Funeral

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

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?

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

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!

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!

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!!

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!

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

Happy Birthday MozOvos

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.