The Name of The Lord is to be Praised

What an amazing and tiring week we’ve had! As most of you know we held a huge celebration day last Saturday the 19th. The days leading up to the day were ridiculously hectic, we worked most days without breaks well into the evening. The hard work and effort was all worth it though as we had such an amazing day. More than 350 people came to celebrate what God has done at the village. Everyone was so amazing at how fantastic the village and all the children are looking. There was a jam packed program including some fantastic worship, dancing from the children, a truly amazing self penned poem by Robbie and even I let my voice loose for a change and sang a solo. After the main event was over we had a huge Braai (BBQ) and there was a huge 5 metre water slide which the kids absolutely loved. At the end of the day I couldn’t resist going down the slide fully clothed! Ah it was so much fun! The whole day was a huge success in showing people exactly what God has done in the last 6 years. It also served to raise awareness about the huge problem this country has regarding the HIV/AIDS crisis and how we aren’t shying away from this problem here at the village. We as a team along with our Lord Jesus Christ are tackling the problem head on.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians: 3:20-21

No longer in chains, I have found my freedom in you
No more am I bound, You’ve taken my shame and my sorrow away
I will walk with my head lifted up
The old has gone and the new has come

The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised

Alone and afraid, I was lost in need of your amazing grace
You came into my life, you poured out your unfailing love and your truth
By your grace I stand justified

Because of you have eternal life

The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised

And you will be praised (we give you all praise)
For your amazing love (we give you all praise)
For your grace and mercy Lord (we give you all praise)
For the freedom you have given (we give you all praise)
My healer, My saviour

The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The name of the Lord is to be praised

In Our Hearts Forever

Matthew 19 verse 14 reads “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
As most of you heard via email one of our beautiful little babies died last Saturday 12th January. He had been quite ill for some time and the doctors were struggling to find out exactly what the problem was so he was admitted to hospital on Monday 7th January.
When we went to see him on the Friday before he died he looked happy and peaceful, so we live happy in the knowledge that he slipped away peacefully without any pain. For those of you who were praying for him again thank you so much for taking the time to remember him in your prayers. As we all know dying and going to be with our Father in His kingdom is the ultimate healing so we're happy for our little boy that he is there now. He arrived at the village in July 2007 unwanted as a product of rape. Here he was loved unconditionally by so many people for nearly 6 months- what more could we give him than the love of the Father. He lived with his amazing house mother, his two year old sister, 6 year old sister and 8 year old sister. They loved him so much and played with him and cuddled him every single day. He truly was loved and cared for with so much love and compassion. Hallelujah! We will be having a memorial service for him on Wednesday morning to celebrate his little life. Please pray for everyone here at the village as we come to terms with his death and start to move on and adapt to life without him. Praise God for giving this beautiful little boy 6 months of love and happiness.
Revelation 21:1 to 22:6 tells us a lot about what heaven will look like. Thato is certainly in an amazing place now:
‘I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who is seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am on Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be hid God and he will be my son.”

Bless The Little Children

Unfortunately the first half of this week I was ill with gastro problems and then the second half was spent in the clinic and the hospital so no photos you guys I’m afraid!
So all of Monday and mostly Tuesday I was in bed with horrendous stomach pains- must have eaten something really bad over the weekend although I can’t figure out what it could have possibly been. It really threw me this time as I thought that as I’d been healthy for so long my immune system had adapted to being in this environment. I’m fasting on Mondays at the moment for a good friend but for the past few weeks every Monday I’ve had a niggly stomach. I’ve mostly been able to ignore it as I knew that it was some form of spiritual attack, however there was no way I could ignore it this week. Anyways, because I was ill I spent very little time with the children as I didn’t want to spread it round the village. Also on Monday we had to admit one of the little babies to hospital with suspected TB meningitis. He really wasn’t doing well so I sent out frantic emails to everyone it pleading them to pray for him. He did pull through the night but is still not doing great. He had a lumbar puncture which came back negative for the TB meningitis which was good news but we still don’t know what’s wrong. The hospital has very limited resources which is a worry so we’re just hoping and praying that God will prevail and that he would lead the doctor to a diagnosis so that he can then receive the appropriate treatment. Thanks for all your prayers guys- I doubt he’d have made it without them. We’ve visited him everyday and he’s still in a lot of distress every time we go. They gave him a blood transfusion yesterday as his blood was very low (again a big worry) so they’ve shaved his head- I nearly didn’t recognise him. When you pick him up he clearly is in pain and when you put him back down he still cries as he still wants your attention. It’s so awful to see him like this but with prayer I know he’ll get through/
We then had clinic day on Wednesday where the doctor comes from the local hospital to check out any of the sick kids. The doctor decided to order xrays for two of our recent arrivals- brothers who are 11 months apart. The older brother has been off his food for a few days and has a bad cough. As his mother nearly died of TB it is highly likely that he has it too so we took him for xrays the next day. When looking at the xray the doctor didn’t think it was TB but she was very worried about his cough and he clearly was struggling to breath so she admitted him straight away. He’s on IV antibiotics and has perked up a bit but he’s still very weak. The two boys are next to each other in the hospital which is nice. When we went to see them yesterday it was over 30 degrees and there was no air at all in the ward. They have two tiny fans which just circulate hot air- the children who already have a high temperature have no hope- the sweat was dripping off them both. I’m praying that the hospital sees the need there and buys an air conditioning unit for those poor kids!
So with so much time spent in the clinic and hospital I’ve not got any photos- sorry! Will put up more than usual next. This week has just gone to show that really my illness this week was actually nothing compared to what these kids have to go through from time to time. We spoke to the school children about their status properly for the first time this week too. Most of them already knew or had a feeling so it wasn’t too much of a shock to them and they all took it really well. They understand that as long as they keep taking their pills there’s no reason for them not to live a healthy life for the time being. I was so proud of them and impressed at how they listened and took everything in. God truly is blessing every aspect of their lives!

Happy New Year

I hope and pray that you all have a truly blessed and joyful 2008!
Well I’ve been at the village for officially 3 months now- I can’t believe it already! Time really does fly when you’re having fun! We’ve had yet another amazing week celebrating the start of another year here at the village. Each year we have so much to celebrate and this year was no exception. So much has been accomplished this year- new houses have been built, new housemothers and relievers have been employed and trained allowing for the arrival of 20 new children! 5 children have left to be reunited with their family. No children passed away in 2007, which has been a tremendous blessing. The Lord truly reigns over the lives of every individual involved in the project. Hallelujah!
On New Year’s Eve we had a huge Braai with all the mums and children. The food was sensational- these women really know how to cook! I’ve seriously not tasted anything like it! After the food we had an amazing time of worship together. The sound of beautiful African singing voices echoed across the valley. Everyone joined in. when we went into prayer I briefly looked up to see not only the mothers lifting the prayers to the Lord but the older children too were deep in prayer- filed with the Holy Spirit they cried out to the Lord. I sat with the new little boy on my knee most of the evening. I was sure that he would cry when I picked him up as he is still scared of white people but as it was dark we all looked the same so he sat quite contently on my knee all evening. At first he sat right on the edge of my knee but as he felt more and more comfortable he drew nearer to me. Eventually he cuddled in to my chest and fell asleep. It was a very special evening filled with memories which will never leave me!

On New Year’s Day the temperature was more than 30 degrees and extremely humid, however that didn’t stop the mums from preparing another huge delicious feast- we’ve been so spoilt by the mums! Each time I experience the cooking I can’t believe that it can get any better but it does each time! The kids played together all afternoon in the paddling pool. All laughing and joking together. There are some really tight friendships amongst the children- they really look out for each other! They also fussed around the new little boy. They brought him food, sat with him, talked to him in Zulu (he has no English yet) and tried so hard to include him- it was so sweet to watch how they interacted with him. I imagine he must have felt so overwhelmed by the whole event so hopefully he found some solace from the other children! All in all we celebrated the beginning of 2008 in style. A lot of prayers were sent up and we all really believe that this year will be yet another amazing year at the village. A year of finishing what was started 6 years ago. A year of spiritual growth and a year of miracles.

Robbie returned to the village on Thursday bringing with him Alison who is also from our church at home. Everyone was very excited to see them both: me, the children, and the mums! It was nice to have Robbie back and have another pair of hands to help entertain the children (they aren’t back at school till the 16th of January!). We went in the pool, made thank you cards for the Christmas presents and generally had lots of playtime. The kids were all relaxed and happy- it’s almost been a stress free week- let’s hope it continues!