Feet and Faces of Moz

Since we are less than a week before we cross the ocean, I thought I had better pick up my camera and take some pictures.  Here is a sundry of faces, places and, well...feet.  Feet? Yes, because if you look closely, you can see these feet have traveled a lot of places, each bearing their own special story. It has been a joy to walk in Project Life. This has been the heart of my ministry and this last week was spent saying goodbye to these sisters and brothers who live difficult lives but seek the joy of the Lord as their strength. I am thankful to those that support each of the activistas who faithfully minister each week to those who are suffering with the AIDS virus.

These ladies from the Macharote bairro were happy to share
their feet for the picture.  These feet have seen a lot of kilometers!

It has only been two weeks since Anamaria
lost her sister and daughter in the same week,
also leaving her with her daughter's new baby.
Yet, here she was back in the Bible study, even
dancing praises to the Lord.

We visited the Savane church plant on Sunday.  These are
their only instruments they play in the church.

Little ones learn young to play the drums. :-)

I visited each of the Bible studies this week
in each of the bairros.  Children by the house
of the Bible studies always hang out and listen.  

She is short and listening from up in
a tree to our Bible study. I called
her Zaccheus.

A little performance for me.

Snug as a bug in the rug....er...capalana.

I love the fact that they think it is cold here.
Their winter is like our summer in Wyoming.

Our activistas have a done a great job
ministering to the people in Project Life
and leading the Bible studies.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of the women and their babies.

Women of all ages seem to have babies.
If they are not their own, they are caring
for grandchildren or a relative's baby
whose parents have passed on from AIDS,
TB, malaria or some other untimely means.

Faces at the Bible studies.....

Contemplating the message.

She missed the answer.....:-)

The majority of the women in Project
Life are widows. They usually have
children to care for and most do not
have jobs.

Very often women lose the men
in their lives when they have AIDS, either
by abandonment or death. 

Project Life meets the needs of these women
and their children by providing medical care
through the Ray of Light medical clinic
 and the Tessa Grace nutrition center. The program
 provides prescription medicine when needed
and occasional food distributions.  Often we
help with funerals and many have received help
through the Green Door ministry. The greatest
blessing is the spiritual nourishment through
the weekly Bible studies out in the bairros
and the church services at the Dondo Baptist church
 and the other church plants.

These dear women are members of the Macharote church plant
and come to our PL Bible studies weekly. They have so much
personality.  Some of them have received Green Door houses.

The hope for the future of Mozambique
is the training of the children in the Lord.  

Nothing is more beautiful than to see the women learning
how to use their Bibles. These are first generation Christians
and our prayer is that they will pass on to other generations
the truth of the gospel.

Thank You for Giving to the Lord!

I dreamed I went to heaven and you were there with me*

We walked upon the streets of gold beside the crystal sea.

We heard the angels singing, then someone called your name.

You turned and saw this young man and he was smiling as he came.

And he said, "Friend you may not know me now" and then he said, "But wait"

You used to teach my Sunday School when I was only eight.

And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start.

And one day when you said that prayer I asked Jesus in my heart."

(Chorus)

Thank you for giving to the Lord

I am a life that was changed.

Thank you for giving to the Lord

I am so glad you gave.

Then another man stood before you and said, "Remember the time

A missionary came to your church and his pictures made you cry.

You didn't have much money but you gave it anyway.

Jesus took the gift you gave and that's why I am here today."

One by one they came far as the eye could see

Each life somehow touched by your generosity.

Little things that you had done...sacrifices made.

Unnoticed on the earth in heaven now proclaimed.

And I know up in heaven you're not supposed to cry.

But I am almost sure there were tears in your eyes.

As Jesus took your hand and you stood before the Lord.

He said, "My child look around you...great is your reward."

(Lyrics by Ray Boltz*)

I came home from our last dedication of house #17 today and sat down at my computer to blog and share the pictures from the last three Saturdays of dedications.  As I opened up my computer, this song popped up from my Itunes (I rarely listen to Itunes and honestly, I do not ever remembering putting this song on my computer!) and it was being sung by an African gospel group. The words were amazingly powerful as I sat and listened to it. It wasn't long before my tears took off like a water faucet.  How blessed we have been to be able to be here in Mozambique and have the opportunities that God has placed before us. So many have given to make this ministry possible and this song describes it so well. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! from the bottom of our hearts for your support in prayer and giving. Because you gave....here are some fun stats about the Green Door ministry.

Houses completed this year:  17

Houses completed in the last two years:  28

Houses completed since Green Door's inception:  55, as well as repairing many houses

Churches built:  Savane Church Plant

Cookies baked this year:  3,400 (that is 283 dozen!!)

Pop drank this year:  816 bottles

Ana receiving her key from Jeronimo.
She had no house, she was sleeping outside.

Noemia giving Madalena her key.  She is blind and her
husband is crippled. They have three children.

I don't think they can smile any bigger!

Madalena's husband can't walk, he is
being helped into his new home.

Rosario is getting his key from Phil.

Rosario and his brothers will live here.

Noe is opening up his new Green Door home.

Belinha is receiving her key from Noemia. She prayed for
this house for as long as I have known her.

The builders are praying over Lidia's house.

Lidia received her keys today too.

I love it that the children get to enjoy a
special treat. However, if I don't see a
cookie again as long as I live, that is okay!

The Green Door has personally supported the local pop store.

This year has been full of triumph and tragedy.  In this land of spiritual warfare, the battles are won and lost. At times it is overwhelming but never without hope. We know who wins the war.

Fernando Joaquim's grave.  His brother Antonio (pictured),
Lourenço, and sister Aida are trying to go on without him.
 Please pray for all our brothers and sisters in Mozambique.
Pray for all the orphans that are trying to survive.
Prayer is the key that opens the door for their future.

Eva - the Epilogue

Yesterday I spent more than my usual time with Eva in the hospital. She wanted me to hold her so I held her for an hour. I took her coloring book and colored in it as she carefully chose the crayons, pointing to each desired color. It was all the strength she could muster. I reminisced as I colored. Several years ago I had given up pursuing an art career. A friend of mine (now a nationally known artist) and I had an art show together. After the show I realized that it wasn't the direction or the dream I wanted. Instead, my husband and I pursued adopting three children from overseas. Several years later, here I was using my art abilities to color in a coloring book with a dying 10-year-old AIDS orphan. I couldn't think of a better place to be.

The nurse interrupted our coloring to encourage Eva to drink some milk. Two sips later she was in severe pain. I held her as I held my grief, asking God to please send His angels to come get His little princess. She had suffered enough.

Less than 12 hours later, as the African clock struck midnight, the King ordered His escorts to carry our little princess home to His heavenly castle. Her room was ready.

Now she has more than she could ever ask or imagine. I remember telling Eva each day that we would bring whatever she wanted because that was what a princess could do. She ordered “eggs” every day. It struck me funny that she could have asked for anything, but in her little world of poverty, that was the best thing she could think of. So one day I chided her to ask for something more than eggs – I promised she could have anything! She thought for a lttle while and then she quietly said, “ovos fritas.” Fried eggs.

Sunday afternoon we will bury Eva. I picture her in her new surroundings enjoying more colors than any crayon box could ever hold. She is dancing and singing, laughing and skipping...living a life beyond her wildest imagination. What was stolen from her has been restored; the King has spoken.

Eva, Part III

A little princess in her carriage.

Eva finally got her wish.  She had been asking to go with us (preferrably to go home and live with Brooke!) each day at the close of our visit.  How do you explain to a terminally ill orphan the complications of such a wish? But sometimes for little princesses, wishes can come true.

Eva's sweating and constant coughing at night was an indicator to me that she needed to be tested for TB.  We requested that such a test be taken. The next time a doctor was able to come to the hospital, he requisitioned a test for her.  We were told that the ambulance would take her to Beira for the test. I was relieved because of the present challenge of my small window of time for her each day. It all seemed so simple.  But nothing is simple in a third-world country.  Each day we came back to see if the ambulance had taken Eva away. Finally the hospital admitted the ambulance had no gas. They would have to requisition the government to allot some gas for Eva.  An orphan with AIDS and possibly TB? I rearranged and tightened up my schedule so we could take Eva to Beira.

Simone, Brooke and I returned the next day. Simone gingerly carried Eva out to the car. She was finally "getting to go with us." I knew the 22 kilometers to Beira would be tiring and difficult.  We told her that she was a princess and we were her subjects and that my car was her carriage. (All missionary cars are undercover carriages...) We prayed that the there would be a technician available in the X-ray room.  When we arrived we were informed that room was closed for awhile but would reopen in an hour.  We waited in the hot car under a shade tree.  When we returned to the X-ray room, many people were already in line. We waited again.  When it came time for her X-ray, they ushered Brooke, Eva and myself and many other women into a room with an X-ray machine. Mercifully, they chose Eva to be first though we were the last to arrive. All the women disrobed for whatever they were to be X-rayed for and then they asked us to remove Eva's clothes.  Naked and barely able to stand, she stood bravely in front of the cold, hard backing. A skeleton with skin, it seemed redundant to take her picture. With all of us in the room, they began to X-ray patients with no concern for radiation exposure.

After a long wait, we were given the picture and sent on our way.  We returned her to Dondo hoping this would open up the door for treatment. Days later, without any word on the X-ray, we were told she needed more blood. This all sounded too familiar.  A month ago I had paid for two people to give 1/2 liter each of blood to another AIDS patient in Project Life. Rather than giving both donations to the patient, the hospital took one 1/2 liter and gave it to someone else.  The PL patient died a week later. In the meantime, no doctor or nurse was present to even discuss the possibilities.

Of course the hospital considers our efforts futile.  It isn't that I am blind to the end stages of AIDS.  I see her swollen belly; her advancing decline, her fading fight.  Little Eva isn't blind either.  She listened intently this afternoon as we encouraged her in God's love - the Father and King of this little princess.  She nodded her head as we told her what heaven was like...no hunger, no sadness, no sickness...only joy.  It is not futile to love an AIDS orphan.  It is exactly what the King ordered.

Eva, Part II

Simone carefully pulled out the worms out
of Eva's feet today.  She cried because it
hurt as they were quite large.

Eva found new hope today. Read the
story below.

Though we have very busy schedules, Brooke and I have committed to see Eva every day to feed her, comfort her, pray with her, and just love her.  She has had a heart that has been broken beyond measure.  She is the product of betrayal from an unsafe and untrustworthy world. She refused to eat, take her medicine, take a bath or have her wounds cleaned. She had given up her will to live.

At first people said she was deaf because she wouldn't respond.  She wasn't deaf.  She just had selective hearing.  We could see that she was quite intelligent.  She meticulously copied Brooke's coloring technique with her new coloring book and crayons. Hiding within this diseased and emaciated body lived a 10-year-old girl with spirit. It was a relief to discover it one afternoon and a glimmer of hope that she might pull out of her depression.  I had brought homemade pizza for her lunch.  A treat for any 10-year-old but especially for one who was suffering from starvation. I put everything on the pizza I could think of to add vitamins and protein. I watched in disbelief as she took a bite, and then carefully, like any other 10-year-old, picked out the green olives and threw them on the ground.  Her large eyes caught mine and flashed me a huge grin. Even though her world had been so out of control, this was one thing she could control.  No green olives.  I laughed with her and gave her a hug. 

Though we have heard several versions of Eva's life history through different sources, we have come to realize that every bit of information she has given us is true.  Every person in her life has abandoned her through death or choice. It is difficult to explain to a child that has experienced such immense suffering that there is One who loves her.  Where do you begin to build that bridge?  At first, when we talked about Jesus, she would turn away.  Her wall seemed impenetrable.  What she did start to respond to was our consistency in returning.  She would gingerly get out of bed, and in spite of her pain, walk outside the hospital and wait for us on the cement.  One of the mothers attending her sick child told us that she cried one day when we were late.

We noticed today that she had finally let the nurses clean and re-bandage her wound on her leg.  She readily accepted her ARV meds. She agreed to a bath so we were able to give her a new blue dress - a size 7 though it still hung loosely around her protruding frame. We told her she looked like a princess; after all, little 10-year-olds like to be a princess. She nodded her head though perhaps not so sure what a princess really looked like.

Then as Brooke held her close, I once again explained how much God really loves her and what His Son suffered to demonstrate that love. We could tell she was completely attentive.  When we asked her if she would like Jesus in her heart, she nodded her head with determination.  So Simone cited the prayer of salvation and the most precious little voice clearly and carefully repeated everything he said.  And to add to the miracle of the moment, we heard the voice of a mother of a sick child in the next bed repeat the prayer right along with Eva.

We don't know what God has in mind for little Eva.  She is so very sick. But we are thankful for the opportunity to be here for her and for those that pray and support this ministry.  There are so many more Eva's in Africa and so many more that need God's grace and love.

Eva

This is Eva.  She is an AIDS orphan.

She is 10-years-old. But weighs so little.

Brooke and Simone help Eva to walk to use the bathroom.
Notice her swollen feet and slight frame.

Brooke is amazed at how carefully Eva
is coloring in the lines. She was imitating
Brooke's artistic abilities. :-)  Story below.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. I John 3: 16-18

She was by herself sitting on the hard cement in front of the hospital. Dirty and frail, her somber and sad eyes followed us as we shared the book of John with several mothers and sick children that were sitting and standing among the trees in the late morning sun.  Normally we were inside the corridor but the floor was being washed and the water trickling non-stop from the hospital opening blocked our entrance. Brooke caught this little girl's eyes and I could see her determination to find out more.  One of the mothers acknowledged that this little girl had been abandoned at the hospital and had not been talking, eating, or taking her medicine. Her lifeless eyes were a window into a heart that had lost all hope. As if on cue, Brooke, an adoptee herself,  was by her side communicating in the language of compassion and love. Almost instantly this little 10 year-old Mozambican black girl with arms the size of a broomstick, swollen feet and bandaged legs latched on to blonde and blue-eyed Brooke who by this time was unashamedly crying at the sight of this forlorn AIDS orphan in Africa. Laying her head in Brooke's lap, she held her hand with all the strength she had.  Her fasting of silence was over as she quietly asked Brooke if she could come live with her. As her trust grew, Brooke managed to coax her into two cups of soup though her mouth was filled with open sores. 

We bought her some juice and yogurt. Leaving Brooke and the activistas to bathe her, I carefully looked through a pile of used clothing heaped up in the open market. She had soiled her tattered clothes because she was too weak to get herself to the toilet in the hospital. I found a used coat for her since she had been shivering in the sun. Then lastly I bought some flexible flip-flops as her bloated feet were twice the size of a normal ten-year-old. 

Meanwhile, Brooke and activistas Pascao and Josefa carefully removed her soiled clothes and washed her from a bucket of cold water. She was nothing more than leathery skin and bones. Brooke cut her fingernails and toenails, scrubbed them and added some hot pink polish. They carried little Eva back to her hospital bed and propped her up against the wall for support. Brooke took out some bubbles she had brought with her and was coaxing this child that had been lost in her dissipating world to begin playing again. Weakly she started batting at the bubbles and a slight smile emerged on her gaunt face like the sun peaking through an ominous cloud after a calamitous cyclone. Having spent the better part of the afternoon and early evening with her, we finally announced we had to leave with a promise to return the next day.  Poor Eva. She cried out pitifully that she didn't want Brooke to leave; she didn't want to be alone in the hospital. She clung to Brooke with what little strength she had. 

How did you get here little one? What is your painful story that you try to hide so well in your heart but your eyes are screaming to share? We can't undo the first chapters of your life...but God has the last word dear little Eva. He will write your epilogue. Loving an AIDS orphan is part of His story and it has a happy ending.

Deb, from the Wyoming team, is teaching how to make
tortillas at the bakery.  Tortillas have few ingredients
and they are an excellent introduction into the Moz diet.

Taunya and Deb also taught how to make American biscuits.
These Mozambican men learned quickly that jam tastes pretty
good in the biscuits they made. :-)

These students will teach other Mozambicans how to make
biscuits and tortillas.

Our team from Wyoming did a great
job painting another Green Door house.

We had four teens on our team
and they were amazing! What
great kids they were to have
help these last two weeks.

Of course the children have to hang out
with us and find out what we are doing.
We played a lot of games and did some
singing on the job.

Taylor is telling Winston how to do it. :-)

Taunya joined the team from Powell, but she is from a church in
Pavillion. She was quite the worker and I think she left her
heart here in Moz.

Pastor Jon and Dave smile while they work!  Jon held a
seminar for the church plant pastors.  There is a huge need
here to mentor the pastors out in the African bush.

Even the little guys babysit.

Brooke had a lot of help.  Of course, how much help is it
when a hundred little fingers try and get into your paint?

Part of our team was doing ministry elsewhere the day they
painted - we had 9 team members in all. This house was
built for a widow who had her mud house destroyed by her
mentally ill son.