We have a new home - praise be to God

After a week with power outages and being without water for almost 3 days we decided that it was time to move into our new house. The house was basically ready last week but we didn't have an internet connection yet and we felt that we would need that before we would move out of the office and into our new house. Since we got our wireless internet connection on Monday we figured that it was time to move this weekend.

We had a bit of a scare last night when Machteld and Lucinda went with the Toyota Noah van to Manda Hill mall for some shopping. At a little after 6pm Machteld called to see that the car wouldn't start and what to do next. Luckily, Margaret, Mareta, Patricia and Willy were still in Chongwe and just about to leave. They would swing by on their way home to check things out. After about an hour and a half the got to Manda Hill mall and Willy tried to start but with no success. So they decided to all jump in the Landcruiser and head back to the office where they arrived around 9pm. Willy, the mechanic with the golden hands, later went back to the van and got it to start and brought it back to the office. The battery was dead because of a little lose circuit that prevented the battery from charging while driving.

This morning Willy changed the battery and fixed the issue with the circuit so the van was in tip-top shape again. Around noon we packed most of our stuff in the van and headed to Justo Mwale Theological University College. Once there we started unpacking our suitcases with mixed feelings.

 

 

After we got most of our stuff out of the suitcases and into the closets Machteld did some laundry. It all worked well and it feels good to be able to do your own laundry whenever you feel up to it. After that and some small clean-up we had our first dinner at out new house. It was a simple one with chicken samosas but it tasted great and we had custard for dessert. That's not bad for a first dinner in a new house.

 



The new house really starts to feel like home. We spend some time hanging the first few paintings on the walls which really makes a difference. And of course, we have the giraffes already in place since those are Machteld's favorites.

I think that we can say that we have found our new home. We hope to enjoy our stay here and our first night in our new beds. We feel very blessed that we have been able to find this home. It feels a bit strange to know that we moved in Canada about 7 months ago and now, after being exactly one month in Zambia we moved again into another home. This home is a nice place to be together with family and friends. We really can call this place our home.

Right now it is about 8:30pm here and we're all excited to be here. We just talked about maybe having our first real shower in a month tomorrow morning! It are the little things that you start to value more than ever before. The last 3 days we have been without water at the office and we even had power outage during the day on Wednesday besides the usual evening outages. Tonight we haven't had a power outage (yet) so maybe we are now in a better place for that as well.

We are thankful for a busy week but especially for the fact that we can now really settle down. We can find our own rhythm and ways. It was a good time at the office but sharing a bedroom and bathroom en-suite with the three of us starts to test some nerves and patience. And on top of all this we have been able to purchase a vehicle this week that hopefully will show up in about six weeks. It is amazing to realize that we have been here only one month exactly to the day and what we have been able to get done. From here on the focus will shift more and more towards the orphans and the mamas as well as the operations. We have had a first few steps in those areas and from now on we can focus on it full force God willing.

Blessings from all of us in Zambia and for those of you in Ontario, Canada all the best with digging out from under the snow. That is one thing that we don't miss!