Gosh

Gosh, where has the last month gone, time for a much overdue update. It has been a month of birthdays as you can see with the photos just posted, no fewer than six but for us none more significant than Rhode's 3rd birthday. She continues to bring us much joy though she is sometimes becoming 'stubborn'. Her smile still gets me though, every time. The Aunties have been very good at providing a party each time for which we get a formal invite.
We have also celebrated Easter in our new church, we are still developing various technical aspects of the service but generally things have been going well. We have been blessed by having fine weather on Sunday afternoons which we are grateful for, it will be a real challenge when it rains.
On the Tuesday after Easter, Peninah's baby was born by C section at a nearby hospital. She is now the proud mum of a wee boy whom she has named after the two people who have cared for her during her pregnancy. Peter is a bonny baby who is doing well and being breast fed until 2nd term when we hope Peninah can return to school.
Two of the pictures posted tonight are of Nalima. You may recall that she came to us about 6 weeks ago severely undernourished and there was considerable concern about whether she would survive. She was so weak that she could not even hold up her head. In these ensuing weeks she has put on more than half of her weight again and is no longer skin and bones. She is also trying to stand and we believe she will be walking soon. Remember that she is eighteen months old and now weighs just over 7 kg. This is a real testimony to Pita's love and dedication. She has been feeding her every two hours for many weeks though she is now up to three hours between feeds. We were privileged to look after her last Friday for a few hours and it is soooooooo easy to fall in love with her.
With our own family we have had good news too. Our 'baby' Pete turned 30yrs last week and he and Essie have got engaged so all three of our children have taken the first step. Chris and Beck are enjoying having their own home and have decided to marry on December 7th, a week before Jen & Scott so we will be returning to NZ for two weddings in Dec. We have also decided to return to NACMU next year as we feel there are still some things for us to do here so will return in the last week of Jan.
Our days here are still filled with school, containers, Sunday school, church, family units etc... We have recently another Aunty for the family units, Aunty Bernadette who will take charge of the next family unit of eight girls once the house is finished (still a wee way off) but in the meantime she is being trained and will get to know the girls.
Well, that's about all for now, thank you to those who write to us or pray for us, it does encourage us.
Till next time
God Bless