After the Funeral

Olga has called us this week a number of times. Her husband died (see my earlier blog about Paulo's funeral) and she is left with a set of twins and a baby. She called us asking for money for transferring the children to a new school near her mother's where she is now living. We asked why she wasn't living in her house in Khongolote, and she said that Paulo's family wouldn't allow it and she was afraid to live there. We asked her if she had approached the church and she said "no" and we encouraged that. She was reluctant to do so.

So, we talked with the church leadership to find out more about Olga's situation because we can so easily "get it wrong" with the language and cultural nuances. Today, I sat with the church leadership to talk about what they do for orphans and widows and then specifically what they think about Olga's situation as her needs will be ongoing. The story I received was not very pretty.

On the evening of the funeral, Paulo's family told Olga she must leave with the children as the house they lived in was in the name of the family and they had paid some of the money to build it so she must move. In addition, they told her that they had been to their witch doctor and put a curse on her so that if she returned to the house, she would be killed. It became ugly and she left with the three children to live with her mother in Xipamanine, a dark-slum area near Maputo. Apparently there is some bad blood between Olga and her in-laws and I knew that the marriage was a bit rocky from time to time, but it would seem the family has a different view.

Paulo worked some for a large aluminum smelter here occassionally and had accumulated a few benefits and the equivalent of some social security money for the children. However, the death certificate issued by the government was delivered to the house and Paulo's family holds it and won't let Olga use it to obtain her meager benefits from the government. The church leaders are trying to meet with the family to work out a solution but to date haven't had much luck because his family is not Christian and they are heavily into the 'dark arts' as I like to call them.

Under Mozambican law, it is my understanding that the house is supposed to go to the wife and children and that if we can get Olga to go to one of two agencies with the government, she may be able to get some help. However, there is a kind of reluctant fear that prevents many from approaching the government on these kind of issues (probably for good reason!). But, first she needs the death certificate.

So, she is basically out-in-the cold (figuratively - you've never in the 'cold' in Mozambique), living miles from her home and church and feeling totally alone. The church is trying to encourage her along but the relationship is difficult and now geologically distant.

The leadership encouraged us to help her through this first crisis and they would speak with the family and figure out what to do with the next crisis that will most certainly come if she doesn't return to her home. It's a complex and mirey mess of broken relationships, greed, and spiritual darkness. Please pray for Olga and the kids and the church leadership as they work through this mess. Pray for us as we meet with Olga this week to provide a little help and encouragement.

May God be honored in all that we do in this situation and I pray that God will protect these precious children who had a godly father taken at such a young age. Their horrified and downcast faces will be forever etched in my memory when they first saw their father's face in a casket. Come to their aid dear Lord and may we be your hands and feet.

Dave & Ann