIGHT WE HAD AN AMAZING COOKOUT - BLU'S YOUNGER BROTHER SHADE IS A FABULOUS COOK! TODAY WE ARE HEADED FOR THE LONG-ANTICIPATED WALMART TRIP.. :) AND MAYBE CICI'S PIZZA FOR LUNCH.

Brothers Cloud, Blu, & Shade in front of Cloud's house

WE HEAD TO SPEAK AT OUR FIRST CHURCH ON SATURDAY - PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCH IN COLLEGE STATION! GIG 'EM!

ALL IS WELL AT NEW DAY FROM WHAT WE HEAR FROM WES & LAURIE. WORK IS CONTINUING TO FINISH UP THE GUEST HOUSE AND DEBBIE'S HUT, AND THE WALLS ARE GOING UP ON OUR NEXT ORPHAN HOUSE! THE KIDS ARE ALL DOING WELL, AND MUCHONI TURNED 7 THIS WEEK! STILL NO ELECTRICITY...

THANKS FOR PRAYING FOR OUR FAMILY, THE WILCOXES/MORANS, AND EVERYONE AT NEW DAY!

PICTURES AS PROMISED

2011-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

HERE ARE SOME PICS OF OUR TRIP BACK TO THE USA!

THE DAY BEFORE WE LEFT, LAURIE & I WENT TO GET PEDICURES, BECAUSE BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PEDICURES IN ZAMBIA ARE AMAZING! UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD TO WALK 2 MILES HOME FROM OUR PEDICURE, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY.. ;)

THE BOYS WATCHING AIRPLANES TAKE OFF AT LUSAKA AIRPORT

KIDS ENJOYING THE PLANE RIDE (ESPECIALLY THE FREE TOOTHBRUSHES!)

HANGING OUT AT THE LONDON AIRPORT

A BETTER PICTURE OF THE COUSINS - EVERYONE WAS SO TIRED BUT SO EXCITED TO SEE EACH OTHER!

WE MADE IT!!

2011-10-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! WE MADE IT SAFELY TO THE USA!

OUR FIRST FLIGHT TO LONDON WAS UNEVENTFUL AND THE KIDS DID GREAT! THE FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO DALLAS WAS A LITTLE HARDER- WE WERE STUCK ON THE AIRPLANE FOR 2 HOURS BEFORE TAKEOFF SO THAT WAS ROUGH! BUT WE ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT AND WERE GREETED BY TONS OF FAMILY!

IT HAS BEEN A WHIRLWIND OF A WEEKEND - SWIMMING WITH COUSINS, PARK WITH MRS. DIANNA, SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH BB & JOANNA, CHURCH AT FBC ALVARADO FOR THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, AND OF COURSE, SOME JET LAG!

I DID A TERRIBLE JOB OF TAKING PICTURES BUT I WILL TRY TO BLOG SOME TOMORROW..

THANKS FOR PRAYING US BACK TO THE USA!

HERE WE ARE AT THE AIRPORT - THE TIDWELL COUSINS TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME - CAEDMON, CAMBREE, ANDIE, BRENDEN, CASON, & A.J. WITH PAW & B-MAW!

GOODBYE TO THE TIDWELLS, HELLO TO THE MORANS!

2011-10-03T09:52:00.001-07:00

ON THURSDAY, WE HEAD BACK TO THE USA FROM OCTOBER 7TH TO JANUARY 24TH! WE ARE EXCITED FOR A BREAK, ALONG WITH SPENDING SOME TIME WITH OUR FAMILIES AND SPEAKING AT VARIOUS CHURCHES DURING OUR TIME IN THE USA! HERE IS OUR FAMILY ON OUR LAST SUNDAY WITH ALL OF OUR ZAMBIAN SUITS/DRESS SHIRTS ON!

MEANWHILE, THE MORAN FAMILY FROM ALABAMA WILL BE JOINING NEW DAY FROM OCTOBER 5TH TO DECEMBER 19TH! JOSH AND CHRISTY HAVE BOTH BEEN TO ZAMBIA NUMEROUS TIMES.....SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME TO NEW DAY ON A MISSION TRIP??? YOU COME AND SPEND 3 MONTHS! :) WELCOME TO JOSH, CHRISTY, RILEY, AND WESLEY!

(SIDENOTE: AS THIS IS MY PERSONAL BLOG, THE NEXT 3 1/2 MONTHS WILL FOCUS MORE ON OUR TIME IN THE USA AND NOT AS MUCH ON THE GOINGS ON IN ZAMBIA, THOUGH I WILL TRY TO KEEP YOU UPDATED!!)

New Day is Official!!

2011-09-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today we had our official New Day Orphanage Opening Ceremony! 150 people attended, including 7 headmen, 2 senior headmen, the Mapanza Councilman, and Chief Mapanza's representative, the General Secretary. It was a great ceremony and I think the people really enjoyed it!
Caedmon & Muchoni, best buds, waiting for the ceremony to start!

Darbi & Michelle watching from the kitchen

The New Day kids did traditional dancing and Scripture verses in Tonga

Laurie busy preparing - we served popcorn, banana pudding, cookies, and cokes to 150 people!

New Day kids waiting for the program to start (we waited 2 hours for the chief's representative!)

People watching a slideshow of the construction of New Day!

The ribbon cutting at the Luyando House!

We feel like everyone who has prayed for New Day, donated to New Day, and come to volunteer at New Day was with us today at the opening ceremony! Thank you all! :)

Happy Birthday Blu!!

2011-09-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

Blu celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday!! :) We had a good day of cakes, presents, and of course, the Americans are not exempt from getting water poured on them!

One of the 3 cakes I made Blu - a chocolate truffle cake.. :)

Blu's present from me - letters written to Blu and signed by Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, Nolan Ryan, & Matthew Fox wishing him a happy birthday, and tickets to see Garth Brooks in Vegas in November :)

Blu got muck boots from Wes & Laurie - ready for rainy season!

And the water....

Happy Birthday Blu! We love you! :)

MOVING DAY!

2011-09-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

WES & LAURIE ARE HERE!! IT IS A CHAOTIC WEEK AS WE ARE HELPING THEM MOVE IN, ZESCO (ELECTRIC COMPANY) IS STARTING WORK ON OUR LAND, WE ARE TRYING TO PACK FOR GOING BACK TO THE USA, AND WE ARE HAVING OUR NEW DAY OPENING CEREMONY THIS FRIDAY!! AAAHHH!!

WE FINISHED THE HOUSE BEFORE THEY ARRIVED - THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR TEAMS!! :)

STUFF INSIDE THEIR HOUSE!

CASON LOVED TO HELP "WESI AND YAYA" :)

NO WES, IT GOES HERE! NO HERE! THERE? NO NOT THERE! HERE! NO, OVER A LITTLE BIT! :)

MOVING DAY...CAEDMON HELPED SO MUCH!

LAURIE, AND HER BROWN SUGAR, WERE INTRODUCED TO OUR MAPANZA RAT FAMILY :)

Somewhere along the way....

2011-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

these 8 kids have stolen my heart.. :)

Sisi, the shy one

Muchoni, the leader

Sankwa, the most lovable!

Misheck, the mischievous one!

Junior, the quiet one!

Kelitah, the hugger!

Axer, the baby!

Cynthia, the smiler!

Check out the new playground equipment at New Day! We had about 14 injuries in the first 5 minutes as the kids were just a LITTLE excited! :)

TOP TWELVE

2011-09-14T10:25:00.001-07:00

WELL, VOLUNTEER SEASON FOR 2011 HAS COME TO AN END! WE HAD AN AMAZING TIME WITH OUR TEAMS, AND WE CAN NEVER EXPRESS OUR THANKS TO THEM FOR THE SACRIFICES THEY AND THEIR FAMILIES MADE TO COME HELP US AT NEW DAY! WE HAVE MADE FRIENDSHIPS THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME!

IN HONOR OF THESE FABULOUS TEAMS, WE ARE CLOSING OUT OUR VOLUNTEER SEASON WITH A TOP TWELVE LIST - THE TOP TWELVE MOST MEMORABLE THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS VOLUNTEER SEASON (IN ORDER OF THE TEAM'S VISITS)! ENJOY!

12) CROSSING THE FLOODED BRIDGE WITH THE NEBRASKA TEAM TO GET TO CHURCH!

11) DENISE AND BETH WALKING 1 MILE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION TO GO SHOPPING IN LIVINGSTONE!

10) JOHN SAYING "WHERE IS MY HAT?" AND CAMBREE RESPONDING WITH "I STOLE IT AND THEN I TOOTED ON IT!"

9) PUCCIO BEING REPEATEDLY MISTAKEN FOR A GIRL, DUE TO HIS LONG HAIR. HE WAS EVEN CALLED MRS. BLU WHEN HE WAS IN TOWN WITH BLU!

8) PLAYING TABOO WITH MRS. CAROLYN - "I SEE TREES!"

7) ALLISON AND LYNDSEY GETTING LOCKED OUT OF THEIR HOUSE BY OUR ZAMBIAN STAFFERS WHEN THEY CAME HOME LATE ONE NIGHT!

6) SCUM, SETTLERS OF GATAN, AND VOLLEYBALL WITH THE ALABAMA TEAM!

5) LINLEE'S AMAZING ABILITY TO TRADE ANYTHING IN THE WORLD FOR A ZAMBIAN SOUVENIR! (HOW I WISH I COULD GO INTO DETAIL HERE.....)

4) MAMA DEE INTERRUPTING A BIBLE STUDY TO TELL SOMEONE 'BLESS YOU' WHEN THEY SNEEZED, CAUSING MUCH CONFUSION!

3) BLU GIVING DAD THE JOB OF CHISELING INTO CEMENT FOR 2 WEEKS!

2) SHARING/HEARING AMAZING TESTIMONIES EVERY NIGHT WITH THE ARKANSAS TEAM!

1J) JORDAN'S BAPTISM!

WE ARE ALREADY GETTING EXCITED ABOUT OUR VOLUNTEER TEAMS IN 2012 - WILL YOU MAKE OUR TOP TWELVE LIST?? :)

Murals are done!

2011-09-10T01:53:00.001-07:00

Hope did it! In five days at New Day, she painted our logo mural, a fruits of the spirit mural on the girls' staffer wall, some cute additions to our Luyando house bathrooms, a jungle scene mural around our shelter/church, and 4 huge New Day road signs pointing people to our land! Hope has forever left her mark on New Day, and we can never say thank you enough for the time and effort she put into these murals!

Hope's husband, Jordan, is a journalist and is doing two big write-ups in the Temple Daily Telegram about New Day! He also made
the decision to get baptized while he was here, saying "After 10 years I am finally ready to take the first step to follow Christ!"

And my camera ran out of battery right here..... :)

New Day is Full!

2011-09-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

We are SOOO excited to announce that for the time being, New Day is FULL! We built our first house, the Luyando house for 8 orphans - 4 girls and 4 boys, and we are full! Here are the stories of the last 3 girls:

Axer and Kelitah:
These sisters are ages 3 and 5 lost their mother one month ago. Their father is still alive somewhere, but he has another wife and had no relationship with these children. The family could not find him, but his mother said he was not interested in the children and released them to New Day. Please pray for Axer, our youngest orphan, as she is having trouble adjusting (very aggressive behavior - needs LOTS of love and discipline!)

Cynthia:
Cynthia is six years old and her grandmother brought her to New Day last week. Her mother died in 2010, and her father died a few years ago, although the grandmother told us that the mother got pregnant after a "night at a bar" and wasn't really sure who the father was. The grandmother lives in a tiny house and crushes stones for a living to provide for Cynthia and her older brother. Cynthia became the final girl to fill up our Luyando House!

Cynthia, Elizabeth our social worker, and Cynthia's grandmother Laila

Painting Updates! One Day To Go!!

2011-09-07T03:22:00.000-07:00

Hope & Jordan are here!

2011-09-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Our muralist is here!! We have long been awaiting the arrival of Hope (the painter) and Jordan (the journalist) to Zambia...
However we had no idea they were bringing 11 boxes of stuff for us and New Day!!!

Hope used ALL 13 New Day kids to help her get the base coat of paint on the shelter area!

Here's Kelitah, our newest girl, giving it a try!

And here's the mural in progress after just 2 hours!!

Caution - Men at Work!

2011-09-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

The GracePoint guys have been busy building, building, and building!

One crew built SIX nice picnic tables for our dining hall! This is important because our opening ceremonies are on September 30 and we are expecting quite a crowd!

Another crew built ALL of the screens for the Wilcox house! They used a nice design and they look great!

And yet another crew built kitchen cabinets for our guest house!

And Mr. Mike plotted out our whole land and buildings on his GPS to make us a future site plan!

When you think about the fact that this team is working in conditions that are not quite American, in blazing 95 degree weather, and did it all in 4 days.....WOW.

Stacy & Brad work on the Wilcox screened windows

Brian and Rob build guesthouse cabinets

Rob and Aaron hauling lumber

Paul working on picnic tables

Brad & Doug working on picnic tables

Grace Point Team - Bentonville, Arkansas

2011-09-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

We've had an awesome week with our Arkansas team! 2 of the ladies taught a sewing class, while 2 of them had a Kids Class with our 13 kids now at New Day!
The kids loved the parachute!

Misty and our newest girl, Axer, who is having a hard time adjusting!

The ladies were taught how to make a big bag, a cell phone purse (amazingly popular over here, believe it or not!!) and a bracelet out of cloth that shares the Gospel. I was shocked to have 50 ladies from surrounding villages show up each day!

I pray that this has planted a seed in their hearts and that they will begin attending church and the women's Bible study to learn more about Christ!

Marcia did a great job helping the ladies! (Marcia - I am asking you for cotton!)

This is Nelly, one of my favorite old ladies, who can barely see but was there doing a great job sewing!

Sara Lou did an AMAZING job teaching the class!

First Baptisms at New Day!

2011-09-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday we were able to witness 5 new believers get baptized at New Day! After church we walked 2 1/2 miles to the river and watched Kalenga baptize Michael, Liz, Paula, Maybin, and Mubun! What an experience!

This is Mubun, a man who has one leg and is ALWAYS the first one to show up at church, getting baptized!

Here is the group waiting to be baptized.

The long trek to the river...

Sunday Bible Storying

2011-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

BLU HAS RECENTLY LEARNED THE ART OF BIBLE STORYING FROM FELLOW MISSIONARY JEFF POWERS. IT IS A FUN WAY TO SHARE THE BIBLE WITH ORAL LEARNERS! BLU FIRST READS THE STORY ONCE OR TWICE, AND THEN THE ZAMBIAN CHURCH MEMBERS ACT IT OUT. THEN THEY CONCLUDE WITH APPLICATION.

HERE IS A GLIMPSE OF LAST SUNDAY'S BIBLE STORY ON LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN!

Swimming Pool Fun!

2011-08-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Getting the pool set up - can you feel the excitement??? :)

Summer fun!

I made Michelle come and help me watch the kids in the pool!

Cutie Sankwa loves the pool :)

Boys having fun in the pool!

A Week of Blessings

2011-08-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

I have been trying unsuccessfully to blog with pictures, but since that won't work, I'll at least update you!

This week has been AMAZING...

It started with the arrival of the GracePoint Church team from Bentonville, Arkansas. The team of 12 got here on Saturday, and on Sunday at church we got to walk 2 1/2 miles to the river to see 5 new believers get baptized from New Day Baptist Church!!!

Then on Monday, we started work with the team. The men began building picnic tables, screens, and kitchen cabinets. They are doing a great job, working in the SUN all day!!

The women, meanwhile, began our hand sewing class, teaching the local women how to make a bag out of a needle, thread, and a chitengi that they can buy in the market. They are loving it and we had 50 women show up today!! Chaos!!

And then on Tuesday....today...we received 2 little girls at New Day!! (They are the ones I previously blogged about). After obtaining a letter from the girls' father's mother releasing them and getting approval from the Social Welfare office, we were able to take the girls. They are 3 year old Axer (our youngest orphan - but perfect to give Cason a friend!), and her 5 year old sister Kelitah. They looked pretty terrified when they arrived, but we can already see them warming up. Believe it or not, the giant stuffed animal bunny rabbits helped :)

Oh wait - I said a WEEK of blessings and it's only Tuesday! Make that 3 days of blessings, and we can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds!!

Culture Shock

2011-08-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

We have now lived in Zambia for a total of 3 years and 4 months (combining our time from 2003-2005 and 2010 to now). But it doesn't matter how long you live somewhere - you still every now and then run into situations that just hit you over the head with "This is not America...."

We need 3 more girls for our Luyando House to be filled. We are hoping Junior's little sister will be found and will come live here with her brother. Today, we found out about 2 other sisters (ages 3 and 5) who are the nieces of one of our builders here at New Day. Their mother died 2 weeks ago, and when we asked about their father, this is the answer we received..

"He's not around. He stays far into the bush near Kalomo and last year I went looking for him and spent a whole month searching but never found him. Besides, he's already married and my sister was his second wife. But it's not a problem for you to take the girls. He never paid the bridal price for my sister, not even a small amount, so he has no rights to the children - the children are now the property of the woman's family."

Wow. Yep, definitely not in America anymore... Pray for us as we talk to Social Welfare and decide what we can do to help these girls!

One thing we DON'T need at New Day.....

2011-08-21T11:25:00.003-07:00

Every night in the Luyando House at New Day, the same sound can be heard just as Margaret, our house mother, turns off the lights after tucking the five children into bed.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

It's the sound of five giant stuffed animals being tossed onto the floor, followed by whispers in Tonga about how "scary" the stuffed animals are, especially the giant monkey!

Who knew that our precious Zambian orphans would be so terrified of stuffed animals!? I keep telling Margaret she can put them away but she thinks they look nice on the beds, so every morning she gathers them from the floor and replaces them on the children's beds.

So, while we can always use kids' clothes and toys, the one thing we DON'T need is stuffed animals.. :)

One thing we DON'T need at New Day.....

2011-08-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Rambo

2011-08-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

Rambo (ahem, I mean Blu) likes to find any reason to use his shotgun out on the New Day land. So this morning, when the Zambian guys came to tell him that there was an owl flying around in Wes & Laurie’s attic, he loaded up and was ready to go.

The guys out here are pretty fascinated with Blu’s shotgun, but add to that the fact that it was an OWL, and there was just chaos around here! Owls are associated with witchcraft in Zambia – for instance, some missionaries have had dead owls thrown over their fences in attempts to “curse” them. (I imagine the people here probably think Wes & Laurie are doomed since the owl was found in their attic!)

Blu took 3 shots at the owl, from 10 feet away, and missed. Aw…poor Blu.

But wait! After climbing up to investigate, it turns out the owl was hit! (Blu said it was a slow kill…) So after a quick English lesson to the kids (wings, head, eyes, feathers), Blu gave each kid a feather as a souvenir and everyone got back to work! Never a dull moment at New Day :)

UPDATE BY BLU: IN MY DEFENSE, IT WAS DARK, I WAS IN AN ATTIC, AND THE OWL WAS LOOKING STRAIGHT AT ME. SCARY... WHEN I FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AND HE DIDN'T EVEN BLINK, IT BECAME EVEN MORE SCARY. WHEN I SAW THE 17 HOLES THAT ARE NOW IN WES AND LAURIE'S ROOF, I WAS EVEN MORE AFRAID (OF WES, NOT THE OWL). ALL THAT TO SAY, IT IS NOT A COMPLETE SURPRISE, GIVEN THE INCREDIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES, THAT A BULLET OR TWO (OR THREE) MIGHT STRAY A BIT. (AND IT'S A RIFLE, FIGURED IT WOULD DO LESS DAMAGE THAN A SHOTGUN :)

Happy Birthday Eness!

2011-08-16T01:27:00.000-07:00

Eness (works in the New Day kitchen) turned 46 yesterday! I will never get tired of seeing someone celebrate their birthday for the first time EVER!

Blu innocently asks Eness to sit outside in a chair holding her cake for a photo...

And then he quickly rescues the cake.....

She thought getting this blanket was the best gift ever!

6 more weeks!

2011-08-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wes and Laurie will be here soon!! Here is a glimpse at a typical day of work on their house!

Crispin building the master bathroom shower

Kalenga finishing up the brick varnishing!

Mrs. Choma cleaning the paint off the floor (oops!)

Water tank ready to go!

The guest bath (the one my kids will be using when they spend the night ;)

Looks good!

Working on the guesthouse too - trusses are up!

Orphan Cow!

2011-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Imagine walking into your living room and coming face to face with a COW!! Ok, I guess that's hard to imagine, but that's what happened to Margaret as she was washing clothes in the orphan house bathtub and walked into the living room!

She tried to shoo him out, but Margaret keeps the floors so shiny with wax that the cow couldn't get his footing!!

She finally called a nearby worker to come help he, and he pulled the cow out by his tail! Thankfully the only damage done was a broken armchair!

And that goes to show you...our orphan house is so nice, even the cows want to live there! :)

Field Trip!

2011-08-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, I know that for all of my faithful blog stalkers (ahem! I mean followers...), these once a week posts just aren't cutting it for you! I'll try to do better next week!!!

We celebrated the last day of school on Friday with an overnight trip to some fellow missionary family's house! The Langston family (from Wynne, Arkansas - although James was an MK in Zimbabwe & Marci an MK in Guatemala) live on Lake Kariba, about 2 hours from us. We had a great time with them, and our kids had a blast! We are thankful for American missionary friendships!! (and Marci's coconut cream pie!!)

Cason plays hard--ran full speed into the corner of a counter and almost knocked himself out! (and wanted a picture of it the next day!)

Darbi & Marci playing Phase 10 Dice

Cambree, Emily, & Taylor playing Barbies

Micah & Caedmon playing Wii Star Wars

James & Blu went tiger fishing! (they didn't catch anything--these are from James' catch early in the week!)

Sidenote picture - This is what I came home to after my 2 Thursday Bible studies--yep ladies he's a stud AND he can cook!! :)

A Volunteer Hut

2011-07-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

We recently built this hut for Debbie, a USA volunteer who is coming in January full-time, to live in. Nestled in a grove of acacia trees, this grass-roofed hut screams "Africa!" It cost about $4,000 to build, and we are contemplating having churches or individuals who are interested donate funds to build their own hut (named after them!) for volunteer teams to use. What do you think???

The closet

A little office nook

Where the bed will probably go..

The shower!

And the septic...for indoor plumbing! :)

The roof from the inside

BYE TO MOM & DAD

2011-07-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

AFTER 18 MONTHS APART, WE REALLY ENJOYED OUR TIME WITH MOM & DAD. MOM & I ORGANIZED MY WHOLE HOUSE, AND BLU & DAD DID PLUMBING ON THE WILCOX HOUSE. WE WANTED TO GIVE THEM A SPECIAL TREAT AT THE END OF THEIR TRIP, SO WE DID A QUICK TRIP TO ZIMBABWE! THEY SAW THE FALLS, WE ATE AT "THE BOMA", AND WE TREATED THEM TO A SUNSET CRUISE ON THE ZAMBEZI RIVER FOR DAD'S BIRTHDAY! WE WERE SO BLESSED BY THEIR SACRIFICE TO COME, AND IT IS SO SPECIAL TO KNOW THAT NOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT NEW DAY, THEY CAN SEE THE PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THEIR MINDS!

NOW WE HAVE 4 WEEKS IN BETWEEN TEAMS WHERE WE WILL BE VERY BUSY GETTING THE WILCOXES HOUSE FINISHED--LOTS OF PAINTING FOR DARBI AND PLUMBING FOR BLU! OUR CHILDREN WILL COMPLETE THEIR SECOND TERM OF SCHOOL AT NEW DAY ON AUGUST 5TH, SO THEY WILL HAVE A FEW WEEKS OFF BEFORE DARBI BEGINS HOMESCHOOL FOR CAEDMON IN GRADE 1 AND CAMBREE IN KINDERGARTEN. THE KIDS WILL ALSO CONTINUE GOING TO NEW DAY SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER (ONLY HOMESCHOOLING DUE TO OUR 3 MONTH FURLOUGH OCT-JANUARY).

WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE POSTING PICTURES BUT WE WILL TRY TO KEEP YOU UPDATED ON PROGRESS AND ORPHAN ARRIVALS (WE ARE PRAYING FOR 3 MORE GIRLS TO JOIN US!) DURING THESE NEXT 4 WEEKS! GOD BLESS!

Junior Arrives at New Day!

2011-07-21T00:09:00.000-07:00

New Day received its 5th orphan yesterday as 6 year old Junior arrived at New Day! Here is his story:

Junior's mom died while giving birth to his younger sister (age 3 or 4). His sister went to an orphanage and Junior went with his father. When the baby sister was 2, the father collected here from the orphanage and they all lived together. His father passed away about a year later, and one relative took the sister and Junior went to an uncle. When this uncle died, Junior ended up with his 80 year old grandmother, who lives a few miles from New Day. This grandmother has immaculate medical records for Junior, and it is obvious that she loves him and has tried to care for him. However, the family met and encouraged her to release him into the care of New Day, so that when she dies she will know he is taken care of. She brought him to New Day yesterday and hugged him in the car the whole way, and she said she will come visit him whenever she can. We were touched by this obvious love and sacrifice of this old, Zambian woman who is desiring the best for her grandson, and she knows she is not capable of raising him. Her goal is to find Junior's sister so that they can be raised at New Day together.

Caedmon welcomes Junior to New Day!

This picture touched me, as I well remember Racheal's first day at New Day last December, a new orphan herself. She grabbed Junior, started a song, and told him how happy she was he was here!

2 months at New Day

2011-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Our first four orphans have been at New Day for 2 months now--these pictures say it all :) All I can say is THANK YOU God for choosing US for this!
Sisi

Muchoni

Misheck

Sankwa

Machila turns 7!

2011-07-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

We never get tired of birthdays here at New Day! It's so fun for each person to get to celebrate their own special day, many for the first time ever!
Machila's princess cake

She got CandyLand (thanks Clanton team!), a doll, and some hair pins

Machila and Sisi doing a dance

Love that smile :)

Getting a splash of water from her cousin, Purity!

We play hard at New Day!

2011-07-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

The boys in a hole :)

Cambree and Laurie

Cason loves dirt!

Misheck and Cason

Cason takes a book with him wherever he goes!

Dirty..

Lots of reading time!

Reading time at school

Sisi rolling a tire

Sundays at New Day

2011-07-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Walking to church from our house

Dad preaching and Mulenga interpreting

Sankwa measuring his hands against Grandpa's hands

The girls

Kids singing special music