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Toby’s Adventure to Africa…

Remember Toby? If not—I first shared about him here. And we unveiled where that little stinker stuck off to here. Yep, give our family a class pet to take care and see what we do?! We send him into the mission field;). I so think of Zambia though as our other home…where part of our heart is with our widows and orphans. I shared a little bit more about ole Toby here and promised for more details on his trip. Well…enough from me already!

It’s about time you heard from Toby! (Special thanks to my little voice overs! Toby couldn’t have done this project without them…but he really couldn’t have done it with out the hand of the Lord and what HE is doing in Africa! So thankful for what God is doing…and a few images at the end of the video are thrown in from past trips too. Enjoy—and please feel free to share this video of Toby and Wiphan with others!)

PLEASE PAUSE MUSIC ABOVE BEFORE WATCHING…

Wiphan Care is doing a blanket drive…to “Warm Up Wiphan”…a simple but BIG way for YOU to serve…

Warm Up Wiphan Launch

We are launching our Warm Up Wiphan drive!! We need everyone’s participation and help for us to accomplish a big task in a short amount of time!! We are trying to purchase 450 blankets and 450 sweaters for our student by May 15th!!

About 3 weeks ago we received the following email from our social worker about three of our students living by themselves, struggling to keep warm at night. Our summer months are winter months in Zambia and temperatures can get in the 40’s at night. After receiving this email, we as the Wiphan Board knew we had to do something as soon as possible to help our students stay warm. Please read the email below and join us as we endeavor to keep our kids warm this season:

Davison Njovu (15), Mambo Phiri (11) and Gibson Kumwenda (13) are all related. They are double orphans who come to Wiphan’s Sinia Center in grades 6, 4 and 6 respectively.
Davison_Gibson_Mambo_with_their_new_blankets
Just yesterday Davison who is the oldest of them all came to school to report that he was quitting.

This is their story.

Davison, Mambo and Gibson are cousins who found themselves under the care of their grandmother after each one of their parents died. Their grandmother is old but has a small farm 3 hours walk from sinia where she said she would go. She has since been gone since October and left the kids to fend for themselves. The kids know where the farm is but have never found her there. A few times they have gone, desperately looking for something to eat. They do have one meal when they come to school but that’s as far as it goes. After school, they go home and sleep to get ready for school the next day. They sleep in a tiny mud house which has holes in the roof and since its been raining pretty hard lately, they just sit in a corner and hug each other for warmth because also, they don’t have a bed or mat to sleep on. After living this way Davison has totally given up and so a few days ago he came to report that he was quitting school so that he could go to Lusaka (4 hour car ride) where he hopes he could find some relatives that can take care of him and his cousins. We were overwhelmed and encouraged the boy not to leave. Wiphan has since put them under the care of a Wiphan lady (who is a neighbor to these boys and has been helpful with giving them meals). Wiphan has also given a bag of mealie-meal , beans and cooking oil to the same Wiphan lady to make sure they eat something other than the meal they have at school. Wiphan also bought blankets for the kids which were presented to them by the Administrator (as shown in the pictures). For now, they will have more than one meal and they will be able to keep warm at night. Update: The children continue to be monitored and cared for by their new care-taker and the Wiphan administration.

Wouldn’t it be great if all of the Wiphan children had blankets and sweaters this year?

You can purchase a blanket or a sweater for just $20 by going here…(also—we have BUTTONS now…would you consider putting one on your BLOG or WEBSITE? Go to www.wiphan.org and click on banners under Media)

Wiphan Blanket Drive

Today’s Scripture reading is: Deuteronomy 13-16:17. I am unable to type much as I had an accident today and can only type with my right hand—so be blessed and refreshed by His Word…let us not give up on reading it…and trusting Him for each day—to be made strong in our weakness and to shine His light through us to others…even when our days seem hard—He is able and He is enough. Amen.

AND…just to make you smile on a Happy St.Patrick’s Day note… Lucky me (no pun intended) happens to have snack this week at P’s school…SOOOO…tomorrow I’m bringing…

THIS…green pepper

Plus these on the side…wasabi peas

And just in case the kids don’t like wasabi peas…I’ll have these…snap-peas

And of course a “pot of gold” to end on…
pot of gold

How fun are those?! Happy St.Patrick’s Day! I found these ideas online…but I’ll be posting lots of pics I’m sure tomorrow from the fun;). Wear green so you don’t get pinched!

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Renea - March 17, 2010 - 9:27 am

Your mommy snacks are amazing!!!! You must be ‘the cool mom’ to all the kids around. Love Toby’s video and the story of the boys at WIPHAN brought tears to my eyes…. yet again. I can see and hear these boys in my heart. Sponsoring a child seems like so little that can be done. I’m spreading the word about the blanket ministry (Addie sent me some goodies) and I’m off to buy a blanket!!! Much love to you! Hope your ‘accident’ is healed quickly. We’ll be praying for healing. ♥

Dawn - March 17, 2010 - 12:46 pm

Love your posts….they make me think & smile at the same time 🙂