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.
