My prayer now that I am back in the states

After four flights and 32 hours of travel we arrived back in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday afternoon. Praise God!

We had our own welcoming committee, Kathy's family as well as many of our friends from church, it was a great to see everyone! 

God blessed us with an uneventful trip, no delays, smooth rides, bags that made it home, even good food! What more could you ask for? God just continues to bless us in everything. everyday!

So now we have many things on our to do list...many things to accomplish before we head back to Mozambique in May.

My prayer is to remember and pray for the people that the Lord has allowed me to love and serve in Mozambique.

My prayer is to continue to draw nearer to the Lord each and everyday.

My prayer is to remain in His will and continue to serve others with a humble heart.

My prayer is to listen for His voice and direction before I move forward with my plans.

My prayer is to  read His word and seek His wisdom.

My prayer is to put others before myself.

My prayer is to never miss an opportunity to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you Jesus for this life.

Our last week in Mozambique

Today we celebrated the Lord's day at His church in Centro Emmissor. The singing the fellowship the dancing the message all totally glorifying God. It was a great day and we were blessed. 

We got to dance with the ladies and then we were given an opportunity to speak to the church. Kathy and I both had words of encouragement to share. I then closed with Numbers 6:24-26, and Kathy used something out of Acts. Finally we were presented with new capalanas. Then more singing and dancing.

As we were getting ready to go, we were given a live chicken as a gift to thank us for our love, support and encouragement.

A live chicken! Can you believe it? How great is that?  It is currently in 'foster care' while we decide the best way to utilize our little feathered friend. Right now we are leaning toward finding him a girlfriend and allowing them to set up house. I can't tell you how many times we have talked about having chickens. We could use the eggs to feed our teams, as well as our staff.

God simply always provides for our needs.

Finally home after 2pm,  with about 50 minutes to rest before I needed to start transporting people to Manuel and Ramizia's home for their baby dedication. Everyone with a car agreed to help bring people from the church to their home. Many cars and multiple trips. They were so blessed by all the people who came to witness this dedication.

There were people there from many of the church plants. Savane Church, a church plant about 90 minutes away that Manuel is the leader of,  arrived quite late, after the gifts had been given and prayers said. So after they came and offered their gift ( can you believe it was 2 live chickens!?) they were handed to me! 

I was not sure what was going on, but quickly got the idea. They wanted me to pray over these 'gifts' like we had prayed for all the other gifts.

 I stood there trying to compose myself and asking God to give me the right words. I was mindful of just how incredibly unique this moment was. Would I have ever guessed anything like this could take place in my life?

There I stood in the center of a crowd of at least 200 people watching me hold 2 chickens up over my head asking God to bless them and "allow them to make many eggs or chicks or whatever it is that they are suppose to do". Seriously, that was my prayer. Unbelievable.

So many of the church plant leaders and their families came. There were many men, many men! Pastor Jeronimo was there as well. This is not normally the case, and it was such a wonderful testimony. It was just a great day.  A really great Sunday! 

I will  miss living life here in Dondo Mozambique.

I pray that the Lord's plan will include my returning here, in the spring with full support in place. Amen!

Relationships

I have come to know a young 'plastico' boy at the market. These boys can be seen anywhere in the market place with a hand full of plastic bags. The kind you would get at the grocery store. They walk around calling out 'plastico' in hopes that you will buy their bag to carry your vegetables home in.

One day a few weeks ago, I noticed a young boy standing near me just patiently waiting. He said nothing, but as I turned to look at him he gave me the biggest brightest smile. So I asked his name, he said Arlindo. His face was bright and so sweet. 

As I went about the market buying what I needed, he quietly followed behind. Usually you put as much as you can in one bag, but this day I was buying a new plastico for every item I bought.

He quickly saw what I was doing and his smile grew even bigger. I finished my shopping, Arlindo's bags were sold out and I was ready to head back to the car. I asked if he would help me carry my bags and he readily accepted.

I told him my name and that I work with Pastor Jeronimo at the Dondo Baptist Church. I asked if he went to church and he said that he did.

The church is on the outskirts of town nearby where he lives. He told me he is 11 years old and goes to school in the afternoon. I told him I would look for him to help me when I come to the market.  I encouraged him to go to school each day, that it was very important. 

Many of these boys are hungry and selling their bags gives them a few coins for bread. So they often skip school. I also encouraged him to go to church and pray  to God to watch over him and his family.

He smiled and we agreed that Deus e' bom ( God is good) 

We said good bye and as I drove away I was so thankful for the gift God has given me. My Portuguese is really not that good, but I was able to communicate all of this so Arlindo could understand. I was blessed and so grateful that God hears our prayers!

If you think about Arlindo, say a prayer for him. Life is so very hard here, these young boys have little to look forward to.  They see no reason to stay in school, and so they beg and get into trouble. They need to be encouraged and assured that they can fully rely on our Lord. 

They just need to be told about Jesus.

Thank you for helping me to be here, to talk with Arlindo about Jesus. 

God has a plan....we just need to follow it.

Trip to the Hospital

Manuel and Ramizia are finally proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. Things were uncertain for a time after Junior was born, as his breathing was not normal. There were many prayers said and heard by our Father in heaven, and this is the day they were meant to come home.

Kathy and I were called into action, as they needed a ride home from the hospital. So off we went.

We arrived at the hospital at 5pm, but the doctor had not yet come to discharge Ramizia. So we spent our time looking at this beautiful gift from God.

Manuel introduced us to the lady sharing the room with Ramizia. Her name was Maria, she too had delivered a baby 2 days ago, but her baby did not live.

When Manuel told us I immediately felt tears in my eyes. This women sat on her bed about 2 feet from Ramizia, watching her as she held her precious baby. 

I was overwhelmed with compassion for this mother. She had trouble with high blood pressure and swelling during the last 2 months of her pregnancy, but as she tells the story, the doctors kept telling her everything was fine.

She delivered the baby and the baby died shortly after. I don't know the rest of the story, it really doesn't matter. This mom is grieving her loss and has no one to console her and tell her it wasn't her fault.

Her legs were swollen and hard to the touch. Her skin was tight and her feet were so swollen the bottoms of her feet were no longer flat. I'm not sure how she could even walk on them.

As I thanked God for Manuel and his ability to speak English, I felt the Lord prompting me to reassure her and maybe make a few suggestions regarding her recovery, diet, exercise etc.

Once Manuel explained that I was a nurse she had many questions, and I was so grateful for the  knowledge I could share with her.

I was most grateful for the Holy Spirit as I was overcome with emotions for this young mom. God clearly gave me wisdom and the ability show compassion and love to this women. When I was done answering her questions, I asked if I could pray for her. She agreed and I asked God to heal her body and bring her into His kingdom.

As it turned out we waited for the doctor to come for about 2 hours and then received word that he would not be in tonight. So we headed back to Dondo, minus the baby and mom.

We are told they will be released tomorrow, we shall see. We know that they have to let them go at some point, right?

So here we thought we were headed to the hospital to bring mother and baby home. God's plan was that we travel to the hospital to encourage and support a lady named Maria. A mother who will be going home without her baby.

 Thank you Jesus once again for the opportunity to be your hands and feet to love her and show her your love.