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. :-)
