My trip to Matundo

This entry is now a week old, and a little on the long side…….

I just returned from an overnight visit to one of our church plants out in the bush. We left early on Saturday morning and about 4+ hours later we arrived.

It’s a very long 4 hours as the roads are quite difficult to maneuver.

But we praise God that the weather was clear and sunny both days. At night the sky was amazing as you are surrounded by total darkness, the stars were like millions of light bulbs you could reach out and touch! Absolutely breathtaking!

As soon as we arrived there was a large welcoming committee, probably 30 people all singing and smiling and waving…so excited to see us!

We unloaded our things into the guest home they had built last year for a wedding at the church.

It’s a large bamboo stick structure, with a straw roof. It has 4 small rooms inside, so the girls in one room, boys in the other, one room for storage and a common area for eating.

The teens got right into their games with the kids, I started helping with meal preparation while the guys set up the tent for the translators.

We were having rice and fish for lunch, and today would be the day that I would learn how to clean and prepare fish. I finally got the hang of it but while I was doing my best, 2 other ladies came over to assist in the process. It took the 3 of us about 40 minutes to clean this tub full of fish.

Over the course of the day, at least a hundred, if not more, ladies, men, and children of all ages showed up.

Shanna and I were to meet with the ladies of the church.

Shanna, the team leader for the group we had taken out, had a message prepared. When we were told we had about 2 hours to fill I was asked to share as well.

 I spoke of God’s faithfulness, and tried to encourage these women who are so very poor. No words could fully explain the degree of poverty to you.

We then asked them to sing for us, we didn’t need to ask twice! When they finally stopped we didn’t have too much more time to fill.

I shared a part of my testimony and spoke of how God has more than filled the void left behind when my husband died. Many of these ladies are widows with so little hope. I pray that I was able to encourage the way the Lord has encouraged me.

I then found myself repeating things I had recently heard, about speaking the name of Jesus out loud, so that the devil has no choice but to flee. Different scriptures were coming to mind, it was totally God using me, I was like watching the whole thing happen, Praise the Lord!

We then asked for prayer requests and Shanna prayed for all the women.

Then I spoke a little about nutrition and hygiene. Trying to explain to them about germs they cannot see that can make them sick. This is a difficult concept for them to understand. I am certain we all would have a hard time with this concept, if we hadn’t been blessed to be living where we live.

It looked like every women in the church was either pregnant or carrying a baby on her back.

By now there were well over 100 children alone, they were everywhere! It seemed appropriate to speak about drinking enough ‘clean’ water, and washing your hands and teaching your children to do this as well.

As it started to get dark they started a fire, not only for the warmth but it was the only source of light as well.

The team ate in the guest house, put on mosquito repellent and warmer clothes and then joined with the Mozambican’s by the fire. We were warm, fed and protected from bites. They sat there in the same clothes, short sleeves, no shoes and very little in their belly. I really struggled with this….

 As I joined them I noticed no one was talking, each were in their own world watching the fire. As I sat there I could see that all eyes were on me. After a bit I asked Simone to ask if they would like to hear a story. There were a few nodding heads but no one spoke, they just watched.

I started by trying to explain the awesomeness of our God and telling them how much He loves us and how He sent His son to die for us. I explained that all God asks of us is to love Him and love one another.

I gave a few examples of how they could love each other and then asked them to remember to always talk with God and He will always listen.

It really was such a sweet time, I still don’t know exactly how it happen, certainly it was unplanned but what a blessing!

I guess I had forgotten how dark it can get when there are NO lights anywhere! The light from the fire illuminated their faces to a degree, but all I could clearly see were their staring eyes as they were fixed on me the entire time I spoke.

 Praise God that His word was spoken and does not come back void.

About 8:30 I headed to bed, leaving the children sitting at the fire. I would be sleeping in the car, to be very honest I wasn’t looking forward to it. I kept telling myself ‘it’s only for one night’.

Several times as I tried to find a comfortable spot, God reminded me of those children huddled around this small fire trying to keep warm. Would they get any sleep tonight? Is tonight any different from every other night for them? I fell asleep asking God to comfort them.

I woke up about an hour later to the sounds of singing and drumming! Many of the people who were planning to be here for church in the morning had arrived tonight.

They were singing praises to God that He had brought us, their special guests, to spend time with them. They were thanking God for answering their prayers! This singing went on until well after midnight, and then they slept right where they were….in the church, on the ground.

While I enjoyed the comfort of the car and had a perfect view of the stars. I also was facing in the right direction to see the sun come up.

When I woke up I could see where others were sleeping outside next to the fire.

 I thought about how stiff and sore I felt from lying on a car seat, while they only had a narrow wooden bench or the ground.

Today was another celebration for the people of Matundo, because we were there to share God’s word with them. First the youth on the team had some children’s program stuff to do, while the ladies prepared the goat we would be having for lunch.

Several of us were headed to a new, small church plant nearby. Unfortunately we never made it as we had a flat tire.

Ultimately to fix this flat tire we needed the help of, not one but two different Mozambican’s who allowed us to borrow their bikes.

While we waited we bought a case of pop and a bag of cookies from one of the men who let us use his bike.

 We greeted practically every person that passed by, asking how they were and thanking God each time. We had several stop to offer suggestions, one man said that we could all simply lift the truck while someone else slips the tire on! That’s exactly how they would do it, gotta love it!

We did finally get the tire on and as it was too late to get to the other church plant we headed back. The children’s programs were completed, having been a huge success, and we could hear the singing as we approached.

Pastor Cory the leader of this team gave the message, it was about being honest with God.  Every so often you would hear one person say ‘amenie’ and then the whole church would respond with ‘amenie’, it was great!

Again more and more singing and dancing.

Finally the service needed to end so we could get ready and get back before dark.

We needed to eat our lunch, inside the guest house, as there was not enough food for everyone. But we gifted the church leader and his wife 75kg of rice and  5 liters of oil and other things. They will prepare food over the next few days so that everyone will get something.

It’s so hard to accept, we are satisfied, our stomachs are full, and everyone else hasn’t eaten today.  I know God knows, and I know we can only do so much…. I wonder, are we doing enough? I find myself asking that question all the time. Are we doing enough?

The goodbye’s were difficult as the church leader and his wife, were truly sad that we had to leave, and they begged that God would bring us back to them soon.

I hugged and thanked some of the women who had been at the bible study yesterday. I also wanted to say goodbye and thank the women who taught me how to cook like a Mozambican in the bush!

As we drove off, the women were all singing and all the children started running behind the cars. They kept this up for quite a ways, singing the whole time. Once we had gotten far enough away, no more kids, no more singing. I was struggling to watch the path as I maneuvered around giant ditches and holes. I realized that I was still smiling!  Praise God!

 Then several minutes later we passed a group of people who had been at church, they all waved and called out to us, it was great!

We drive for over an hour on a narrow dirt path. How narrow you might ask? The people on bikes need to stop and get over into the weeds to let the car pass by.

It was a great trip, the cars made it back home with no further issues, and we got home before dark, Praise the Lord!

Please remember the people of Matundo in your prayers, please!

Lunch at the beach

Today after taking care of a few pressing issues, Kathy and I headed to Beria. I had taken inventory of both our house and the team house and now with my lists in hand we were off.
The day was gorgeous, sunny and warmer than it has been. This is to be expected as we are now headed into the beginning of the warmer months.
The plan was to get as much done as possible before the stores close. Most everything closes from 12-2pm give or take 20-30 minutes either way.
We had a plan and as we headed south the warmth of the sun gave us yet another reason to praise and thank God. We pray as we go, often distracted by the sights, trucks that look like they are coming at you sideways. People carrying loads on their heads or on their bikes, crazy loads! You'd think we'd get used to seeing some of this, and just when we think we've seen it all, bam! A guy on a bike carrying not one but 2 live goats! Or the man that was riding his bike while balancing a large plastic wash tub full of tangerines on his head!
You wonder why we love life here!? It's amazing, everyday!

So after sucessfully buying many needed supplies, we headed to the beach for lunch.  After all the shops were going to be closed for the next 2 hours, right?
As long as we needed to take a break and wait, we might as well do it on the beach.
We went to a place called Biques. Pronounced Beeks.

We love this place, the food is consistantly excellent, and they generally have Coke light on hand:)
We either get the chicken or go for fish. Kathy gets the fish and me, always the prawn! They are giant, you get the whole deal and I mean all of it.... head, tentacles everything!
So as we were enjoying our lunch we noticed some children walk past on the beach. There were 6 of them, the oldest was maybe 9 or 10 years old. As they played they would glance in our direction, it was almost as if they knew that we were talking about them.

There are always poor children around to pull at your heart, I am always talking with God and trying to rationalize...why? Yet I also have His assurance  that He has everything under His control.
It doesn't make it any easier when you sit there filling your belly and wondering when was the last time  these kids had anything to eat.

Once again, Kathy and I were tracking with each other and before we knew it we were ordering 5 large rolls. I covered each one with a thick layer of butter and then put the left over fish in each one.
We motioned to the older girl to come over, and Kathy walked to the end of the patio and explained that we wanted to give them lunch.
Kathy must have asked if they knew Jesus, and the one boy about 7or 8 years old, pointed up to the sky and said yes, he's up there.
Kathy told them that He, Jesus wanted them to have lunch today. It was such a sweet, blessed moment. The children were beaming, their smiles as big as any you have ever seen! Praise God!
I am so glad that the stores close at noon, and because of that we were here at this particular moment.

                 What an honor and blessing to be God's hands and feet here in Mozambique.

Update from Dondo

I am trusting that at least some of you have opened my blog looking for an update over these past few weeks. Well, here it is...finally.

As I look back over my last blog entries I see that I neglected to mentioned the fact that I was having some health issues. The most likely explanation for not sharing this would be my unwillingness to give in to being sick, I just hate letting it get the best of me.

So I guess I need to rewind to June 14th, that would be the day I felt a bad pain in my back. I had been going non-stop for several weeks and thought that I must have strained it. My plan was to hang in there a few more days, as the team we were hosting were scheduled to leave on the 17th.
 I would really rest it then, as we would be without visitors for almost a full month, due to the limited flights available as a result of the world cup. So we had been looking forward to this lengthy respite since we arrived in May!

First one week then the next, my back was not letting up, actually it was getting worse. Now I can honestly say that I am the furthest thing from a hypochondriac, but it was starting to get the better of me. I was not sleeping and the pain was pretty constant. The thing that concerned me the most was the thought that I may have to return to the states.
Then finally during the night on June 30th I was awake all night. The pain was incredible, like none I ever remember, and so I prayed for God to stay with me and show me what I needed to do.

At the Lord's prompting I sent an email during the night to Dr Brian, an American doctor I know who teaches at the University in Beria. He called me that morning and after we talked he agreed with my concern that it was probably my kidney and not my back after all.
 He said he needed to examine me but wouldn't have access to an ultrasound machine until the next day, so I needed to wait.

Friday morning we headed to the University clinic to see Dr Brian. Examine and ultrasound done.
( details of these procedures are a story in and of themselves, trust me)
He said he felt that  "one shadow area" was either a stone or cyst which may have burst. He said I needed to have an IVP done to be certain.
He instructed me on what I needed to take for the pain and said to notify him when I had the results from the IVP, x-rays and blood work he ordered.

That all happen one week ago.

I couldn't have the blood work till Monday the 5th ( there's another story :) The x-rays would be done the next day ( Tuesday) and the IVP needed to wait till the following Monday the 12th.
So as the days passed, I am waiting, and I'm praying for God's direction in all of this.

I started to notice that the pain was much less, was it because of the medicine or was I getting better?
By Sunday I had stopped taking the medicine to see if I was pain free without the meds.
I was! I still felt nothing like myself, sleeping the entire weekend away....but I was better!

I continued to pray for God's direction through all of this, as I wanted to follow where He was leading.
 I know many of you were praying for a healing and I thank you! He heard every one of those prayers and I am here to tell you He has healed me!
My blood work on Monday showed nothing out of the norm. I am still not sure about the x-rays. Here you are given your actual x-rays, you then take them to your doctor for interpretation.
As far as the IVP, because I am almost back to normal, I am not planning on having the test done.

Needless to say I never expected the events of these past few weeks to occur. I really was planning on taking things slow and getting some good rest, honestly! But, clearly God had other plans for me.

 I have been humbled and blessed by the events of this past week.  God has blessed me with increased wisdom as a result of what I have experienced. He has shown himself to be faithful, even when my faith was lacking.
He has helped me to see how blessed I am to have a dearly loved friend with me on this journey. He has helped me to see first hand the power of prayer, and His ability to heal.

He has also given me insight into how the medical system works in a Third World country. How the people here endure daily, things that would never be tolerated or even imagined in the states. How absolutely blessed we are to be wealthy, privileged Americans, with every comfort and convenience!


This experience has given me a deeper understanding of just how intimate God's wants to be with me, and with each one of us.
He has taught me the power of prayer, not just "saying the words" prayer, but the kind of prayer that you believe can and will be answered.
He is the only true Physician, who is able to heal all sickness.
Thank you all for your prayers!!!!


 ...the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much ( James 5:16)

Only God could write this story...

My son Sean is once again part of the Internship program here in Mozambique this summer.

Mostly we get to see each other in passing as we have different schedules, duties, and responsibilities.
This past week however, has been a different story.
When Sean complained of not feeling well, I thought maybe he just wanted some attention from mom,
as several of the other interns had complained of not feeling well this past week.
As it turned out he had very bad case of tonsillitis, we had medication on hand and treatment was started right away.
The bad news was he wasn't getting better 'fast enough', at least not fast enough to go with the interns on retreat. So as the interns were packing and preparing for a 4 day teen retreat, Sean was trying to accpet the Lord's plan for him.

Friday was a national holiday here in Mozambique, their Independence Day.  With basically everyone gone for the long weekend, and Kathy and I still in 'resting' mode, it was a great opportunity to spend  time with my son.

On Saturday morning Kathy, Sean and I traveled to Beira, to meet an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor that Noemia Cessito ( Pastor Jeronimo's wife) recommended we see.
Sean was actually feeling much better, but Noemia had made the arrangements for us and we needed to honor her kind gesture.

As it turns out, not only did the doctor recommend an additional medication, we were able to purchase what we needed right there at the clinic!
This doctor spoke some English as did his nurse/assistant!
Sean was evaluated by a doctor, and we were leaving with just what we needed.
Not to mention that I was thrilled to have made this connection! You never know when we might need to return here.

Everything God does fits together so perfectly!

On the ride home we had plenty of time to talk, mostly about the special lady in Sean's life. A subject that up until now has not been fully discussed. This time was perfect. I kept smiling as I thought about God's total control of absolutely everything!

Once home, I made some chicken quesadillas for lunch.  We spent the rest of day together, watching movies, eating popcorn, and just hanging out.

This morning ( Sunday) we headed to Centro Emissor where my son was scheduled to give the message.  He was only 'scheduled' to preach after it was determined that he would not be going on the retreat.
He did a great job and I was of course blessed to watch him share God's word with people I have come to love.

So once again as I look back over this week I am struck by the perfect faithfulness of God.
My son spent the weekend in my home in Mozambique....unbelievable!
Only God could have arranged such a time, thank you Lord.

Only God and His perfect plan for our lives could possibly write this story!

Baby Dedications and Deaths

As I mentioned in my last blog, our beloved friend Maria had her baby girl, Ester last week. Kathy and I got to visit them, ahead of everyone else this past Friday. We also had the privilege of giving this precious little one her name!
So yesterday (Sunday) at 2pm was the baby dedication.
 Our plan was to drive to our translator Simone's house, park the car there and walk to Maria's home. Simone had agreed to act as our official guide, as it's not easy to find a home, on a dirt path....when all the dirt paths look the same!
Kathy was driving, there was myself, Cindy, Christa and her daughter Ava, and Chel ( one of our Interns)
What Simone had neglected to tell us when he agreed to let us park on his property, was the only way to get to his home was to drive through a futebol ( soccer) game! I am not exaggerating when I say 'drive through' the game!
We started heading for one path, and I told Kathy it was further down, that meant actually driving down the side lines of this game!
We were all laughing so hard it hurt, then we saw this very agitated ref. blow his whistle and make some angry hand motions at us! Fortunately we were turning off the field at that point, thanking God that the crowd that was watching the game didn't decide to come after us!

So now we are on foot headed to Maria's house, it's alittle after two and so we are right on time. When we arrived the men in her family were lined up sitting in chairs waiting for the event to start. They all stood and gave up their chairs for us, as each one shook our hands and expressed their pleasure at our coming.
We all sat down and waited as ever so gradually a few ladies started to arrive.
Now we are used to waiting for events to start here in Mozambique but today seemed to be longer than usual.
At 4pm we heard that the delay was due to a death, a baby had died the night before, and the funeral was taking place as we waited.
As we sat, waiting and watching children, from 2 to 10 years play and entertain themselves, another family was burying their baby.
I'm not sure how a person is suppose to comprehend this. It seemed too natural, or casual maybe is a better word.  "It is what it is" I smiled as I thought of this remark.

Then I thought of a song I remember hearing after Jim died. It goes... 'He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say Lord blessed be your name'.
 I thought about all the children playing in front of me, how many will live to become adults? How many will then bury their children? How can any of it make sense?
I sat their thinking, fighting back tears... He loves each one of us the very same, so why does it seem so lopsided?

Finally the other ladies of the church arrived and so we could begin.
It's always the same, the women, as many as can fit went into the house, go in and start the singing and praying. Then the baby is picked up by one women and handed off to another to bring out of the house and present to the women waiting outside.
Kathy and I had been given the 'signal' by the women in charge and so we got in the house!

Today our little Ester was given to Kathy to pray over and bless. Praise God!!! It was such a blessed time.
While Kathy was saying a few words, there was something going on, and a few ladies left. It wasn't until after that we were able to find out what had happen.
Someone had come to report that another baby had just died.

One baby, her name is Ester was dedicated to Our Lord this day, and two other precious babies are with
Our Lord this day.
Thank you Jesus, that we can trust your word.
                         Psalm 46:10       Be still and know that I am God