Childrens Nest Orphanage

Back in December while Ricky and I were back in the States, our staff from New Day heard about an orphanage in Choma that was struggling for support.  They went to visit the kids at Childrens Nest during the holidays, taking them goodies and getting to know them.

Now, we are trying to visit as often as we can to help them out. We are praying about how we can help besides just going for frequent visits.  At New Day we have several young volunteers who are willing to go serve at Childrens Nest each week.  Ricky and I brought the girls into Choma on a Thursday during our weekly shopping trip, and they had the opportunity to spend the morning with the kids and staff.

There are now 63 children living at this orphanage.  The kids range in age from 10 months to 16 years old.  They are doing their best with what they have, but unfortunately, they have lost their financial support.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Guesthouse Construction Update

The Guesthouse, which will serve as housing for all short-term volunteers, is coming along.  We have given it a name - "The ARK" - because of the massive size.  It will house at least 36 people. 

Blu is wearing his wife's sunglasses during construction!  

Crispin doing plaster.

Patrick chiseling for electricity.

Mulenga & Michael working on the tin roof.

One of the bathrooms.

Malilwe

We are excited to share that we have a new little girl joining our family.  Her name is Malilwe (pronounced Ma-lee-lwe), and she is 5 years old (almost 6).  She has just started school, but she speaks no English.

Team Tschetter

As volunteer coordinators, we have our first team to look after at New Day.  Team Tschetter consists of 3 married couples:  Orrin & Jane, Claude & Sandy, Rod & Daylene.  They come from South Dakota!  Orrin is a mechanic, and we have a long list of items for him to accomplish while he is here.  This is a huge blessing to have someone come to New Day and repair our vehicles!  Thank You, Orrin.  Jane is a nurse, and she is helping our new staff nurse, Mandy, get all setup with medical supplies and doing physicals for the children.  Claude is a farmer and a carpenter.  He is helping with construction on the Guesthouse.  Sandy and Daylene are both helping to paint the kitchen and organize things around the orphanage, as well as helping with Bible studies.  Rod is the pastor, and he is teaching/preaching as well as completing some "honey-do" lists for the missionaries.  Pray for this team as they minister to New Day and the surrounding communities.

Rainy delays

Delays are common in Zambia.  Our plans have to be flexible always.

We never know what a new day brings.

This time of year is the rainy season. On Thursdays, we usually go into Choma to purchase our weeks groceries for the Orphanage.  On this particular week...February 20, the rains had caused the bridge on Pemba Road to fill higher than our vehicle could pass safely.  So we turned around and changed our plan for that day.  The following day on Friday, February 21, we started out early in the morning to Choma...only to find the bridge was blocked by a broken down truck (see picture above).  We stopped to talk with those who were waiting on either side of the bridge.  The people were all frustrated as the truck had been on the bridge all night and not fixed yet. We could not pass, so we turned around and went back to New Day.  There is another route we could have taken, but it is not the best "road" through the bush, and especially with so much rain.

I guess the dog doesn't mind all the rain!  He found a cool spot to relax.

We finally made it to Choma on Saturday for our groceries.  Luckily we have a garden and a farm to grow things in case we ever get stranded at New Day!

Coby to Zambia

On February 14, Coby arrived in Lusaka, Zambia for his midterm break. It had been 6 weeks since we last saw him. He was a little camera shy, but other than that we had a wonderful visit.

 Coby was able to download some movies and he purchased a new stereo system to use back at his dorm.

  We ate out and watched movies.

And we did lots and lots of shopping!

Also, we got to Facetime our family on a couple of occasions.

Typical day at New Day

Life here at New Day can be slow and laid-back on days; it can be hectic and crazy some days; God can challenge us, and also bless us.

Here's what a typical day looks like for the Cook Family:

7:30am - Devotion/Quiet Time

8:00am - Our house helper (Shenkster) arrives as well as our yard worker (Fence) - who both work from 8:00-12:30pm Monday thru Friday

Kelsey begins home school, while Mom & Dad work (varies each day on what needs to be done that particular day)

On Tuesdays & Thursdays at 9:00am - Kelsey has flute lessons with our volunteer, Jenna

On Mondays & Fridays at 11:15am - Kelsey has music class with the NDO kids

On Mondays at 11:45am - Kelsey & Mom teach Arts/Crafts for NDO kids

We usually eat lunch around 12:30pm

On Mondays & Wednesdays from 2:00-2:45pm - Kelsey does reading tutorials with Cynthia; and Mom & Dad substitute for Blu & Darbi if needed

On Tuesdays from 3:00-4:00pm - Mom has been filling in for discipleship class for the older kids in Mama Lala's absence

On Tuesdays & Thursdays from 3:00-4:00 - Kelsey has drama class with the NDO kids

On Thursday afternoons - there is Bible study at Kabonga

On Friday afternoons - there is Bible study at Nabakowa, plus Kelsey usually goes with Darbi to a teen girls Bible study in Mapanza

On Tuesdays around 4:30pm - we all help cook the Family Dinner for NDO

On Thursdays - Mom & Dad (and sometimes Kelsey) go to Choma for grocery shopping

On Saturdays - we all help at Kids Club from 3:00-6:00pm, playing games with about 150 kids, assisting with Bible study, and helping to feed all of them

On Sunday - we each rotate schedules of teaching/preaching either at New Day Church or Nabakowa village

On Sunday nights - we have American fellowship where we EAT (of course) and play games; and once a month we watch a podcast of an American preacher

On Wednesday nights - we have Prayer & Praise fellowship where we spend time talking with God and worshiping Him 

There's never a dull moment at New Day as you can see from the pictures below.

A nice, friendly game of SCUM!!!

Tidwell kids watching a movie during American fellowship

Kelsey joining in on the fun of MUD

Cason is not afraid of  DIRT

Just call him "King Mud"

Dancing at birthday parties

Niki helping to wrap mixed cut from "Bud" the cow. Bud was slaughtered on Saturday, Feb 8th and Kelsey has the pictures to prove she watched the entire process (Gross!).  I guess she has had more biology lessons in the last couple of weeks to last for a while!

Debbie was happy to have some extra hands for wrapping the meat

It's a Meat Packing Party!

Kefbert turns 5 and although he is scared of Hulk's mask, he did ask for a Hulk cake (so Aunt Niki obliged)

Mweene turns 7 - he asked for a Batman Cake

Mweene with Aunt Darbi

Kefbert with Auntie Niki

Jenna and Kelsey climbing the water tower to see the sunset

I think they were imitating "Titanic" in this photo - LOL

We are Moo-ving

I never would have guessed that I would witness the birth of a calf.  But I (we) did!  On Friday, January 31st as I was teaching the children's morning devotion, Deb came by with this "look" and I knew.  We had just been discussing whether Martha was going to have her baby anytime now, and so as soon as devotion time was finished I made my way with Deb to the fenced in area where Martha lay in labor.  I quickly called Ricky, Blu, and Kelsey to come.  We tried to be hush-hush about the news of the birth because we didn't want Martha to be upset during delivery.

After all that Moo-ving excitement, we had more good news... It was time to move into our house!  The construction was being completed with just some minor items to complete at a later date, so we started unpacking all of our furniture and MOO-VING IN.

Our things were scattered from the Tidwell guest room, to the container, to the computer room, so we used the canter to load and unload our furniture.

I was very proud of Ricky's homemade sink he built out of scrap lumber. Our kitchen cabinets have been ordered for several months now, and still not ready.

Setting up the temporary kitchen with some shelving and tables for storage and work space.

Kelsey's room

Kelsey/Guest Bathroom

Kelsey/Guest Bathroom other view

Pantry - using the shelving as temp storage for boxes of dishes

Pantry/Laundry Room - our deep freezer, washer and dryer (except dryer not working quite yet)

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

It took a couple of days to get everything moved into the house, and the unpacking was FUN!  Some of the things we haven't seen since May when we packed it up and put it on the container. Once we found our sheets, comforters, and pillows we decided to have our first sleep in the new house! Oh, JOY!!!

We look forward to having lots of guests come stay with us at New Day!  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us at cook@newdayorphanage.org.