A New Year!

Happy 2009 Family!
I trust your holidays were amazing. I heard from many of you and I really appreciate that. Christmas in Zimbabwe didn’t really feel like Christmas. They don’t make a big deal out of the holidays here like we do in America. No biggie. Like I told some of you, I think I would have had a harder time missing all of you if I did feel like it was Christmas. But, I am right were God wants me, so I had a great time. We didn’t do much. We had a really relaxing Christmas day and New Year’s day.

All of our Christmas parties went off without a hitch. Dombosava (on the left) and Madvuku (on the right..this is only a small portion of the kids) were a lot of fun. I have included a picture of each, so you can see the children. They even got me up to sing, in Shona (their native language), at Madvuku. I had a great time. Between the two parties, we reached about 200 children with love and the message of Jesus. It was so great to hear them singing and see them dancing for the Lord. There is nothing like seeing children love and worship the Lord. After all, Jesus did say that we will never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven if we don’t become like little children. For some of the children at Madvuku, this will have been their last Christmas. They won’t live to see another December…the sad reality of HIV/AIDS.

We started our work with Jabulani back up yesterday. The care staff are going to be great. We are diverse in age and background, but we are all coming together for a common goal…to love and care for children who have no family. Baby Kuda has been our “example” for the training thus far. This morning I trained the staff on how to properly prepare and administer a bath to a baby. Yesterday, we talked about what God says about work, learned a little bit about each other, and had a discussion on what we expect from each of the staff members. Because the care staff is staying at our house for the duration of the training this week, we shared a meal last night and as we cleaned up, we laughed together and joked around. I think we are going to make a very strong and happy team. Please pray for our care staff: myself, Christine, Shelter, Florence, and Concepter. Pray for God’s wisdom for each of us as we continue in the training and next week as we, hopefully, get to be in Jabulani! We are so excited to actually be in the building. Also, pray for the babies we will start accepting at the end of January. The team is already praying for the babies who aren’t even born yet that will come to us.

As we enter into 2009, realize that this is a new year filled with new hope, new endeavors, new gifts, and a fresh start. If there is something that God has asked you to do that you haven’t done yet, DO IT! You are in a new year, do what God has asked you to do. Make this New Year about changing your mindset. Don’t let all of your old junk hold you down anymore. Let 2008 stay in 2008. “The old has passed away, BEHOLD, the NEW has come!” If you feel like you have failed God, He wants you to know that FAILURE IS NOT FINAL with Him. He loves you and has amazing things for your life. Step out this New Year. Grab hold of your destiny. Stop holding back. If you do that, I promise you, you will be blessed.

I love you and I will see you soon.

Grabbing hold of my new gifts,
Gina :)