(Mary Banda., age 9)

New Year Greetings from Zambia! As this Year begins, we look back to 2009 with a lot of gratitude to God and also to many of you who have prayed, given and visited to encouraged us in our work here in Zambia.

Last year, we saw the number of our children increase from 24 to 40 and on January 20th this year, another three wonderful kids joined our growing family which now brings our number to 42. This is because Kenny Siyuni, a 9 yr old single orphan who attended our School of Hope and was to become part of VOH when his relatives relocated to Lusaka, later moved in with the family at their new location. Kenny and an older sibling will be attending a school near Lusaka. He will be missed by his friends and caregivers at VOH.

We also thank God that our three new children, Nelson Munthali 11yrs old, Namakau Mwiya 11 yrs and Mary Banda 9yrs are settling in very well. They have made friends very quickly and are cheerful kids. The children are all double orphans. Prior to moving in VOH, they were at an orphanage that was regretfully closed down due to various problems, this orphanage had 48 children.

(Namakau, age 11)

(Nelson, age 12)
We are grateful to God and to our partners in the ministry who have contributed and made it possible for us to realize our dream of a new school which is even now undergoing construction. Two of the classrooms have been completed and the children and staff spent most of January 15^th moving desks, tables and books into the new classrooms in readiness for starting school in the new building on Monday the 18^th. There was lots of excitement as the children and staff worked zealously to accomplish this goal.

Prayer Requests

**Please pray for another teacher, as one of the current teachers will be leaving in March.

**Pray that God would show us how to cultivate a more cohesive and meaningful family time with all of the children and caregivers, including the missionary families. This is becoming a challenge as we continue to grow.