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
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