Maybe Tomorrow

Phil called me this morning to share the news.  Our Green Door foreman, Marques passed away.  It caught me off guard as I tried to grasp the truth of his words. Three weeks ago I had sat down on the ground with Marques next to the cement block house the Green Door ministry was building for a church plant leader.  I was in-between delivering cement blocks for my husband and was waiting for them to be unloaded. Marques was a quiet man, so I took the opportunity to get more acquainted with him.  He seemed happy to have my company as I mentally formed my Portuguese sentences into an intelligible parley. Our discourse included sharing some basic facts about his family of two wives and 10 children; a circumstance not unlike many men in Mozambique and one that causes many complications.  He talked about some losses he had encountered in his life though I couldn't catch everything he was articulating.  It was obvious he genuinely loved his family but found it difficult to feed and care for them. It occurred to me while listening to him that it was unusual to find Marques sitting down in the shade while the other men were working. I thought back to when my husband had hired him.  

He was the third man Manuel and Phil had interviewed. He seemed confident that he could build the Green Door houses within the cost framework. He took pride in his level and plumb houses. He proved to be a good choice.  Several houses later, his industrious labor enabled the Green Door ministry to bless a number of families. Though not a Christian, he rubbed shoulders with many Christians who shared the hope of a better life with him while they came to Moz to work on the GD houses.  One team even convinced him to come to church one Sunday.  Manuel talked to him often about the Lord as they worked together.  He encouraged him to accept Jesus into his heart.  Marques would reply each time, "maybe tomorrow." But tomorrow never came. 

The last week of his life he was too sick to show up for work. Yesterday morning he went to the hospital and was gone by 1:00 p.m. The reality that his family will face many formidable challenges has added to our anguish. Tomorrow we will bury him and share his family's grief. And tomorrow we will share with them the hope of a better life.