There are two projects we are working on that we’ve been consuming our minds with lately. One is the Mocuba Ministry Center and the other the property we are currently living on. I’ll post the words first but then switch computers to try and upload some photographs.
Mocuba Ministry Center
We have bought a nice piece of property outside of Mocuba for a ministry center that will provide classrooms for training Mozambican pastors and church leaders, a well for community water, a small house for our country coordinator as we need a presence on the property, a bath house, and student dormitories as when people come in for training, we need to be able to house them. We have received our construction permits from the local government and they are excited to have us there. It is such a difference from trying to do things in the city here relative to bureaucracy and road-blocks. To date, we have minimized missionary involvement in the project 
and I think that has been a part of the success as well. Juka gave me copies of the construction permits and we are ready to go. We have about $30,000 for the first phase which should get us the well, the first classroom building, and a small house and I hope a fence of sorts around the property. The classroom building is basically the same as what we built at T-3 for the pre-school (at around $14,000). Belarmino is planning to be our construction supervisor and thinks he can complete the first phase in three to four months. We need additional funding (another $30,000) to finish the overall plan, but we can at least secure the land by building on it and start using the training building. Eventually this will morph into a seminary extension site! This is exciting stuff! Project Number: 407680 - Mocuba Ministry Center
Boa Nova Property
Another idea we have is buying this piece of property we are living on. Rents in Mozambique for
missionaries are escalating at an unbelievable rate and the mission has paid so very much out in rent here in Mozambique over the years with nothing to show for it asset-wise. This beautiful piece of property we are living on may be for sale early next year. It has its own electrical sub-station, a good well, six modest houses, a church building, two dormitories with a bath house, a ministry center, a pre-school building, and an out-building. One of the houses has two mirror-image apartment units that we use for guest housing at the current time. We can rent the housing to missionaries (including ourselves) to pay for the property and building assets in-
country in the process. We can house teachers, do medical work out-of it, host teams, and use teams to help us re-furbish the buildings and facilities. We can experiment with micro-enterprise projects (animals, chicken farms, agriculture, and the like). We get extremely exited about the possibilities but as in all things, it takes money. We haven’t opened a project for this yet although we are feeling that this is the direction we should go. It’s around $250,000 in price, which is truly a bargain and by charging rent on the six houses, we can easily pay this off on an ongoing basis. In addition, there are basically two roads into the city; one is very good and the other is being re-worked, so this area will continue to grow as access to the city is quite good and for us, access to our rural churches is quite good. It would provide great stability to the OMS work here. Pray with us about this potential opportunity.
As an aside, Bruce and Mabel left on the bus for South Africa early this morning to begin their journey home. We stopped along the side of the road in Matola, waiting for the large buses that are headed to South Africa. First the City Bus stopped, but that was not for us. Then came the Greyhound bus, but that wasn’t it either. Then came the Intercape bus – the right one, but it flew right past us and then disappeared down a side street in front of us. The four of us, suitcases in hand, ran after the bus, following it down a side street to another street, into a parking lot – where we barely made it before they loaded it and headed off. We said a hasty good buy as they headed to the upper level for good seats from which to enjoy the ride to Nelspruit, South Africa. We’ll know for next time where this bus stops.
We will put our car in the body shop on Wednesday to have it repaired. Our neighbor has agreed to f
erry us to the shop and back at which time we will sit tight until it is ready. This is finally to get the damage repaired from our accident on June 1, when a man hit us on his first day with a driver’s license. It has taken this long for the insurance carrier to clear everything. The damage is rusting quite a bit so it will be nice to have this all fixed although we really don’t know how long it will take. I’d guess a couple of days, but that might be optimistic….We believe it to be a reputable repair shop and know others who have had repairs done there.
Last night, Raul and Felda came over to visit with Bruce and Mabel and ended up staying for dinner. It was nice to spend some time with them and to hear about all their cultural struggles as they try to finalize their wedding. They have had to put their wedding off once again until May of next year. They are both trying so hard to do the right thing but the cultural barriers are huge. They are a lovely couple with bright futures. Felda is finishing her university thesis. Raul is looking for work because the Non-Government Organization (NGO) he works for replaced their top man and his first action was to fire everybody (how to make friends and influence enemies!). I had to laugh because the Labor Laws here are very much in favor of the employee and this new man has just painted a big bulls-eye on himself and the Ministry of Labor will come quite quickly as soon as the first employee complains. In the mean-time, Raul is trying to get work with other NGOs and we are confident he will land something quickly - he has several interviews lined up already. He has lots of experience, a good education, and God's hand is on his life. As it turns out, Raul was the only one who did not complain to the Ministry of Labor and the new manager was impressed by this and called to ask him to please come re-apply. Raul isn't so sure....
Tomorrow is a baby dedication at the Picoco church.
Dave & Ann
“The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy.” Proverbs 15:30
Mocuba Ministry Center
We have bought a nice piece of property outside of Mocuba for a ministry center that will provide classrooms for training Mozambican pastors and church leaders, a well for community water, a small house for our country coordinator as we need a presence on the property, a bath house, and student dormitories as when people come in for training, we need to be able to house them. We have received our construction permits from the local government and they are excited to have us there. It is such a difference from trying to do things in the city here relative to bureaucracy and road-blocks. To date, we have minimized missionary involvement in the project 
and I think that has been a part of the success as well. Juka gave me copies of the construction permits and we are ready to go. We have about $30,000 for the first phase which should get us the well, the first classroom building, and a small house and I hope a fence of sorts around the property. The classroom building is basically the same as what we built at T-3 for the pre-school (at around $14,000). Belarmino is planning to be our construction supervisor and thinks he can complete the first phase in three to four months. We need additional funding (another $30,000) to finish the overall plan, but we can at least secure the land by building on it and start using the training building. Eventually this will morph into a seminary extension site! This is exciting stuff! Project Number: 407680 - Mocuba Ministry CenterBoa Nova Property
Another idea we have is buying this piece of property we are living on. Rents in Mozambique for
missionaries are escalating at an unbelievable rate and the mission has paid so very much out in rent here in Mozambique over the years with nothing to show for it asset-wise. This beautiful piece of property we are living on may be for sale early next year. It has its own electrical sub-station, a good well, six modest houses, a church building, two dormitories with a bath house, a ministry center, a pre-school building, and an out-building. One of the houses has two mirror-image apartment units that we use for guest housing at the current time. We can rent the housing to missionaries (including ourselves) to pay for the property and building assets in-
country in the process. We can house teachers, do medical work out-of it, host teams, and use teams to help us re-furbish the buildings and facilities. We can experiment with micro-enterprise projects (animals, chicken farms, agriculture, and the like). We get extremely exited about the possibilities but as in all things, it takes money. We haven’t opened a project for this yet although we are feeling that this is the direction we should go. It’s around $250,000 in price, which is truly a bargain and by charging rent on the six houses, we can easily pay this off on an ongoing basis. In addition, there are basically two roads into the city; one is very good and the other is being re-worked, so this area will continue to grow as access to the city is quite good and for us, access to our rural churches is quite good. It would provide great stability to the OMS work here. Pray with us about this potential opportunity.As an aside, Bruce and Mabel left on the bus for South Africa early this morning to begin their journey home. We stopped along the side of the road in Matola, waiting for the large buses that are headed to South Africa. First the City Bus stopped, but that was not for us. Then came the Greyhound bus, but that wasn’t it either. Then came the Intercape bus – the right one, but it flew right past us and then disappeared down a side street in front of us. The four of us, suitcases in hand, ran after the bus, following it down a side street to another street, into a parking lot – where we barely made it before they loaded it and headed off. We said a hasty good buy as they headed to the upper level for good seats from which to enjoy the ride to Nelspruit, South Africa. We’ll know for next time where this bus stops.
We will put our car in the body shop on Wednesday to have it repaired. Our neighbor has agreed to f
erry us to the shop and back at which time we will sit tight until it is ready. This is finally to get the damage repaired from our accident on June 1, when a man hit us on his first day with a driver’s license. It has taken this long for the insurance carrier to clear everything. The damage is rusting quite a bit so it will be nice to have this all fixed although we really don’t know how long it will take. I’d guess a couple of days, but that might be optimistic….We believe it to be a reputable repair shop and know others who have had repairs done there.Last night, Raul and Felda came over to visit with Bruce and Mabel and ended up staying for dinner. It was nice to spend some time with them and to hear about all their cultural struggles as they try to finalize their wedding. They have had to put their wedding off once again until May of next year. They are both trying so hard to do the right thing but the cultural barriers are huge. They are a lovely couple with bright futures. Felda is finishing her university thesis. Raul is looking for work because the Non-Government Organization (NGO) he works for replaced their top man and his first action was to fire everybody (how to make friends and influence enemies!). I had to laugh because the Labor Laws here are very much in favor of the employee and this new man has just painted a big bulls-eye on himself and the Ministry of Labor will come quite quickly as soon as the first employee complains. In the mean-time, Raul is trying to get work with other NGOs and we are confident he will land something quickly - he has several interviews lined up already. He has lots of experience, a good education, and God's hand is on his life. As it turns out, Raul was the only one who did not complain to the Ministry of Labor and the new manager was impressed by this and called to ask him to please come re-apply. Raul isn't so sure....
Tomorrow is a baby dedication at the Picoco church.
Dave & Ann
“The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy.” Proverbs 15:30
1 comment:
Exciting possibilities!!! Wow! :)
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