It’s been an INTENSE 6 months of work to prepare the new housing complexes for our resident orphans. The girls' old home had to be torn down, debris removed, and a whole new complex built from concrete brick. That started at the end of June and is now COMPLETE! Hallalujah, PTL! We have a few spots to touch up with paint on Monday but we plan to move our 6 girls and their foster parents into this new complex on Wednesday. Nothing like a new home for Christmas!
The Teenage Boys' Dorm still needs many inner walls painted, doors mounted, and windows screens hammered into place. We plan to move them in the first week of January, as the daily rains (1-2 inches per day) have greatly hindered the workers. Starting at 5 am, we make the most of the few hours we have before the rains hit. Our construction teams have worked SOAKED to make things happen in this last week. I really appreciate their dedication as they know the deadline is upon all of us and the job MUST BE DONE on time.
Eric did a marvellous job of installing the solar lighting systems and the kitchen sinks in BOTH the girls and boys homes. Our kids now have the most modern homes in all of Balama County. The health inspectors who came this week were speechless! The only criticism they could think of was to put in SOAP DISHES ON THE BATHROOM WALLS! We all got a laugh out of that one!
We do still have one orphan complex to build next year, as we were physically overwhelmed with the massive workload it took to build the first 2 complexes in order to meet all of the new regulations. Foster mother Assia and the 8 boys and girls who live there are patiently waiting for us to rebuild their home in 2013. This construction will begin as soon as the rainy season ends in April. In the meantime, we are considering building an ARK for rainy season survival. (Just joking!)
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO GAVE TOWARDS THIS PROJECT SO OUR KIDS COULD CONTINUE LIVING WITH US! Six-year-old Dollar, our newest resident, approached me on his 2nd day in our care and asked: “May I stay here forever?” Abused and abandoned, he knew LOVE as soon as he received it!
If we had not been able to build these houses, these children would have been removed from our care. YOUR LOVE GIFTS ARE GIVING MANY KIDS A FUTURE THEY NEVER DREAMED POSSIBLE.
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA’S SPEAKING TOUR SCHEDULE FOR 2013
The Bunny is hopping a plane to visit many of you! If you need further details, contact me or our office:
linda@orphansunlimited.org
TEXAS
Sunday, Jan. 27th, 9 am, LEHRER MEMORIAL CHURCH, Garwood, TX
Sunday, Feb. 3rd, 10 am, EMMANUEL FELLOWSHIP , Gonzales, TX
Sunday, Feb. 3rd, 6 pm, COLUMBUS BAPTIST CHURCH, Columbus, TX
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 10 am, ROCK ISLAND EVANGELICAL CHURCH, Rock Island, TX
Wednesday Feb. 6th, Private presentation, San Antonio,TX
Thursday Feb. 7th, CONCORDIA SCHOOL OF NURSING, Concordia University, Austin, TX
Friday, Feb. 8th (meeting pending in San Marcos, TX) place and time to be announced
Sunday, Feb. 10th, 10 am, NORTHPOINT CHURCH, New Braunfels, TX
Sunday, Feb. 10th, 6 pm, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, Sequin, TX
KANSAS, LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, OKLAHOMA, OHIO
Tuesday Feb. 12th to 15th, private presentations, Wichita, Kansas
Sunday Feb. 17th, HINESTON TABERNACLE (am service), Hineston, LA
Friday, Feb. 22nd, CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, Jacksonville, Florida
Sunday, Feb. 24th, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA CHURCH (details to be announced in January)
Feb. 26th-28th, VICTORY CHRISTIAN CENTER, Tulsa, OK, Wed. night service
Sunday, March 3rd, FAITH COMMUNITY CHAPEL, Leesville, OH
Monday March 4th, 8:15 am, INDIAN SPRINGS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Tuesday March 5th, Leesville Woman’s Meeting
Wednesday March 6th, 7 pm, Leesville Children’s meeting
Sunday March 10th, 10:30 am, OASIS ASSEMBLY OF GOD, Norwalk, OH
ALASKA
Tuesday March 12th to Monday, March 18th in Cordova, Alaska.
Sunday March 17th, morning service, LITTLE CHAPEL, Cordova, Alaska
TEXAS
Sunday, March 31st, 10 am, ALL AROUND COWBOY CHURCH, Sealy, TX
April 2nd, fly out to Mozambique!
Due to the heavy rains this week, travel to our bush churches is not possible. Eric Dry is in South Africa, as his 4th grandchild will be born via C-section this Wed., Dec. 19th. He’s a very proud grandpa and has the photos to prove it! Before he left, he brought me his portable hard drive with all his photos on it to put in our safe. 85,000+ photos to be exact! Most are the ministry, but he does have many files of his grandkids.
The blog will continue weekly during our wet Christmas season. Leona Phillips, Elizabeth Rumball (Australian visitor), and I are busy planning the orphans' Christmas party. We are praying for a dry day for the party, or we’ll have only water sports for activities!
MERRY CHRISTMAS from all of us! I look forward to seeing many of you very soon. Bush Bunny Brenda and the Balama gang.
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