Rodger and Lynne Schmidt MOZAMBIQUE

Still here and still kickin'!

2012-01-24T12:56:00.014+02:00

Though we are winding down our work in Southern Mozambique, we are still here and still kickin'!

Here are the highlights of the last couple of months.

wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas with our boys which included a fun family camping trip...

Family photo shoot...

and senior pictures for Andrew. This wasn't the best one, but the one that really shows his cheeky personality!

Christmas dinner prepared by our family for the MozOvos Egg Farm employees

We've been team leaders for 3 beautiful young families

Dr. Brian and Megan Meyers

Rob and Heather Blanks

Dave and Amy Terpstra

We've also been part of the planning for the weddings of two of our Mozambican sons who have both found lovely women to marry.

What's next?

We leave Mozambique for our home assignment in June, but until then...

A trip to Mozambique Island by bus for Rodger and our Tanzanian missionary in early February.

More team leading.

More training and mentoring of our MozOvos leadership team and church leadership.

More relationship building and prayer times with our two young couples who are preparing for marriage.

A trip to Kenya for Dad to see his boys play basketball at RVA(Andrew made Varsity and STephen JV) in late February.

A visit from Africa Directors, Glenn and Kathy Kendall in early March.

Worldventure Southern/East Africa Leaders Meeting in Nairobi, mid-March

A soccer tournament outreach event for boys 11-18 years of age hosted by Lakeside Church and MozOvos Egg Farm in late March.

Worldventure Mozambique Field Conference in Mid-April.

A road trip to Mozambique Island to take personal belongings and for the boys to get to know their new home in late April.

Moving out of our house and in with colleagues for one month in early May.

Our adopted son, Luis's wedding in early June.

Time with our boys in Kenya and Andrew's graduation in June/July.

September 2011 update and pictures

2011-10-03T11:06:00.009+02:00

Our boys with their brothers

The highlight of the last few months was our 2011 graduation celebration. This year, we only had one graduate, the only one of his group to persevere for all three years. We are very proud of Emilio and look forward to walking alongside him for the next steps God has for him.
In addition to our one graduate, all of our interns were awarded certificates of completion for the year or years they have been with us. Perhaps the most thrilling of all is that
two of our interns are products of the ministry our interns have been doing in two different communities. Guito (second picture above) was hired from the community of Agostinho Neto as an employee of MoOvos. Through the influence of our interns, he became a Christian, was baptized and discipled and is an important leader to the church plant there. Manuel (3rd picture above) is beginning his third year with the internship. He is a young neighbor who became a Christian through the influence of our interns in the community of 25 de Junho and was baptized and discipled by them as well. He currently serves in leadership in the local church but also sits on the leadership team of MozOvos. God is using MozOvos to shape the hearts and minds of young Mozambican leaders. As we reflect on the vision for ministry God gave us almost six years ago, we are speechless at all He has done. Yet, there is so much work still to do! We
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have had to make some tough decisions and take drastic measures to keep the International Internship in Mission and MozOvos financially healthy and sustainable. We have had to close down the residential portion of the internship, meaning the interns no longer live together and have all returned to their own homes. We strongly believe in the power of the “Life Together” aspect of the internship, but needed to make these changes to survive financially Please pray with us! During the month of October, we, along with our leadership team and 4 national pastors, will be re-inventing the International Internship in Mission combined with MozOvos.
In preparation for our up coming home assignment, Rodger is stepping down as the director of the Internship and MozOvos. He is assuming the role of advisor to the leadership team allowing them to grow in their leadership and facilitate the change process cultivating an atmosphere where the leaders gain more experience and grow in confidence and ability. We are so proud of these African leaders and how God is using them individually and collectively
We are so thankful for your continued prayer for us and all that God is doing here in Mozambique

Rest, Relaxation and Robbery
After graduation, we took 2 weeks to go away to a quiet place of rest, to pray, read and restore our souls. It was a wonderful time and just what we needed and we returned, ready to face the challenges ahead. One huge challenge we DID NOT expect was that our house was robbed the night before our last day of vacation. Though we don’t have much in the way of valuables, the thieves took $3,500 worth of things we use on a regular basis such as our fans. video projector, voltage regulators, and generator. We also are needing to put steel barred doors on the existing wooden doors(see picture below) and repair the broken wooden door.

CAR ACCIDENT: Just a few days later a car side swiped our truck,
crushing the passenger door, ripping off the running board and fender. The driver of the other car was a young kid, with no insurance and no way of paying this bill. We are working
with him to cover some of the cost but the majority will be with us. Please pray for the added expense this event has caused.
If you would like to help us with these losses, all funds can be sent to our “Ministry Account” at WorldVenture (See below).

Schmidt Home Assignment in 2012
Our second term in Mozambique is fast coming to an end. Its been a long one as we have not had an extended home assignment for more than five years. After our oldest son, Andrew, graduates from high school in July 2012, we’ll all be heading back to the States to connect with our families and supporters. We are just beginning to plan our time and will be contacting our church partners, individual supporters and friends in the next months to schedule our time together, celebrating our friendship and all that God has done in Mozambique. We have a full schedule here in Mozambique until then, but be on the lookout for a phone call or e-mail seeking how we
can reconnect and share all that God has done and the big plans for the future. blessed to partner with all of you in life and in ministry.

Rodger and Lynne Schmidt WorldVenture, Mozambique: Field Leader International Internship in Mission MozOvos Lda.

We would love to hear from you. We can be reached through the following:
rlschmidt@worldventure.net
rodgerschmidt99@gmail.com
WorldVenture 1501 W Mineral Avenue Littleton, Colorado, 80120 720-283=2000
Financial Gift: Please reference: Schmidt/Mozambique/658

End of an era and New Beginnings

2011-08-18T19:32:00.001+02:00

Change is never easy! This change may be the hardest yet. Over five years ago we began praying and dreaming about a ministry that would shape the hearts and minds of young Mozambican men. Five years later God has blessed us with MozOvos our egg farm, a house full of young Mozambican men who are being shaped as Christian leaders caring for their soul, being challenged in leadership skills, how to lead in ministry and in the end work to cover the cost of their lives and ministry. Several have already graduated and moved on to life and ministry. Living with these guys has been the highlight of our life here in Mozambique. We are so grateful for the four years the Internship as we know it has made a difference here in Mozambique. However do to financial realities we are forced to make some big changes.

For Over a year now MozOvos our egg farm has fully funded the international Internship In Mission. Our life together was a 3000.00 a month bill that was payed for by MozOvos. Earlier in the year MozOvos suffered a financial set back due to to a drop in market pricing of eggs nationally in which we could not compete. This led to a snow ball effect of debt and late payments. MozOvos just did not have the capital in reserves to recover form a few months of bad sales. We realized that if we did not make some major changes not only was the internship at risk but also the business.

In lieu of going bankrupt and or loosing our good reputation, the leadership choose to shut down the internship, for 60 days, terminate 6 positions at the business, create one strong leadership team and reinvent the whole ministry. Now that we have cut the budget by several thousand dollars a month and closing down the internship the newly formed leadership team will work to reinvent the internship philosophy into the day to day life at Mozovos. These changes comes with great cost and a loss as living together is such an important element in philosophy and actual shaping of a leader.

We hope that by making these hard changes MozOvos will one day have more reserves financially, be able to invest in itself and have greater cash flow. We pray to be able to build office space, an egg dispensary, bio security room and even an internship house on our own property. We pray the hard decisions and sacrifice made today will allow the ministry as a whole to grow from a position of strength and realize our dreams.

Update

2011-07-22T07:33:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We thought we would give you a short update on our support progress. In the last week, our personal support need has been reduced by $175.00 a month. We are so grateful for this. Our current deficit is now only $1,250 per month. We are still praying that God will provide and we will be able to stick to our scheduled July 2012 home assignment and return to the States.

In the meantime, even while still on the field, we are in the process of seeking new supporting churches and individuals to join our team. We need this additional support to cover supporters lost in the last few months and compensate for the immense jump in cost of living here in Mozambique.

Even if you feel you cannot commit to supporting us long-term, would you consider an increase to current support or a one year commitment that would carry us through until we arrive home and meet with pastors, churches and individuals face to face? We know supporting missionaries is a sacrifice and we honor you and you honor the Lord.

As always, we love you all and pray for you and your families and all our supporting churches.

Blessings in the Harvest,

Rodger, Lynne, Andrew and Stephen Schmidt
rlschmidt@worldventure.net

The Last Year of a Very, Very LONG 5 1/2 year Term

2011-07-14T18:29:00.002+02:00

Hi Friends!

Guess What?

We're coming to the USA!

Actually, not until July 2012.

We still have 12 months to wrap things up here in Africa before a nice long visit will all of you, family and supporters.

Andrew will graduate from High School just before we head back to get him settled in his new life and then start the many miles of travel over a nine month period to catch up with you face to face, and spend some much needed time with family. We have much to share, but we also look forward to see how God is making a difference in your lives as well. We are excited just thinking about it!

However, we have 12 months of hard work ahead of us if we are going to be ready. Please pray with us for these ministry challenges that face us over the next 12 months.

MozOvos Leadership: Our leadership team needs to be confident and capable to completely run the business without Rodger's day to day presence. The team is already doing many of these tasks but need to grow in confidence.

Internship Leadership: Our new leadership team is growing daily in their confidence and maturity. We are so proud of how these guys are taking on difficult leadership challenges these days. We are confident they will be ready to take on the internship all on their own while we are stateside. This is a huge request as this team is key as they live out what they have learned over the past five years. The months we are away will be a true test of who they are as leaders.

Andrew and Stephen: Please pray for Andrew as he prepares to launch a very new life in the United States. He has many decisions to make over the next few months. Also for Stephen as he begins the high school years without his brother in close proximity. We are thankful that our sons love each other and the Lord.

Our Team: Pray for our three new families who are all continuing to learn language, settle in to life and ministry. We are so proud of these families and the impact they are making.

Support: This last year has proven to be the most expensive of all 8 we have lived in Mozambique. The world economy and loss of supporters has really changed our financial situation. We actually realized this past month that 10 supporters who had supported us faithfully for many years were forced to withdraw their monthly support. The cost of living in Mozambique has increased drastically including our resident visas which now cost us over 3,000.00 a year. These rising costs are not part of our budget and have caused a major deficit. We have cut our budgets on every level including our housing costs and ministry budgets as much as we can. After all the cuts we find ourselves 1400.00 a month under supported. Starting August 1st we will be affected significantly due to this shortfall. Please pray with us concerning this challenge. Raising personal support is very difficult to do while on the field. We still have 12 months to go before home assignment and for the first time in 8 years, we find ourselves significantly under supported

We are praying for increases in current supporters where it is possible but also for new support from folk who have followed our work over the years and would like to join the support team. As always we need a ton of prayer and trust your prayers and financial support will get us through the next 12 months and beyond. As always, we trust God for it all!

Please contact us at rlschmidt@worldventure.net or you can contact WorldVenture directly

If you want to make a commitment to be a regular supporter, follow this link:

https://worldventure.com/Give/Make-A-Commitment.html

And if you want to make a one time contribution, follow this one:
https://worldventure.com/Give/Give-Now.html

Blessings,

Rodger and Lynne Schmidt

Life the last 2 weeks: A brief update.

2011-06-18T15:02:00.005+02:00

Just wanted to update you about the 4 major events of the last 2 weeks.

Luis Manhica: from the post previous to this, you know we almost lost our much loved Luis. Since then, Luis is home and we are all learning about diabetes and how to cope with it. Luis shared with me this week that the hardest part for him are the emotional high and lows and picking up on all the cues his body is now giving him. Please continue to pray for him.

The amazing, even miraculous news is this: while in the private hospital, we learned that his insulin shots were going to cost about $150 a month. while he does have a job and salary, this is just a massive amount to consider every month for the rest of his life. Through some further research, we have found that he, in fact, CAN get the insulin through the national health care system for much, much less every month. Please pray for us as we help him work through the details of all of this. Thanks to those who contributed to help MozOvos recuperate the cost of Luis' hospital stay. You will be blessed to know that the 2 local churches we started together with our interns have also taken up love offerings for Luis. This is a testimony to how much he is loved by all. If you would still like to contribute, there is still a need. Please see the information in the previous post.

Jonathan Edwards(the seminary student, not the famous preacher of long ago!): We welcomed Denver Seminary student, Jonathan to live and work with the interns as part of his needed field internship for his degree at Denver Seminary. Jonathan arrived the day before Luis was put in the hospital and fortunately for him, he is an adaptable, flexible, easy going young man! :) He sort of just jumped into our chaos and has done really well in this business of working at the egg farm, life together, church leadership, etc. He is a joy to have around!

Andrew and Stephen: God gave Lynne a gift in the form of an unusually inexpensive plane ticket to Kenya to spend time with Andrew and Stephen! The boys were on their mid-term break and we spent time together at the home of our Worldventure colleagues who always so graciously welcome us. We were able to continue time together back at school when classes started again. It's always a blessing to be with them, spend time with their friends and get to know the people who are a part of their every day lives. Just 4 more weeks until they will finish their school year. Then we will have a senior and and 8th grader. YIKES!

Island house: Just this week, we were able to start some small projects to get our house on Mozambique island ready to live in. This is something we have been hoping and praying for this last couple of years as we continue to take steps toward dividing our time between our internship ministry here in the south and beginning other projects in the north including MozOvos north and another project that we will soon be able to talk more about.

Thank you so much for you prayers and love for the Schmidt family. Oh! Another important event happened this month! June 4th marked 8 years of life in Mozambique. God has been so good to us!

How MozOvos saved a life

2011-06-01T06:25:00.002+02:00

Early friday morning, we rushed the assistant director (Luis Manhiça) of the International Internship in Missioin to the hospital (Heart institute of Mozambique) with what we thought was an infection in the bloodstream induced by an abscessed tooth and root canal gone bad. When we got to the hospital Luis was unresponsive and his breathing, which had been labored, had all but stopped. He was immediately admitted to the hospital.

After a few days of constant care he is recovering slowly but has also been diagnosed with type I Diabetes. He is 27 years old and had no idea of the condition as it was a sudden onset. He lost almost 10-15 lbs within a 10 day period, complained of dry mouth with constant urination and need for water. The night before he became unresponsive, he complained that his fingers and toes were numb. By the time we realized something more and more sinister was at play he was on the verge of diabetic coma.

As we were not willing to risk his life we chose to take him to the same hospital where Rodger was treated for staph infection. We were not convinced that this was the right choice until others, including medical professionals and our Mozambican friends confirmed that had we taken him to the central hospital here in Maputo, he would have surely died just waiting to be treated.

We are so grateful for his recovery. However, he now faces a life time of insulin shots and diet modifications. We know that many people in the world suffer from diabetes and lead healthy and normal lives. This is comforting and we continue to pray for him as he recovers.

For many of you who have already been informed of this situation, we wish to thank you for your prayers for Luis during this time. He is a faithful servant and wise leader. We are trusting that this new development will only make him stronger in his faith, more compassionate in his leadership and even more passionate about the calling of God on his life.

Our choice to take him to the heart institute resulted in a $3000.00 hospital stay. We believe that our son Luis is worth every penny or, in our currency, centavo. We are also so thankful for the fact that MozOVos( our egg farm) exists as it was due to MozOvos that we had this kind of cash available to pay the bill (We must pay in advance before any treatment is offered). Many of you have prayed, sacrificed and given to make MozOvos a reality. Not only has this little business provided funds for the internship ministry but now, it can honestly say that Luis is alive and well in Mozambique because MozOvos exists. We praise the Lord for Luis, MozOvos, and all of you.

Though we are grateful that MozOvos was able to cover these costs in Luis' time of need, this expense is not part of the budget. If you would like to assist MozOvos in the care of Luis during this time we invite you to send a one time gift to the internship special project at WorldVenture (see address and account number below).

Please continue to pray for Luis as he faces a lifetime of insulin shots and dietary restrictions in a country where both are challenging at best.

WorldVenture

1501 W. Mineral Ave.

Littleton, Co. 80120

Att: Internship Special Project 6484-910

Blessings to all our family around the world.

Rodger and Lynne Schmidt

Happenings: A pictorial review of the last few months

2011-05-02T09:13:00.011+02:00

All the day to day ministry and life go on as usual and we see God at work. Today, however, we'd like to share some of the highlights via photo.

Lots of anniversaries: April 6, Rodger and Lynne's 20th anniversary

April 7, the anniversary of MozOvos egg farm

April 14, the third anniversary of Evangelical Community Church of 25 de Junho

In April, we were delighted when two intern graduates too the money they had saved in their three years as interns and opened their own business. They are raising fryers to sell.

Also in April, we welcomed back our dear Blanks family who had been gone on medical leave.

We met with all of our Worldventure Mozambique colleagues as well as field leaders from Madagascar and South Africa for our annual field conference.

Sweet friends from one of our partner churches came to do a program for the missionary children.

Two lovely ladies from two different partner churches came to cook scrumptious meals for us.

We enjoyed times of worship together

And did work together as a team.

We all benefited greatly from time with our International Ministry Directors, Glenn and Kathy Kendall. They love, encourage, counsel and share out of their ministry experience and wisdom.

We enjoyed time together with our colleagues.

And their children

We have been richly blessed!

Family

2011-02-25T11:20:00.004+02:00

We thought we'd take a break from the normal ministry updates we post on our blog to tell you what we've been up to this last 10 days.

Our children, Andrew 17 and Stephen 14, are students at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya. It was the most difficult decision we have ever been called upon to make; to send our dearly loved children to boarding school. Sending them there has been and continues to be simultaneously the most difficult and most joyous experience of our lives.

Junior year is a big year for RVA students. They have worked hard and saved money as a class to put on a fabulous banquet(like prom) for the senior class. Parents are invited to participate with the class and teachers who are class sponsors, as we work together for a long weekend and then the following week on set construction, food prep, program designs and every imaginable detail. This year, we were blessed to be asked to be substitute dorm parents for Andrew's dorm of 24 boys during this long weekend.

We loved being with our boys and part of their school life. We loved meeting and getting to know their teachers and friends. We loved getting to watch both of them play basketball with their respective teams. We loved the heart to heart talks. We loved being there to embrace them every day, eat meals with them, watch the choices they are making as young men. We think they are growing up to be fine young men.

Below are a few pics of our time with them:

The whole family on Rodger's 47th birthday.

Andrew's drama rehearsal. That's him on the left.

Stephen on a game day

Andrew and some of his buddies

Andrew and his lovely date

Powers

2011-02-09T10:08:00.002+02:00

We are regularly reminded of the spiritual darkness that surrounds us.

Our neighbor just over the wall, a young man who came to know Christ through the ministry of our interns and has grown by leaps and bounds in his faith, came to speak to us.

He is being persecuted by his family for his faith because he no longer wants to participate in the rituals of the family's ancestor worship and witchcraft. They believe he is possessed by an evil spirit because he won't participate with them in these things.

Some in the family wanted him kicked out of the house. Others intervened on his behalf and let him stay but have cut him off financially as far as school fees, uniforms, etc.

He came to us for help. We are trying to help him find a job so he can leave his current situation, but we told him to stay and do his best to love and honor his family though not participating with them in their rituals.

We do have a budding relationship with his mother. She has agreed to come to church with him a week from Sunday. Maybe then she'll believe that he really isn't demon possessed. Maybe then, the LIGHT will begin to illuminate her heart and mind.

God chooses ordinary human beings to carry His light into very dark places. We are honored to do this. We are unafraid because we know it's not by our might, or our power, but by His Spirit.

Please be in prayer for this family.

Intern Retreat 2011

2011-01-28T11:00:00.012+02:00

We started the new internship year off with our fourth annual intern retreat at Nascer do Sol camp in Chizavane, Mozambique. Here are a few photo highlights!

First things first, lets throw people in!

Then enjoy the beauty of our surroundings.

Even the cooks went swimming.

Teaching time was shared by Rodger and our leadership team

Lots of group participation

Games happened to help us learn unity and leadership principles

Some became overwhelmed by the intensity of the game and needed some pastoral care.

As always, soccer happens!

As well as plenty of singing....

and dancing!

On to Their New Lives!

2011-01-21T13:17:00.002+02:00

November 27, 2010 was the graduation day for the first six interns of the International Internship in Mission. Here are the graduates with the Schmidt boys.
During our time together, we learned to love these young men as our sons and many special relationships developed between the Schmidts and the interns and the interns with each other.
Of the six interns, two are returning to lead the internship, being trained and mentored to do the work that we have done for the last three years. The other four are in the early preparations stages of starting their own businesses as well as working in different capacities in their home churches or missions of the churches.
We love them so much and will continue to pray, give counsel and walk alongside them as we are needed!

We spent the first three weeks of Janury preparing for more new interns to arrive. This involved our moving to a different house to free up more space at the intern house, painting and cleaning of the intern houses, making beds and lots of meetings and planning.

Yesterday, January 22, our new interns arrived! Pictures soon.

Way overdue!

2010-10-22T14:01:00.004+02:00

An update to our blog is way overdue! WE want to let you know the latest happenings in our family and ministry. Let's start with family! The big news is, we are semi-empty nesters. Stephen started 7th grade at Rift Valley Academy in August. This has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us. After 6 stressful weeks of homesickness, we are happy to say he is doing better. He is playing soccer, getting used to the daily schedule and making friends.

The Blessing of Wheels and the significance of 47!

2010-07-19T16:26:00.005+02:00

Egg farming is a game of numbers! The slightest increase in cost of feed necessitates the raising of egg prices. The slightest increase in egg prices causes some customers to buy eggs elsewhere. The loss of a few customers sends the employees of MozOvos scrambling to sell all the eggs so we can buy more feed. It's a vicious circle...BUT, it's working! We recently calculated that 10,000 hens producing a minimum of 47 cases per day and those 47 cases sold each day would give us our goal: the internship program, 100% sustained by the profits of MozOvos. As far as numbers of eggs, WE ARE THERE! A bit longer on this path and we will know if we can call this dream a reality!

At the same time, another need has been met. About a year and half ago, when MozOvos was new and struggling, we sold our personal vehicle to keep the business afloat. Many of you may remember that a vendor sold us several thousand dollars worth of hens and, before he delivered, turned around and sold our hens to someone else. To this man's credit, he is slowly paying back the money he owes us. All of that to say, after a year and a half with no vehicle for our family, we were finally able to purchase this 1996 Toyota Surf. We had hoped to purchase a new vehicle that would last us for many years to come, but after some research on the quality of direct Japanese imports and a year and a half of dealing with the delays and dangers of public transportation, we felt comfortable making this move with the money God provided for us. It is a good sturdy vehicle with low mileage and we are extremely grateful. Grateful that this need has been met but also grateful that we were given the opportunity to experience a taste of the hardships our Mozambican brothers and sister endure each day as they try to get to their places of work and live their lives. I(Lynne) don't know when I've experienced more scrapes, bumps and bruises than I did when getting in and out of overcrowded chapas(public transport vans) We don't think we will ever take reliable transportation for granted again! Thank you to all who gave sacrificially to make this vehicle possible!

LEADERSHIP EXPOSED!

2010-05-05T17:21:00.006+02:00

Estamos Juntos!

One of the first phrases I learned in Portuguese was this one. "We are Together" The phrase doesn't just mean a physical proximity but an emotional and spiritual connection. It's a wonderful phrase that oozes relationship. It was with this premise and others that the International Internship in Mission was birthed.

One aspect of leadership training relationally is that for the experiment to work, the Leader and the follower must be willing to risk being EXPOSED. The goal is that the great gulf of fear, mistrust, hidden sins, perfect personifications would be exposed, thus bringing truth and honesty into the relationship. This way of life is a breeding ground for true, heartfelt relationship to grow and bear fruit, producing healthy and transparent leadership.

When we began the internship three years ago, I had no idea of the breadth and depth of exposure the decision to live this way would cause in my life. For three years, I have tried to live this way with our mozambican missional interns.

The up side is that I have witnessed first hand the transformation as the guys turn into some of the most amazing leaders I have ever seen. They lead with confidence, passion and character. It is with great joy that I serve along side them day in and day out.

The down side is that, in recent days, I have fallen short in my own leadership ability and my character issues and own pride have been exposed. Because of unthoughtful words, unkind actions and neglect I have caused hurt and harm to my relationship with the interns as well as influence in their lives.

To be honest, it has been a rough few weeks. Slowly and yet ever so consistently, the guys are revealing their hurt, anger, frustration and concern.

I have come to realize that the intent of my heart has been lost in the translation. After almost 7 years, I still struggle to choose the right word or expression causing misunderstanding. Also, I am still learning how to communicate my own hurt, frustration and disapointment in a culture where the person is directly connected to the action. It is almost impossible to disconect the person from the action; to reject an action or idea is to reject the person. I am still learning to to love and influence my african family.

Yesterday, I was praying through these issues and the Lord spoke as if to say, "Rodger....Duh!...."This is exactly what we envisioned 5 years ago. We wanted to create an environment where leadership could be exposed for what it really is. Leaders are broken, sinful people who are in the middle of their own sanctification. To live in an environment where the world is quite clear of your gifting and failings is scary and a dangerous place. However, God is answering our prayers. We clearly are seeing failure, forgiveness, restoration and love in a whole new dimension

We are truly together, however it's not as clean and tidy as it can appear from the outside.

Celebrating! MozOvos and the International Internship in Mission, Mozambique

2010-04-13T09:48:00.008+02:00

Celebrating two years in the egg business!

Rodger with MozOvos manager Sr. Bule!

You gotta know!

MozOvos is two years Old.
MozOvos is profitable
MozOvos Produces on average 275,400 eggs a month.
MozOvos is saving $3650.00 a month for future purchses of birds and materials.
MozOvos supports the International Internship in Mission at $1000.00 a month.
MozOvos is slowly emerging as a wholesale and retail business that is competitive.
MozOvos continues to seek excellence in all it does.

My ministry partner Rob at the new property in Northern Mozambique!

MozOvos has purchased 25 acres of land in northern Mozambique for a future site of MozOvos and other business initatives.

Rafael mentoring 1st year intern Manuel!

Manuel teaching for the very 1st time!

The International Internship in Mission is three years old.
6 three year interns
2 second year interns
2 American/Brazilian 10 month interns
1 first year intern
11 interns who lead two local congregations
11 interns ministering to close to 100 people weekly
Interns mentoring Interns (cross mentoring)
Interns making life long decisions regarding personal purity and holiness
Interns learning to communicate clearly and with passion the word of God
Growing in ability to care of their heart and soul
Challenged in work ethic and plans for future sustainability in life and ministry.
Interns save $35.00 a month for the duration of the three year internship program
Interns are growing in leadership and vision for current and future ministry.
A few interns being mentored to take on new leadership responsibilies as the Internship grows and as we prepare to receive 8 new interns in January.
Plans are developing to reproduce the Internship leadership model in northern Mozambique among the Makhuwa people on and close to the Island of Mozambique.

WorldVenture, Mozambique Field Conference 2010

So grateful to lead such a wonderful group of people; MozOvos, Internship and WorldVenture, Mozambique.
We continue to be humbled through our weakness and thankful that the mercies of others and the Lord are patient and gracious as we learn to lead.
The WorldVenture, Mozambique team met together in south central Mozambique for three days of prayer, worship, business and Easter services. An amazing time together as a mission family. Our growing team is such a huge blessing and encouragment to the work in Mozambique. Go Moz!

Rodger and Lynne celebrating 19 years of marriage!

We celebrated 19 years of marriage on April 6th
Andrew and Stephen continue to be a joy and blessing in our lives as they become fine young men

Thank you Lord for the life for which we have been called. To God be the Glory!

2010-02-10T20:15:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time...

2010-02-06T15:20:00.011+02:00

Once upon a time, a family moved to Mozambique. They searched and searched for a house while they lived all together in one room of a guesthouse. After 8 long weeks, God graciously provided a rental home for them.

Then the cost of fuel and the toll road and long commute to school each day forced them to move yet again. God graciously provided another rental home for them, close to school, and their commuting days were over...until the landlord more than doubled the rent.

The family again began the search for a suitable home and, in addition to this, a place for 12 interns to live near them. God graciously and amazingly provided a house big enough for ALL of them to live together. Yes, it was in bad repair and required days upon days upon weeks of labor to get it livable, but they were happy. Happier still when they all got to move in to their new home together! The very large and happy family still lives in this rental house today, BUT, things are changing! The ministry is growing and overtaking their house! We hope that the internship ministry, Worldventure missionaries and church will be able to use this house for years to come.

Soon, the family will move again. To the house that God has, once again, so graciously provided. But this time, THEY are the homeowners, not just the renters!

YES, that's right! We purchased a tiny house on the island where no rentals are available. For just a tiny fraction of the cost of buying a house in States, we are homeowners. Yes, the house needs lots of work, but we have alot of experience with home makeovers! It will be a simple but comfortable place to live.

We would ask you to pray with us for the needed funds to start the needed repairs so we can begin living on the island in September!

The renovation will need to include putting in a kitchen in this small opening across from the house.

also completing this spot that was intended to be a bathroom and replacing the asbestos roof with some other kind of roof.

The best part...this will be the view from our kitchen!

New Beginnings! 2010

2010-01-23T17:12:00.007+02:00

Today was the day! The start up of the third year of the internship program! Here we all are, in front of our gate painted with our new logo! For six of our interns, this is third and final year with us. They will complete the program next December. Scroll down to meet our newest intern.
This is Manuel. He represents what the International Internship in Mission is all about. Life-on-life mentoring. Manuel is a neighbor that one of our interns is in relationship. When we started the church in 25 de Junho, he was the first non-intern to start attending church. He accepted Christ, went through the discipleship course and was baptized on December 20. He recently had a long conversation with Rodger about what he feels God is doing in his life. Please pray for him!

2010-01-16T07:26:00.003+02:00

Jose Macuacua and Luis Manhica are second year interns. Both come from small villages about an hour from Maputo. Initially, their families sent them to maputo for school because their villages don't have secondary schools. Their pastors recommended them for the internship program. They have grown in their faith by leaps and bounds and we are so proud of them!

Our fine young men!

2009-12-19T08:43:00.003+02:00

Best friends since 1st grade, we couldn't separate these two when we introduce them to you!

David Lamp and Lee Peffer(2nd photo below) are our two newest interns. Americans raised in Brazil, David and Lee have been a very welcome addition to the internship. They have and still are struggling with culture and nuances of "a different kind" of Portuguese, but they are doing well and showing true missionary spirit!

Please pray for David and Lee over the next month(December 21 to January 21), as they spend a month living with Mozambican families in the bush. Please pray for their health and safety. Pray that they will be a blessing to their host families. Pray for God to speak to them in a very real way. Pray that their hearts will be open to receive all they will learn. Pray for them as they spend Christmas away from their families.

For the long term, pray for their continued time here and their return to college in the States in August. David is attending Cornell University and Lee is attending Huntington College.

2009-12-09T09:50:00.002+02:00

Aderito Nhavoto is one of our second year interns. Proof that great things come in small packages, he is a short little dynamo with an amazing smile! Aderito is a very gifted preacher and very passionate about God's word. He to tell people about Jesus.

Aderito graduated from high school last year. He is the only believer in his family and is under constant pressure from his family to participate in ancestor worship and all kinds of traditional practices. This is very heavy on his heart at all times. Despite this, he is a hard worker and sends money home to his mother every month.

We look forward to seeing great things from Aderito!

Our fine young men!

2009-12-03T09:42:00.001+02:00

Beside our own incredible boys, we are privileged to live with 11 of the finest young men we have ever known. Over the next few weeks, we'd like to tell you a little of their stories and ask you to pray for them.

Americo is one of our two youngest interns and is 18 years old. He is a very talented musician, singer and dancer.

Americo's mother died when he was very young and he and his younger sister were abandoned by their father. He and his sister were moved from place to place among family members where they suffered abuse and neglect. For the most part, Americo raised himself while caring for his younger sister.

As our relationship has grown with these young men, as we have become a family to each other, we've often noticed a real distance with Americo. We could never quite put our finger on it until one day he shared his story with Rodger and explained the huge trust issues he struggles with. He also shared that, for the first time in his life, he has a place to belong and a place where he really wants to be.

Please pray for Americo. God so evidently has His hand on this young man and has brought him so far! God truly has a future and a hope for Americo! Pray that the emotional and self-protective walls will be broken down and he will develop a true understanding of what it means to be part of a family while in the internship.

Thanksgiving Week Happenings

2009-11-24T07:01:00.012+02:00

This week, we expanded the egg farm by 4,000 additional birds. In the pouring rain and some of our crew working long, long hours to be ready, we installed the cages and got the watering systems up and running. This left us with another problem though. The part of the building where there were no chickens has been serving as our meeting place for church on Sunday.

Previously, Rodger had talked to the Mayor of the community about using an old abandoned clinic for our Sunday services. At that time, he didn't see fit to grant that request. At the 11th hour, though, he came through! We now have a place to meet on Sundays. Praise God for this! We worked hard to clean it up and get it ready to use on Sunday.

While preparing for our new chickens, it's been necessary to lay some pipe for drainage when we clean the floors of the coop. The workers started to dig the ditch and lay the pipe. Then, the heavy rain started and last 5 days. The ground underneath the structure started to erode and one wall of our building is starting to collapse. It's another headache, but God has been faithful to us, and we know that in this too, He will provide all we need.

Happenings!

2009-11-03T09:01:00.014+02:00

It's not for lack of news that our last blog post was September 16th! It's for lack of time! There is so much to share, we often don't know where to begin! Here are the highlights:

Rodger made a month long trip to the States, while Stephen and Lynne stayed in Mozambique. The purpose of the trip was to raise partners and funds for the next phase of our ministry: the expansion of MozOvos, our egg farm. He met with many, many people, sharing the vision and the need. He was also able to squeeze in a few days to visit his family in Kansas. Here he is with his sister and brother.

Here he is with mom and brother.

On September 8, we welcomed our two American interns, David and Lee. Both grew up in Brazil and speak Portuguese. They are integrating into life here and will be with us until late July.

We also welcomed our new colleagues, Rob and Heather Blanks and their 4 children. Marian, Hayden, Judah and Josiah. They will be going to language school and working directly with us in the Internship program for their first term in Mozambique. Here they are, enjoying their new life!

In addition to all of these happenings, the churches in 25 de Junho and Agostinho Neto are doing well! We have 6 people in process to be baptized. We have completed our first discipleship class and are beginning another.

The $77,000 needed for the expansion of MozOvos was raised and we are beginning that process now. Cages and birds have been ordered. Soon, we will be better able to meet the demands for eggs that we have each day and be further along in our goal to make the ministry of the International Internship in Missions a truly self-sustaining ministry!

Our fine young men!

2009-10-11T06:47:00.005+02:00

Americo is one of our two youngest interns and is 18 years old. He is a very talented musician, singer and dancer.

God, Our Father

2009-09-16T11:43:00.005+02:00

I've been contemplating God as our father for many weeks now. Every time I turn around, I hear a song, read something or hear a sermon that directs my thinking back to God, as my father, my parent.

In fact, parenting has been uppermost in my thinking lately as we are in the thick of it with two teenagers.

One of my favorite things about parenting them is when Rodger and I can take each of them out for a meal, just mom and dad and one son, and see the floodgates open up as they realize they have our undivided attention and can talk about anything they want. It's at these times we discover a little more of their uniqueness and their hopes and dreams for their futures.

Andrew: "I don't really have any idea what I want to be yet. I kinda get worried about that and a little scared when you start talking about visiting colleges." and "School rocks!"

Stephen: "Mom, I think "A" is a really sad boy. He's negative about everything" and "I think I'd like to be a professional soccer player and then, when I'm too old to do that, I'll work with animals."

I love most when they are enthusiastic about something, anything! I love hearing their views on life and their dreams!

So, I wonder why I treat God, my heavenly Father, as if bringing my hopes and dreams to Him is an inconvenient thing that He might rather not listen to? Why do I act like asking Him to bring about our "BHAG's"(our Worldventure President uses this expression for "Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals") is something that's of us instead of something that He put in us? Why do I "tone it down" instead of approaching Him, jumping up and down with excitement, over our hopes and dreams for our work in Mozambique? Didn't He already teach us to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven"?

And are we grasping the truth of I John 5:14,15 that says "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask ANYTHING according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of Him."?

I love to hear whatever is on the minds of Andrew and Stephen, listen to the things they dream of, enjoy the things that are enjoyable to them, bask in their words that show me their thoughtfulness, tenderness, even their silliness. When they are sharing their hearts with me, do I thump them on the head and say, 'Stupid child, that will never work. Stop dreaming those dreams!' No, I smile and listen with great delight that they trust me enough to not keep it to themselves, but share it with their mom.

Today, I choose to believe that God, our heavenly Father, loves to hear our dreams and hopes for the people of Mozambique. That He is also working on our behalf to provide the means that seem so far out of our realm of possibility. I will choose to boldly ask Him for changed hearts and a changed Mozambique, for HIS glory.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20,21

Life on Life

2009-08-24T08:47:00.004+02:00

"A painter estimates a job-for example, eight hours and two gallons for four walls. He starts at sunup, but when the days over and the paint's gone, the job's done. Ministry is like painting a wall that never ends, with an undetermined amount of paint(apparent resources), no time clock(24/7), and unknowns on the horizon." From the book "Challenged: Mission Trip Devotions and Journal"

Sometimes we long for "wall painting" type work. Something with measurable results that looks really pretty, neat and clean at the end. The truth is, most weeks we are asking ourselves "is what we are doing making ANY difference at all?" Believing that evaluation is necessary, how are we supposed to evaluate our work?

Maybe it's just in the small things.

This week during soul care time with the guys, the topic turned to ministry and marriage. One of our guys really struggles to communicate but his comment on the subject was very telling. He said, "I want the kind of relationship like Pastor Rodger has. He calls his wife many times when he's not home with her." In that simple statement, he communicated to us that we are being "watched" and they are looking to us as models.

The truth is, ministry is life and life is ministry. These guys live with us. They just don't see us at church on Sunday or in the classroom. It's all out there for them to see and hear. Is that humbling or what? It keeps us on our toes! More importantly, on our knees.

Father/Son Cape Town Trip

2009-08-01T08:34:00.012+02:00

A few weeks after Stephen's 13th birthday, father and son enjoyed a week of study and adventure in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. They studied Family Life's "Passport to Purity" course each day as well as experienced lots of fun stuff! It was an unforgettable and relationship deepening trip for them both.
They visited Robben Island where former South African president Nelson Mandela was held for many years of his 27 year political imprisonment.
The courtyard.
Mr. Mandela's cell

Both were brave enough to go great white shark cage diving.

They went to the top of Table Mountain.

They got to see Cape Town from the air as they went ultralight flying early one morning.

Funeral

2009-07-17T16:50:00.013+02:00

This week has been one of those weeks when we had the privilege of seeing the fruit of our labor. Upon my arrival from a short trip, our interns informed me that a family member of one of our church families had passed away. They were looking to me to take the reins and prepare for the funeral. Can you imagine their surprise when I reminded them that I was scheduled to participate in two days of meetings and would not be available to officiate the funeral? I also dropped a bomb when I shared with them that they as a team were more than capable of leading the proceedings and I would help them prepare.

If i can put into words their response, sheer terror and surprise as none of them had ever spoken at a funeral let alone been in charge of the whole process. Here in Mozambique there are normally three services that need to be prepared. First, there is a chapel service where family and friends see the body and say their good-bye's. This is usually quite emotional as each person walks by the body and sprays from a perfume bottle a little fragrance to anoint the body. Later at the grave site, there is more singing, and a longer service as the body is buried. As in times past each person has the opportunity to toss in a bit of dirt. The workers at the cemetary then cover the body followed by each person planting a flower in the freshly placed dirt.

We sat together and divided responsibilities and I helped them to prepare for a very important ministry opportunity. I encouraged them to remember that at the end of the day, regardless of what happened, they would have buried the gentleman and everything was going to be just fine. The most important thing to rembember regardless of what happens is that funerals are for the living. To show the love of Jesus and share the truth of scripture, giving hope, would be the most important thing they could possibly do.

Oh they were so nervous! One young man, Adérito, stayed up until 2:00 in the morning preparing for his sermon at the grave site. In the end the guys were exhausted and full of wonderful stories to tell of God's mercy and love. They were so encouraged as the family admitted that they were so afraid that these young boys would not be capable of leading the funeral service as these things are normally left for "adults" and/or the local bishop. The family and local community admired the guy's ability and maturity to handle everything with such love and skill.

Sometimes we wonder if our work really is making a difference in the lives of our interns and the community. In a moments notice, our guys rose to the challenge, pushed through their lack of confidence, and saw the Lord work through them, making a lasting impression of truth and practicality of the gospel message.

These guys are learning that what we do is less important than who we are and how we show love and engage people intentionally for the work of the gospel in the lives of people. We are already seeing new doors open in the lives of people since the funeral just a few days ago. Without a doubt the ministry will grow as a result of the funeral this past week. more importantly our interns have grown and seen one more time the power of relationship that impacts the important moments of peoples lives.

Please continue to pray for each one of our guys as they continue to mature in faith, leadership, ministry skills and a future that is sustainable. Each day is another opportunity to take one more step toward the goal; trained, mature, missional young men. Passionate about Jesus and being Jesus in the lives of people they interact with every day.

4th of July

2009-07-06T08:52:00.003+02:00

It's happening again! About 1 year out from our next home assignment, we're missing family, hot dogs, big macs and American holidays! Sometimes we get to spend holidays with other Americans, but this year, God chose to give us a different kind of July 4th celebration. We celebrated with people who had no idea what day it was for us. It was "Family Day" for our interns. They invited their families and pastors or church reps to celebrate what God is doing in their life through International Internship in Mission and MozOvos. It was a great day!

We had a special celebration service with music and special dance numbers by our interns!

Family members were given the opportunity to express their love for their interns and joy of what God is doing in their lives.
We could feel the love!
The young girls of the church (along with Lynne) worked hard to provide good food for approximately 150 people.

Our Girls?

2009-06-30T10:03:00.006+02:00

You hear alot from us about "our boys"! As the parents of sons and parents/mentors/cheerleaders of our nine interns, our lives are full of "all things male." Male voices singing, bouncing basketballs, broken windows from overzealous soccer players in our yard, boys dorm type pranks, advice giving on girls and relationships and choosing a mate. Our interns are not permitted to date while participating with us in the program, but that doesn't stop them from thinking ahead! :)

We've noticed, however, that BECAUSE we have 9 handsome, gifted, EMPLOYED young men at our house, the "stop bys" to our house for any reason under the sun by young ladies is increasing. In our 25 de Junho ministry, the number of young ladies who attend on Sunday FAR outnumbers the young men. Some of these young ladies are quite forward, verbally expressing their interest in one or other of the boys.

Even just a little farther outside of the city of Maputo, in our Agostinho Neto location which is very rural, the ministry is almost entirely young men. Young women are busy working at home. They often tend to be less forward and much more timid around young men. Still, we need to reach them.

The question is always in our thinking, what do we do to reach and teach these young women, even if their intentions for coming are only focused on the young men in our midst?

At this point, Lynne and Mary are the only women, grounded in their faith, here to work with these young women and Mary's effectiveness is somewhat limited by the fact that her language skills are still very basic, she works another full time job and has small children at home.

Well, we pray ALOT, especially Lynne, for wisdom and a keen intuition and look for opportunities to "go deeper" with the young women the Holy Spirit points out to us. To give us a heart for those we are to pour our lives into.

This is Martinha, 20 years old, she is a student at the Institute of Technology, studying to be an accountant. We met Martinha through her mother who works at a local store Lynne discovered while exploring the neighborhood two years ago. Lynne and Martinha's mother quickly struck up a friendship when they discovered they are both followers of Jesus! Martinha's mother is a single mom who works seven days a week and worries about her young adult children. The church they were trying to attend was very far away from their house and she was eager for Martinha to get involved with our ministry. Martinha is also a believer in Jesus.

Katia is another young lady who just recently came to faith, though she has been attending church regularly for the past 9 months or so. She is just about to complete the first discipleship course. She is a high school graduate and preparing to take the entrance exam for university.

In the last two weeks, God has given Lynne some great opportunities to get to know these girls better.

Will you pray for them to go deeper in their faith and become passionate followers of Jesus? Will you pray for more of the girls in our ministry to come to faith in Jesus?

Will you also pray with us for another young woman(American, Brazilian, Mozambican, Portuguese) to work alongside us, helping and mentoring these young women, maybe even starting up an internship program for them as well? As a "icing on the cake" kind of request, will you also pray with us that this young woman would already have a basic understanding and ability to converse in Portuguese? We believe nothing is too hard for God and He DESIRES to give us "icing on our cake" when we come to Him in faith, deeply desiring for these young ladies to bring glory to Him with their lives.

These young people are the future of Mozambique!

25 de Junho

2009-06-27T14:50:00.006+02:00

I spoke to my neighbor on Thursday, "Feliz Dia de Independencia, Joana"("happy independence day, Joana"), to which she replied "Estamos livres!" ("We are free!")

25 de Junho is both the name of our town and the date of Mozambique's Independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975 after a decade long war for their freedom. Below are some photos of our town.

Men wheel these pushcarts around all day, laden with a variety of things.
25 de Junho Market area
A view from in front of our house
The flag of Mozambique
Neighbor boys
Hot, fresh bread daily...carried and sold from a plastic tub on top of the head.
All that and carry a baby too?

A random sweet old man!

Six Years!

2009-06-17T10:36:00.009+02:00

June 4th marked 6 years in Mozambique! We thought we would celebrate by sharing some of our "firsts" photos!

Our first week in Mozambique, staying at Oasis guesthouse. All the boys did for the first week is catch lizards and get filthy every day! They were 6 and 9 years old.

Our first trip to the beach!

Our first pets, Jack Russell Terriers, Max and Fudge.

Our first house and chance to do yard work. As seminary students, up to this point, we had only lived in apartments.

Our first Thanksgiving. We celebrated with our British, Brazilian and Mozambican friends.

Our first church family, in front of our first meeting site, the primary school in Djuba.

Our first Christmas program. Can you find the "branca"(white girl)?

The first church owned land in Djuba. Clearing it by hand.

After the land was cleared, our first church "building", a giant blue and white tent.

First signs of falling in love with a beautiful people.

Answered prayers!

2009-06-17T10:33:00.000+02:00

Thank you for praying for Felix and Mary, the Rwandese couple who have come to work with us. they have both completed the residency process and are now free to settle and work with us in Mozambique! God is so good!

CONFIRMED!!

2009-06-12T06:33:00.003+02:00

With our friends, Terri and Reid at Silver Spur restaurant.
Andrew in English class

Often, a battle rages in my mind and I find myself crying out to God, aloud, when I'm alone...the battle usually centers around fear or loss or fear of loss and the pain that comes with that.

On my trip to Nairobi this past week, I was hit hard. FEAR and the pain that comes with LOSS.

I am a fearful person. Maybe you could call it my "thorn in the flesh". So, boarding a plane ALONE to another country is a fearsome thing.

The first time I had to do this, I was a 19 year old college student. I had never been on a plane before and was expecting to be flying with friends to the Philippines, but due to a mix up, found myself traveling ALONE from KC to Dallas and then on to LAX where I would meet up with my friends. I remember telling the trip leader, Mr. Ken Liles, on the phone, "I can't do this! I've never even flown before."

I still hear two voices every time I have to fly alone. Mr Ken Liles: "I have faith in you. You can do this!" My husband: "Being brave isn't the absence of fear; it's facing your fears, and you are the bravest woman I know!"

So, on Friday I boarded a plane for Nairobi to see my first-born. I knew that when I got there, I would have to get in a taxi with a stranger. I knew that while I was there, I'd have to get in a car and drive in some of the world's worst traffic to "places unknown." I have a terrible sense of direction!

All of this wasn't the most difficult part, though. As someone who VOWED she would never send her children to boarding school, I faced another battle: once again having to leave my fiercely loved 15 year old at boarding school on Tuesday and that inevitable "hole in your heart" kind of loss.

You might say I had developed a bit of an attitude about Rift Valley Academy. As if they were holding my son hostage. I was looking for any excuse to not send him back there next year!

Monday night, terribly exhausted from my emotional battle, I gave up and cried out to God, "God, if this is REALLY your plan for Andrew's life, I'm asking you to give me some confirmation, because I just want him home with us." At that moment, any choice would have been preferable to boarding school.

Tuesday morning, Andrew asked me to go to classes with him. Mother with a bad attitude meeting teachers! I feel like a liar when I have to hide my feelings!

First period English class: A brand new teacher. I expected the students to take advantage of her, misbehave, be uncooperative. She told them they were going to do a project and asked for immediate participation. Brave girl to do this on her first day! I didn't expect to see what I saw: kids with their hands up, interacting, showing excitement about "A Tale of Two Cities." HMMM!

Second period Algebra class: The teacher made a special effort to talk to me. This is Andrew's most challenging class. He wanted to make sure I knew he was committed to helping Andrew through.

Third period Bible class: The class was studying, verse by verse, John chapter 11. The story of Lazarus. Once again I saw a passionate teacher and passionate students. They were interacting, their insights were AMAZING, they were being challenged to live their faith when Satan tried to get them to question God's goodness or God's power.

Add those three experiences in with my observation of my 15 year old son as a respectful, loving, caring individual...

mix it all together and you have a mom who left there crying tears of joy, not sadness. Her cries to God had been answered.

CONFIRMED! Rift Valley Academy is the most AMAZING school I've ever seen! CONFIRMED! God is working out a wonderful plan in Andrew's life. I can't wait to watch it unfold.

Finally! Some Help!

2009-05-10T06:51:00.003+02:00

Meet our friends: Felix, Mary, Angel and Angelo!

We have enjoyed getting to know them over the past year and a half since Christian Academy introduced us, said that we were neighbors and suggested we carpool.

Felix and Mary are Rwandese refugees who came to Mozambique seeking a new life for their family. Once they learned we were starting a church, they have been on board, even when their lack of Portuguese severely limited what they understood. They host a weekly prayer meeting in their tiny home and have established a sweet relationship with our interns. They have struggled to eek out a living, but we have seen their love for the Lord and their perserverance. Several months back, Felix began working for MozOvos and the relationship continued to grow.

For more than a year, we've had our eyes open and have been praying for a solid, trustworthy couple to help us in the administration of the internship. We never really considered Felix and Mary until a few weeks ago, when the Lord began to work in their hearts and ours simultaneously. Felix was hoping to be able to participate with the guys in their weekly soul care studies and meetings. We began to recognize that their Portuguese skills have dramatically impoved and that they would be a natural fit for this ministry. We are so grateful to God for sending them our way.

Will you please pray for us that Felix will be able to complete the very lengthy process of establishing residency in this country? Will you pray for good communication skills and a relationship of mutual encouragement and accountability?

We have high hopes for this young family!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T18:20:00.003+02:00

Happy Birthday MozOvos

2009-04-07T13:14:00.007+02:00

Today, we celebrate the 1st anniversary of MozOvos, our egg farm!!!! Here are some before and after pics!
This was what the land looked like when we started. Just a snake infested, overgrown mess.
The building was in terrible shape.
Alot of blood, sweat and tears later....
This is MozOvos today! An established part of the community with a beautiful, well cared for piece of property.
A very nice building to house up to 5,000 hens!

Producing nearly 200 dozen eggs daily which are selling just as fast as "our ladies" can produce them to restaurants, bakeries, stores and even the U.S. Marines!
These are the people who make it all happen! 9 interns, several employees from the community, 2 drivers, a manager and administrative assistant. Oh, and the veterinarian just happened to be here today, so he's in the picture too! We celebrated how God has provided for all of us in different ways through MozOvos. Our internship ministry will one day very soon, God willing, be completely funded by MozOvos. Manager Bule and all our community workers depend on MozOvos for their livelihood! WE are pleased and happy and all of us gathered around today to thank God for all He has done.

Thankful

2009-03-27T23:35:00.015+02:00

We always share our ministry life with you, so this week, I thought I'd share the more personal side of our life with you.

Recently, my friend did a blog post of all her simple gifts; small things that give her joy. She unknowingly inspired me to keep track of every small or big thing that I am thankful for. So, this week, I kept a record of every thankful thought that came to my mind and found that I had a GREAT week, remembering my blessings and praising God for each one. I'm posting a few below. They are in completely random order. Some of them have pictures, some do not. Needless to say, this list is just a drop in the bucket. I hope that YOUwill be inspired to count your good gifts this week!

So, I'm thankful for:

my son Stephen who is so funny and "quirky", even when he sleeps! Yes, he really IS sleeping in this picture.

Laughter, fun and good food with friends.

Creativity! The kids had so much fun doing a graffiti wall in Andrew and Stephen's room on Friday night.

Do the numbers ring a bell with anyone?

Having my oldest son home from boarding school and hearing about the last term. Here he is with another one of our blessings, his good friend Reid.

The wonderful husband God gave me. We're coming up on 18 years of marriage next week and each year is better than the one before.

Dr. Grimbeek, the South African doctor who is making it possible for Stephen to have straight teeth!

New glasses so I can enjoy reading once again!

My neighbor ladies, Lidia, Laurinda and Joana! It's taken some time, and alot of hard work, but they are opening up to friendship with a white girl!

My friend Pam who is so good at remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Something I admire since I'm so bad at it! THANKS FOR THE CARD, PAM J.!!!!

Crazy, wonderful sons who love each other!

Amazing friends to "do life" with. This is my bible study group. We were celebrating a birthday.

They bring me so much laughter and joy.

Precious little girls who give me hugs and draw me pictures and stuff.

Andrew's amazing dorm parents, Nathan and Stacey. This is Stacey, his "mom away from mom".

COOL STUFF!

2009-03-15T15:41:00.006+02:00

It's definitely been one of the biggest challenges of our lives but also one of the biggest blessings as well! The International Internship in Missions had it's first birthday in February. MozOvos, the egg business created to sustain the internship, will have it's first birthday on April 1st. When we get discouraged, all we have to do is LOOK BACK! God has done some amazing things in this year! The business has been a huge learning experience for us all, but we are seeing more and more eggs every day. We are becoming quite an "operation" as we supply eggs for many bakeries, cafes and restaurants in Maputo as well as to the U.S. Marines guarding the Embassy!

Here are the guys, counting eggs. The guy in the tie? Well, hens still need to eat on Sundays! It was Sunday morning and it was his turn to preach!

The other cool thing about our lives is helping these 9 interns find, define and then use the gifts God has given them. The fruit of this is lives being transformed. Not just their lives, but lives of those who need Jesus all around us. We are amazed every time one of these nine stand up to preach. We are amazed when we see young men they have been playing soccer with start to articulate their faith to their peers. We are amazed when we see the children in the sunday school class able to repeat almost WORD FOR WORD the bible story from the week before and what it means for them. Below is Luis who is very gifted with children. He teaches the bible story in a very simple and clear way and then gives the children a chance to tell the story in their own words. With him is one of the children, taking their turn to tell the story of Jesus calming the storm.

My Mozambican Wedding Story, by Lynne

2009-02-28T15:00:00.003+02:00

I'm the kind of person who doesn't like the spotlight, not even for a minute. I like to "blend in". Though I like and enjoy people in small numbers, I'm not extremely social and HATE large crowds. Imagine my distress this past Sunday when, in an effort to be a part of the community in which we live, I attended the wedding of my next door neighbors. I was to be accompanied by several of my Mozambican sons, but they all bailed on me for various reasons, so, I went alone.

It started out okay. I sat and chatted with a group of women under the shade of a tree. It's hard to "blend in" when you are the only white person, however, and I was soon "promoted" to the table of the wedding party. There I sat with the bride, groom, matron of honor and best man...sticking out like a sore thumb! The meal went off without a hitch. I chatted with the matron of honor and we exchanged phone numbers AND THEN it happened! The gift giving part of the celebration began!

I've lived in Mozambique for 6 years now and I KNOW what this means: Each family group presents the gift they have brought with singing and dancing. I had brought a gift, but was the only one from my family group there. I CANNOT TELL YOU the terror that struck me when I thought about the possibility of presenting the gift, the lone white lady, singing and dancing? I looked for an escape but I was quite literally backed into a corner.(See the lady in the background with the yellow dress in the first picture? I was sitting in the empty seat next to her.)

It was then one of the neighbor kids approached me and asked, "Tia Lynne, are you going to give your gift alone?" "I don't want to", I told her, "what should I do?" "Come with me," was her response. She proceeded to round up all her brothers and sisters and relatives, about 20 people in all. Much to my relief, they let ME carry the gift and THEY did the singing and dancing. Just when I stopped shaking and sweating, IT happened: one of the girls grabbed me and, in moves that I can only compare to "The Funky Chicken", she demonstrated how she wanted me to dance. It was do or die! I can only say that I am eternally grateful that there was no video camera. My neighbors and all 150 of their friends and family, however, were delighted with my efforts! After all was said and done, I received lots of smiles and warm embraces. Hopefully, I opened the door of relationship just a little wider. I firmly believe in what our friend Duncan once said, "Belief follows belonging."

Do you think this is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."? (I Corinthians 9:22) If so, I will say with him, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (9:23)

The bride and groom are 60 years old if they're a day! They have many children and grandchildren together. Some are pictured below. In Mozambique, most young couples cannot afford to get married. The cultural mandates make a wedding financially unattainable.

Party in Heaven!!

2009-02-10T21:11:00.004+02:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that you have 6 new brothers and sisters in Christ this week! 6 out of our 18 pre-evangelism/discipleship class members have made decisions to believe in Jesus and receive His gift of grace.

This is in the midst of one of our most personally discouraging and trying weeks ever. He is mighty to save us...our souls and far beyond!

Discipleship

2009-02-07T08:00:00.002+02:00

We started discipleship classes 2 weeks ago in our 2 locations. The interns are teaching the classes and doing a great job. The books are simple and understandable. Last week, our lesson was on "New Birth". The verse we memorized together was John 1:12.

The discussion around "believing and receiving" Jesus went like this:

Artur: "Who here has received Jesus as Savior?"

The class: no hands up except those of our interns and my own. Dead silence

Artur: "It's a simple question; who here has received Jesus?"

The class: 2 tentative hands go up

Arture: "Katia, how do you know you have received Jesus?"

Katia: "Because I have done what the verse said, I believe in Him and I received Him and now I am his child."

Artur: "Manuel, how do you know you have received Jesus"?

Manuel: ""Because I prayed to receive Jesus and invited Him to be my Lord."

Artur: "Mama Ana, have you received Jesus?"

Mama Ana: "NO"

Artur: "Rita, have you received Jesus?"

Rita: (giggling) "No".

Artur: "Have you received Jesus?"

Fabiao:(eyes downcast): "No"

Artur: "Why have you not received Jesus as your Saviour?"

Mama Ana: "Because we don't understand it all yet."

It was that bold; that direct and a really painful interaction for my "oh so non-confrontational" ears to hear. It brought tears to my eyes to hear two twenty-something young people verbalize their faith and to know that, as we continue on, the others WILL understand and come to faith.

Thanks for sending the Schmidt's to Mozambique. The work we are all doing together IS so very important and life-changing.

2009 Internship kick-off retreat

2009-01-13T11:10:00.002+02:00

All of our guys, joined with 3 friends from Lakeside Church in Folsom, California for our 2009 Internship Retreat at a beautiful spot in Chizavane, Mozambique. They camped for 2 nights. During the day, the studied, together with Pastor Jeff Kreiser, about what it means to have a "missional life".

Tim from Lakeside Church came along to give a series of guitar classes to the interns so they can lead in worship at church.

They enjoyed wonderful meals prepared by our friends, Fatima and Maria! These ladies made it possible for Lynne to stay home and recover from malaria.

Our friend, Jon, from Lakeside Church, led the group in several team-building excercises.

A great time was had by all!

This week in Mozambique:A photo review

2009-01-05T05:28:00.004+02:00

Move in day for the interns and lots of work to be done.

We painted their rooms, so they all slept in our living room for 2 nights. 9 guys!

Moving everything back in

Washing all the dust covered dishes.

Setting up the kitchen.

Building a new table

Even the youngest of us were exhausted and ready for Mom's chocolate chip cookies.

Team

2008-12-03T11:35:00.004+02:00

One of the things we have most loved about our time in Mozambique has been the sense of "team." We have had great team members to be sure! We

We were privileged to be a part of a great team for Jim and Corinne Thorp for several years and then with Ken and Arlene Flurry for 3 months until their recent departures.

We are privileged to work as a team with our interns in the start up and daily activities of the business and church planting effort.

We eagerly anticipate the day when our newest team members arrive. The young lady above, Honey Davidge, is our "newest" team member! Honey will be an invaluable team member as she comes to teach our son Stephen's class at the Christian Academy in Mozambique. WE LITERALLY CAN'T DO OUR JOB WITHOUT HER!!

Please pray for her to raise her support by late June! SHE IS VERY MUCH NEEDED HERE!!! If you would like to help her reach her goal for this one year commitment she has made, please contact Worldventure at 720-283-2000 and tell them you would like to contribute to the support of Honey Davidge. In doing so, you will abundantly bless the Schmidt Family and the work in Mozambique.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR WORLDVENTURE TEAM MEMBERS!!! They are all in various stages of support discovery.

Rob and Heather Blanks
Dave and Amy Terpstra
Dr. Brian and Megan Meyers
Honey Davidge

137!

2008-11-30T14:50:00.002+02:00

137!

This is the number of dozens of eggs we need for the month of December to make budget at MozOvos! Will you please pray with us about these things?

1. 137 dozen eggs is needed to buy chicken feed and pay salaries.

2. The vendor that was providing us with hens went bankrupt, leaving us high and dry for the remaining 3,000 chickens he was to provide. This is a serious setback, but we keep reminding ourselves this is God's work, not ours.

3. Pray that we will learn the lessons God has for us to learn. That our faith will grow and as we pray together and see God answer, God will strengthen the faith of our interns as well.

WE EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD IN ANSWER TO OUR COLLECTIVE PRAYERS!

Crazy Story!

2008-11-22T08:35:00.002+02:00

"TIA-This Is Africa!!!" A common saying for us. This crazy story will explain what we're talking about.

Daudi, the young intern from Mbezi Chapel in Tanzania, has had to overcome a number of obstacles to participate with us. It all started when he tried to get his passport in Tanzania and found out that he is not legally a citizen of Tanzania, though he was born there. Some issue with his grandparents and parents being from Mozambique and not registered in Tanzania. Obtaining Tanzanian citizenship seems impossible or at best, extremely difficult. He has been a man without a country, but was given travel papers by immigration in Mozambique to be in the country for 1 year. Daudi had to learn portuguese, live with people he couldn't communicate with and try to figure out life here. He has done very well and is adored by all of us.

Through some investigation here in Mozambique, we discovered that due to a huge number of unregistered births in Mozambique, there is a legal process for adults to obtain a birth certificate. So, on Thursday, Daudi signed his own birth certificate here in Mozambique! He is a citizen of Mozambique!

24 hours later, he was detained in handcuffs by the civil police who didn't understand the documents issued to him by Mozambique immigration. Thankfully, he was with another young man who was able to help him prove his legal status and he was released.

We live in a country that we often don't understand, the system often seems illogical and is so opposite to our system in the USA. For example, here, as in Daudi's case, if there's a question of guilt, you are "guilty until proven innocent."

It's no wonder we are so tired at the end of days like yesterday. We can only do this because God has given us such a love for this country and it's people.

Thanks for your faithful prayers for us.

7 Reasons to Praise and Some Prayer Requests

2008-11-12T11:14:00.009+02:00

Here are photos and a short bio of our much loved interns! Please pray for them as they take a break and return to their homes during the month of December. Pray for them to remain strong in their faith, to resist temptations and to continue with the spiritual disciplines they are learning. Pray for them to be salt and light in their homes and communities. All but Daudi plan to return for the second year of the program which means a great deal more leadership and business training and responsibilities for each. Pray for us because we will miss them terribly. Pray for the 4 new interns we hope to add to the program in January. Rafael is our youngest intern and is 18 years old. He came under recommendation of his pastor from the baptist church of Hulene. He is in high school. Rafael is very gifted musically and has been leading our worship services since the first Sunday we started the church.

Reginaldo came to work with us on recommendation of the national director of Youth For Christ, where he has been a volunteer. Reg is extremely quiet, hard working and studious. Reading is very difficult for him, but he doesn't let it stop him, even from reading aloud in church! He has a way with kids and all the children in the neighborhood love him.

Luis is from a town 1 hour north of Maputo and was sent by his church, The First Baptist Church of Maputo. He is a gifted servant of God. We have seen the most growth in Luis in the area of his preaching skills.

Daudi is from Mbezi Chapel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Daudi had the most to overcome as he came here needing to learn Portuguese. He has done so well! He is a gifted drummer and has a very natural way of connecting with children. Pray for Daudi as he leaves us to return to Tanzania for a time. Pray for a godly wife for Daudi. Pray that we will be able to help Daudi resolve his citizenship issues. Right now, he is a "man without a country."

Jose Macuacua is from a small village outside of Maputo. His father is the leader of the baptist church there. Macuacua came to Maputo to live with family members and go to high school as his village has nothing beyond elementary school. Macuacua was painfully shy and stuttered severely when he came here. He has blossomed into a confident student and preacher of God's word. Pray for Macuacua as he returns to his village in December. He's looking forward to speaking at his home church.

Aderito came to us under the recommendation of his church Evangelical Church of the Grace of God. Aderito most definitely has the gift of evangelism. He passionately shares Christ with others and is a gifted preacher. Please pray for Aderito as he finishes up his school year and studies hard for his exams.

Artur was recommended by his pastor at the Baptist Church of Bagamoyo. He has served faithfully as a leader of one of this churches mission works. Artur is a natural born leader. He is also very insightful and we seek him out for advice all the time. He is passionate about God's word and is an extremely gifted speaker as well.

Many Reasons to Celebrate!

2008-11-02T20:31:00.011+02:00

The problem with "blogging" is that some of us just aren't very good at it! :) We are now more than a month since our last blog and many, many things have happened. Good things and bad things. Today, we will choose to celebrate and praise the Lord for the good things. We'll give you "snippets" of our life this past 5 weeks.

Andrew-we were able to spend a week with Andrew in Kenya. He's doing very well in all areas of school life.

Stephen-Makes us laugh, has lots of friends who are here to play every day, is now the proud owner of 2 chameleons and 2 other lizards that look like miniature dinosaurs.

MozOvos-the egg business is doing well. Our "ladies"(what we call the hens) are producing over 60 dozen eggs a day. We are all working hard to sell them, get contracts with restaurants and stores, etc. We are still waiting on many more hens to arrive.

Ministry-always exciting! Yesterday, we had a unified service for the 2 congregations; the one that meets at our house and the one that meets at MozOvos. 71 were in attendance and it was a great celebration time! People came that we have been in relationship with for the many months we have lived at this location and it was their first time to come. Rui-the representative for our landlord, who comes to collect our rent each month. The auto parts shop owner from next door. Eugenia, the lady Lynne has made friends with, who works in a shop nearby. Many people who participate in soccer each week came as well. Our dear friends, Charlie and Angie(IMB missionaries), came and their presence was a huge encouragement to us.(They are the other white faces in the group photo!)

We'll try to write again this week and share some prayer needs!

In the meantime, enjoy the photos and short video of our celebration service! Both are poor quality due to the fact that our good camera has been stolen.

Pay close attention to the little guy in the red shirt! The people are singing "Our Jesus is Good."

A Life Story, from Lynne

2008-09-25T05:58:00.006+02:00

Felismina, the girl in my story, is the bigger girl with the big, beautiful smile. This was us doing the "Roo-chi-cha chant" at our vacation bible school. Double click for a bigger picture.

I love Mozambique. I love the people. I love walking through the markets and talking to people. I love that we have neighbor children playing in our yard on the weekends. I love the noise of our interns practicing music for Sunday. I love the laughter of lots of teenaged girls when the Youth For Christ kids come over to meet on Wednesdays.

I love our life and ministry here...most of the time.

There are those days, however, when the strain of life here brings out the worst in me. Usually, it's after a series of events where I feel powerless to do anything or know that whatever small thing I do is just a temporary "fix".

Here's my story for this week:

Sunday a.m. as we prepared to greet people for church at our house, we discovered a woman lying face down in the sand outside of our gate. We weren't sure if she was alive or dead, drunk or sleeping. We decided to leave her be until after the service, thinking maybe, if she was drunk, she'd sleep it off and be on her way. I had trouble sitting through the service and, actually, didn't make it to the end before I went back to check on her. She was on all fours, trying to get up. I called Rodger and he came out. She was very old, very toothless, very spunky and didn't speak a lick of Portuguese but had alot to say nonetheless! :) I ran to get her some water which she refused as she continued to talk non-stop. Rodger went back to the service and I called a young man who was walking by to come over and translate for us. She said she wasn't thirsty, she was hungry and weak. I ran in the house, got some fruit and a piece of leftover chicken and knelt beside her in the sand. I told the young man to tell her that we were not rich people but that we wanted to give this to her to bless her in the name of Jesus. Well, I know enough changana(her language) to know that he left out the "in the name of Jesus" part, so I asked him to say it again! :) She accepted and smiled a toothless smile. My heart felt light at being able to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Fast forward to Monday, our day off. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I was gathering up my bible study materials, water bottle, and chair to sit in the sun and enjoy my time alone with God. About the time I was ready to sit down, my 13 year old neighbor girl came in. A young lady who has been part of our neighborhood bible clubs. Right away, I was feeling frustrated at the interruption. She came to tell me that she was hungry and they had no food at their house. I told her to wait and came in the house to talk to Rodger.

The conversation was one we've probably had a thousand times before and went a little something like this:

Me: "Well, once again, I can't even sit in my own yard on my day off without being interrupted. (Heavy sigh). Felismina is here. They have no food at their house. What do we do?"

Rodger: "Honey, if we start this, it will become a pattern that we can't stop. Then where do they get food for tomorrow and then the next day?"

Me: "I know, but I can't let that little girl go to school hungry."

Rodger: (Heavy sigh). "give her something and tell her that you need to speak with her mother or father. There are 11 people living at that house. We can't afford to feed them all."

I put together some bread and butter and gave her some eggs. I told her I needed to speak to her mother and sent her on her way. My heart felt heavy, discouraged, annoyed...most of all, I felt tremendous guilt. Guilt that my first response was about the fact that I was being inconvenienced. Guilt that, just yesterday, I was thrilled to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but today, on my day off, I didn't want to be. Guilt that I was about to eat leftover pasta and vegetables. Frustration that we're perceived as "rich" Americans. Frustration that there are SO MANY all around us just like Filismina and we could have a line at our gate all day every day of people needing assistance.

At this point, there was absolutely no way I could concentrate on my bible study. I told Rodger I had to get away and went over to the Flurry's house, knowing that they were not home and I could have some time to think. I sat on their front porch and cried out to God about the condition of my heart. I asked Him to remove my "heart of stone" and give me His heart. I asked for wisdom and I asked for it IMMEDIATELY, before I had to talk to this child's mother.

He was faithful again and gave me an answer. " Help this mother start something."

So, 1 hour later, with a heart that felt "right" again, I sat face to face with this woman. I asked her questions and let her talk about why they have no food. She said that she and her husband both need jobs. I explained to her that we aren't yet at a place in the egg business to offer employment to others outside of our interns but that, as a family, we wanted to offer a gift to help. We bought 15 dozen eggs for her as "start-up". I explained that she can sell them for a small profit, keep the profit, reinvest to buy more eggs to sell. She was pleased and is giving it a try. Please pray for her!

Please pray for us in these situations we face each day. They absolutely wear us down when we try to handle them in our strength and that was where I was on Monday.

The truth is, we ARE powerless.

Please pray that we will CONSISTENTLY learn to handle these situation with the grace and wisdom that comes from God alone. I am so glad His ways are perfect, trustworthy and true.

"WHAT?"

2008-09-20T17:08:00.007+02:00

One of our son Stephen's favorite words is "What?" Not a calm, cool response to his mother's call, but a screeching, face contorted "WHAT?". Like what you would say if the Internal Revenue Service announced there would be no tax refunds of any kind this year for any American.

Well, it's what we heard from Stephen's mouth when he discovered that his father and the Flurry's were going to Mozambique Island for 3 days and we were staying home to have school. Inside, I, too, was screaming, "WHAT?"

Here is a pictorial review of why this news evoked such a strong response from those of us who were being "left" behind:

The first few pictures of what we see and do every day in Maputo.

Now the "fun" starts! Ken, Arlene and Rodger went on a vision trip to the island and to continue talking to the local leadership about opportunities for us there.
BEAUTIFUL VIEWS!
And AMAZING seafood! The big, blue fish is "papagaio" or "parrotfish".

Sacrifice

2008-09-04T09:47:00.012+02:00

After we said our good-by's we cried a river all the way down the mountain. For the first time in over five years I feel like being a missionary comes with great sacrifice. This has been the hardest thing we have ever been asked to do.

With that said. We still beleive it is right and good. God surprised us with Andrews good friend from Mozambique that moved away three years ago is literally living across the hall from him. They are hanging out together and both are already making friends, playing basketball, and doing ok.

Andrew said his room mate (10th grader) plays guitar so hopefully they can find some common ground. Always growing and being stretched. We are anxious to meet him and others. We will be back in Kenya in October for mission meetings. Afterwards, we are planning to spend a few days with Andrew during his mid-term break.

Andrew is living in room 6 of the Westervelt dorm. We really like his dorm parents (former military). They have two little girls and seem to really have a heart to minister to the guys. They spent quite a bit of time talking to us and letting us ask questions. We feel real supported and invited to participate as well.

We spent 1.5 days in orientation. It was so good and we left reaffirmed that RVA is one of the most special places on earth. We are so impressed with the wisdom, care and commitment to provide a positive, healthy and spiritual environment for Andrew.
I don't know that we have ever experienced such physical pain as we realize the hole Andrew leaves in our day to day lives. However, We believe in him and what God's plan is for him over these next years. Our influence is not lost. We have a pretty cool opportunity to begin to think differently about parenting and as to how we influence him. Actually, it kind of cool to be afforded the opportunity to look at parenting and influencing from a fresh and different point of view.We love you guys and thanks for praying for us. Andrew is in good hands. Stephen is really missing is brother. He had such a good time himself while at RVA. He said, "You can leave me too if you want". I know what you are thinking....All in good time. We still have two years before Stephen is slated to go.

Andrew would love to hear form you. His e-mail address is: aschmidt12@kijabe.net

Thanks for praying for us during this transition.

Love you all,
Rodger, Lynne and Stephen

New Video Link

2008-08-26T07:18:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone!

Check out our new VIDEOS! link to the left of the Blog page.

In the next few weeks we will have some new exciting videos for you to view and share. Now that we are slowly catching up with technology (so we think), we will be able to provide videos to communicate better the vision and that reality of our life and work here in Mozambique.

You can even down load them to your personal computer and share with friends, church family, and others who might me interested.

Thanks for praying,

The Schmidts

Leap of Faith

2008-08-17T13:27:00.008+02:00

Today, we realized just how much of a family we, with our group of interns, have become.

Today, our church service was divided for the first time. Ken and Arlene Flurry and 4 of our interns held a service at MozOvos(the egg business) in the community of Agostinho Neto. Our family stayed behind with the other 4 interns to have our regular service at our house in 25 de Junho.

Either the gray and dreary weather or the being separated into two groups dampened everyone's spirits today. The mood was a bit somber.

For our interns, it's comparable to the leap we made as we moved to Mozambique from the United States.

Yet, we know it's part of the life of a missionary, and even the life of a believer, to be able to step out of our comfort zones to take the message of Jesus to those who haven't heard.

What "leap" are you looking at in your life to be able to share Jesus with someone? Scary, huh?
We would love to hear about it and pray with you, so leave a comment or send us an e-mail!

A few prayer requests:

Please pray for Ken and Arlene Flurry, our colleagues. They have now been robbed a total of 3 times in the month they have been here.

Please continue to pray for our financial needs. God is faithful and we know He already knows the outcome.

Team

2008-08-13T05:18:00.004+02:00

Today, our Mozambique Worldventure team heads off to South Africa for a few days together. It will be the last time our team is together like this before Jim and Corinne leave Mozambique. Our mid term workers, Ken and Arlene will be with us until October and then will be leaving as well. Then it will be"just the Schmidt's" in Mozambique, the same way we started the journey more than five years ago.

This is a group who really enjoys being together, so it's a sure thing we will laugh alot and probably cry too. We'll eat good food and drink coffee and worship together and play games and take walks. Being part of a team has been a wonderful experience for us!

Because I'm feeling sadness today, I'm choosing to look to the future and save the other part for another day!

The fresh, young smiling faces below are our newest team members(minus one family I couldn't get the photo to upload, Brian, can you send another :)). They will be joining us in Mozambique as soon as their needed support is raised.

Brian and Megan Meyers and their three young daughters(no photo yet) will be joining us as mid-term workers. Brian is a medical doctor and will be teaching at the medical school/hospital in Beira with a view toward long term work in medical missions in Mozambique. Brian and Megan are currently living in Detroit, Michigan.

Rob and Heather Blanks and their children (first photo) are interested in theological education and leadership training. Just as we do, they have a heart for the people of northern Mozambique. Rob and Heather are currently living in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Dave and Amy Terpstra and their children(second photo) are interested in working in leadership/business development and with child advocacy and teaching/reaching families . Dave and Amy are currently living in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Will you please join with us to pray for these families? Pray that God will raise up the support needed for them to come be part of the team in Mozambique! We eagerly await their arrivals!

We Have Chickens!

2008-08-11T14:16:00.006+02:00

A Great Day at MozOvos! We now have 400 hens!

3,600 more to arrive by the end of October!

A great day for Stephen, he has a new pet chameleon. He found him and named him "Americinho"(little Americo) after one of our interns!

Additions to the Family!

2008-08-03T15:38:00.002+02:00

For the last 2 years, we've been blessed to host groups of young people in a program Worldventure calls "Missionventures". These guys come from all over the U.S. and join us for ten days to experience life with us. They are SO GREAT and we have grown to love each of them! By the time they leave us, we feel we have added to our family.

This year's group had some real challenges to overcome in learning about life in Mozambique. On their first day with us, they did a city-wide scavenger hunt with Mozambican guides who spoke limited english. They were required to do things like: go to a local market and buy chickens, kill chickens, have their pictures taken at certain landmarks, buy and eat Mozambican food, and take local transportation. They came through with flying colors!

They worked with us in the orphanage and hosted 3 vacation bible schools in the 2 neighborhoods where we work. The last VBS day, we had 300 children attend! Does that thought make you tired and maybe frightened?

Well, they also spent 24 hours in a community called Manhica, 1 hour from Maputo, living in the homes of Mozambican families, experiencing the wonderful hospitality of our Mozambican friends.. Learning from them what it means to be Mozambican. This was a very meaningful experience for them and for their Mozambican hosts, who were happy to share what little they have with their new American friends.

We learned from them how awesome "20 something's" with hearts for God can be! We hope they loved our time together as much as we did!

The Unquestionable Grace of God

2008-07-24T19:20:00.004+02:00

So I must confess that sometime I am a sorry example of "calm under pressure". Today I was in a huge hurry and running around the city trying to get things done so I could get home and help as we have a short term team from the United States. As I left the store I loaded the car and headed to the other side of town to buy some charcoal for our BBQ.

When I arrived on the other side of town I realized that my wallet was missing. I immediately realized that I had left it in the shopping cart. As you can imagine my heart sank. Here in Mozambique if you do such a stupid thing, you can know for sure 100% of the time that you will never see it again. To make matters worse my wallet was full of cash for the team, drivers license and credit cards etc... I was sick to my stomach and horribly distraught as I called Lynne. I told her what happened and asked her to pray as I was headed back toward the store about 20 minutes away. She and Andrew began to pray and ask God for a miracle in light of the realities of where we live.

I no sooner hung up with her and my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway. A voice on the other end said in English, "Are you Rodger Schmidt?' Yes, "I said" with a bit of hesitation. He went on to tell me that he had found my wallet in the parking lot and would wait until I got there to return it to me.

I hung up the phone, my heart still pounding, stomach churning and I am oh so amazed at our Gods amazing, unquestionable grace. In my rushing, stupidity and forgetfulness, God saw fit to demonstrate his goodness and power in the midst of certain loss. I have been praying ever since that God would use this experience in my life to make me a better version of myself and out of his clear provision and goodness long to follow him closer, trust him more faithfully and seek to demonstrate that kind of Grace to the people I come in contact to every day. I'm still shaking in my boots and a bit queasy but oh so amazed at a God who loves me enough to show me the best and worst of what this world has to offer.

To the German born tourist I will never be able to pronounce your name and most likely will never see you again, God bless you and I hope you enjoyed your special dinner out with your children on us. My prayer for you this day that you too will see God's amazing and unquestionable grace in your life.

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL NEED!

2008-07-14T20:59:00.003+02:00

We’re guessing there’s not a missionary in the world that isn’t facing a financial crunch in this current economy. We are feeling the crunch of inflation on almost every level. We’ve not needed to ask for a “raise” in our support package for some time, but find it necessary to do so this year. Here are our current needs/challenges:

Our boy’s education: A child in high school and even our home school materials have increased our need. We need to raise an additional $300 a month for this area.

Housing: the cost of renting and maintaining a house here is growing at a very inflated rate. Last year, we moved out of our house in Maputo because the landlord chose to double our rent. Still, we need to raise additional funds in the amount of $300 per month.

Work Funds: Due the drop in the value of the dollar and SA Rand, political influences in South Africa and Zimbabwe, we are experiencing inflated prices in Fuel (over 6.00 a gallon) and in many areas of cost of living we are experiencing up to an 85% increase. Do to these reasons, we are in need of raising an additional 300.00 a month in our work funds. These funds keep us on the road, enable us to be good stewards of mission property, and do the business that keeps us legal and free to do the work we came to do.

Total monthly need: 900.00 a month!

In all these things, we want to express our thanks to each of you for your continued support these past 5 years. If you are unable to raise your support for us, we still thank you with overflowing hearts for your current prayer and financial support. Please continue to partner with us in the great work God is doing in Mozambique.

Blessings,
Rodger, Lynne, Andrew and Stephen Schmidt
WorldVenture, Mozambique

WOW!!!

2008-07-13T06:44:00.003+02:00

Sometimes we can only say "WOW!!!!", followed by "Thank you, God. You are so amazing!!!!

The events of the last 24 hours have us astounded. Where do we begin? HMMM!!

Well, let's begin by saying that we are trying to learn and trying to teach our interns to look for what God is already doing around you and join Him in that work. We are trying to learn and trying to teach our interns to live like Jesus did. He joined the world and met people right where they were.

Saturday was about the 5th week for our guys to play soccer in the village where MozOvos is located. Each week after the game, one of our interns has given a testimony of how they came to faith. This week, one of the young men said during this testimony time, "I have a question. I want to know how do you know God exists and if he does, what does he want from me?" Stunned silence at first, but then a great discussion ensued and then an offer for him to ask more questions, come to church to learn more, and begin the journey. Today, six guys from this village came to the church service at our house! Our interns are starting to see the fruit of their labors to build relationship and, through their lives, draw people to Christ. There is a huge need in this village. Our team of 12(soon to be 14 with the arrival of Ken and Arlene Flurry) will start to divide each week. Half of us to have church here in our neighborhood and half to this village, 18 kilmeters away to begin a work there. Amazed yet? There's more!

I'll start by saying, it's been a man's world at my house for these past few months. I am the only female living here and when the interns bring their friends to our house for basketball, they are all guys too! I've been praying for girls to start attending English class and church. I've been thinking about ways to draw girls and women: cooking classes, sewing, arts and crafts?

In the last few weeks, the staff of YFC have been hosting dance classes for youth from the local high school in the covered area in our yard. These are kids they are developing relationships with, the purpose being to reach them for Christ. About 30 teenagers, mostly girls! Rodger began talking to their leader about the importance of connecting these kids to a church in the community. A place where people can love them and continue to hold Jesus out to them. Today, 5 of them came to church!

We can't tell you how excited we all are! God is doing more than we ever dreamed possible!

Please continue your prayers for us, the Schmidt's. Also for Aderito, Americo, Artur,Daudi, Luis, Macuacua, Rafael, and Reginaldo. Also for Ken and Arlene Flurry as they arrive this week to help us. For the people of 25 de Junho and Agostinho Neto.

WHO IS MR. BULE?

2008-07-11T18:28:00.003+02:00

Mr. BULE

We have known Sr. Bule for almost five years. Over the years he has proven to be a mature believer, leader in his church and Godly husband and father. He is now the administrator of our business MozOvos. He has been a huge encouragement and a joy to work with. Earlier today we had a break for all the work that we have been doing getting MozOvos up and running. I simply asked him what has he learned over the past few months being the project manager and overseeing the work.

He went on to remind me of what his life was like just a year ago. He reminded me that he was within days of leaving his family to try and find work in South Africa. This is a common practice for Mozambican men as Mozambique has a 98% unemployment rate. He is a carpenter by trade but only worked when some foreigner needed something built or repaired. This type of work does not provide for a family of seven.

When we began working with Sr. Bule, we hired him as an administrative assistant to help with the administration tasks of our mission. I remember telling him that it would only be a few hours a week and a minimal salary. This was enough to keep him in Mozambique and present to lead his family.

Well, since that first day his responsibilities have grown to overseeing and leading the whole construction project of MozOvos. He is also responsible for the leadership of 12 employees and to build relationships with the community leaders of the village of Agostinho Neto.

He confessed today that a year ago he would have never believed that he could do such a thing and actually be successful. He is absolutely blown away by the fact that MozOvos has actually become a reality and his life and family has been completely transformed. He is hopeful for the future and has begun to dream about the future for the first time in his life. He has caught the vision of the Internship model of ministry, continues to blow me away with his joy and commitment to learn, grow and to be being stretched in his leadership abilities and his faith.

Sr. Bule is an amazing man and offers a glimpse of the kind of person the International Internship in Mission hopes to produce. If more leaders like Sr. Bule were leading the church of Mozambique, no telling what God could do. Honestly, I believe Mozambique will have many more leaders like Sr. Bule and I can’t wait to see what God IS going to do. It has already begun!

Pray for Bule, our 8 Interns, the Schmidt’s and the next generation of missional leaders in Africa, Mozambique, the United States and the World.

If you’re an American 20 something male

and want a chance of a lifetime, contact WorldVenture about a

one-year internship in mission in Mozambique.

A Precious Boy

2008-07-03T19:49:00.004+02:00

One of our precious ones went to be with Jesus. Some of you who have visited us here in Mozambique will remember him. He's one of the kids I could have taken home from the orphanage in a heartbeat. Pretty much everyone who met him felt that way about him. Sweet and snuggly Carlos.

Carlos was probably 3 or 4 years old but couldn't walk yet. He wasn't toilet trained and couldn't feed himself. I'm not sure of the physical problems. Possibly cerebral palsy.

Carlos liked it when I counted his toes. He liked when someone sang to him. He liked to rest his head on someone's chest and be close(here he is with our colleague, Jim). He didn't like to eat and insisted on choosing the person who would feed him. If you weren't "the chosen one", he would shake his head "no" every time you tried to put the spoon in his mouth. :)

I'm thanking God he's with Jesus but really sad that he won't be there for me to hold anymore.

What Does Water have to Do with Leadership

2008-07-02T07:28:00.005+02:00

Our interns at MozOvos in their Uniforms

What Does Water have to do with LEADERSHIP?

One of the ongoing challenges of living in Africa is the sometimes lack of water. At our house we have three huge reserve tanks to ensure that we always have the water we need. However, recently there hasn't been enough water coming into the property to fill the tanks. This has resulted in a massive water shortage. As you can imagine, with the 4 Schmidts and 8 interns, the need for water can become desperate. This last Sunday, we had so little water, I was not able to shower and couldn't shower all day. I'm sure I offended many during the day with my lack of cleanliness.

Earlier that day, I reminded our interns to conserve water and proceeded to question them as to their current water conservation practices. After a brief conversation, I came to learn that not only were they not keeping to our five minute shower rule, but they were taking two to three showers a day. One intern even confessed that normally this would not be the case. But since we have HOT water, they have been enjoying and lavishing themselves with the pleasures of all the water available, depriving the Schmidts of precious water to bathe even once a day, flush toilets, do dishes, wash clothes, as our part of the house had become completely void of even one single drop.

As you can imagine my initial response was to scold, discipline, and rip out the hot water tanks. however, and thankfully, the Lord gave me a different idea.

I sat down with all the guys and began questioning them about the leadership and relationship norms here in Mozambique. They clearly and honestly stated that their African leaders are typically autocratic, somewhat dictatorial and someone to be feared. Typically people follow out of fear. If not obeyed an individual could lose their job, relationship, place to live, other resources, reputation or worse. Honestly, followers obey because they don't have a choice, not because they desire to do so.

The type of leadership we have tried to model with our interns is that of "coming along side", not to force people to follow, but to model, influence, mentor and lead through relationship. As we were talking about this, I began to share with the guys the dangers of leading this way. The biggest danger is that the "followers" are not obligated to follow, listen or offer respect. They are FREE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE LEADER. This is a huge risk. The upside to this type of leadership style is that it liberates the followers to choose. They can freely choose to not take advantage, but to offer sincere respect, deepen the relationship and respond not out of obligation or fear but out of a genuine will to do so.

I made the connection with the interns by using our current water shortage situation. I confessed to them that I had felt taken advantage of and used. I also shared with them that It would be very easy for me to write a huge list of rules, post them on the wall and stand at the bathroom door dragging guys kicking and screaming out of the shower if they exceeded their time limit and/or took more than one shower a day. I could even rip out the hot water tank to insure that no one had hot water and my leadership would be followed to the letter of the law. I am more than capable of doing this. I am a big guy! They guys lovingly call me Gorilla man.

However, I told them that I wouldn't do that. I wanted them to be free to choose what kind of FOLLOWER they would be. I wanted them to see that they did not need to respond out of fear of punishment or loss of relationship. They needed to know that it was possible to respond out of a sincere desire to show respect and love, not only toward me as a leader and my family, but for our life together in community.

I also challenged them to choose what kind of LEADER they wanted to be. The decisions they make today regarding their water usage, will demonstrate what they believe about leadership and relationship. It will also determine what kind of leader they will be today and in the future.

This was an amazing experience. I am so thankful for the opportunity to live with these guys. They have been an invaluable addition to our family, life and ministry. I must confess, I came Africa five years ago with the intention of having lasting impact and influence on the people of Mozambique. I am increasingly being convinced that God sent me to Mozambique so the African people could teach and influence me.

Grace

2008-06-30T05:13:00.007+02:00

Grace. God's grace. "Amazing", "Marvelous", "Unmerited favor", -we use many words to describe and define grace. One of Webster's many definitions of grace is "divine love and protection bestowed freely on people; the state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God; an excellence or power granted by God." Protected, sanctified, loved, favored. Those words bring to the surface deep emotion. Especially when we look at the "material" He is bestowing His protection, love, favor, excellence and power on: broken , bruised, undeserving human beings.

If you've ever felt "disgraced" by anyone or anything, it conjures up all too many horrible feelings in contrast.

After listening to our friend Brad's online sermon, these words have been etched in my mind all
all week, "Justice is God's perogative, grace is our privilege." It's the privilege and mandate that Jesus gave us throughout Matthew chapter 5, but especially verses 28 and following. I love the way The Message version says it:

"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat. Live generously."

I live with a very gracious man and he demonstrates grace to me so often, waking me out of the stupor of just getting through another day to the beauty of intentional grace giving. He's had his experiences of being maligned and practicing the principles of Matthew 5, but I'm talking about something different. I'm talking about how he "bestows" love and favor on people in his daily life. He has lived grace before me in many ways this last few weeks. Here are some examples:

Papa Joao, one of the workers at the egg project,recently lost his 14 year old daughter to malaria. I am usually at a loss at a time like that, especially in this culture where death is so commonplace and people so stoic about it. My husband wrapped Papa Joao up in a warm and gracious embrace.

A young guy rear-ended our Mozovos vehicle one day. He was at fault. A little boy of about 5 in the other vehicle was afraid and crying. Instead of just dealing with the business at hand, Rodger picked the little boy up to comfort and reassure him.

A drunk was interfering with our weekly soccer game, going out on the field, being a loud mouth. He continued with this behavior after the game when one of our guys was giving his testimony to the young men from the community. Rodger sat with his arm around this foul-smelling drunk guy. The guy calmed right down and even rested his head on Rodger's shoulder.

What do you think all these people in our community will be doing from now on? They will be doing what I do; watching to see if this guy is for real and what makes him so different.

Hopefully, they will learn what God is like from him before we even open the Bible to share the gospel.

Hopefully, I will learn to "follow his example, as he follows the example of Christ." I Corinthians 11:1.

Just thanking God today for someone who is really important to me.
Thanks for reading.

Lynne

June 22: A Special Day!

2008-06-22T13:42:00.004+02:00

ONE GREAT KID TURNED 12 TODAY!!!!!
He played guitar in church for the first time!
Enjoyed sunday lunch with our interns and our colleague Jim.
Ate his pineapple birthday cake!

Dreams are coming true!

2008-06-16T10:32:00.004+02:00

Community soccer, Agostinho Neto
The chicken cages are being installed this week!

Daudi and Americo with "Papa Joao".

The work continues in 25 de Junho and we are seeing dreams become realities!

We are becoming more and more a family with our interns.

We are growing along with them in our understanding of how Jesus lived.

We are seeing the interns grow in their understanding and ability to teach God's word.

We are reaching out into the community and seeing relationships grow through our weekly English homework helps, community basketball and soccer.

We are within weeks of the grand opening of MozOvos.

Our church services on Sunday have grown from 12(our family and our interns) to an average of 24. All are from involvement in the community of 25 de Junho.

These are the things we dreamed and prayed for. But God ALWAYS gives more than we ever dreamed could be possible!

We searched for months for property for the business in the community of 25 de Junho. It just wasn't to be found at an affordable price. That brought questions and discouragement. Instead, by faith, be purchased property 17 kilometers away in an area called "Agostinho Neto".

The community outreach has spread to that area as well. On Saturdays, about 40 people are showing up for community soccer and to find out what all these people with the bright hello MozOvos t-shirts are about! We are anxious to see what God has planned in this area as well!

Prayer Need for this week: "Papa Joao" the man with the ball cap in the last picture, is a day worker hired from the community of Agostinho Neto to work at MozOvos. His 14 year old daughter died of malaria this last week. She was receiving treatment and they thought she was better. She took a turn for the worse and died very suddenly. Please pray for this grieving family and for all of us as believers as we minister to them.

The most peaceful place on earth!

2008-06-16T09:42:00.003+02:00

Do we look like an ad that has a caption "We're going to Disneyland" underneath it?So not true! The caption should say, "Just came back from the most peaceful place on earth!"

Maybe the pictures will capture some of it. Think: sitting on a deck, reading in the sun or watching whales and dolphins, walking on a completely deserted beach, the sound of ocean waves crashing to lull you to sleep at night, s'mores EVERY NIGHT! We are so thankful for our friends, the Van Vuren's, at Nascer do Sol(birth of the sun) in Chizavane, Mozambique who have made this quiet, restful place available to us each year for the past 5 years.

Sounds of our life

2008-06-01T20:58:00.003+02:00

Laughter and singing at 5:00 a.m. as the interns prepare to go to work at MozOvos... basketballs bouncing.., Mozambican radio...This is our favorite, though. Guitar and singing. Our friend Valerie summed it up for us when she was visiting. She said, "I have a beautiful view from my house to see every morning but I could sure get used to listening to hearing these guys every morning." We get to!! God is SO good!

The week in Photos: Saturday

2008-05-26T13:56:00.002+02:00

Rodger and the interns in small small group time.
Lynne teaching community English homework helps

Artur
Daudi

The week in photos: Sunday

2008-05-26T13:40:00.001+02:00

Community Soccer Game

Community Basketball
Just making friends!

Monday to Friday: It's not ALL about work!

2008-05-26T13:27:00.005+02:00

Stephen is REALLY enjoying Speed Stacks! Thanks, Hansons, for the gift!
The boys with their friends, Nando and Rafael
Lynne and her friend Alice, enjoying coffee and conversation.

Photos: Monday to Friday Work

2008-05-26T13:04:00.003+02:00

The chicken house at MozOvos, where are interns are hard at work.
Checking the water levels!
Documents and more documents!
Andrew and his friend, Mauricio, in guitar class at school.

A week of Photos: Saturday

2008-05-26T12:48:00.005+02:00

Rodger's hobby is photography. He sold some of his photos at the American school Mayfair as a benefit for the schools on Mozambique Island.
Every year, the boy's school has an end of year picnic. This year's picnic was especially fun!
stephen really like the egg toss game until....
...he took an egg to the face!

MozOvos

2008-05-14T05:52:00.007+02:00

Hansons, Franklins, Schmidts and interns, in front of our sign!

Scott and Brad, helping out!

Just thought we would pass along a few pictures of what is going on this week with the start up of MozOvos, our internship egg project.

We have actually been surprised that clearing of land and construction has gone so quickly! The manager, Senhor Bule, is getting multiple calls every day, wanting to know when we will have eggs!

Our friends from Lakeside Church, Pastor Brad and Donna Franklin and Scott and Valerie Hanson, just left today after a week with us. They have been helping us think through many things in regard to the internship program and the business. They have been a huge encouragement to our interns as they shared from God's word and principles they have learned from years of business expertise.

We are grateful to have wise partners in this project!

"Big B"

2008-05-03T09:44:00.006+02:00

So many of you have asked if we were able to find a teacher for Stephen for next year. So, the short answer to the question is a delighted "YES!!" The longer version is that God answered our prayers in keeping with His character, loving us and amazing us yet again with "doing immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine".

Beverly Estes(affectionately dubbed "Big B" by Rodger) is from Scandia, Kansas. She has been teaching at the Christian Academy in Mozambique for the last 3 years. We did not approach Beverly about teaching Stephen nor even talk to her about the need. She is on our e-mail list, though, and one day she read our blog about the need for a teacher. She then told us the story of when she visited our house for the first time. She came with a friend to bring a meal on one of our "move in" days last March. She said that as she stood in our living room, she felt God telling her that she would somehow be involved in what was about to go on here. When she read our blog, she sought direction from the Lord and responded in obedience.

You would have to know Beverly to know the gift that this is to our family! She is an artist and has already encouraged and nurtured Stephen in his abilities. You can just see his confidence level growing!

When we first met Beverly and heard her talk about what the Lord has "told" her, at first we looked at her skeptically. The more time we have spent with her, observing her life and the impact she has on her students, the more we see that Beverly is "real" in every way. She listens to His voice and walks by faith and not by sight. I(Lynne) can't tell you how, just in the last 2 weeks, she has hit the "hit the nail on the head" in things she has said to me, without my even opening my mouth to tell her circumstances going on in my life!

So, we've found a teacher for Stephen...or should I say she will be "teaching" the whole Schmidt family. She already has!

Rodger's surgery update

2008-04-28T11:51:00.003+02:00

Thanks, everyone, for all your prayers, e-mails, phone calls and sms's on the day of Rodger's surgery and following.

The surgery, to repair the badly broken bridge of his nose and deviated septum(recent basketball injuries) was on Friday in South Africa. Though the doctor said it took longer than he had expected because of the extent of the injury, the surgery was a success.

Rodger had not been under anesthetic(that we can remember) since the age of 5, so we were both a little bit curious and nervous to see what his extremely colorful personality would produce when coming out from under the effects of anesthetic! :)

Most colorful! He spoke nothing but Portuguese to all the nurses and doctors and to me, though we were speaking English to him! He was joking with the nurses and doctor almost immediately but he only said one embarrassing thing! He doesn't remember any of it.

Please continue to pray for him. He is having alot of pain still and is really, really swollen.

Unexpected blessings!

2008-04-23T15:23:00.002+02:00

This little lady is the "grandmother" that lives next to the property we are preparing to start our business on. This is her house, a little reed hut that is so old, it's leaning to one side. She doesn't speak a word of Portuguese, but the secretary of the neighborhood told us that she had been abandoned by her only adult child and was homeless. He gave her a tiny piece of property and had the house built for her. Well, when the surveyor came for our land, the place where we need to make an entrance into our property is very near her house, though on our land. As an act of good faith, we agreed to build a cement block house with a tin roof for her(that's just the way it works here!) We are DELIGHTED, however, with the opportunity to minister to this sweet little lady in this way! One of the unexpected blessings of the job!

Job Hazards

2008-04-23T13:13:00.004+02:00

This is Daudi holding 2 of the beheaded snakes found at the job site yesterday. There have been 4 so far. One Mamba and these 2 that we think are puff adders. YIKES!! Please pray for the safety of our guys as they clear the land.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

2008-04-11T15:45:00.006+02:00

Okay, so that was just an "attention grabber" that was meant to make you think, "what are they talking about?" and keep you reading. Although, we may have answers to all your burning questions about chickens and eggs very soon! Why?

Because we are doing what no seminary class could have every prepared us for. Preparing to start an egg business. We now have the land and, with help from our interns, are clearing it. Soon, construction will begin on the hen houses. In 4 months, Mozovos(ovos means eggs) will be the proud owner of 5,000 hens, ready to lay eggs. The above photo is of Rodger and the interns at the new land. The tall, distinguished looking man in the back, second from the right, is Senhor Bule. He is the man God brought into our lives to manage the project.

The interns have already been hard at work. They have learned the egg business while interning at another business. They are ready to go!

The business is being created to help provide a sustainable future for these young men who have been sent by their church to participate with us and receive hands on training in ministry.

In addition, they are studying diligently the life of Christ and applying it to their lives and ministry. They are building redemptive relationships with people in the community through English language helps class with us and through inviting their friends to play basketball at our house.

Easter 2008

2008-04-02T10:17:00.003+02:00

The weather was cool and rainy on Easter in Mozambique, but the weather did not dampen our spirits as we worshipped together on our 7th week of services in 25 de Junho, our community!

Americo, one of our interns, spoke from the passage John 13 about the last supper. As he spoke, we demonstrated Jesus love and service by kneeling to wash the feet of the person next to us. We shared the Lord's supper together and talked about the death, burial and resurrection.

After church, we ate lunch together and afterwards, watched "The Passion of the Christ."

Oh, and you may notice that their are 9 young Mozambican men in the photo when we only have 8 interns. We also had our first visitor from the community that day. He came back the following week!

These guys are amazing and are working so very hard! Please pray for them.

17 Years!

2008-04-02T09:52:00.009+02:00

17 years ago...2 crazy kids were married! Didn't we look like babies?

Beauty

2008-03-10T10:05:00.007+02:00

Yesterday, Andrew was at a youth meeting and Stephen and I just had some time to "hang out". We took a nap and talked and then, in an effort to escape the heat, I suggested we take a drive a along the "marginal". This the area that overlooks Maputo Bay. I was really enjoying it. The tide was in and the water was choppy and sometimes spraying up and hitting our car. The sun was shining on the water and making it look so beautiful.

I remarked to Stephen, "Son, someday you're going to be driving through Lubbock, Texas or Toledo, Ohio and you're going to remember this beautiful place where you once lived."(No offense to anyone from Lubbock or Toledo).

He looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind and said, "Mom, HOW can you think Maputo is beautiful? It's ugly and dirty and gross. South Africa is beautiful, not Maputo!

South Africa was very fresh in his mind. We had just spent a restful weekend there in lush, green, rolling hills with palm trees and hibiscus and bouganvillea all around."I guess 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder',", I told him.

In fact, we all choose to see beauty or ashes all the time in our lives.

We see pain as God is molding and shaping us and HE sees the beautiful end product He has had in mind since before the creation of the world.

We "get caught" in our sin and, while we are enduring the consequences, we forget to see that it was God's gracious and loving hand that stopped us from going any further.

We get hurt by the words or actions of another person and run away to "lick our wounds" or worse yet, retaliate, failing to recognize that this is our perfect opportunity to love as Jesus did; unconditionally, sacrificially, not returning evil for evil.

This week, I'm asking God to help me see the absolute beauty in living like Jesus did. Laying it all on the line. Loving without being afraid of losing. No self interest, no self protection, dying to self. Mirroring Him. Living the way we were created to live.

More ministry updates when I am able to get pictures on!

In Him,
Lynne

Lessons from an 11 year old.

2008-02-23T06:12:00.003+02:00

Hi Everyone,

This last 2 weeks have been weeks of distractions. All the little, "niggling" things that put together equal a good amount of frustration. Even all the really "urgent" things that take our thinking off of the "important" things.

Water, electricity and vehicles are the "buzz" words that get us screaming in frustration!

Water has been a big issue in a good part of the city, lots of people without water, but we have 12 people living with us and there hasn't been enough water coming in each day to sustain all of us. I've always said that I'd rather live without electricity than without water, 'cause you can always use a generator!

Guess what? We were without electricity most of this week too! Guess what else? When it came back on , in a massive surge, it blew lots of things in our house. Thankfully NOT the computer, but the microwave and the IPOD speakers and various other things. Okay, I can hear some of you now ALL THE WAY OVER HERE IN MOZAMBIQUE!!!! "They're MISSIONARIES and they have a MICROWAVE and IPOD SPEAKERS?" Yes, it's true. We DO have some pretty modern conveniences and we are grateful every day for them.

For me, the most difficult blow to take was the IPOD speakers. I can do anything, under any conditions, including bake snickerdoodles for my kids school program in 90 degree weather with 83 percent humidity and sweat POURING off of me, as long as I have music playing!!! Music ministers to my heart.

You would think a mission with 3 vehicles(our personal vehicle, the mission van and the Thorp's vehicle) would always at least have ONE working vehicle, right? That has not been the case for most of December, January and now February for us! This week, we were without all 3 vehicles. As of last night, we now have 2 back.

On top of all of that, there are the deep, heart hurts that all of us bear. Hurting friends and colleagues, personal daily failures in word and attitude, aging family members, deep longing to see friends and family.

Distractions!!!! Frustrations!!!! Things that steal your energy all day long and then leave you exhausted and defeated as you crawl into bed each night, wondering WHERE all the hours went.

It's at these times that we really have to "fine tune" all of our spiritual senses to see what God is doing. It's about not letting "whatever is is true,noble,right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy" go by unnoticed.

This week, I've held on to 3 specific things as gifts from God. One was the encouragement I received from a woman in a store where I often go to buy soap, etc. I didn't even know she was a Christian, but as we talked this week about our children and ministry, she told me that she felt God wanted me to know that He is all powerful and He has already won the battle.

The other gift I received this week was bits and pieces of time to start a book entitled "Finding Calm in Life's Chaos" by Becky Harling. I highly recommend it! So, J.J. Harling, you can tell your mom I "plugged" her book! Boy, would I LOVE to be able to sit and have a conversation with her!

The third and most powerful gift I received was from Stephen, my 11 year old. Those of you who know Stephen probably have guessed that he lives in the shadow of his older brother, is a boy of few words, and just generally doesn't do well with verbalizing deep emotion or feeling. He's SO MUCH like me! His deep emotion(good or bad) comes out as tears of frustration over his inability to adequately express what he is feeling. As he is trying to express in words his feelings, he is often "bull dozed" by his older brother's free flow of words until he just gives up.

So, on the way to school yesterday, Andrew was doing the typical "earphones in" teenage thing and Stephen said "Mom, yesterday we read a story about a lady who wrote hymns and I was wondering if you know who she is." Upon further discussion, I discovered it was Fanny Crosby, and I told him that she wrote my favorite hymn, "He Hideth My Soul." I sang it for him. I hadn't thought of that hymn in years!

Later, I realized that God had most likely prompted my very non-academic Stephen to remember and speak to me about that song. I sang that hymn all day. I used it in my personal worship time, hands uplifted, to thank God for all that HE is.

Later, I thanked Stephen for that gift of obeying God's voice and talking to me about that song. He said, "It's okay, Mama. ARe you having a hard week?" I told him, "Yes, I am, but God is SO GOOD!" He really is, isn't HE? MAY YOU KNOW THAT IN THE DEEPEST PART OF YOUR HEART THIS WEEK. HE IS GOOD!

Thought you might like a bigger picture

2008-02-11T18:37:00.001+02:00

We Have Interns !

2008-02-11T18:25:00.000+02:00

As of January 31st eight young men have joined our family. We spent four days in retreat learning how to be a team, what does it mean to minister together and to cast vision for this next year. It was was a huge blessing to see the work and prayer of the past two years manifest itself. Please pray for our small missional community as we now take the time to seek the Lord and carefully begin ministry together. Each intern is responsible for a considerable amount of reading, reflection and group discussion. They are also responsible to create and execute a relationally based ministry within the community. We are also searching the Gospel of Mark this year to study the Leadership style of Jesus. And on top of everything else, each intern will work 20 hours a week in our Egg Farm. They will be taught basic business skills and lean how to start and maintain business. The goal is that at the end of their internship they will not only have a new and developed passion for mission but also the CASH to start their own business enabling them to continue living missionally, taking the gospel to the unreached of Mozambique.

Rioting in Maputo

2008-02-06T20:46:00.000+02:00

Rioting in Maputo broke out over the rising cost of public transportation. Rodger was actually caught in the middle of it all and trapped for several hours trying to get home. He ended up being escorted by local police as they fired live ammunition into air and rioters were throwing rocks at the truck. The truck only suffered on big hit on the side door. He eventually had to abandon the car and walk all the way home. This shot was taken just outside our front gate and the street was on fire, people were beaten and everything was in total chaos. Praise the Lord for his protection and discernment in the midst of obvious danger.

Meet Daudi Likama!

2008-01-21T10:43:00.000+02:00

Meet our first international intern, Daudi Likama!

Daudi was born and raised in Tanzania and is a member of Mbezi Chapel in Dar es Salaam. He has been commissioned and sent by Mbezi Chapel to take part in our internship program.

We first heard of Daudi from David and Bonnie Jones(Bonnie is Rodger's sister), who started Mbezi Chapel. Daudi has been very involved in the church for some time now. Last year, Daudi saw the film, "The End of the Spear" translated into Swahili. He felt the Holy Spirit moving on his heart to be involved in missional work and has a passion to reach the people of Northern Mozambique.

Because of our "like passion" for the people of Northern Mozambique, we began talking with Bonnie and David about the possibility of Daudi coming to do an internship with us.

There were some bumps and glitches along the way. When Daudi began the process of applying for his Tanzanian passport, he discovered that, although his parents were born in Tanzania, he was born in Tanzania, he went to school in Tanzania and has even voted there, due to some loophole when the British pulled out of colonizing there, he is not a legal citizen. Therefore, he was "a man without a country."

The red tape and cost involved in getting Tanzanian citizenship was huge. So, in desperation, he went to the Mozambique consulate to see if they could help him. To his surprise, because his grandparents were both Mozambican, he can become a citizen of Mozambique! He now has all the necessary documents and has arrived safely in Mozambique!

Daudi will be a part of our internship program and, along with 8 other young Mozambican men, will receive mentoring in practical ministry with us in our town of 25 de Junho, study and learn with us in issues of soul care for Christian leaders, and be able to work in the egg project to support themselves as they minister and learn here. In addition, Daudi will be studying Portuguese.

Please pray for Daudi as he is away from everything and everyone he has ever known and is truly "Mbezi Chapel in Dar es Salaam's missionary to Mozambique!"

T.I.A.

2008-01-15T22:05:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

We've received quite a few requests from our blog readers to explain what "T.I.A." means. It was in one of our blogs not long ago. Well, if you've ever lived in Africa or even visited Africa, you probably know exactly what we mean!

T.I.A.-"This is Africa". We use the phrase quite often in our daily lives. Let us put it in context for you.

We were invited to a friend's church on Sunday to see a children's program. The church started at 8:00. At 10:20, the children's program had still not started and we had to leave because we had a prior commitment. The announcements lasted a good long time, each of the 6 people who had a birthday that week had to say something, the visitors received a long welcome, the new members received and eve longer welcome, the offering lasted for 30 minutes. T.I.A.

Later that day, Andrew and Stephen were due to fly home from a city in the north. They had gone up by car with Rodger and a couple of friends, but needed to be back to start school on Monday. When Rodger arrived at the airport to see them off, there was no one at the airline office. No employees to be found. He had to book them on a completely different airline and pay for new tickets.

When Megan and I arrived at the airport in maputo to pick them up, there was a notice in the window of the ticket counter. It stated that a large bird had flown into the engine of the plane, causing severe damage. All scheduled flights were canceled until mid-February. Apparently, that airline has only one plane in Mozambique! T.I.A.

A friend of mine is working on the final adoption papers for the child they adopted back in May. At one office, she was told by the woman employee to "come back" at such and such a time and "bring me lunch." A few days later, I was told by the lady we have lovingly dubbed, "the pineapple lady" (she sells pineapple), that Thursday is her birthday and "I want you to bring me a present." T.I.A.

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into our sometimes bizarre life here. Most of the time, we just laugh. Other times, we feel overwhelmed by how little sense it makes to us. It's difficult to know how to respond in a culturally appropriate way. It's difficult to not just be really angry about it sometimes. It feels so wrong to us as American's to have someone be that bold, or insensitive or that negligent in the area of customer service.

It's every single day we are here that we realize how much we need God's grace, compassion, love and guidance.

An update to all of our previous blogs

2007-12-28T20:40:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone,

Before moving on to all the "new happenings" some of you have told us that you would appreciate an update on the prayer requests from previous posts. Here we go:

The church in Nhagoya: 2 weeks ago, Rodger helped the young people of the church put up our large tent for use as a cover for the building that has a collapsed roof. They are enjoying meeting in a shady and dry spot now. Praise the Lord!

Our electric bill situation seems to be resolved! After 9 months, we finally received an actual bill and paid it!

Neighborhood Bible Club: Megan and I continue to meet with our neighbor kids weekly at our house. We learn songs, have a bible story, do a craft and play games. The first week, they sat quietly and acted kind of nervous around us. The second week, they responded more to questions. The third week, they engaged us in conversations about school and helped Megan learn her colors in Portuguse. The fourth week, both Megan and I got hugs and kisses as they left. The fifth week, two of the fathers showed up at the gate to find out just what in the world is going on with our children and these white girls! You get the picture. God is opening the doors for us in this community and with the families of these children. At a recent "bride price party" for Megan and her fiance, Mike, who was visiting from the U.S.(you can read the story on Megan's blog: mozambiquemeg.blogspot.com) The children arrived with their mothers to help us celebrate.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS: Still no responses except from my friend, Pam, who is a fifth grade teacher but has a senior in high school daughter and can't come....YET!! Please keep praying!

Calling All Teachers! Calling All Teachers!

2007-12-18T19:11:00.000+02:00

After 5 years in Africa, and 5 years of being asked questions like, "What's a typical day in Mozambique?" "What's the best/worst part of living in Africa?" and thinking, "I don't think I've ever had a typical day!" and "I can think of about 150 different responses to the 'best/worst' questions.", I think we've finally nailed down the answer to one of the questions.

The question of the day is "What is your biggest challenge living in Mozambique?" The response is not "maddening traffic", "enormous cockroaches", "intense heat", "frequent power outages" or even "constantly being asked by everyone you know for assistance". The biggest challenge has been and continues to be educating our children. The older they get, the more difficult it becomes. We know it's not just our struggle. It's the struggle of so many parents trying to educate their children overseas.

Time doesn't allow for us to go into all the reasons why. The number one reason is lack of teachers. Committed and trained teachers. Teachers who see themselves and full-fledged missionaries. A vital part of a team approach in the effort to "go into all the world" and "preach the gospel". A part that is now missing for us as a family.

So what can you do to help? PRAY!! Pray that God will impress on the hearts of teachers to share their talents and abilities with us. CONSIDER!! If you are a teacher, consider our desperate plea for help! SPREAD THE WORD!! Please recruit for us among teachers you know.

Our son, Stephen, will be entering 5th grade in the fall. He needs a teacher! We are asking God to provide just the right person. If you are interested or know someone might be a good fit and would like more information, please reply with a comment and or contact WorldVenture directly. Please contact us!

WE NEED YOU!!!