We had the most amazing day yesterday.  The choir from SJCV gave their first public performance at City Presbyterian Church.  They did great and I was so proud of them.  The church even asked them to sing again after the service was finished.  I also got to share a little about the ministry and got some very positive feedback from some of the congregation. 

After church we took the girls back to my place for lunch.  It was so much fun watching them play on the swings, and bikes and trampolines.  Many of them had never been on a trampoline before so it was hilarious watching their reactions when they first got on.  I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent  and from their faces it was obvious that they also enjoyed themselves. Now they are looking forward to next Sunday when they will sing in the Baptist Church. 

I have been overwhelmed by the response to the "One in a Million" campaign. It's such a simple concept and most people love the idea of being "One in a Million"!!!  It's great that we are getting such a positive response from the Bulawayo Community as well.

Now I am off to SJCV again to do some more practicing with the coir.  Only four weeks to the opening and so much to do!!

Just when I think we have everything sorted out for the young girl staying us who is pregnant her father sends us a message and says if we send her home he will kill her.  This also includes us sending to her to family members.  Now I am very unsure what the next step is.  It's really a tough call.  Would appreciate your prayers for wisdom.
A friend of mine has a ministry called Forever Homes.  We work very closely with her and help each other whenever we can.  She is about to open another home and has offered places for four children.  Her homes can only take up to ten children and it is usually a permanent situation.  Problem is we have a number of children who would thrive in a family situation, it's just knowing who to choose.  At least we have time to pray about it.  The home will only open in the next couple of months. 
Please pray for a couple of our little ones who are not well.  Two year old Ethan has a mouth full of ulcers.  He is a very unhappy little guy.  Ethan is one of my favourite kids.  He is a very quiet, sweet natured little boy and I hate seeing so him so miserbale.  Three old Sara has the same thing..a mouth full of ulcers.  One of the doctors in town has agreed to see the children pro bono so tomorrow we will take them both for a check up.  Hopefully it's nothing serious.  All of our childen were immunised recently for measles so we are wondering if Ethan and Sera are having some kind of side affect from the injection.  Who knows?
Anyway Des is about to call me for supper, roast lamb and veg.  My favourite meal.  Catch you all later.

Bendover Boutique

I have just spent the last few hours with the children at Willow Park.  What an amazing bunch of kids they are and so talented.  They are all working really hard preparing for the official opening on 11th July.  The choir will be singing, there will be traditonal dancing and they will be playing the marimbas which finally arrive tomorrow afternoon.  They asked me if I could delay their bedtime by an hour each day in order for them to be able to practise more.  Hope I wasn't conned into giving them extra time for nothing!!
On Sunday  the choir will be singing in the presbyterian church and I have been given a few minutes to speak about the ministry.  The girls are really excited if not a little nervous about their first public performance.  They have nothing to worry about.  I know they are going to be fantastic.
I spent this morning digging through clothes at the bendover boutique.  This a place where everyone sells their second hand clothing.  There are huge piles of clothing on the ground and one must just bend over and sort through it all until you find what you want.  I have bought 14 pairs of black jeans this way, all for $3 each.  You can get a real bargain if your persistent  enough!!

This morning all the YFC staff went off to hear Joyce Meyer speak and Darlene Zschech from Hillsong did the praise and worship.  It was such a treat for us.  We NEVER get any of the big names coming to Bulawayo.  Having said all that I didn't even get to hear Joyce Meyer. I had to go back to work before she started speaking.  I was really disappointed!!  But I thoroughly enjoyed Darlene Zschech and I was so impressed by the turnout.  The hall was absolutely packed.  There must have been over 5,000 people there. 

We have finally made a decision regarding the young girl I spoke of in my last post.  She will go to live with her Aunt in Harare.  I will be sad to see her go but I think it's the best thing to do.  She will finish this term with us and then leave in August.  I am glad she will be with us for the opening of SJCV.  She is part of the choir and I have really become attached to all the girls in the choir.

I have finally been given permission to start showing photographs of the place we are hoping to buy as the new centre for SJCV,  It is just so perfect for us.  It is much closer town, has more accomodation, beautiful grounds, a huge area with lots of swings etc, a wonderful underground water supply and best of all lots of offices so we can move the National Office onto the premises and be close to the children.

It's lovely isn't it!!

Decisions, decisions!!

It's a cold, wet, miserable Sunday.  However we have just had pizza with the Addisons and that was great.  Pete makes the best pizza. 
Thanks everyone for the interest in the "One in a Million" campaign.  It's just so encouraging.  After today I am even more certain of the need to bring our children into town from Willow Park.  It is freezing out there.  The kids must  really be suffering,  especially the little ones who always seem to have cold hands and feet.
Another two children were placed in our care on Thursday...15 year Beauty and her 7 month old baby girl .  Beauty was forced to become the younger wife to her mother's boyfriend.  When a neighbour heard about this she reported it to the police and Beauty was removed from this man's home.  He was very angry and  threatened to come after her.  She is in our care temporarily, for her own protection.   Beauty has never been to school and has no idea of her actual age.  When the police first interviewed her she told them she was 19 because she waas scared of getting into trouble.   The police then dropped the charges because she was not a minor.  It's a really messy situation and I am not sure what the outcome will be.  We will have to see.  It's so hard to know what to do with this young lady.  I can't put her into school.  She is too old to be starting grade one, and  the baby complicates matters even more.  We have a few girls with us in similar situations to Beauty.  We will probably put them into a skills training program and hopefully they will  become self sufficient and be able to support themselves and their children.   Whilst the police tell us we will ony have Beauty and her daughter for short time, I know, from experience that it does not work out that way and it's more than likely that Beauty will remain with us until she is 18 years old. 
I have to make another a very difficult decision tomorrow.  One of our girls who has been with us for a few years now is pregnant.  This girl came to us after her father threw boiling water over her. During the last school holidays she went home to her mother, and  that's when she became pregnant.  We called her mother in on Friday to talk to her.  Obviously she is devastated!!  She told us that the reason the father threw boiling water over her daughter was because he caught her with a boy.  The mother is terrified that if we send her  home the father will kill her.  According to her mother he actually has the potential to do that.  I am angry and frustrated and just not sure what to do with this child.  I have never faced a situation like this before.  Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

My computer crashed!!!

It's been some time since I last wrote.  My computer crashed last week and I had to wait until the weekend for Peter Addison to reformat it.  What a big job!!  Praise God for Peter who not only fixes our computers, he also fixes our cars and everything else that needs fixing.  What would we do without Des and Pete.
Anyway now on to my news.  Firstly I am so excited about the number of frends showing an interest in our "One in a Million" campaign.  I will get back to all of you now that I can go on-line again.  The paperwork is done so you can expect an e-mail from me soon.
This morning Des and I went looking for some children who were living in the park.  A friend had seen them recently scavaging in some garbage bins for food.  We couldn't find them but will keep looking.  She thought one looked to be about six years old.  She said they were both very thin and very dirty.  And certainly not dressed for the cold weather which we are experiencing at the moment.  It's just so sad.
Last Friday we were asked to take a five month old little girl.  She only weighs about 2kg and she is HIV positive.  Her mother died soon after giving birth and her Aunt was looking after her in the hospital, but has now run off to South Africa.  The father of the baby is unemployed and homeless.  We will care for her until we can find another relative willing to care for her.  She is very cute and we have named her Jacquie after our bookkeeper. 
Also last Friday we said goodbye to baby Peter whose circumstances were identical to little Jacquie's.  His mother died and his father was unable to care for him.  We did however find an Aunt who was willing to take him.  I love it when a plan comes together.!!.  We were sad to say goodbye to Peter but glad he now has a home.  It's so hard not get attached to our children.  If I was younger and richer I'd take the lot!!!

This morning I got an e-mail from Taryn...a friend I haven't met yet. She was so excited about the "One in a Million" idea because the Lord gave her the same idea a few weeks ago. How cool is that!! And what an amazing confirmation for me. I am dying to post photos of the new centre...the one I believe the Lord is going to give us but have to wait until the owners publicly make it know that they are selling it.
The pastor on Sunday said "If your not afraid, your vision is too small". Well I am really scared. Trying to raise one million dollars fills me with absolute terror unless I keep my eyes fixed firmly on Him.
This morning I was out at Willow Park, the current home for the Sandra Jones Children's Village. It's always great to spend time with the kids. They really help you keep a healthy perspective on life. I had morning tea with them, which was tea with bread and margarine. And it was enough. I wonder what my kids would do if I gave them bread and margarine for lunch!!!
There's a little girl out there, her name is Blessing. She is six months old, tiny and very very cute. Her parents are both dead and she was being cared for by her 16 year old sister who was also caring for another three siblings. She just couldn't cope and that's why Blessing came to us. I would love to take her and have to keep reminding myself that four is enough!!! I must just stay away from the babies when I visit the centre. Everytime I go out there I want to take one home. Even my three year old told me today "no more babies Mommy" I just wish all of our children could be adopted into loving Christian homes.