God's glorious riches...

I will never get used to the poverty that I see in Dondo. This is Lusita and her family. Her husband is an electrician.  I think about some of the men I know in the States who are electricians.  They live in nice houses, their children dress well and they have food on the table three times a day. But physical poverty is only temporary. It is the spiritual poverty that saddens my heart the most. I am thankful that Lusita is now involved in our Bible studies. We have received many new visitors this year in our Project Life Bible studies. And my God will supply all your (Lusita's) needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

 Philippians 4: 19. 

This is Chico. He too is a new visitor to our Bible studies.  He is blind.  He was spiritually blind too. But this last week he accepted Jesus as his Savior. Pray for Chico and those like him who are new to the God's family and need to grow. Pray for the activistas who will continue to teach the Bible studies in my absence.

I am actually writing this blog from my home in the United States.  We were called home because of a family emergency. From the time we secured our plane tickets home, we had just one day to make arrangements, tie up lose ends, try and meet commitments, and pass the baton. Not an easy task. 

I had read in my Bible that morning, a scripture that touched my heart so deeply that I knew God was saying something to me to prepare me for what was ahead..."lead me to a rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge...Psalm 61: 2b-3a. 

While I was hurting for my family and hurting because I had to leave Dondo, I looked outside my window and saw a group of people walking up the road. The entire Mafarinha Bible study had walked to my house to pray with me.  And they did what they always do when they are hurting. The most precious thing that they have taught me in the years I have been with them. They danced and sang praises to God. You see, Satan has to leave in a hurry when He hears us singing. It is the best strategy to keep our focus not on our pain but where it should be....in a loving God who has not forgotten us. 

We are thankful that the Green Door will continue under Manuel's direction and finish the 24 houses we committed to build. The activistas will continue the ministry in the bairros, Bible studies and the hospital. It has been a privilege to be a small part of the huge story in what God has been doing in Dondo. Thank you to all of you who continue to give so these ministries can go on. May God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!

Wins and Losses

Last week I went over the fine art of running your own business in the open market for two of the blind men that received Green Door houses. Notice the man in the wheel chair.  I have no doubt that he begs too on the street and was very interested in what we had done for the blind men.  Truly there is a whole ministry opportunity here in Mozambique ministering to the handicapped. Lord, please send someone here with a heart for the handicapped!  

It was a sad week as we buried Domingo Adelino, one of our orphan children whom we built a Green Door home for last year. He came down with pneumonia and just couldn't fight it. We were thankful for what we could do to help him through Project Life. His grandma that took care of him and she will remain in his Green Door home. We were able to go their today and bring the gospel to those that attended the funeral.

Part of Project Life is to teach God's Word. This is the Macharote Bible study this week. We minister to 160 adults in Project Life each week. For some, our Bible studies are the only church they attend.

Without a doubt they like to dance and sing in our Bible studies. They come sick, tired, discouraged, and sometimes with deep sorrows, but they never fail to get up and sing and dance to praise the Lord.

I had to laugh because they were dancing so much that they had to stop and sweep off the mat before we could resume the Bible study. Now that's enthusiasm!

But don't be fooled by the jubilation. They truly suffer so much....beyond comprehension sometimes. This is Rosa, who struggles with elderly abuse by her son. She has been beaten by him so many times that they finally put him in jail. But she is worried for her life when he is released. Mariana, an elderly woman in this particular Bible study who is partially blind, lost her only daughter this week.  All I could do is hold her hand because there were no words to convey how deeply I felt for her loss.  She looked me in the eyes and put her hand over her heart. She will be taking the responsibility of her grandchildren and she has no job and no means of support. And sometimes we think life is difficult?

Moms bring their babies and children to the Bible studies. This is Pame....she is listening but trying to catch some zzzzz's at the same time.

Sometimes we are asked to name a baby. It never ceases to catch me by surprise because that is so foreign to our culture and often I want to say, "No!  This is YOUR baby and YOUR privilege to name it." But that would be culturally incorrect so I name the baby. Since we are studying David at the moment, then you can guess what this little one's new name is....:-)

We pray over the soup before we go to the hospital each day to serve it. But the food we serve best is God's Word. The man who I mentioned in my last blog that accepted Christ (the trucker who had never heard the name of Jesus before) passed away this week. It only takes $200 a month to do this ministry, but it is a wonderful avenue to share Christ's love to people. Thank you to all of you who give to this ministry.

This little guy was sick in the hospital. Not unusual to find sick people in some of the strangest places sleeping in the hospital - including the floor. We love sharing with the moms and their children at the hospital. We commend them for not taking their children to the witch doctor. I was so saddened this week to find out one of our ladies in Project Life, who has a mentally and physically handicapped son took him to the witch doctor. Now we will have to go ask her to choose between being in Project Life or the witchcraft. Please pray for us as we speak to her this week.

Two more houses were dedicated today - Ana's and Lucinda. Ana's house was the first house we have built in Bairro Central!  It was a great testimony to the bairro leader. And the American cookies and pop were new to the children....they weren't too disappointed! :-)

This is Ana's daughter.  I am teaching Ana to make the cookies for the Green Door houses. So today's cookies were made by Ana and they were a hit!  I am hoping that Ana will be able to make these cookies to sell to restaurants, stores and in the open market so she will have a permanent job to help her family. Both Ana and Lucinda are widows.

We are looking forward this week to begin building houses 19 & 20. If we meet our goal before we leave Moz this year, we will have built 76 houses in the seven years that we have been here. One of the comments Noemia heard today was, "only the love of God could accomplish this!" I so agree....God has been so good and so faithful in this ministry.  I shake my head sometimes in wonder!  Truthfully, it is pretty amazing what God's people can do when they do it together.....united in His love. Thank you for all of you who over the years have been part of this ministry. Cessitos, CRI, and all of you who have given so sacrificially!

I also want to thank those of you who prayed for me this week after I hit a motorcyclist and his passenger in Abe, the Green Door truck. (No fault of my own except being in the right place at the wrong time.) Those of you who have lived in third world countries understand how difficult it can be to remain safe on the roads. At first, I didn't want to get back in a car again. But God healed my heart as he is healing the passenger who was hurt. Please continue to pray for us as we navigate these roads trying to avoid all the obstacles - both physically and spiritually! Your prayers are so important to us. :-)

A Thankful Heart

 You have changed my sorrow into dancing. You have taken away my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. You wanted me to praise you and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever! Psalm 30: 11-12

There is so much to be thankful for. I visited Manuel, the handicapped man unexpectedly to see how he was doing in his new business. I found that he had not been afraid to set up his new business right in his neighborhood. He was so proud of his banca that he was just beaming! His children looked so proud of him too. I had to look away for a moment. I was fighting tears because it was overwhelming to me that just $200 can change someone's life here so easily. Of course he still lives in the slums, his house is still a shack with holes, the children wear used and tattered clothing. But he can say that he does not have to rely on charity to feed his family. Something I wish for every human being...a sense of dignity and worth and the realization that with God's help, anything is possible.  And thank you dear supporters - you don't know how many times God blesses your dollars in so many different ways here in Mozambique.

The Bible study class of the Consito bairro decided to give Simone and Emmalee a surprise goodbye party. They collected bits of money from each member and presented Simone with a capalana shirt and Em with a capalana skirt. Both are back in the States now.  Pray for Em as she moves towards becoming a full-time missionary and Simone as he goes to school at NWC.

I know I take a lot of pictures of children!  They are not only so fun and willing to pose but they remind me that we are working hard today in Moz to help ensure their future. If we can bring them Jesus, there is hope for their future.

This little girl was practicing the art of carrying things on her head and not dropping it. It was funny because a few seconds later everything in the bag fell out on the ground.  

One of our moms in PL at the Bible study. My prayer is that each person in our hospice program lives to raise their children to adulthood. Pray for a cure for AIDS. 

I love the full attention the people give to the Bible studies. Many can't read so this is the only way they can understand the Bible. I am so thankful for the spiritual growth I see in them.

We did a Green Door house celebration for two blind men this last weekend. Lucas and Chico. This is a part of a bairro that we haven't built a lot of houses in so a Green Door celebration was new to these children. We are always thankful to help the blind walk one more step out of poverty.

He wasn't sure if he wanted his picture taken....he wasn't used to being hounded by the paparazzi.

Another cutie that agreed to her picture being taken.

This is Lucas and his wife. They have six children although some are married. Their donor for their house also gave us extra money to help them so we are going to put them in a business so Lucas does not have to beg on the streets to feed his family. Pray that this new business will work out for him.

More cuties posing.

Capalana dress.

Checking out the Green Door house.

Although I am sad that everyone has gone back to the States this week, my heart was warmed and encouraged by a couple of things that happened:  

......A truck driver who had never heard of Jesus accepted Him in his heart yesterday in the hospital. And as we were leaving, he asked for the directions to our church so he could attend when he gets well. 

.......Today, just as Caetano (our activista) was about to speak at the hospital, he abruptly stopped and asked how Turk, my brother-in-law was doing. He said he had been praying for him at his house faithfully. (You know that someone is sincerely praying when they follow up and ask about them!)  And God was merciful to so many prayers on behalf of Turk as he is now recovering from his brain surgery in Seattle.