Crossing the Road

This is Manuel's house...a handicapped man in Beira who begs for a living. Notice the blocks that he used to stuff the hole in his house with. Termites ate the wood that weakened the walls and caused it to collapse. Read about Manuel in my story below.

Between the houses and some low spots is a lot of trash.  It is used for sidewalks because when the rains come it is impossible to walk - the water becomes too deep and the mud too thick. This is life in the slums.

These precious little girls live in the slum. I spent some time singing with them. We sang "God is So Good" in Portuguese and then I taught them our version in English. When I left, I could hear them singing away in their new language. It would be a joy to be able to go there every week and teach them about Jesus.

For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2: 20-21

We chose our friends.  We are careful in our selection.  Usually it’s those who can benefit us in some way: either by how they make us feel, or how they treat us, or if our association with them will grow us, or make us richer in some way.  But it is….all about us.  How many of us choose a friend purposely so we can benefit them, make them feel better, grow them, or make them richer in some way?

If we see someone who obviously has issues, looks needy, or doesn’t have anything to offer, we often just pass by them. That kind of relationship takes time and money, a costly and draining proposition. Perhaps we cross that road and take someone on…as a project.  We give, we give, and we give. Nothing comes back in return. We have our expectations, and when the person doesn’t comply to the vision of our investment, we wash our hands and walk away.

I think about the good Samaritan. He crossed the road.  It cost him time and money. We don’t even know if the man he was trying to save lived or died. The hard truth to understand is this….he didn’t do it for the investment. He didn’t receive anything in return.  So why did he cross the road to his own peril to help an enemy to live?

I wrestle with that question sometimes here in Dondo. There isn’t a single man lying on the road here.  There are thousands. It is easy to slip into the idealogy of taking on a project or two. It is easy to triage, apply a bandaid and move onto the next patient. It is easy to put a coin into a beggar’s hand and walk away.   

Manuel is a beggar in Beira. I have passed by Manuel a few times. When I had coins, I handed them over to him muttering under my breath that he, like so many, is capitalizing on his handicap.  He is after all, one of hundreds begging on the streets. Finally one day I decided to quit passing by him.  I decided to get to know him.

Manuel has been in a wheelchair since polio changed his life at age five. Surprisingly, he is married with six children.  I decided to accompany him to his home to see what conditions he lived in. The area of Beira he took me to was nothing shy of squalor. The houses were two feet apart, with wall to wall garbage for sidewalks. The water level was too high for the location of the tiny dwellings. Manuel’s house had been constructed of bamboo poles, rocks and cement.  Part of his house had collapsed because of the termites on the wood so he had stuffed blocks in the hole for some privacy.

His wife was blind in one eye due to a cataract. His children ranged from two years to fourteen. Only two were in school because his earnings from begging did not entitle the rest to afford school. I sighed wondering if I had the energy to help one more person. I asked him if he wanted to get out of begging and earn his own living. He almost cried when I mentioned it. He admitted that in 2007 a missionary lady had briefly helped him to build this home.  She hadn’t taken the time to understand that termites weaken bamboo and houses with termites don’t last.

We went to wholesalers and bought all kinds of food products to sell.  I gave him a Bible and prayed over his business before I left.  But this is not the end of the story.  I will return, time and time again because this is only the beginning. If I am really going to help, it is going to cost me more than a band aid.  I have to cross the road, give up my time and money, endure the disappointments because he will fail more than once.  Poverty is deep and complicated. I have no guarantee that he will successfully pull out of poverty any more than the good Samaritan could guarantee the man in the road would live.  So why bother?

Because this fight exemplifies and glorifies God. It is exactly what He did for us and so much more. In all our egotism, it is easy to forget our own desperate condition.  The next time you choose a friend, seek out someone who cannot benefit you; a friendship that will cost you. Someone who stands a chance of surviving because you laid aside your earthly investments in the hope of an eternal one.  It’s just not all about us.

And when you think of it...pray for Manuel, Lourenco, Antonio, Fatima, and others we have started in a business. May God help them to succeed!

Losing My Right Arm

This is my right arm....and I am about to lose my right arm. Simone has been my translator and right-hand-man for seven years now.  Next week he flies to Maputo to get his visa and then one week later, to the United States to go to college.  I am very happy for this opportunity for him because he is an orphan here in Africa and this kind of opportunity is rare.  But it is no small matter to lose him here in this ministry. It is not just that he translates in Portuguese and Sena for me (we have already created and translated 170 Bible studies), but he has taught me so much about the culture; opening up my eyes to the struggles of the poor. We have a lot of memories we etched over the years.  Some memories were funny. 

Simone was with me the first time I had to take a body to the cemetery in old White Lightening.  During a funeral, people accompany the truck by walking on both sides solemnly singing all the way to the cemetery through all kinds of traffic.  Now it just so happened that old White Lightening was a bit revved up and first gear was more like third gear.  I tried very hard to keep it slow especially since Simone kept patiently telling me to SLOW DOWN!  I looked in my rear view mirror and I could see the people far behind jogging, panting and puffing trying to keep up with me!  

Another time we went to a funeral of someone in Project Life, not really knowing the family but just the dead child. We wanted to pay our respects and quietly leave. The person to officiate the funeral did not show up so the mortician asked me to pray recognizing me from several other funerals.  I obliged not thinking much about it.  As we took the body out of the mortuary, we were informed that Simone and I were in charge of the entire funeral from that point on!  So Simone graciously performed the ceremony and I did the preaching. We might have pulled it off well except after the fact we found out it was a Catholic funeral! 

Some memories were scary; we have been robbed in Beira more than once. Some memories were sad. The loss of his father, the loss of our activista Fernando, and the loss of little Eva. The best memories though were all the times we were teaching God's Word, either to the activistas or out in the bairros, and to the number of people in the hospital. 

Please pray for Simone as he leaves on his new adventure and future. It will not be easy to come from a skeletal education in a third world country to the level of college in a different language. Pray with me that God will use Simone mightily as He did King David.  Pray that he will find favor with the U.S. Embassy in Maputo next week to obtain his visa, and for protection both here and in the U.S.  Thank you everyone who had a part in this special opportunity for him.  Pray for me as I adjust to ministry here without him!

The Activistas gave one more party for Piepers to hug them goodbye this week. We baked lots of cookies so the children outside the bakery were delighted to receive a chocolate chew cookie!

Just more children in Mafarinha this week.

I wondered why this little girl was not in school.

We went to Savane last Sunday to speak. This is their worship team instruments. I know some people who don't like to hear the drum in church.  This is ALL the instruments they have in Savane.  

This is the offering plate.  I like the size - it can hold a lot of metacais.  The people dance and sing all the way to the front of the church and put in their offering.

This is little Pam. She will be two years old this week. She found her spot to sit during the church service, She is a little independent....mmmm......

Every time I go to Savane, this little boy is wearing this shirt. I have got to buy him a different shirt!

Some of the cute little girls out at Savane.

We did two more Green Door dedications today. One for Samson, who is an orphan and is in the 10th grade. Here he is with some of his friends and kids from the church. 

We have in place now a document that protects the rights of our recipients and those that will inherit their Green Door home.  We especially wanted widows and orphans to be protected and not have their home taken from them. It is the culture here that when someone dies, rather than the wife or children receiving the home, another male relative can come and take it and leave the family with nothing.  I saw this happen with one of our earlier mud homes that we built.  Now, the recipient can choose who will inherit their GD house. Many people sign this document and it is officially stamped. Lourenco and the bairro leader are two of several who signed today. 

Lourenco is getting his key to his new Green Door home from Noemia.

Little bundles of joy always join us in the celebrations.

Eyes peeking out. Not sure if she wants her picture taken.

I noticed today a number of children eating funny things. This little girl was eating her shirt.

This little girl was eating a stick. Yum.

This little girl was eating a string. Glad we served them cookies and pop,

This is the man who sews for me the bags that I take back to the U.S. to raise money for the Green Door. I had to show you his shop and his sewing machine. Just has to peddle away!

This is the shoe store where I took Aida today. Always on the ground in the open market.

This is Aida.  She is Fernando's sister.  Her life has not been easy. She lost her father, her mother, her older sister, and last year she lost Fernando.  For a thirteen-year-old this kind of loss is confusing and devastating. I put her back in school last year and expected great things when I came back to see her.  What I discovered is that the public school put her in 6th grade.  She can't read. She doesn't do any of the work because she can't understand it. Next year they will pass her to 7th grade and then she will drop out of school.  It is the policy of the schools to not flunk anyone from grade 1-7.  They don't fall through the cracks, they fall through crevasses. I have decided Aida will go to El Shaddai.  She may end up in the second grade.  But she will learn to read.  She will have a school that cares about her future. 

We went shopping today for school clothes, notebooks, a backpack and shoes. We went to the beach so she could enjoy life like any thirteen-year-old. She is very quiet but sweet. Pray for Aida, that she will learn, grow and thrive at El Shaddai.

You'd Think All We Did Was Party...

It seems the last two weeks we have squeezed in a few parties.
It might appear by this blog that all we do is party!  Once a
year we celebrate the activistas birthdays at my house. So
I took the opportunity to take their picture after a great feast.
From the back row:  Laurinha, Cindy (CRI staff), Emilia Dias,
Josefa, Emilia Chingoma, Maria, Maria Luisa, Eliza, Pascoa,
Anapaula, Noemia Cessito (Leader of ROL), Val (CRI staff),
Front Row: Benedito, Simone, Inacio, Caetano, Carlitos,
(National PL leader), Maria de Fatima, and the little guy in front
is Joel, son of Josefa. :-)

John was in the middle of working on a car when
the women of the church showed up at their house
and gave John and Cindy a surprise going away party!

The women sang and grabbed Cindy to dance with  them.

Cindy did just that! Wow Cindy - go!!

It really is with sadness that we are going to say
goodbye to two CRI staff that have been here since July 2003.
The Piepers have decided to retire their missionary work
and go back to the States on July 22,

It won't be easy to see them go. They
received a lot of hugs.

Everyone lined up to get a hug from both John and Cindy.

Piepers in a blanket! (no...not pigs in a blanket!)
The women traditionally do this - and they
covered them in the blanket as well as
covering them in prayer for their journey home.

Everyone was sad thinking about
the Piepers leaving Mozambique.

It was raining....blending into the somberness and tears that were
being shed. Separation is always the hardest part of a
missionary's life.

Everyone posed for one last picture with the Piepers.
John and Cindy's absence will really be felt here in the project.
May God bless them richly as they return to their family in
the States. Please pray for them as they make this new
transition and those left behind as they process the loss.

This week's house dedications were for
two special women. Josefa, one of our
activistas received a new home! Before
she became a Christian, she had two
other children that her husband's family
used to take to the witch doctor but rather than
helping their children, they passed away. Then
before Joel was born, her husband
had an accident and passed away too.
In spite of her sorrow, Josefa rejoices that she
now has Christ and that God has blessed her
with a healthy son to raise. Today they have
a Green Door home provided by one of
our special donors! Josefa and Joel were
so thankful today for their new home.

Melita was our second recipient. Her mother and sister
are witch doctors but Melita has refused to follow their
footsteps. She attends the Mafarinha Bible studies faithfully
and is seen here with her daughter who is a widow.
Melita has four more children and her daughter has two.
 Melita's husband abandoned her a few years ago. They
were feeling so happy today to receive their new home.
Thank you to those who sacrifice so others can be blessed!

All ages of children show up for our dedications. Even if
they are too young for cookies!

More kiddies eating cookies.

Yum.

Noemia always takes the hard job of passing
out the cookies!  How fast can you pass out
cookies before you get mauled? :-)