Becoming Immersed in the Culture

Sat 8/23  - Steph left this AM to take Sarah Bell & her 2 daughters to Harrare, Zimbabwe to fly to Florida for a 6 week visit. Her husband Daniel went with, but will return with Steph. Jackelyn & Guido’s daughter, Lufta w/Sarah & Kees’ daughter, Farai, are caring for Bell’s adopted daughter, Jacinta (doesn’t have a passport) & their dog Ziek. They’ll be back Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. The fog lifted before they left, praise God – the roads & drivers are dangerous in the best conditions.

Bell Family. Hannah, Enrique, Sheri, Daniel, Lydia, Sarah, Jacinta & Cecil

We are taking a day of rest (it’s gloomy cloudy but a nice cool break) and talking about our journey with God and each other over the past 20 days. It dawned on me today that I’m living with 2 roommates and having no problems with it – weird since I always thought I’d do terribly with a roommate since I’m so used to living alone. I’m also amazed at God’s infinite mercy on my short-term mission trips, this being my 4^th. I hear stories of very difficult trips with strife between team members and/or ministry leaders. Although the trips have had their own difficulties, which God has used to help me grow in Him, I’ve been immensely blessed with teams that have been unified & gracious to each other.

Farai & Rubin Tanis (her brother agreed to stay w/girls @ Bell’s for protection – he’s wearing his superhero shirt w/Thor, Ironman & Captain America on it) came over in the evening to visit. Farai thought Cecil was sharing tomorrow (he’s doing so next week), and her lesson isn’t prepared, so I told her I would do something. While Steph is away, I’m staying nights at her house, and taking turns with Lovemore doing chicken duty.

Sun 8/24 - I prepared a teaching to compare & contrast the Bethesda blind man with the Jericho blind man. Then Enrique said this AM he wanted to speak about love and needed to get over his fear of public speaking. So we arranged for him to speak first, not knowing how long his would go; then I would follow if needed. He did awesome! 

 I didn’t need to speak. Carlos spoke for a few minutes, building on Enrique’s lesson, and then closed in prayer. A man (Mario) came up to Enrique after church and told him he was very moved by his teaching. We Skyped into church Sunday evening but kept losing connection. Although it’s short & choppy, it’s great to see our church family and say Hi. We are truly blessed by our Great God to have the support of our awesome church family! We certainly feel the prayers!

Mario, Enrique, Kees Tanis

Mon 8/25 – The chicken coops are done…for now. I was slowly chipping away at removing two glass panes with a screw driver, of which the handle broke after 5 minutes (Enrique just bought them, at regular price no less, but says they’re the kind we buy at the dollar store!).  But 2 chickens have died from heat so Enrique & Lovemore broke out the windows, so I could cover with a screen. They also made a huge opening in the door for me to screen for more ventilation.  I finished screening the other coop and storeroom as well.

Cecil is installing additional outlets in Steph’s house. Enrique & Lovemore dug some more ditch for the clinic waterlines, then discovered a “mystery” line so they can’t proceed until Roy gets back.  Then they painted some more on the clinic waiting room. I started on the clinic curtains. I laugh every time we start a new project, because most of the tools and supplies we have to jerry-rig out of other things…preparing for a project takes a couple hours to figure out how you’re going do it and with what “tools.” Reminds me of that show in the 80’s – McGyver – he was always making things work using a few pieces of junk laying around and a couple things he just happened to have in his pocket.

Cecil talking to Sarah Tanis

Steph called Mavis this evening and said she’s been delayed and won’t return until Tues night or Wed AM. My phone has been out of minutes since the night she left, and Rick’s phone doesn’t work for some reason. I have enough meals planned thru Tuesday but am 1 tomato short, so I asked Mavis if I could buy a tomato from her. Mavis then brought over some bread (Enrique had commented he wished he had some), butter, carrots, bananas & tomatoes. She’s in her 70’s, from the UK, and manages the older girls in the main house across from us. What would make a 70yr-old want to care for a group of teenage girl orphans, many with issues, in a mission with never enough water, some electricity, no a/c, clogged drains from encroaching tree roots, termites/spiders/mosquitos, malaria, etc…the love of Christ, that’s what!  Same w/Nanna returning; I visited her for a few minutes & gleaned some more knowledge.

Enrique and Lovemore

Enrique walked to Lovemore’s home after work today to meet his children, then visited Martinio’s home.  Lovemore gave him the grand walking tour of Maforga on the way back to the Rondova. He’s really bonding with the workers and they really want him to move here and teach them trade skills as well as Bible study.

 I stare at the stars every night – it’s weird not recognizing the sky! I had a cool moment walking back from the chicken coops tonight – pitch black except for my flashlight with the millions of beautiful stars and the milky way, a monkey howling in a nearby tree, dodging falling guava fruit as the bats pick at them, side-stepping a bug on steroids the size of a rat on the path, carrying fresh eggs up to Steph’s…God knew I would have this exact moment and purposed it before the foundation of the world! 

 Dad will love this (he’s an electrician)…my job is to turn the lights out at the chicken coops every night at 8pm: this involves using the large metal hoe to reach up about 10’ to throw the breaker that’s in the fully exposed breaker box, being careful not to hit any of the several exposed wires (it’s 220v here, not 110). I busted up laughing when Steph showed me.  I told her I’d definitely wear my rubber sole shoes when I do it!

Tues 8/26 -  I held women’s 6am prayer since Steph was gone. We prayed over the young orphans: Sarah informed me that the Vovo’s believe orphans are cursed which is why their parents died, and their “mark” will land on them if they get too close, which is why most of the young orphans are dirty & run around in soiled diapers – the Vovo’s are afraid & mostly just watch them from a distance; it’s a huge culture-superstition thing.  They really need Christ and His heart to care for orphans.  I received word that Steph’s truck broke down. Then Lovemore told Enrique and I that Steph is out of chicken feed. We decided to ask Guido for a ride to Amatangos to buy feed & hoped we wouldn’t have to mill it at the Catholic Mission, but Guido ended up having a bag to give us from his cows. 

The barter system here is cool: missionaries swap chicken, eggs, homemade yogurt, bags of cement, lumbar, pvc pipe…just about everything!  The majority of locals tend fields to live on, and sell the extra for money to buy things they don’t produce themselves like flour, oil & charcoal.  

I haven’t been sleeping well in Steph’s bed the last 3 nights, so I woke up grouchy this AM. I found a huge tick when I made the bed, which gave me the eebie-jeebies for hours. Then I spent 15 minutes inspecting and pulling a couple ticks off Guso (Steph’s dog) until she couldn’t lay still any longer (normal part of owning a dog here).  I can stand almost any bug, but not ticks – Yick!  I had a “pet” spider here for about a week, looked like a flattened tarantula but soft felt instead of hairy; but I think he got tired of me tickling his legs that stuck out of the top of the curtain – his favorite hiding space – and left. These spiders are hilarious – they play dead! When you try to sweep them out the door, they really flatten out & stiffen up, so they really look like a squished, stiff dead spider the whole time you’re sweeping them down the hall & out the door.

Mid-day I realized most of the leaders are gone: Steph, the Bells, Roy & Trish Perkins…but we’re not worried. If the enemy thinks he’s freaking us out, he’s very mistaken because my God is Provider & Protector! My flesh kept trying to rear its ugly head all day since I was tired, but I kept going back to the scripture I shared w/Steph, Cecil & Enrique when they each had their own flesh days (practice what you preach, right?!): 

Phil 2:1-5, 12-18 -  “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus...Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life — in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you”

 Mavis told me her story of how she came to Maforga, then gave me a tour of the “Main House”, including the bullet holes from when the RENAMO raided Maforga and took Roy & Trish captive. She also showed me the clump of trees where several people were executed and buried during that raid. This area, as well as the whole country, is steeped in bloodshed; I wonder if it all cries out to God as Abel’s blood did, and how it must sound to Him, and how it must grieve His heart.

Steph arrived home around 5pm (she had to walk past our Rondova to get home after the Shopa (bus) dropped her off about 1 mile up the road) looking ragged but talking about the amazing things God did along her arduous trip. It’s a great story which I’m sure she’ll post.  I found the Southern Cross tonight, as well as the False Cross. The night sky is amazingly beautiful here…it is also at home, but I think my home sky has sadly lost a little fascination since I’ve been staring at it for 44 years. This sky has all new constellations & star-clusters…Oh I wish I had a telescope!  “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork”, (Ps 19:1).  “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Ps 8:3-4).

A Week in the Life... & Prayer Calendar: Week 7

Sheri Graham

Wed 8/20/14  - Yesterday it warmed up nicely; it didn’t cool off much last night. It’s been warm again today. The hot summer months are Oct & Nov according to the locals, so it feels like it’s on the way. Steph is amazing how she can bounce back with a smile & laughter after adversity. The employee she had to let go yesterday was mentally challenged, and she has attempted for months to give him work that wasn’t complicated. It broke her heart to have to let him go – he just couldn’t understand in his child-like, trusting mind that his “friends” were manipulating him & stealing from Steph & the ministries through him.  

Dinner w Carlos & family-Carlos taking pic

Dinner, fellowship & praising God w/Carlos (Rubatano), his wife Pascaul, and their 5 children. Carlos gave more details on how he came to Maforga: he was born & grew up in Beira, 22 year old with a good job in Beira at a book factory.  After a call-out from Roy, Carlos’ pastor asked him to quit his job, move to an unknown land, work for a white man, and not get paid - to serve God by serving orphans in desperate need.  After 2 weeks of prayer, Carlos moved to Maforga with 4 other young men. Talk about stepping out in faith!  

We also heard the story of how he & Pascaul met: she was working w/orphan babies & saw Carlos walking by w/a Bible; she asked if she could have one so Carlos invited her to the Bible classes he was attending.  Over the weeks of class he kept asking God, “What is this, what is this?”, regarding Pascaul.  He finally had the courage to ask if she was interested in him, which she said “maybe”, but Carlos was going to South Africa for 3 months for training, so they both agreed to fast & pray to the Lord if they should date.  When he returned they both felt God may be drawing them together, so they then asked the ministry leaders to pray about it.  After 2 weeks of prayer, the leaders told them they had their blessing, so they started dating, and married shortly after. They sought God first, before their own feelings & desires! This is just one of many awesome people and stories of the Lord doing incredible things through incredible people.

Roy & Trish left last night for South Africa to get Trish’s UK visa so they can go on to UK for his nephew’s wedding. If all goes well with her visa, they’ll be gone a few weeks. I hope they return before I leave for Cape Town. I haven’t had a chance to spend any time with Trish yet.

Stephanie sweeping the clinic                                           Sheri moving 50kg bags of cement

Thurs 8/21  - Didn’t sleep much last night – I woke up around 1 AM praying; then awoke around 2:30 AM having a conversation w/the Lord; then awoke around 4 AM singing Matt Redman’s song Mission’s Flame (I don’t usually awaken to actively doing such things). Bees are swarming the chicken coops because they’re attracted to the corn feed.  I made list of supplies to bee-net [instead of mosquito-net] the coops & also to try a couple of folk tricks.  Then I went to Chimoio w/Steph this AM.  We had a great girl-bonding time during the drive.

Sheri & Anna (she cleans & laundry)

Women’s prayer in evening: spent the 1^st hour just listening to Nanna’s stories. She says she had a dream that 6 witches pushed her to fall - to stop her work. She says she had several incidents prior to her fall of feeling hands push her although she was alone.  Then the fall that broke her hip, she also felt a forceful shove but no one was around. Sarah Tanis has had a witch in her Bible study, whom God opened her eyes a few weeks ago when they studied scriptures about witchcraft. The woman had to leave her “church” when she gave her testimony that she realized witchcraft is forbidden in scripture (she attended a “church” that mixed Christianity, ancestor worship & witchcraft).

Fri 8/22  - Enrique painted the clinic waiting room. Cecil dug a trench around the clinic for water lines for the new water tower. Then they both did some maintenance on Steph’s truck. I worked on the chicken coops.  I screened one coop window to keep out the bees.  I used the folk-trick on the inside of the coop.  And I did the tricks on the outside. I’ll check in the AM if the tricks work. We continue to pray for Stephanie’s papers. She says she trusts God’s perfect timing for them, but she gets discouraged when others are disappointed that she isn’t showing “results” at the clinic.  She is very busy with legalities, preparation, organization and due diligence to open the clinic, but it’s all “background” stuff that doesn’t look like much if you’re not looking behind the scenes.

Enrique painting clinic waiting room                                                Enrique Plumbing                   

Enrique and Lovemore

Cecil carrying water to work on clinic                                         Cecil works on Steph’s truck        

Cutting down tree that’s damaging clinic

Water system installed -
Stephanie is excited to have water!

Sat 8/23  - It was warm and humid last night, so we didn’t sleep very well.   We woke up to thick fog and a cool breeze – very beautiful.  Not a good day to see if my tricks have taken care of the bees.  At least it’s drizzly enough that we don’t have to climb up the water tower to water the curing platform.  No electricity so no water. Cecil is hunting for someone with a gas stove for hot water for coffee. I’m thankful I drink tea – hot or cold; I brought cold-brew tea with me. Enrique’s mind/thoughts were under attack yesterday, but through God’s precious Word, prayer, and meditating on Him, our Lord gave him victory over it and filled him with a heart full of praise.

Africa Prayer Calendar: Week 7

Excerpts are taken from Neal Pirolo’s book “Serving As Senders Today.”

“…strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power.”

Colossians 1:11

In Acts 1:4 and 8 Jesus gave clear instruction to his disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. It’s a jungle out there! It is insane to step into cross-cultural outreach ministry without “His glorious power.” It is imperative to have a vital, personal, alive, active, growing, dynamic, real relationship with the third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.

My wife leads teams on prayer walks in spiritually dark places. The atmosphere is oppressive. The powers of darkness are permeating the very air they breathe. They find it of value to pray as Paul did: “I will pray in the spirit and with understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15).

Intercede for your cross-cultural worker that he is continually being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Pray that he will daily “mind the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8). Life and ministry in a second culture (actually, we all walk in an alien world!) hold challenges foreign to your worker but not to the Spirit of God. As you pray, the Spirit of truth will guide him into all truth (John 16:13).

Engagement, Fellowship and Work - To the Glory of God

Sheri Graham

Fri 8/15 -  I spent evening at Steph’s watching movie on her computer & eating popcorn. Boys said they had awesome evening at boys’ worship, said it was very Spirit filled.

Sat 8/16 -  It rained all day, so trip to town was cancelled. Had Nanna & her daughter, Allyson, over for lunch. We heard wonderful stories of them living in South Africa 40-50 yrs ago when the rivers were full of alligators and had to be crossed by pontoon.  Much travel was done by walking since there weren’t many roads, and the tse-tse flies were thick & made everyone sick.  Steph & I are slowly extracting knowledge from Nanna on how the old clinic was established & ran, and the many local remedies she used to treat common ailments.  

Engagement Party at Roy & Trish’s house.
Bride & Groom to be, w/Carlos as God-father

Saturday night was an engagement party at Roy & Trish’s for one of the orphan girls that is now living in Chimoio, but Maforga is paying for her to finish pharmacy school. The night fulfilled the practice of the soon-to-be groom meeting the bride-to-be’s family, which in this case is the Maforga family. The young man looked scared to death, but Steph and Jacquelyn explained that in this culture, marriage is serious so no matter how excited or joyous they are, the boy and girl are to have a serious look during the entire celebration. The night was full of food, prayer, music and dancing. Roy told me they make a big deal of celebrating when the engagement is “done right,” as opposed to when the engagement is resulting from unplanned pregnancy; they hope to show the girls the joy & celebration stemming from godly living in contrast to the non-frill arrangement as a consequence of un-godly living.

The “right” weddings, I’m told, are also a big deal, as Trish will sew the girls’ beautiful wedding dresses. Jacquelyn’s 16yr old daughter is close with the girls, and I learned that just a few months ago she was told in confidence that 1 of the girls was pregnant and was seeking an abortion. She fasted & prayed 3 days for the fetus, and asked all the other ministry leaders to fast & pray as well even though she couldn’t tell them why. The girl soon after decided against the abortion! I’m awed by the spiritual maturity of this 16yr old, and the ministry leaders quite clearly don’t just talk the talk but they indeed walk the walk...they trust that God knows and they count on each other as one accord to seek the Lord and intercede for all. The unity here is amazing despite all the different ministries and of course all the different human-ness. Kees & Sarah’s daughter, Farai, is also uniquely perceptive in spiritual matters, and she’s only in 11^th grade.

Spider in rainstorm. His belly is stingray-shaped w/bright 

orange & yellow stripes.

Sun 8/17  - Church was once again awesome with worship, two testimonies, and Chico’s lesson on letting the Holy Spirit lead, not to be discouraged, and to help one another. Trish & Roy had a cool testimony of their trip to Manica yesterday to visit another missionary, Erica. The road was horribly rough, and when they reached their remote destination, they had a flat tire. They discovered their spare was missing & were perplexed as to what to do, since they were very remote and had to return in time for the engagement party. Two hours later, Erica arrived with their tire! She told them she saw a man she knew on a bicycle, carrying the tire. Erica somehow knew the tire was Roy’s and took it. They were all amazed that an expensive item like a new tire & rim lay on the road for 2 hours & was only picked up by this man & that Erica happened to pass him before the turnoff – 5 minutes later & she would’ve missed him. Isn’t it awesome that we are always in God’s thoughts and He’s always looking out for us?!  

It’s sunny today, but cold. Our picnic lunch to the waterfall is cancelled due to the mud from the rains. It rained again Sunday night, which is probably making the already weak signal worse so that skyping into service was impossible. We very much enjoyed hearing the worship team, and seeing & saying Hi to everyone. When Terry asked if there were any visitors, we tried to announce Daniel was with us (he & his wife Sarah manage the young orphan children), but our connection was too poor. Sorry we missed Rick’s message – I was sure looking forward to it.  I’ll try to see it on website after I purchase more aircard minutes/data. The 4 of us then spent the evening discussing how our arrival goals and perceptions have changed, now that we’re half way through the month here. Funny how we can have bias and certain perceptions about something/someone and not even realize it (or do but get stuck on it) until the Lord reveals truth. I pray that we all continually seek to the Lord in seeing everything the way He sees it. I want to walk consistently in the spirit, not the flesh.

2 months for Martinio & local crew to erect 4 columns.  3 days for Enrique to

 help them cut trees for supports, lay rebar, set forms & pour Tank Platform!

Mon 8/18  - Enrique is working on the water tower again, now that Lovemore’s ankle is healed. Cecil is installing the water system in Steph’s house. I’m sewing more mosquito screens after repairing Steph’s sewing machine. Roy & Trish have taken the older girls to camp at Gorongosa Park for two nights. Steph and I discussed the importance of the 5 love languages. [from The 5 Love Languages book by Gary Chapman]  I never really paid it much mind despite Rick & Marie both teaching it at different times. But I’ve found that some people really need to be loved in their language – Cecil is ‘words of affirmation’, Steph is ‘physical touch’ – she loves that you all sent hugs her way so I hope she’s getting her fill each day as I pass them on (although I must admit sometimes I forget since I’m not much of a hugger). Steph discovered a trusted worker has been stealing many chickens & supplies. She is grieved and we’re praying for her. I sent text to Marie, Terry Eoff & Kellie to pray.

Clinic Floor Painted!

Water system for Stephanie, which Cecil is working on

 Tues 8/19  - Prayer group 6am – many needs, many trials. I’m praying for boldness amidst the storms and persecutions, that discouragement will be turned in to determination and resolve to not grow weary of being a good soldier for Christ Jesus. Enrique is working on the clinic & water tower today. Cecil is working on Steph’s water system. Everything here takes 5x longer than we’re used to due to no adequate tools/materials and much time spent looking for tools/materials we should have (everyone here shares, so the hammer, for example, could be with one of 10 people,  so you walk around Maforga looking for them). But that’s okay because on the way you converse w/everyone, forging relationships.

Sheri w/orphans after Child Assessments. Jona is in orange -

 "I wanted to bring him home last year; He’s now too big for 

my suitcase so I’ll have to move here!"

I did child assessments for Sarah Bell’s medical records, and then create spreadsheets for each child & email them to her to print. She tells me the Vovo’s (child caretakers/nannies) will feed their favorite children more than others, so she must be present at most meals to assure adequate portions. You can tell the faves since they’re chubby compared to the thinner ones.  Two have signs of development problems stemming from malnourished state &/or abuse/trauma when they arrived at Maforga – 2yr old Ruth just started standing 1 month ago, but still needs assist to balance. Jona (Jonathan), the boy I spent time w/last year & have many pictures of, helped me by leading each child in, holding my equip, and then returning the child to the playground & leading another in. He has grown quite a bit since last year!

A Heart for the Kids

Enrique Rincon

Saturday Aug 16, 2014 - I have been wanting to tell you guys about my last Sunday experience.

Last night we all slept like babies! We got up, had some breakfast and started getting ready for Sunday service. A couple of little kids followed us right away; one took Cecil’s hand and the other one took mine.  The one with Cecil left right away but the one with me stayed the whole time with me.

The girls worship was just AWESOME.  I wish I would have taken the camcorder to record them, maybe next time. Then came the boys and they sang some songs. We sing one of the same songs in our Spanish ministry on Fridays.  They did an AWESOME job as well.  By then I was really regretting not taking the camcorder, maybe next time as well.

Enrique sharing at church

After this I got up and introduced myself and shared a little bit of myself.  And then Sheri got up to give the message and let me tell you, SHE DID AN AWESOME JOB as well!  Towards the end, I felt like the little boy was feeling kind of comfortable with me and fell asleep so I put him on my lap and every now and then he would shake, but I would hold him tight and he would stop.  On the last one, he just got so relaxed and I saw how he just let go and one of Pastor Rick’s favorite words, AND THEN IT HAPPENED! One of us had a wetting incident; to this day, Cecil says that it was me.  I don’t know about that one!  

One of the girls came to take him and I came to change as well and took advantage of getting my camcorder to ask the boys to sing that song one more time so I could record them.  You should have seen how well we connected.  We understood each other pretty well and I think I made some kind of difference in their lives.  They kept asking me to take pictures with them and kept inviting me to go to the boys side and hang out with them some more.  I got so many hugs from them.  These are WONDERFUL PEOPLE!

After service we had lunch with Daniel and Sarah at Stephanie’s.  We had a great lunch/dinner for me, ( I ate so much).  We fellowshipped with them for about 1 hour and then we went to pick grapefruit.  We brought back 2 ½ sacks. Vasco (Stephanie’s 10 yr old friend) got up in the tree.   And with me being tall, I got the ones up to 9 ft.  On the way down there, Cecil tried to hold Jacenta’s hand, Daniel’s & Sarah’s adopted daughter, and she ran away from him (so would I).  She took my hand and didn’t let go until we came back to their house. I’m not sure if these kids see something in me.  I hope that if they do see something it is THE LIGHT OF MY LORD JESUS CHRIST shining through!!! God Bless you all and we miss you guys, see you soon. 

Rubatano AIDS Ministry & Prayer Calendar: Week 6

Sheri Graham

Friday 8/15 -  Went w/Carlos (Rubatano Homebased Care) & one of his workers, Lazo, to minister to AIDS patients all day today. 1^st visit was an Islamic couple. Today was 1^st time they allowed us to pray over them, and Carlos said they asked to be baptized!

Mr. & Mrs. Mouros, the Islamic couple with AIDS, 

allowed us to pray over them & talk about Jesus.

29yo Maria is very weak from AIDS, and is trying to also care for her 3 orphaned nephews – her sister & bro-law and both her parents died of AIDS. She has no family to help her. She must carry water several hundred yards up the hill that she lives on from the river. When Rubatano visits 3xwk, they get the water for her. There’s no one to care for her as she gets more ill, and no one will marry her since it will be expensive to care for her, as well as the 3 orphans she is responsible for. My heart cries for her, and I know Jesus grieves as well, as He was also a man of sorrows, rejected, and ultimately alone. I prayed (Carlos translated) that she would know our High Priest empathizes with human suffering because He has experienced it. Rubatano built the small 5x6’mud hut where she and the 3 toddlers dwell. Rubatano also brings them food, since she’s too sick to tend a garden or work.

Maria 29 yr w/AIDS caring for her 3 orphaned nephews. 

Her entire family has died of AIDS.

 Lena is a widow, caring for her 2 grandchildren since her daughter & son-law died of AIDS, and she is also dying of AIDS. Isabelle is a young widow with 6 of her own children & 2 of her sister’s children (her sister & bro-law died of AIDS); she is currently not ill, but has not yet been tested. She works as much as she can in the corn fields while watching the 8 kids. Another widow w/3 children is HIV+ but is so far responding well to the AIDS meds. Another gentleman is very depressed; he was a very strong, large man but in 2 months he has been reduced to a frail frame; he is also suffering Malaria, and he also has s/s TB; his church family was present; Carlos says he is spiritually slipping and they are desperately ministering to him.

Carlos' Giua - Rubatano AIDS
 Ministry in Gondola, Mozambique

Rubatano provides not only food, medications, & crude housing, but most importantly Hope and Love by our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole cultural problem is complicated and far-reaching, and would be overwhelming and completely hopeless if our God wasn’t for us and with us. Med compliance is a problem since some of the meds make them hungry, and food is scarce, so they’d rather skip the meds and not feel the hunger pangs. Workers assess pts’ symptoms, secondary infections, med compliance, med side-effects, physical (food, housing, etc) & emotional needs, spiritual needs, short & long-term security. Other family members and friends/neighbors try to steal the land away from the children once they’re orphaned, so Rubatano tries to secure the property before the parents die. The communities years ago used to contribute to help the widows & orphans, but a couple years ago the funerals averaged 5 per week per village. The contributions for wood & nails for coffins, and food for the feast, depleted any other contributions. The funerals now average 1-2/month, but since many of the dead are men, there’s no one working to be able to restore the contributions of money or food.

These are the some of the children that accompanied me thru

 the village on the way to a patient, holding my hands & singing.

The poverty is unbelievable. Thank God for His work at Rubatano – these workers are frequently the only people that take the time to acknowledge, love and care for them. Workers are awesome to glorify God in making sure people understand that the provision, protection and love is from God, not from man. Walking thru a village to visit 1 patient, 10 young children took turns holding my hands to walk to the home, and sat staring quietly at me during the entire 45 minute visit. Walking back to the truck I sang the old blues gospel song Glory Glory while they clapped, and they sang each time they recognized the verse Glory Glory, Halleluiah (Gloria & Halleluiah are evidently universal words). Then they sang a song while I clapped & hummed. Carlos reminded me of Matt 19:14 But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  When I returned to the truck, I noticed my hands were black, and I mean black (and greasy) from all their hands. Ps 103:13-14 came to mind: As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. We are all dust, and I was taking some of their dust w/me, dust that Jesus likened to the kingdom of heaven. From this interaction with these poverty-stricken children, filthy and clothed in torn rags barely resembling clothing, unable to speak each other’s language, I pondered 1 Sam 2:8 (Ps 113:7) He raises the poor from the dust, And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes, And make them inherit the throne of glory.

Steph was in town most of the day, and she found that hopefully immigration will allow me to get a stamp in Chimoio so I don’t have to stay in Zimbabwe overnight to get my 30-day exit stamp. Enrique & Cecil helped Roy re-do the old pump (again…Roy keeps coming up with new ideas to attempt) to try to get more water. The team of 15 that arrived last night has further strained the already short water supply. We gave them a few gallons out of the 20-gallon can we have managed to fill 2/3 full over the past 2 nights by filling around 4am when no one else is trying to get water. Cecil & Enrique have left for the boys’ orphanage for worship & fellowship. Stephanie is having a girls’ movie night so I’m headed there in ½ hr.

As we have been reading, the need in Maforga and surrounding areas in Mozambique is great, while the workers are few.  Let's lift up the CCM Team, the long-term missionaries, the ministries, the poor, the afflicted, the oppressed and the lost - in fervent prayer.  How comforting it is that we have a God who empathizes with us and those we minister to.  His Love fills in the holes that sin leaves in our hearts.  His Grace is abundant and sufficient!  Our team needs to be covered in prayer.  Please join in!

Africa Prayer Calendar: Week 6

Excerpts are taken from Neal Pirolo’s book “Serving As Senders Today.”

“…and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Colossians 1:10

The personal devotional life of your worker is at stake here. On the field there are many factors that can lead to spiritual drought:

1)      Your worker may become so busy “working for the Lord” that there is no time for personal intake. He does not take the time to be still and hear from the Lord. His head can still nod at the appropriate times; his public prayers can still sound holy; his teaching can still be most proper! Unfortunately, though, he knows the life of the Spirit is gone.

2)      Loneliness haunts many cross-cultural workers. More susceptible, of course, are single adults. This can lead to seeking inappropriate relationships, which can lead to spiritual dryness.

One single woman was continually being harassed by the married people about “getting married.” Unfortunately, she found relief from this pressure in a local bar! A kind, married couple became her confidants.

3)      Expectations of the people back home are not met. Some think, “We are paying the bill. We want to see some results!” And generally those “results” are in the number of conversions.

One friend wrote from a very difficult field. He knew that his major work would be “breaking up fallow ground” and had communicated that to his support team members. But, after six months the people back home were wanting “statistics”! He had none. He was discouraged.

4)      Failure in task takes its toll on some. Discouragement debilitates. This downward spiral of morale is slippery. At the bottom of the slide are many spiritually depleted field workers. Often these burned-out workers do not realize they should go home. They become an embarrassment to the mission endeavor, a drain on the energies of others who are trying to help them and a dismal blot on the testimony of God’s Church in the world!

5)      Disillusionment can bring awful frustration, which in turn may lead to spiritual drought. In the mission process there are many tasks that aren’t very glamorous – cleaning the grease trap outside the kitchen door, keeping inventory on radio parts, or being reviled by a drunken street-sleeper.

6)      One may become discontented with other workers. “Discontent” is putting it mildly! “Radical interpersonal relationship problems” might be more accurate. This is the number one cause of missionary failure. Why? Because Jesus said, “They [the ones your worker has gone out to seek and to save] will know we are His disciples by our love for one another” (John 13:35). So here is a major area of attack by the enemy: If he can destroy our unity he will destroy our testimony!

Your prayers and the united intercession of the prayer support team for your cross-cultural worker will put a hedge of protection around him (Ezekiel 22:30), will guard his thoughts (Philippians 4:4-7) and will give him the wisdom of a peacemaker in those tough interpersonal situations (James 3:13-18).

Adjusting to Adversity all the while BLESSED!

Sheri Graham

Sunday 8/10/14 -  After lunch guys picked grapefruit w/Steph & Sarah & Daniel. I stayed home to do some reading. Afterward, everyone was supposed to go to the waterfall to relax, but we were all too tired. Spent “Evening w/the missionary” as Steph didn’t have electricity but we did, so she charged her computer while we asked her questions. We were all too tired for dinner, so guys ate leftover carrot cake from lunch. I ate leftover rice from Sat night. Stephanie appears to be very settled here, as she has 2 pets and is wanting to adopt an orphan. She seems happy, although I can’t imagine how frustrated she is with the delays in opening the clinic. She says she gets a bit discouraged sometimes, but she certainly doesn’t show it. I admire her tenacity & her ability to show Christ-likeness despite the adversity.

Cecil and Enrique working on the clinic. Note: the rolling scaffold is 

 a hospital bed frame, the ceiling hoist is an iv pole & a metal grate.

Monday 8/11/14 - We all worked at the clinic all day today. We prepped it for paint so Enrique will paint tomorrow. This morning Steph found several guys from the saw mill stealing what little water we had in the tank for the Rondavo (we wondered why we didn’t have a drop this am!). We were without water & electricity during lunch, but Steph has a gas stove so she made omelets for lunch. All the other missionaries here are married and have children, so I’m glad we’re here to fellowship w/Stephanie & encourage her. Everyone here is no nice & helpful, but it is different when you’re single. 

God has kept us safe and free from accidents. He is doing work in each one of us. I look forward to our chats every am & pm when we talk about what He is doing and can glean from each other & encourage one another. Anna (wife of one of Stephanie’s workers) does our cooking, cleaning & wash Mon-Wed-Thurs. Once the clinic is done enough that the guys won’t need me, there are several nursing projects for me to do for Steph/clinic and Sarah/orphan assessments & records. I also need to start working on the teachings Carlos wanted me to do for the workers.

Tuesday 8/12/14 - AM devotional, we discussed 1 Thess 5:17 Pray w/out ceasing, in everything give thanks… We will remember to pray before every task for Jesus to help us with it. If the task does not go well, we will give it to the Lord & not get frustrated. We are doing this work for the Lord, not Stephanie, not Roy, not even Maforga. We thank God for the opportunity to work where He is working, and thankful that He is helping us to accomplish it…even if it means His perfect timing to accomplish it means trying again tomorrow, or the next day (we finally got the middle hall light in the clinic working this am after 3 days of working on it & having to just walk away!). The work is frustratingly slow. I pray that we are able to encourage Stephanie & love on her to maintain her spirits, despite the endless delays and lack of ideal (ie Home Depot!) materials & tools. 

We decided that this week we will take a 2 hour siesta every day to refresh our minds, bodies, and especially our spirits mid-day. I needed water to wash clinic walls today. Water to clinic is shut off for now. The Rondova was out of water (our container of reserve for bathing is critically low). Steph had collected a container over the past couple days for the clinic work. As I carried a bucket full of water up the hill from her house to the clinic 3 times (each time getting heavier), I thought of how precious a commodity water is and what we have to go through to obtain it (but at least I wasn’t having to carry it up from the river today). I pondered the comparison of striving for physical water with the living water. But living water is much more precious, and as much as we will work to get the water necessary for physical life, we should strive even greater lengths necessary to obtain the living water. Today I met Chris, one of the long-term missionaries at the Catholic Mission, where Steph has her corn milled. He used to be a high school coach (and he looked the part). Really nice guy & funny- I’m sure Pastor Rick would enjoy him. Enrique painted clinic ceilings. Cecil disassembled water system at one abandoned house to take over to Stephanie’s. Cec & Enrique helped Roy replace hot water heater at Nanna’s.

Cecil, Sarah, Kees, Enrique

Wednesday 8/13/14 -  Dinner w/Kees & Sarah Tanis & their children Rubin & Farai, and their visiting missionary friend Bert. Farai is home on holiday from boarding school in South Africa. Great fellowship. They made coconut tart again – just as good as last year!

They originally came to Maforga 17 yrs ago to manage the boys' side of the orphanage. They expanded to manage the school, and start ministries for the handicapped, prison, and discipleship training.

Farai, Sheri, Bert, Rubin

 I re-organized the kitchen & bathroom, and cleaned the bathroom & swept about 100 cobwebs off the walls & ceilings this am after Anna was done cleaning. Enrique worked on water tower, and cut trees w/Lovemore for tower support beams. I swept & mopped clinic for Enrique to paint floor in the morning. Cec worked on wiring to install more lights on another chicken coop. Then we carried water system to Steph’s so Cec can determine how to install it.

Thursday 8/14/14 -  Cec went to town with Steph & bonded, had lunch together in town. I spent the day making screens. Enrique painted clinic floors. I helped kids make banner for Nanna’s bday party – she’s 85. Womens prayer at 4pm. Africa is praying for David, Christa, Marie & Pastor Rick. Potluck outside Nanna’s for dinner with bonfire, great fellowship. The water shortage makes everything a challenge. When we’re done washing dishes, they’re usually left w/greasy film since there isn’t enough water to fully wash, and hardly rinse. Lovemore injured his ankle Wed afternoon but kept working, including carrying the cut trees uphill to the water tower. This morning he asked to work only ½ day; I doctored his wound & prayed over it. The area is swollen and very painful (I barely touched it & he jumped, but he won’t wince & when asked, he says he’s trying not to pay attention to the pain). When pressed, he really wanted the day off, but didn’t want to neglect his work obligation. Many of the people here are really tough and humble. I love how they’re so grateful for the little that they have – he & his 4 kids live in a small 10x10 mud & thatch hut w/dirt floor. But he is considered wealthy since he & his wife work (his wife is our cook/clean). Cec laid out water system in prep for install & determined what parts they still needed from town.

Manuel’s 1^st cast was very heavy & painful, so he had the doctor recast, which is now less painful. We are still praying God’s will. I’m told that Manuel & Carlos follow their culture’s “protocol” as far as following doctor’s orders. If you go against 1 doctor, you get black-listed with all doctors in the country so they won’t ever treat you again. A team of 15 from Beira arrived last night. Trish didn’t know about it, so she was scrambling in the midst of Nanna’s bday party to prepare dinner and clean the church for them to bed-down for the night. The team is led by Chico from Beira, who is 1 of the 5 that Roy had originally asked a pastor in Beira to send years ago to help w/boys part of the orphanage. Carlos & Manuel (Rubatano) were also part of that 5. The 15 come annually for 1 week to seek the Lord; they also minister to the children while they are here and anything else the Lord has them do. They travel the Beira corridor thru-out the year ministering to the area villages. I can’t wait to hear them speak (& play – Chico writes his own music/songs) this Sunday.

The Lord is really helping me deepen my relationship with Him. There seems to be new insight almost every day, but what is foremost in my mind recently is to bless the Lord at all times: to pray for His help before every task, no matter how small, and to praise Him at the end of every task, whether it was successful or not; to do everything with excellence, because our God is excellent; to open-up my whole self to him completely every morning, so that during the day when my mind is concentrating on different tasks, my spirit is still in-tune with Him. Everything here is a bit more difficult, and takes much longer, since we don’t have many things that I considered “necessities” in the US. But it’s still do-able, and the adjustment is such a blessing. One of my goals for this trip was for the Lord to take me down to the “nitty-gritty” so I can see the world as He sees it, w/out all the distractions of my flesh, my wants & desires, my preconceived notions and expectations – basically, my SELF. He has also been very gracious to do it slowly. 

I’m also learning much from talking with the other missionaries. I heard more stories last night from Trish about the 1992 war & drought that brought 2000 starving people to Maforga from the surrounding villages looking for food; that there was no running water so they had to dig latrines which overflowed w/all the people & Trish contracted Hepatitis; that Roy spear-heading the mercy-shipments of food to the 25,000 starving people in the surrounding area brought him under suspicion & great danger from the 2 warring parties, since feeding villagers that were sympathetic to 1 or the other party labeled him sympathetic to the opposing party (he later found out from a RENAMO leader that he was supposed to be shot 1 whole year prior to the end of the war); that they chose a different place to sleep in the wilderness every night in case they were under surveillance for kidnapping. Trish recounted 1 day that Roy went to deliver a load of food to a village a few miles away, but took 3 hrs to arrive by logging trail since the roads were land-mined; that she had an overwhelmingly desperate need to pray for Roy so she grabbed another woman and prayed face-down for a few minutes, then heard the bombings in Roy’s direction. She had to wait 3 hrs to see him return alive, & he told her he was only minutes into unloading the truck when he had an overwhelming need to leave immediately, despite the villagers pleas to stay to finish unloading the needed food; that village was bombed minutes after he left. So many stories of what Satan meant for evil that the Lord turned to good. I’ve read Trish’s book about their captivity – but what the book doesn’t describe is how years later, they returned to those camps where they were held captive to share the gospel, and how many of those camps/villages now have planted churches!