More than a 1,000 page views on our blog

We are really surprised and humbled by the fact that we reached today the mark of 1,000 page views on our blog. We didn't expect this kind of interest in our activities and the blog but as it turns out there seems to be a lot of people that keep up with us. We want to thank everyone for their continued interest and support but most importantly their prayers. We feel God's hand upon us in the things we do and that we are covered in prayer.

This many page views also mean that we will have to make sure to keep things interesting for all you readers and followers of our blog. Please post a comment if you have any specific comments or questions you want to ask us. We will try to answer them either personally or in a following post. From our end we will try to include some more pictures to give you a better idea of what we are doing and what the staff, children and environment we work in look like. A picture can say more than a thousand words. Certainly something to keep in mind.

Today we had finally a chance to meet with Gary, Michelle and Peter who made it to Lusaka yesterday with about 2 days delay and no luggage. Of the 10 pieces of luggage 2 arrived today and 6 more have been located and are (or will be) on their way to Lusaka. Two pieces are still unaccounted for and we hope and pray that these will show up soon as well. Most of the bags are full of gifts for the orphans, so it would really be a pity if they don't make it. So please pray that the bags may arrive soon and that we can hand out the gifts to the orphans and the mamas.

With Gary and Margaret we also started to plan a bit more for the future and we talked about some of the things that we would like to see happening in 2013. The year 2013 will be the year of hopefully continued growth of the sponsorship program and number of sponsors as well as a year of finishing off some work that remains to be done on some of the homes as well as the chicken farm. There are no immediate plans to start with the construction of new homes but who knows where God might lead us.

Michelle, Machteld and Lucinda went with Marianne this afternoon to My Father's House 3 and 4 close to the office to take pictures of the kids and get some information from them. They also handed out some of the letters that Michelle had brought from the sponsors for the kids. Towards the end of the afternoon they had some time to play games with the kids which was a lot of fun. It is amazing to see how these kids can make a game out of almost nothing. A simple rock can become the centerpiece of their play. It is wonderful to see the ingenuity of these children and how with simple means they can entertain themselves and have a lot of fun with their friends.

We as North Americans use a lot of technology and without it, we feel as if we are "missing a lot" and "far behind". Seeing these kids play together and the fun they have, you can ask yourself whether all the technology is really such a blessing. Here kids play together games that don't require a lot of stuff. A rock or an empty water bottle can become the centerpiece of a game. No high-tech video games but simple games they play together. There is something to say for simplicity and ingenuity.

At the end of the afternoon we watched Zambia play against Ethiopia for the Africa Cup of Nations. This is the football (soccer for North Americans) championship of Africa. Last year Zambia won the cup almost 20 years after they lost most of their star players in a plane crash. So this year, the expectations are high and almost everybody is following the games. The game ended in a 1-1 draw which was disappointing for the Zambians but at least they didn't lose the game which could have happened if Ethiopia had converted a penalty kick. Luckily for Zambia the goalie stopped the penalty kick and kept the game at 0-0 at that time.

After the game we decided to go out and get some dinner so we bought 2 pizzas at Debonairs Pizza. They were really good and tasteful and for our first "not home cooked" dinner it was a treat. I don't think that anyone has really any cravings right now, other than Lucinda who is missing her Nutella. You can buy it here but it is really expensive so we'll keep that as a birthday treat for her.

It's getting late here and surprisingly we haven't lost power tonight but it's getting time to go to sleep. It is still quite humid and warm this evening. We saw some lightning in the distance but we probably won't get any rain to cool thing off. I don't know what is worse; hot and humid or cold with snow. You can decide what you prefer. We'll stick with the hot and humid for the next little while.