Graduation

We knew that yesterday was the planned graduation of the seminary certificate level theology class. We started this class through our church planting program about two years ago, with the class meeting each Saturday. Although we started with more students, these are the ones who remained faithful and dedicated and perservered, to finish their training. We know each of these graduates well and are excited to see what God does in each of their lives. There is an additional Saturday class in progress and Pastor Daniel is planning to start another.

The red shirts identify them as the graduates!

Congratulations to Luisa, Isabel, Julia, Victoria, Nelio and Basilo! (Photo shows Daniel giving a charge to the graduates!).

Thank you Lord for Daniel's faithfulness to teach these students with enthusiasm, dedication, and Your love. Thank you for each of these students and what You are are doing in each of their lives. Use them in a mighty way to reach their precious nation for Christ.

And of course, there is always cake!

So sad for us to miss this but we are so thankful for the pictures our team sent to us!

Dave & Ann

"Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please Him in all that I do;

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,

This the pathway of blessing for me"

(Hymn by Thomas Chisholm and C. Harold Lowden, 1917)

Back at the Cabin

As a short update, we are back at the cabin in North Carolina after traveling 10,000 miles to report to our precious support base. We are anticipating our family arriving, starting this weekend, for a time together for Thanksgiving. As we were driving up the steep one-lane gravel road in a heavily loaded mini-van, we got a flat tire. We tried to drive to a more level place and began unpacking (it’s dark – no lights!) to change the flat. We’re about 3 miles from the cabin – but it is a long three miles.

So, on this road where we never see cars, we now have people blocked in front of us and behind us. We dig out the spare tire – and it is very low in pressure, and manage to get it changed and limp to the cabin where I borrowed an air pump and pumped up the tire. There is a two-inch by six inch piece of gravel driven through the center of the tread – major hole. Gravel!!!???? I’ve gotten punctures by drill bits, screws, nails, thorns, but never gravel!

The good news is we got back ok, we met some of our neighbors we hadn’t met before, and it all turned out just fine. The bad news is that we ended up buying two more tires (we got snow tires for the front in Pittsburgh). However, we have more confidence negotiating the road with good rubber under us now instead of the nearly bald specials!

We are catching up on some reports we owe and other administrative work we are responsible for. We learned that two more new churches were planted last month, for which we are very thankful and can only give God the praise. The roof to the Mocuba ministry center is nearly repaired after high winds blew some of it off – we are thankful for that also. I think we have some photos of this on Ann’s computer that I will try to add later.

There is quite a bit of work here to do after being gone for 10 weeks also – some high wind came through here also – nothing major but just work that we need to do to prepare for winter!

It was a wonderful time to meet with so many of our friends but yet there are so many we were unable to connect with. Our travel schedule is filling back up – this time of furlough is so long, yet so very short.

No photos to post - Internet speed is way too slow up here on the mountain top!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Dave & Ann

“Be very careful , then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity….” Ephesians 5:15

Fire in Nacuarine

On October 30, I received an email from my friend Juka about a sad situation that I thought I’d share with you. But to tell the story, I must set a bit of background. A fundamental difference in the justice systems between the US and Mozambique is simply the presumption of guilt. In the US system, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty (unless you have the misfortune to be tried by the Press) whereas in the Mozambique system, you are presumed guilty until proven innocent. We have found this to be a very significant difference in that it allows the government to pretty much throw someone in jail for whatever.

Most of Mozambique is rural with subsistence farming the rule. There are few organized farms with great production. A practice is to burn the fields back from time to time to clear weeds and debris and some times of the year, there is a tremendous smoke cloud that can be easily seen by satellite photos as the smoke from burning off fields blows towards the Indian Ocean. On some of our trips, fire has gotten away from folks and we’ve had to stop on roads because of visibility problems and actually been so close to fire that we were afraid our tires would melt as we passed nearby.

Now for the story. Juka advised us of sad news about one of the respected members of the church in a place called Nacuarine. One of the older men, called an “ancient” (like an elder or deacon) in the church farmed the area north of Mocuba on a rather large scale, producing enough corn and other crops that they were transported for sale in the south of Mozambique. He had lost his house a couple of years ago to an out-of-control field fire and was a bit sensitive to a repeat of this and so kept the ground around his house cleared as a fire break, but even this is not a sure thing since the houses have grass-thatch roofs. (The photos are of Joao and his family as well as one with Juka and Joao).

Someone started a fire north of his land and it spread rapidly. To protect his house and land, he started a second fire to clear the land near to his house – making a fire break. However, what he didn’t know was that there were some young people that got trapped between the two fires. In the confusion that followed, the young people were not accounted for and presumed dead – and João was arrested. So, the prayer chain was initiated. In the meantime, João remained in prison until it could be all sorted out.

About a month passed and we learned that two of the young people were able to escape the fire but a third one died, which is very tragic. The police investigation settled on the other individual who started the initial fire and did not control it. As such, that individual became responsible for the destruction and death and injury. So, João has resumed his life but very upset at the tragedy of it all. We are thankful for this answer to prayer but also grieving in the circumstance.

Life is transient; it is an undeniable fact. We have been given this day – that is all we know. May some good come out of this tragic circumstance. I sense in our culture that there is some sort of presumption that life will be fair – or that God will reward us for our good works – or that if I just work hard enough, it will all be good. There is no Biblical ground for this – we are only acceptable in God’s sight through faith in Christ – It is God’s grace alone for if it were anything else, we would never know if we had ‘done enough’ and there would be a slew of people out there to try and judge whether you had done enough or not….or been good enough…..for it is our nature to judge….

What freedom we have through faith in Christ. It is a marvelous thing. But with it comes great responsibility.

Father God, grant peace to João and the families affected by this fire. There is so much tragedy in this world, no matter where we turn. Grant us Your peace and assurance dear Lord and empower us with the boldness to share the Good News for there are no guarantees for tomorrow.

Dave & Ann

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9

“You…were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.” Gal 5:13

Canada

Greetings from Canada. I am writing from Mike and Sarah Thiessen's home tonight and what a joy it is to be with them as we have missed them so in Mozambique. It has been a great evening; we arrived to find many of their family members here, which was a special treat, and then Sarah had a chef-level meal for us as well. We enjoyed just talking tonight and discussing all sorts of things.

Of interest was the drive up from Erie, PA It is my first trip to Canada and the border crossing was something I wasn't quite sure what it would be like. The person at the border asked me where my home base was, and I failed that question right off - I stammered and finally said "North Carolina" and which he said, well then, why do you have Tennessee tags and a Mozambique resident stamp in your passport? Where are you going in Canada? Yes, we are homeless vagabonds living out of our car. We had a nice discussion with him and he let us enter, but it did highlight the confusion about where 'home' is anymore! I just say that home is where Ann is at the moment.

We enjoyed the mission conference in Erie very much. This particular church has been very faithful to us and it was good to reconnect with this church and the folks we remembered so well from four years ago. And as is always the case, it is good to meet new missionaries from other fields and catch up on what God is doing in various parts of the world. In this case, we were with people representing China and the Philippines.

We hope to connect with OMS Canada in the next day or so also - they have been a great help to our field between the CMED program and the seminary.

Blessings this night.

One side note, Sarah and Mike were never phased about the chaos of driving in Mozambique. I was always impressed by that and understand now after driving from the Canadian border, through Toronto to their home! There were trained driving by learning to drive here!

Dave (& Ann)

"The LORD watches over you - the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalm 121

First Snow

We are currently in Erie, PA for a missions conference in a church that has stood faithfully with us during our first term. It is cold and rainy and we are feeling it. Tonight, we looked at the Internet news after church and learned that there is snow on the mountain top where we are headquartered in North Carolina! Only three inches, but it is only November 5 and this is the first snow of the season in the States! On our Mountain????? Ann and I just looked at each other speechless. Snow, already? Do we even remember how to drive in it? Can I just pretend like it is Mozambican mud? But I did have 4-wheel drive in the mud....Would all you snow skiiers please stop praying for snow! ;-) Those 110 degree days in Mozambique are looking awfully good right now!

We left our new friends today in Eastern PA, who treated us so lovingly and hosted us for a couple of weeks as we traveled here and there, even letting us bury our old but beloved dog in their garden. We will miss them much as our hearts connected at some level that is hard to understand, but such a part of the family of God. The same kind of thing happened tonight when a dear lady came into the church that we knew from our visit four years ago and Ann and her just ran to each other - there is a connection that one just can't quite explain. That is a part of the joy of doing what we do - the sweet wonderful relationships through a precious Lord. It surpasses understanding....

We especially enjoyed special time with our oldest daughter and her husband, getting to visit her work place and really just spend time together. We also had a super special treat to spend a morning with a cousin and her husband actually from the West Coast who happened to be very close to where we were staying. That was a special time and I especially enjoyed meeting her husband - one of those people that I found myself liking instantly. A very special time for us and a time to catch up on the last 28 or so years!

We will be here in Erie the next couple of days. We are debating a trip into Canada, watching the weather before we head back to Pittsburgh for next weekend.

I should be receiving our newest information on the church planting work in Mozambique in the next couple of days. I am really looking forward to seeing what God has done. We did get word that a recent storm blew some of the roofing metal off our Mocuba Training Center. I'm waiting on a full assessment of what we will need to get that repaired.

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, o Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

Encouraged by Youth

In the past year I was challenged about making the Gospel relevent to the youth and that this is a modern day challenge of the church. In my mind, the Gospel is relevent in any culture and to any age. As we watch our leaders and country drift away from Biblical instruction under the guise of culture relevancy, I am reminded of Israel in the pre-exile time, when right was called wrong, and wrong was called right and the Bible so clearly declares 'woe to them....' I'm not saying blindly go forward and endorsing "take an eye for an eye" kind of thinking, but rather thoughtful study and application, for the Bible is one story of God's redemptive plan for mankind. Study the cultural context in the Bible, the underlying teaching, and then seek God's wisdom for applying this truth in your individual life. But at the core of this there must be relationship, real, and personal.

One of the challenges we hear about is how to engage the youth of today and great energy is taken to entertain, provide fun programs, exciting trips, and modern music. I'm not saying that these are bad things - certainly all things are needed, but in the end, it is the reality of a personal relationship of one person (or one youth) with His God through the person of Jesus Christ. There are lots of ways to get there, that is for sure, but the truth as contained in God's word remains the truth, and we must not water-it-down under the guise of cultural relevancy.

One of my daughters is attending an inner-city (urban) church plant. The congregation is divided into cell groups that meet each week and they discuss questions related to the prior Sunday's sermon. We attended one such meeting and quite enjoyed being with these young people seeking that God would speak truth into their lives in a relevant way. I was very impressed with these young people, starting out their lives and careers but seeking at an early age God's plan for their lives. This particular church in its approach is growing and attracting more young people for which I can only praise God.

On Sunday afternoon, we attended the church service, which was actually quite liturgical (i.e. there was responsive readings, scripture reading, professions of faith, and communion). Many of the songs were the old wonderful hymns, so full of truth and doctrine, yet updated to a more modern sound yet with the same melody. We looked around and the church was filled with young people - filled. This was a comfort to me even though we were by far the oldest people in the place - by far. They are serious about their faith, but seeking not just programs, not just appearances, but the reality of relationship. I wish there was some way I could keep tabs on each of these young people as I think God is doing an amazing work - it is real, it is relevent, and it is scriptual. For the Gospel is real.....and the youth are the future.

We left Church that day knowing we had worshipped the Creator of the Universe; we had felt His presence; we had been challenged from His Word.


Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:20-21

Beautiful New Jersey

I'm a little behind in my blog entries. Last week we had the privilege of participating in a 4-day missions conference in Lafayette, N.J. This part of NJ is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and is quite a secret I think as few people think of incredible beauty when they think of New Jersey. Our hosts lived on a small far not far from the church and we were comfortable and spoiled with homemade rasbberry jam, pies to die for, and fresh things from the farm. We were so comfortable there we were ready to plant roots and stay. One of the Pastor's wives is fluent in Portuguese and a teacher of Portuguese, and we are praying about spending a bit more time in that area before we return to work on language some more. We think this will be time well spent before returning to Mozambique.

Our daughter (1 of 4) joined us for most of the weekend. We were greatly encouraged by the teaching, the speakers, the prayer time, the other missionaries, and the sincere interest in what God is doing in Mozambique. When we talked with people, they knew about Mozambique, about what we were doing, and the details that spoke volumes - they read our notes and letters, and were engaged with us - wow, what an encouragement! This church also supports an incredible work in Kenya at Tenwick hospital and just like four years ago, after hearing all that was happening at this hospital in rural Kenya, you want to jump up and say 'send me Lord!'. We knew some of the missionaries from the conference four years ago and it was very good to see them again and catch up! We left encouraged, invigorated, and truly blessed. God used this wonderful four days to remind us that it is His work and that His work extends across this world in more ways than we can even begin to comprehend.

One of the activities with the church was to go to a large corn maze. When I say 'large', whatever you are thinking is too small. We were given about two hours in this place with strict instructions to be out by 1430. At 1430, we were hopelessly lost but we thought moving in the right direction. Finally we were rescued - the rats in the maze found their way out. We turned in our forms (there were stations you had to find with questions to complete) and received our prizes - fresh apples. On the way out, we couldn't resist the photograph of being lost in the maize! (spelling intentional!).

As a final note, our hosts in Pennsylvania work with a program called Christian Service Brigade (CSB), which is a program designed to raise leaders through men working with boys. The church we were at uses this program and we talked with several young men, now in college, who were impressive young men seeking God's will for their futures. They were fruit of people investing in youth for a lifetime through discipleship, training, and their presence, which will take me to my next entry!

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

"....fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

More Traveling

We have really enjoyed traveling in Pennsylvania this fall. The fall colors have been incredibly beautiful and something we have sorely missed in Mozambique. It is one of those things that you try to take a picture of, but like the Grand Canyon, a photograph just can't quite capture the reality of it all. We are marvelously made and when we see the beauty of God's creation, we absorb it with all those marvelous senses we have been blessed with to experience life. The sound of the wind in the trees, the way the light flickers through the leaves, lighting up the dust particles making beams of light that you expect to see fairies dancing on. And then there are the smells, the feel of the wind on your face and the warmth of the sun on your face. And the colors shift as the wind blows the leaves and the sun moves from cloud to cloud. No, there is not anyway a photograph can capture it all. We tried to take many but they don't even come close. But I have taken many mental pictures that maybe will be the thing of dreams in the future.

What a blessing it is to experience the beauty of fall. Thank you Lord. What a gift it is....

"For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth, over and around us lies; Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise." (Hymn by Folliott S. Pierpoint in 1864)