Merry
Christmas Everyone!!!
Jesus gave
us rain for Christmas! I’ve been telling the girls who’ve been coming to my
house for washing & cooking water the last 2 days, to pray for rain to
refill the rain-catch tanks.
It started
raining just after midnight Christmas Day. I was awakened by a really loud clap
of thunder; the 2nd concussive clap accompanied explosive lightning.
I started unplugging everything & noticed that the lightning was so close
that it had tripped my Earth-leak breaker!
I realigned my front rain-catch tank to a better position under the
gutter, then laid in bed, watching the lightning show. 1 hour later, I realized the sound of the
water filling my front tank had changed pitch. I walked out to a flooded
veranda and water starting to enter my house through the front door! The water
tank has 2 holes – 1 at the top for inlet & 1 at the bottom for outlet. I
hadn’t taken the time yet to buy & install a plug for the top hole; I
didn’t think the 1,000 liter tank would fill to capacity that quickly, but this
was a deluge. I wanted the outlet to be on my veranda so I could easily access
the water, and now the tank was full & impossibly heavy to turn. So I spent
the next 30 minutes filling 3 garbage cans with the water pouring out of the
top spout, while I fashioned a piece of pipe & 2 elbows to channel the top
hole over the side of the veranda. Praise God the materials were readily
available with the clinic storeroom and rain-gutter construction going on! I
thanked God for the rain and for the nearby materials, and asked Him to please
protect my house from flooding & minimize the damage to the veranda
concrete floor. In the morning, all 3
rain tanks were full – my front 1, my back 10,000 liter tank, and the clinic’s
2,500 tank. Thank You Jesus! We had been more than a week without substantial
rain to fill the tanks. I’ve had Maforga workers and girls coming to my house
daily for water. I always try to keep several 20-liter jugs of water at my
house for my work at the clinic, and the workers doing the masonry & cement
work on the clinic plus their drinking & cooking water. Plus I like to have
water for the kids walking past my house on the hot days. So word hasn’t gotten
out that I almost always have water & many show up. Next week I’ll have to
repair the erosion in the concrete floor caused by the downspout.
The nearby
clinics have been closed for the holiday, so I’ve been pretty busy Saturday
& Sunday. Mostly Malaria. I was too tired to join the boys Sat night to
watch the new Jungle Book movie. I missed Sunday breakfast with the girls
because the clinic was busy. The generator had run that morning, so my computer
and Wifi were charged; since church was supposedly canceled in lieu of small
group worship, I started listening to Pastor Rick’s last 2 sermons just before
10am. I finished at 11:45am, unplugged my earphones, and heard Roy’s voice at
the church, followed by singing. There was church after all, although the
Chiqueda side didn’t attend since they were doing their own worship service. I
haven’t seen Roy since to apologize for not attending, but I’m sure glad I had
the time to listen to Rick’s teaching – Wow! I can’t wait to hear the Christmas
message when it’s posted on the website!
After
listening to Rick’s teachings, I cleaned inside & outside the house, which
were a muddy mess from the deluge that lasted until daybreak. Praise God for
sending the rain that night! The Christmas Dinner at Chiqueda would have been
difficult in the rain, no less a deluge. Coffee, tea & cake for adults and
games for younger children started at 4pm. Dinner of stewed lamb, rice,
coleslaw & potatoes was served at 6pm – all cooked and served by the boys
with the help of Sarah Tanis & daughter Farai. Then the kids’ talent show
started at 7pm. There were several groups & 1 solo singing, 1 skit, and 2
dance-offs. My favorite are the dance-offs – wow can these boys dance! I wish I
could video it, but my camera doesn’t record in low light. We finished at
8:45pm; the kids’ wanted to continue, but it was past us adults’ bedtime!
Praise God for my new truck! Many of the girls had walked to Chiqueda when it
was light, and Guido drove the young kids to the games. Guido & my truck
were the only ones left there going back to Maforga, so we had just enough room
for all 42 of them (Guido’s truck is a cattle truck, so he fits lots of them in
the back)! It then started raining again around 11pm, but a soft rain. It’s
still raining now.
I was going
to join the Bells for Christmas Dinner Friday night, but Sarah couldn’t bring
herself to butchering Chris D. They bought him before Thanksgiving and have
been fattening him up since. She intentionally named him Christmas Dinner so
she & her kids wouldn’t get attached…but it didn’t work.
We continue
to be on generator a couple hours most mornings and nights. I haven’t had water
at my house since I returned from Beira; I’m by myself down the hill, so the
valve for my water-line is only partially open. The other 2 lines for the
orphanage, the Big House, and the other missionaries’ homes are completely
open, and with their large water consumption, there isn’t any getting to my
house. But praise God that water is usually available at Chiqueda! It’s also
easier to load & unload water jugs in my pickup truck rather than Steph’s
SUV, so praise God again for my truck! And Chiqueda usually has electricity, so
I charge my electronics and fetch water at the same time…plus sometimes spend
an extra hour there to get some uninterrupted quiet time on my computer to get
emailing done. It’s a bit frustrating trying to get computer stuff done at
Maforga without electricity. I’m frequently interrupted, so my batteries don’t
last with letting computer & Wifi stay on, or shutting them down & then
having to power them up again. It will be so nice if and when we ever get the
electricity hooked up again! I’m actually at Chiqueda now. The generator wasn’t
on long enough this morning to get more than 50% charged. There was no one at
the clinic, probably due to the rain, so I came over here to plug in.
My truck
made it from Beira to Maforga on Mon, then 2 trips into Chimoio Tues, before
needing its clutch-pad repaired. Roy had his workers drop the tranny, then he
had the clutch-pad repaired in Chimoio , then he reinstalled it Friday. Praise
God Steph’s truck is here, although I use it as little as possible. It’s really
getting worn out – it’s an old model, and these Mozambican roads beat the
vehicles to an early death. I’m really surprised her truck still runs, but
praise God it does! I still have a little work to do on my truck that the Beira
mechanic didn’t get to. I need to replace the rubber mounts on the bed –
especially on these horrible roads. Plus it starts slow about ½ the time,
despite new battery and good alternator; Guido knows a good auto electrician
that is honest and reasonable. I also need to replace the tires very soon –
it’s dangerous to have lean tires on these rough dirt roads, and the paved
roads with potholes that can swallow a VW Bug! Plus Chimoio & Gondola
streets always flood with rain – they’ve not engineered for drainage. I haven’t
seen it yet, but the busiest street in Chimoio, where all the buses and taxis
are, is frequently under 1 foot of water! The shops on that street have
concrete walls about 18” high in their doorways, which you have to step over to
enter, to keep the flood water out. Now that my truck is off the lift, when I
get a chance when it’s not raining, I’ll send pix – the pretty passenger side! The driver’s
side is the repaired side, and thankfully; the back door doesn’t shut without a
good slam, so it’s easy for me to check before I drive off or lock up.
I pray that
your Christmas was a time filled with the Love and Joy of our Savior, Who came
so that for the Joy set before Him, He would endure the cross. That’s a lot of
love and joy!
I hope and
pray that the New Year will usher in a time of peace and rest in Him for you,
and that you grow ever closer to our Lord God, and to each other in love.
Thus says the Lord…
“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.”
-Isaiah 43:16, 18-19
Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year!
With Love
and Prayers,
Sheri
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| Jorge & Denis, building clinic outer storeroom |
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| The Bell girls feeding Christmas Dinner. Yep, that's the goat's name! |
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