Lessons from an 11 year old.

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

We Have Interns !

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

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.

T.I.A.

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

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!

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!!!

 

Precious In His Sight

One of my favorite things about Mozambique is it's children. They are happy, fun-loving little sponges that soak up everything. Ready and willing to participate and learn. After 3 or 4 failed attempts at starting a weekly bible club for our neighbor children, last Monday, 11 children came. I taught them a song that they LOVED. They listened to the story of creation. Megan prepared a craft for them. They made butterflies out of coffee filters. We played some b-ball and spent some time getting to know one another. It was really fun. Today, we will do it again. We're hoping for a few more children this time. Our greatest hope is that we will become such a part of this community. That we will have redemptive relationships with our neighbors. Please pray for us in this process. Pray for the right interns to come and work with us. Pray for an informational meeting for local pastors and church leaders that will take place on November 30th. Pray that they will catch the vision for what God can do in this community and send their most promising young people to work with us.

Reflections from a "soon to be 43" year old!!

I'm very reflective these days as I joyfully face another year of life! I'm jotting down my thoughts as they come to me and I'm sending them on to those who care and maybe even some who don't!!

I'm saving them for my children so that someday they, like me, will be amazed at how fast they arrived at 43!

I'm sharing them with my mom and dad so that they can know how much they have taught me, despite every attempt I made NOT to let them know I learned from them!

I'm sharing them with my husband because, he may not be aware of this, but he has now been a part of my life for longer than he hasn't. We met for the first time when I was 18. By my calculations, that's 24 years! The first day I met him, I told my room mate I would marry him. He wasn't convinced of that until some years later! Unless one or both of us lose our minds or go on to be with Jesus, in 24 more years, when all of you are either in heaven or far from me, he will still be by my side.

I've been thinking about the valuable things that I've learned in my years on this earth. Some of them are funny, some very poignant, some learned years ago, some learned in just the last few months. Some learned in times of much pain. Some learned in times of great joy. Here are a few of the things that come to mind:

-When I married Rodger and we lived in New Jersey, 35 miles from New York City, I felt like we were living the most exciting of lives for 2 Midwestern kids!!! Now look where we are!!!

- When I looked down into the faces of my newborn babies, I never thought it was possible to love them any more than I did right at that moment. Now I can stand toe to toe with them and look them in the eyes and I know that I love them so much more today than on the day of their birth.

- I grew up in a home where there was a song to go along with absolutely EVERYTHING!!! Sometimes it used to annoy me. Now I see that it is a priceless treasure passed down to me. I know that things are very wrong in our home when the music stops.

-Friends who share a common love for Diet Coke will go to great lengths to find said Diet Coke! Including searching stores and gas stations in their own country and crossing a border to buy some in another country. OK, so that's not the ONLY reason we cross the border 'cause that would just be silly......or would it????!!!!!

-It doesn't matter how old you are, it always makes you feel really insecure to see your own daddy cry.

-"Old-fashioned" isn't always bad! As an adult, I'm very proud to carry the name of my grandmother, Lynne Leona.

-If "home is where the heart is", then parts of my heart are in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, California,Arizona, Maine, Tanzania, Mozambique, Philippines, Virginia. I'm sure there are many more places as well. No wonder my heart feels broken sometimes!

- Blood really is "thicker than water". I can be mean to my sister and brother. Andrew and Stephen can be mean to each other. But NOBODY better be mean to my sister or brother or they will have to face an angry little blonde woman!

-It is entirely possible to have long distance friendships. I have the best long distance friend anyone could ever hope for!

- Life is often more difficult for the moms, dads, brothers and sisters of missionaries than it is for the missionary. They are always getting left behind. For me as a missionary, I've seen and felt the truth of the Scripture so many times in my life. Mark 10:28-30 "Peter said to Him, 'We have left everything to follow you!' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus replied,' no one has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age(homes, brothers, sisters,mothers, children and fields..."

-the rest of that passage says, "and with them(fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, etc) persecutions. We often tend to overlook that part and are surprised by suffering.

-13/14 year olds used to really scare me...now that we have a 14 year old I think they are fun, insightful and amazing.

-Laughter really is the best medicine

-"Baby therapy" is a really effective treatment for discouragement and depression. Holding my babies at the orphanage or my little darling Amani is the best thing for me when I have the blues.

-For me, it's impossible to be at odds with/emotionally disconnected from someone I'm regularly praying with. My deepest friendships are the friendships rooted in times of prayer together. The level and depth of my friendship with someone seems undeniably connected to how much time we spend praying together.

-"Jesus loves me, this I know..." What else do I need to know, feel, hear, see, experience?


Thanks for listening!

Love,

Lynne

Not Everyone Needs Nine Months To Pay A Electric Bill.

When we moved into our house in April we discovered that the electric bill had not been payed in over eight years. The landlord had a huge bill and the account had been closed in the computers long ago. However, the people living in the back rooms continued to use electricity for years before we moved in. Once we finally got the landlord to take care of the back bills we felt we were set to start paying our part of the bills from that day forward.

Well that was nine months ago. Ever since we have been working to receive electric bills. However, every time we went to pay our bill the person behind the counter would say,"you can't pay as the account is closed". "Yes", we replied, but no one has come to read the meter. We actually hired a young man to work full time to try and resolve this problem. After months and months of trying we still could not get the electric company to read the meter and or provide a proper bill so we could pay for the electricity we were using.

Two months ago the young man we hired suddenly disappeared. Great! So we started all over. We hired a new guy and he is doing a great job. After several meetings with the local electric company representative our employee showed up with a solution. The man at the electric company had agreed to replace the meter, discount our bill and provide a proper bill. We were so excited!.

So! the men from the electric company showed up with a new meter. They replace the meter and everything was set. Until! I asked the question, "Can I see our bill and can you provide me with a receipt for our payment?". They proceed to look a bit shocked and wide eyed at my question. Then I realized that even though these men were in uniform and using company equipment the whole process was illegal.

These men were using company time, uniforms and equipment to resolve our problem. However, they were not going to provide me a bill or a receipt. They were going to take the money we were to pay and simply put in their pocket.

I can't believe I didn't catch on sooner. I should have but I didn't.

Anyway, I refused to pay and told them to come back tomorrow so we can resolve this new problem legally.

So today, the electric company man dressed in uniform returned to my house to hear what I had to say. I told him he needed to provide a proper bill and receipt for the full amount or I would need to go to his boss to resolve our problem.

He quickly agreed and we should have a proper bill from this month forward. He knows that if things are not prepared properly we will seek help from his boss.

So, after nine months of trying to pay our electric bill I think we are close to resolving this problem. However, I've thought that before. Only time will tell.

TIA (Do you know what this means?)

Love you all and thanks for hanging in their with us.

Rodger, Lynne, Andrew and Stephen