Boa Tarde!

We are so blessed to have already received an email from Sheri!  The joy of the Lord abounds!  "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" (Psalm 32:11)

Sheri Graham

Boa Tarde (Good afternoon)!

Our flights were pretty much uneventful with only minor delays. We departed Vegas after midnight on Tuesday morning, and arrived in Beira, Mozambique Wed afternoon. Customs wanted to charge Cecil $80 for Roy’s parts, but after much prayer I threw myself (and the orphans at Maforga, I made sure to mention!) on the mercy of the rather large and scary looking official, and walked away with all the parts without paying duty – Praise God! I have no idea what he was saying to the other officer, or why they were snickering, but we at last departed the airport. We priced roofing materials for the clinic while in Beira. We arrived in Maforga just as it was getting dark, around 6pm Wed (we were hoping God would get us home & off the road before dark). We had a light dinner, prayer, then went to bed! We all had only slept an occasional hour or so on the 15hr flight from JFK to JoBerg.

Kees and Sarah Tanis - Boy's Side of Maforga

Yesterday we toured the larger part of the Maforga grounds, discussed the list of projects, and readied the materials & supplies. We then toured the smaller, boys side of Maforga and visited with Sarah Tanis (Kees was out doing discipleship training). Sarah informed me that Carlos’ right-hand man, Manuel, at Rubatano (the AIDS ministry I support) was in a motorcycle accident Saturday. She showed me the x-rays of severe fractures of his right lower leg requiring extensive orthopedic surgery. Manuel is known as a faithful, good man; very well respected in many communities and pours his heart & life out on those dying of AIDS, and the widows & orphans left in the wake. 


Carlos' Giua  - Rubatano AIDS Ministry Home Based Care - Gondola, Mozambique

Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance on how to proceed with his medical care, as well as Manuel’s work for the Kingdom will not be hindered.

Enrique Rincon

Cecil Sewell

After the tour & visit, Enrique & Cecil started working on 1 of the chicken coops, Stephanie ran to town , and I stayed at Steph's to pre-cook some of our dinner, and prepared for Thurs afternoon Women's Prayer Group at Steph's. The needs here are overwhelming, the list of needed projects long & growing. So we have been in constant prayer for God’s guidance on what specific projects He is inviting us to work on. Waiting for our Vegas departure flight, I had the chance to ask Enrique what his goals were for this trip. Funny how you can assume something about someone, and then find out something amazingly different that God is doing with them. One of the coolest things about a team is how you get to see God work in and through the people around you, and their excitement when God has revealed a deeper side of Himself to them. All 3 of us didn’t sleep last night. In talking to Cecil this morning, it looks like God was speaking to all of us all night. We haven’t had a chance yet today to talk as a group, but we plan to tonight.

As for me, God revealed a little more of His vision for my role here. It looks a bit different than I thought it would from the glimpse He gave me last year when I was here. Roy & Trish returned today from Zimbabwe so I haven’t had a chance to visit with Trish. I’ve been chatting here & there with Stephanie – I don’t want to inundate her with a barrage of questions (cuz I have hundreds!) – so I’m learning much. I have a dinner meeting with Carlos tonight. Cecil & Enrique have been cruising on the clinic & chicken projects. They have gotten quite a bit done already, and they are working so hard. I’m glad today is Friday so that they can rest Sunday.

Roy and Trish Perkins - Directors of Maforga

Water is severely short here, we are being careful to fill bottles for drinking, and buckets for shower/toilet when it is available. I could hear the tanks filling outside my window late last night when no one is using water, and the orphanage starts filling all their buckets at 6am. So we’ve figured out we need to fill ours around 4am so that by 6 the little we take may be filled again, so we don’t leave the kids short.

I would like to share a few things that the Lord has shared/taught me so far: I’ve been fervently asking God to reveal His heart to me, and that I may have a more intimate relationship with Him. In my Hebrew Word Study of Song of Solomon 2:10, I found that Jesus calls me his love or ra’ah. This love relationship opens one up to vulnerability of heart break, but Jesus is willing to risk it because He loves me so much. Just as a woman will not give her heart to a man who she knows will be unfaithful, God may not reveal His heart while I still have other gods, idols and self-centeredness. So how do I ask our great and holy God to make me worthy enough for Him to reveal His heart to me – I will NEVER be worthy enough! And this is where it gets really cool! Our awesome God calls me to come as far as I can, and He will come the rest of the way! It’s like a trip to see a friend and we meet somewhere ½ way; except I need His Spirit to make it the little distance I can, and He is willing to come the remainder (and the majority) of the way!

"My God of mercy shall come to meet me" (Psalm 59:10a)

He has also shown me the importance of the unity of our crew and all the missionaries around us. Maforga is such a wonderful place, where God is working in so many people in many different ministries. The tricky part is all those ministries working together as one unified body in Christ. Different personalities, different giftings from our Creator, different tasks given to them from God with different ways to accomplish those tasks…but ultimately all culminating into one vision and desire of God – to love Him, to honor & glorify Him, and to manifest that love out onto this dark world by loving those around us just as He loves us. 1 Corinthians chapters 1-3, Paul deals with the body being divided by individuals aligning themselves with different men of God. I can see how easy it can be, with so many God-fearing men and women with such powerful ministries, that we could be drawn to one individual and get tunnel vision, at the expense of neglecting or even having discord with other individuals/ministries. I’ll bet the enemy just loves that.

Please pray that I am allowing and welcoming changes that God must do in me to hear & sense His leading better, and that He will clearly reveal the path that He has purposed for me.

 I know He has gone before me to blaze the trail – I’m just a knuckle head and many times can’t find it! Or excitedly run out full speed after the ball, only to find that He hasn’t thrown it yet (for those of you who know my dog-fetch-ball story!).

Love to all! I will try to email again soon!

Until the whole world hears,

Sheri