Announcing Baby #3

I thought I better start off with our biggest news, we are excited to share Baby #3 is coming our way. I am already 20 weeks, so time is passing by swiftly. Our due date is December 16, but I am hoping this baby keeps up with the trend and comes a little early.

One thing different and nice about OB doctor appointments here is that we get an ultrasound every time we go to the doctor. We had an appointment this past Monday and the doctor did a detailed ultrasound looking at the heart, stomach, major organs, 10 fingers and 10 toes. Even saw the baby boy waving and open and closing his little mouth. So it looks like we are going to have a talker :)

Liam says that the baby is his Christmas present, so he is very excited about having a baby. He also thinks that Christmas is tomorrow and not 5 months away. Lindie on the other hand says "no" to a baby brother so we will have to keep working on her.

We Are Back Online

It has been a long 6 months since I last posted but I have good reasons. I won't take the time to list them all, just the #1 reason. We moved into our house at the end of January without having a telephone line installed. By installed I mean the actual line wasn't even in the ground to our property. Our telephone company said they would get it done in February. I was thinking, okay we will be without a telephone and internet for 2 months. I must have forgot where we are living-Hello this is Africa. February quickly passed by with no action, March came & the guy in charge said it wouldn't happen in March because it was the end of the financial year, but he promised it would happen in April. In other words-they didn't have the money to do it. Half way through April Brian started calling the guy everyday to check on the progress. The guy quickly started recognizing Brian's number and stopped answering his calls, so he had to use my cell phone. In May, Brian started making regular visits to the guy's office so he could see him in person and get the entire story. Finally towards the end of May work started to happen, phone line trenches were being dug and telephone junction boxes installed. Of course this took another month but finally on June 22nd we had an operational phone line and in another few days we had internet. WaHoo!

So you may be wondering what has taken so long to start blogging again? Well we've had a whirlwind of visitors, volunteers & a team. The last week I'v been trying to get organized again and decided that today was the day to start posting again. Obviously I can't recount the last 6 months, but I will be sharing the highlights mostly by photos so you can see the changes at The Village and what Liam and Lindie have been doing.

Christmas Pictures

Well I can't believe I'm so behind in posting Christmas picture. For that matter, I am just behind in posting anything recently. We've been extra busy since Christmas with working on the house and now packing. This coming week we are making the big move to The Village and I am super excited about it. This will be our 3rd time to move in the past 9 months, but Lord willing our last move for a long while.

We had a wonderful Christmas and the kids were too cute so I have to post these pictures, even if they are really late.

{Liam and Lindie opened their presents from Papa and Nana over

Skype on Christmas Eve. This is Liam showing them his presents}

{Lindie opening her present from Nana and Papa}

{Liam looking at his new book}

{Liam opening his stocking on Christmas Eve}

{Lindie and her Christmas Sock}

{Pops and Nana came over Christmas morning after church to share the fun}

{Liam and his new Cars legos from Aunt Becka, Uncle Larry and cousins}

{We had lunch at Nan Val and Oupa Danie's. We enjoyed eating turkey and lamb}

{Christmas afternoon ended with a swim at Nan Val and Oupa Danie's}

{She's not always a little princes, but she is really cute}

Having Fun

Two weeks ago I watched Meredith, Drake, Lerato and Monica for the day while Amber, Louie, Bob and Susan went to the chiropractor. Yes going to the chiropractor takes all day, he is 2 hours away.

It was fun having Lerato and Monica around so we could get to know them a little better. All six kids were very busy, but behaved most of the time. The day started at 6:30AM and they left around 3:30pm. In that amount of time we played with everything and did about every activity possible. We played with toys, puzzles, rode little bikes, went swimming 2 times, played on the slide, jumped on the trampoline, colored Christmas pages, played with play-dough, watched part of a movie and ate a snack and lunch. I figured out what its like to run a daycare.

Our new little puppy, Millie, also had a big day. The girls loved Millie and tried carrying her around all day. Millie also ended up swimming, riding bikes, getting pushed down the slide & jumping on the trampoline.

Enjoy some of the pictures from our fun day. As you can see Lerato and Monica are settling into life with the O'Tools nicely and getting to know Liam and Lindie.

{This didn't last very long, but it was nice while it did!}

{Lerato}

{Monica}

Lerato and Monica

Lerato, age 10, and Monica, age 6 are cousins and both girls' mothers passed away this year. For the last few months they have been staying with an uncle in a situation that has been less than ideal. There are 6 other men living in the house with

no women, although to this point it seems that nothing terrible has happened. He has been trying to keep them only for the small grant he receives each month for foster care.

At The Village our first house is nearing completion. Many man-hours have been invested and we are almost ready. Since things aren't fully completed the two girls will be staying with the O'Tools until the house is finished. In the meantime we continue to make arrangements for their full-time care. Dunamis Christian School is holding a place for them, and we have several leads for housemothers. Lois and Amber have sorted clothes, found backpacks and school supplies, and prepared Christmas gifts for the girls.

Soon Lerato and Monica will be experiencing the same outpouring of love we have experienced over the past year during the establishment of Restoring Hope Village. It is through your faithful prayers and support that this day is possible. These two girls, along with many others will soon be shown of the love that God has given us. We are privileged to be the hands and feet of Christ, and your representatives to those who so desperately need Him.

Your partnership in ministry is essential. Many of you have already joined us in the work. Here are some ways you can continue to partner with Restoring Hope:

Continue to pray for the ministry here. Pray for the children, our church outreach ministry, and ongoing work at The Village.

Consider a 2010 year end donation. As 2010 draws to a close, consider a financial gift to help us finish our goal of $8,000 to ensure we are prepared to care for the children God brings us. We are over halfway there, and hope to reach our goal by the end of the year. You can give on-line at www.restoringhopeint.org or mail your gift to the address below.

Sponsor a Child. We have had several people already sign up for sponsoring a child. To learn more about our sponsorship, contact us at childsponsor@restoringhopeint.org

Join a team. We have several teams and visitors already scheduled for 2011. If you are interested, please contact us at info@restoringhopeint.org

Join us in thanksgiving for God's wonderful provision and blessing throughout this past year.

The Staff at Restoring Hope Village

Brian & Lois Niehoff

Louis & Amber O'Tool

Restoring Hope International

PO Box 372, Ankeny, Iowa 50021 · 515.963.6794

Nearing Completion

I love going to the property and seeing every new step that is happening. Each step of progress now really makes the house take on a new look. The door jams and trim are completed! All the painting is done! All the tile has been laid! Just the grouting needs to be done. Today my bathroom mirror was hung along with the toilet being installed and all those fun jobs in the bathroom.

On Wednesday we get carpet for the bedrooms-another yeah. And the sun is out today. We've had A LOT of rain recently along with high winds. We've experienced winds like never before. Even our neighbors at The Village said they've never seen anything like it before. The winds were so bad on Sunday evening that is cause a large section of our concrete fencing to fall over. Another section of the fence also suffered damage but it is still standing. The company that supplied our fence is taking partial blame for the fence materials not holding up against the winds and will be replacing some of the fence at their expense. Praise the Lord!!!

{Lindie and Liam love going to the house during lunch time}

{Brian, Bob and Louie laying the tile}

{Living room and passage almost done}

{As you can see, we received a lot of rain}

{Lawrence, or better known as Pops, helped at

the house by varnishing our front and back door}

{Trim painted and is now all installed}

{Our bedroom}

{Liam and Lindie's bedroom}

{measuring our old curtain, and now Susie is hemming them to length}

Since I started this blog post more has been accomplished. This week carpet was installed in the 3 bedrooms. The front door is on and has a lock :) and the back yard has been tilled up and planted with grass seed.

A Day That Won't Be Forgotten

{This post was written the day Amber and I picked up Lerato and Monica from the social worker's office-December 20}

Today is a day that won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Today is the day that the first 2 girls came to live at Restoring Hope Village. A day that we, the staff at Restoring Hope Village, have been eagerly anticipating for a while now. We have known about these girls and their situations for more then a month now and have been praying for them. Praying for their safety, for their family or lack of family situation and for their understanding of what is about to come.

Today is a day that these two girls will also not forget anytime soon but with time we pray their hearts will heal and their lives will be mended.

Today is a day that will forever change our lives. Each time God gives us a new child to care for, to love and to help mold them into His likeness, is a life changing day.

Now let me clarify a few details. Restoring Hope Village's first house is nearing completion, but not yet finished. A local social worker, that we work closely with, asked us to do her a favor. To consider taking these 2 girls into our own home while The Village is being completed. After much prayer and guidance from our local trustees the O'Tool family (our co-workers) felt the Lord directing them in this direction. We also desired to take these girls into our own home, but we knew with our upcoming move, having family currently living with us and once we move into our new house at The Village we wouldn't have a proper bedroom for them, we also knew it would be best for the girls to live with the O'Tools.

We have pretty much been on-call for these girls since December 8th but today was the day-December 20th. Their family situation is still a bit fuzzy to us, as the details aren't totally clear. Lerato is 10 years old and Monica is 6. They are cousins and have both been living with their Uncle since both of their mothers died. They have been living in a house full of men, with no mother figure and no one really caring for them. Neighbors report that the girls run in the streets all day and often don't even sleep in their Uncle's home at night.

Today is the day that their entire world got turned upside down again. Their Uncle brought them into see the social worker and that is when they found out that they were not returning with their Uncle to the township. Today they left everything that is familiar and what they call home.

Over the past 4 years of living in Welkom and caring for orphaned and vulnerable children it has become apparent to me how much family means to these children. It doesn't matter if it is an uncle, auntie, cousin, granny and often it isn't even a close blood relative but these children desperately hang onto these family members. It doesn't matter to them if they aren't fed, clothed, or loved by these so called family members. Love doesn't even enter these children's minds, only survival. These children don't even know what love is nor do they know how to accept it. Love is a foreign concept to them. The lasting comment from the social worker today "These children don't even know the love of a mother's heart."

Today Amber and I held 2 screaming, kicking, fighting little girls that in reality didn't know how to act differently. They were most likely acting out of fear. Fear of being ripped out of their Uncle's care, fear of these two white ladies holding them and fear of the unknown.

You may be asking yourself, so why did these 2 girls have to leave their uncle? I asked myself that many times in the short timespan of 30 minutes which seemed more like an eternity. Could their uncle be that bad? YES. The girls are filthy from not being washed properly, their shoes are too small, their clothes have holes and even though these are all materialistic things we know he hasn't been caring for their needs. They are small in size for their age, the uncle drinks way too much, and the only reason he desires to keep them is for the small foster grant he receives from the government for caring for them.

Even though today and most likely tomorrow and all this week will seem rather foreign to them and bewildering, we pray that Lerato and Monica will settle into their home comfortably. We pray they will be able to understand what love is and how to accept it. Most of all, we pray for their spiritual life-that they will come to understand and know that their Heavenly Father loves them more then we love them.

We ask that you also pray for Lerato and Monica.

Prior to their arrival we picked out clothes, shoes, school bags and Christmas presents for the girls. They arrived at The O'Tool's house with Christmas presents under the tree for them. I'm sure that is also another first of many firsts to come their way.

{Lerato}

{Monica}