The big news is this: we now have HOUSEPARENTS!!! They are being screened right now, which means that we will be able to accept babies again when the process is finished! That probably won't be until January, but still, there is hope on the horizon! I have yet to get a picture of them, but Sbu and Sihle are an awesome couple from City Baptist Church, one of our sister churches, and I think it will be fun to live on the same property! I have known Sihle for a while - she volunteers at the baby home.
It will be good to have new babies again! Since Owlie's and Small's departures, we are down to just two babies. Don't get me wrong, we are always overjoyed when our babies find their forever families, but there are so many more babies out there needing care that we haven't been able to accept. It is so hard knowing they are out there and we can't take them! So hopefully soon, we will be at full capacity again. Even if Roo and Lullaby don't leave in the next two months, I can't imagine getting FOUR newborns in a short time span! Babies' arrivals are usually more staggered. I guess night shift will actually be a "real" shift then...=P Right now sometimes we sleep all night if the babies do as well! They are both older and such good sleepers.
Don't think our small number of babies translates into us sitting around twiddling our thumbs! We've been busy with AWANA, evangelism, volunteering at a school, spending time with people from church, and the list goes on and on, including a great mix of ministry and some fun activities as we wrap up our time here.
Last Friday was our last AWANA. Janelle and I ran the AWANA tuck shop.
I got some pictures with some of the kids from my small group. It fluctuated a lot throughout the year, but I really enjoyed getting to know a more steady group of children the last few months.
I was struggling - everything was really crazy and stressful and I would dread each week - but then I prayed desperately, "Lord, please help me learn to love this!" and He did!
(It didn't really get any less crazy, though. LOL.) These three are a really fun bunch of girls.
Uncle Vinson single-handedly ran games on the last day.
Everyone was very eager for the tuck shop to open (even if they didn't have any AWANA bucks).
I've been doing some crochet, including these converse baby booties to sell when I get back in the States. If you're interested in a pair (or any crochet item - I do custom orders) check out Happy Heads Helping Hearts on Facebook. I'll be crocheting to raise support to come back next year.
I've started crocheting with some of the ladies from Salvokop, a local refugee community where many members of our church live. Unfortunately, we've only been able to have one lesson so far, but they want to learn to make all kinds of things, so hopefully we will pick up again when I return!
Mama Linda is such a huge help when it comes to crochet, especially with the language difficulties. Many of my friends speak English quite well but crochet is very technical! I am learning a little Shona (the language many Zimbabweans speak) but I haven't really gotten beyond greetings, polite phrases, and simple sentences like "I am cooking pap" and "Joy is naughty!"
Cute baby =). Not one of ours.
Toddlers happily playing during Bible study/crochet time.
Jacaranda season is almost over! I've enjoyed the purple cloud over the whole city.
I've also enjoyed spending time with our Gospel Community (Bible study group). We had a braai (cookout) a week or two ago (not when this picture was taken) and everyone had to tell about their week in a different language and have a friend interpret. I think we had 20 people there and 14 languages represented (including my pidgin Spanish...) Then it started to rain and we all had to squish into our little house!
Where....we ate chicken feet. They were...squishy.
Christmas decorations were up when we went to the store on October 20th. WAY, TOO. EARLY. Of course Themba was eager to point out "Christmas!" the entire shopping trip!
I found a lovely little thrift shop just a mile or so from our house! I was SO happy and immediately started accumulating things for next year...
Well, that's about all for now! I have more to write, if you all want to see a few pictures of our sightseeing and such. I found an ethernet cable, so I now have some internet access, at least enough to blog. I can't believe Alyssa and I leave in a week! Time has flown. I hope I am able to come back quickly. I miss my family SO much and can't wait to see them, but I love my life here. =)
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