Fabio

I think the important part of the work we do is the work that people don’t see and don't have numbers associated with it. I think this is the same in your life as well. We have a relationship with a young man named Fabio who is a ‘grass cutter’ for a living. By a grass cutter, I mean that he takes a hand scythe and swings it back and forth and back and forth all day long. He does a few other things, like trim the incredible thorn hedges that people have here and are constantly puncturing our tire sidewalls, but in general he cuts grass. At the end of the month, he will make something on the order of 2200 mtn, which is equivalent to about $60 dollars US. With this income, he has a small house, a family, and somehow he makes it all work. He is a precious man who is active in his church and has a real love for the Lord.

He came to us the other day needing to go north because the police had summoned him. His sister’s daughter had had a baby in a town north of here and abandoned the baby. His sister is dead, and he is the next of kin. So, the police somehow figured out who went with the baby even though the mother had vanished. The communities here are very strong (see my entry on umbunto) and there really are very few secrets.

So he and his wife go north to get this baby, but wait, there are legal issues involved and his wife must stay in jail (for the family) until this is all worked out. Can you imagine being in jail by proxy!

So, we end up trying to help him think this all through and helping a little with some of the finances involved for travel and the like. After the process grinds through the system, he now has this beautiful baby girl (weeks old) that he is now responsible for. Many here like to say there are no true orphans in Mozambique, and this would be an example of why. The other confusing thing is that if a child has only one parent, they are also considered and called orphans. But of course the reality is that there are a lot of orphans, street kids, and the like, but for the most part, the community has a pretty good handle on who goes with who. I know of one lady who has six or seven ‘orphans’ in her house but in reality they are all children of her children or grandchildren or her brothers and sisters and their extended families. Orphans in a sense, but not in another.

So, here he is with this new baby, making $60 / month, and a can of formula costs about $8 and lasts less than a week. But the community steps in and people help and he is considered actually quite well off because at least he has a job. Other mothers will help nurse the baby, help care for the baby – it all becomes a part of community. So, we pray for God’s provision for this family. We pick up formula when we go to the store to try and help out where we can but not to enslave in some sort of dependent creating post colonial way. Ann helps with health issues, medicines where indicated, and general counsel. We supply some mosquito nets and when we can think of a small job around that he can do for a few extra dollars, we hire him. But we can’t just roll in with physical and financial aid. The system he lives in works well and he is one precious soul of so many who’s lives touch ours. He stood with me this morning praising God for how He is answering his prayers and provision. What a better picture when someone looks to God as their answer, and not the mission, the missionary, the aid agency, or the man with the money. God is able to use all of us to live in community, but what a delicate balance it all is.

I think we are walking in this balance a little better than when we first arrived. Our prayer is that we can turn people’s eyes towards God as their provider and nowhere else. He owns it all anyway no matter how hard we try to hold on to the material things that choke the very life out of us,\; it is all his.

Yesterday as I was in the city, I saw a different young man I know driving a three-wheel cart (small taxi) with a couple in the back and he waved vigorously at me when I passed. We have had a tough relationship with this particular young man because he always wanted handouts but not to work. We have gone around and around with him about how he needs to work to provide for his family, especially considering he had some reasonable qualifications for getting work! Wow, He is actually working – maybe he is really starting to look to God as his provider. Maybe all the counsel, prayer, and in a certain sense, pain that he caused us is paying off. Thank you Lord!

Last week, Fabio twisted his ankle quite badly. He limped to our door in great pain convinced that he had broken his foot. Ann examined him, in conjunction with our friends who serve with the International Mission Board (IMB). Ann determined that it wasn’t broken and we rounded up some crutches we had, gave out the magic ibuprofen tablets for the pain and swelling, wrapped him up, iced it, and our friends drove him to his nearby home. It’s not good when a grass-cutter can’t cut grass.

Of course his ankle swelled up and despite Ann’s instruction, he went to the clinic, where they told him the same thing. He came back today much better and again praising God for how well he was recovering. We had a great theological discussion and we always enjoy his visits. He sells small plants on the side and we have his plants all around the outside of our house.

So, another lesson on our small amount of faith that God grows into a mighty work. This baby is lucky to be in Fabio’s house. She will receive love, care, and careful nurturing by a family who is not distant from their creator. She will learn of Fabio’s humility and trust in God, and see first hand how God truly does provide; because He cares for us.

I will miss Fabio over the next year, along with all the other dear Mozambican friends we have made. The grief cycle is incredible. We grieve our family and friends in the States when we leave there, and we grieve our family and friends when we leave here. This is a crazy way to live and maybe that is part of why statistics say 70% of missionaries returning from Africa are suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress. Maybe it is just never-ending grief!

With much love this beautiful day.

Dave & Ann

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5: 6-7