Village Update

A lot of progress has been made since my last blog (about 6 months ago) about The Village. I'll try to keep it short and let the photos do the talking.

March 31 our first children's house opened and Mama Lizzar, Lerato and Monica moved into the new house. It was a busy and exciting day. Much of April was busy just getting housemothers and kids adjusted to life.

The end of April started our steady stream of visitors and family. Stephanie, Brian's sister, and Jennifer joined us for 15 days.

We had a great time with them and Liam loved all the attention. They were also a big help finishing up painting projects, organizing a lot of items in the container, making inventory lists and spending time with the Village kids. They also helped us celebrate Liam's 3rd Birthday. Aunt Stephanie and Jennifer made Liam a Thomas the Train cake-it was pretty awesome.

Mid May brought us 6 visitors- Aaron and Tommy stayed for 3 weeks, Allison and Michelle for 6 weeks and Louie's brother Tim and sister Rosina stayed for 3 months. Allison stayed with our family and we enjoyed her greatly. Just about 10 days after their arrival we were joined by another two guys who are medical students, Taylor and Matthew. They spent the majority of their time volunteering in the ARV clinic and at the government hospital. When they weren't busy playing doctor they helped with construction projects and kids at The Village.

During May we added two babies to the house. Baby Amohelang joined us when she was just 3 weeks old weighing 1.9 kgs (4.1 pounds) and 3 days later baby Tumi came. He was 6 months old weighing 19 pounds-so the exact opposite of our little peanut.

In early June our last 2 girls for the house joined us. Motshidisi age 17 and Dieketseng age 15 are sisters and have been a delightful addition to The Village.

As I finish up this post, the second house for children is ready to go. The beds have been made, the kitchen items are stocked and our housemother is eager to start. We actually thought 2 children were coming last Friday but the social worker ended up finding relatives for the children. So we are praying for the children that the Lord has for us to take into our next home. We are anticipating this house to be for boys.

{Started in mid-May and completed by August}

{The house is complete, just need a picture}