Final Post

It has been nearly six months since Ann and I left Mozambique.  Our 15-year plan turned out to really be a five-year plan as the plans of man....well.....they aren't so reliable.  It is clear that we will not be returning and we have many more questions than answers about our time there but at the same time, we know we were faithful to His call on our lives.

We will continue to search our 'what is next' through prayer, reading, study, and seeking.  We are not at this time inclined to return to overseas service.

But regardless, it is time to end this blog since this particular journey has ended.  I offer the following summation:

1.  Our Call was real, it was specific, and it was for a purpose we may never fully understand.     The reality of that Call has never changed.  It was for Mozambique, and there was urgency in the Call but just as quickly as it came, it was removed.
2.  It was truly a privilege to work in Mozambique for the time we did and to work side-by-side with our dear Mozambican brothers and sisters.  We were given a love for them that was not something we could have ever generated in our own hearts.
3.  Blessings came from the most unexpected places as did the challenges.
4.  The things we thought would be hard turned out to be very easy or even not needed, whereas the things we thought would be easy, turned out to be hard and in some cases impossible.
5.  We were privileged to have the most incredible team of people who went with us, stood by us, prayed for us, sent us notes, called us, hosted us, visited us - the graciousness of God's people is beyond measure.  We could never say 'thank you' enough.
6.  With great gain comes great heartbreak.  But our life experience tells us that God will help us to remember the good with great joy and to cast aside the dung, for life is always full of both and we gain character from both.  Kind of like the movie - wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off.
7.  God loves us and is with us in the good and the bad.  When our hearts break, his heart breaks, for He has walked the same roads as us through His Son.
8.   God is less interested in what we 'do' than I had ever realized.  When we arrived in Mozambique, He was already there and to think that we are 'bringing something' is really kind of silly.  He allows us to participate in what He is already doing.  Everything has to come from being WITH Him, from being open to that leading from deep inside that comes from that Pure spirit deep within us that is His presence.  At 58 years of age, I know so very little of the things of God, for they are in many ways unsearchable and unknowable - but I can know Him and there is great peace in that.
9.  Sometimes the things we do in our compassion and strength are not the things that God would have us do.  Sometimes they even do harm rather than good because of our own frailties, insecurities, and presuppositions.  People need to see the love of Christ in our eyes and our actions.  Our money, our time, our lives are of little help if people cannot see Christ in us. Like those in the medical profession, perhaps we in ministry should also take the vow to 'do no harm' as a guiding principle.
10.  Lastly, we know that God will finish what He has started.  For we believe He is who He says He is.  May we learn how to simply 'be' with Him and trust Him.  There is no other way that makes any sense.

Thank you for standing with us.  May His name be praised and His will be done - on earth as it is in Heaven.

Much love,

Dave and Ann


"Hear O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to your today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Deuteronomy 6:4-7


"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  "Love your neighbor as yourself."  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  Matthew 22:36-40


May we love Him.

Dead Sea Scrolls

While we were in Pennsylvania, we spend a weekend in Philadelphia.  Our daughter treated us to the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit at the Franklin Institute.

The dead sea scrolls were found in 1947 (coincidentally same day when Israel became a nation again) by a shepherd boy who threw a stone in a cave that broke a clay jar that contained an invaluable treasure:  some of the oldest manuscripts we have of Biblical and extra-biblical books.

Great effort had been made to make the exhibit politically correct so-as to not offend, some of it seeming a little over-the-top actually, but that is the world that we live in today.  The exhibit kept building in emotion as an old testament history lesson, that corresponded beautifully for me in my 'read through the bible chronologically' program that I do each year.

They had various artifacts, money, common household items, and some of the pots the documents had been found in.

We were not allowed to take pictures or touch anything (for good reason) where there were pieces of the parchment.  Guards were posted everywhere to watch the exhibit.

In the large room at the end of the exhibit, they had some of the scroll pieces on display and their translations, comparing to the books of the Bible today.

 In this same room, an exhibit of the scroll of the 10 commandments was highlighted and as you pressed a button, the commandment was highlighted and read aloud - so the entire time we are in this part of the exhibit, we were hearing the 10 commandments.

Near the end was a three-ton stone block from the temple in Jerusalem.  It was affixed in a mock-up of the Western wall.   This was the one thing we were allowed to touch and touch it we did as people were brought to their knees - there was something very holy about all of this - like a gift from God - a linking of the dots from the past to the present - I am here, I AM who I AM.  People were praying, touching the rock, sitting on a bench by the rock, and many writing prayer requests to put in the cracks on the mock-up of the west wall in Jerusalem.  We all want to know Him better, to feel His presence and it was a moving time.

The prayer requests were to be gathered from the exhibit and taken to back to Israel - for there is something about Jerusalem....

Ann and I lingered together for some time, hands on the rock, praying, thanking God for His presence, and His working in our lives.

Great exhibit - I think it is one of those traveling deals so if it comes to your city - it is worth going to and cheaper than air fare to the middle east!

We give it five stars!

Much love.

Dave and Ann

"I did not see a temple in the city (the New Jerusalem), because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it....Nothing Impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."  Rev 21: 22-27

Reflections on Graduation

Xaiver at special brunch for students
receiving doctorates

Bakke Graduate University 2012 Commencement reflections:

Things I heard at the ceremonies where my friend Xavier received his doctorate (Doctor of Transformational Leadership):

What is your city?

Go love and serve your city in the name of Christ.  (the charge each doctoral graduate received).

Theology is the science of being blessedly loved for eternity.

I am from, Holland, Ethiopia, Philippines, Myanmar, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, California, India, Pittsburgh, Liberia, Hong Kong, Sierre Leone, Washington, Florida....(there were more!)

My dissertation was the Theology of Work and the Alleviation of Poverty in Mozambique.

Service in progress

Work came before the curse, work is not a curse.  The word for 'work' is often translated 'worship'.  Whatever our work, we need to do it well for God as it is a way of serving Him and worshiping Him.

We were created to work.

Christians are embracing their humanity in new ways as God did through Christ.

Xavier being hooded - my camera chose this
time to freeze up on me.

Evangelical Christians try to climb a ladder to God but they need to learn to go down the ladder as He did and find peace in that journey.

We need to love every church because God loves every church.

The CRU Global Church Planting Program through a global alliance plans to plant 5 million churches by 2020.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

A pair of Docs

Homes are shattered throughout the world.  Leadership begins in the home through Christ and extends into the community.

There are 10 million overseas workers from the Philippines.

As graduates you need to:

1.  Love the God of Jesus and continue to mine the scriptures as you go forward.
2.  Love your family and friends in a fresh way.
3.  Love God's mission and His church.
4.  Improvise.  Love God's projects in history but improvise into the future.

We need to improvise missionally:

1.  The world will always be changing and we are today in a new context; we are in a post-secular, post colonial world.  We to learn to live in these new contexts.
2.  'ONLY live your life in a manner worth of the gospel of Christ...' Live in this manner so that there is  NEW context for the world to see.
3.  We need to know God and see him in the missionary context (He sent Jesus to us).  We need to love this missionary God and follow him into pain and suffering.  
4.  We need to live the new Gospel, which is simply stated:  "Jesus is Lord".  A lord has a reign and is a king we should follow into the cities.
5.  We need to remember that the church was always intended to be mission and we need to improvise missionally so He gets all the credit, to God BE the Glory.

We need to learn to simply 'be'; to be in His presence.  Everything else flows out of this, and thus, Him.

Dave and Dr. Massingue

Congratulations Dr. Massingue and vai com Deus amigo caro.

Blessings

Dave

The completed table where each graduate (Masters
and Doctorate graduates) lighted their candle from
the staff's three candles

"Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  1 Philippians 2:9

"Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine.  Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne."  (Hymn, Take my Life)

What is YOUR city?

This is the balcony of the church where the graduates
went after the service and together sang to the
audience.  It was beautiful.

Team, Leadership, and Lady Vols Softball

When we returned to the States from Mozambique, we landed in Knoxville, Tennessee because that is where we had some things we needed, that is where the ‘family minivan’ was, and it gave us wonderful access to three of our four daughters.  It was our safe place as we processed and prayed through this unexpected life change.  Knoxville was also where we met and started our lives together some 38 years ago, where we both attended college, and where we became Christians, providing a familiar place and truthfully, a place we could just “be” for a while.

One day on a lark, we were driving by the University of Tennessee (UT) and saw a sign that said “Lady Vols Softball game TODAY.”  (Women’s sports at UT are known as “Lady Volunteers [Vols] with the men’s sports being known as “Volunteers.”)  We looked at each other and said ‘why not?’.   This was completely out-of-character for me (not so much for Ann who loves sports!) as I have never been much of a sports fan and my experience in ‘team sports’ is limited to a couple of years of ice hockey in middle-school.  

We entered the softball stadium and sat down.  The team came out laughing and smiling, appearing relaxed and confident as the game started.  The pitcher’s smile of pulled me in and then everything seemed move in a slow motion I can’t explain.  She walked to the outside edge of the pitching circle as her team tensed.  Placing her left foot on the circle, I could sense her entering ‘her groove’.  The intensity of her concentration only increased my own.  She stepped up to the white line; turning her head sideways as she rotated the ball in her hand; lining up as she would everytime in a disciplined process that blocks out all distractions as she made her final mental preparation to pitch.  (To quote the movie “Utopia” - See it, Feel it, Trust it (SVT)).  When the moment was right, she fired that ball with a speed I didn’t think was possible with a softball.  STRIKE - with the batter looking around as if she had no idea what had just happened. Wow, I was hooked.

The entire team responded to each pitch as if it were a choreographed ballet.  It was beautiful to watch as in unison they would all step forward with the pitcher as she threw the ball. With each pitch, with each play, the team encouraged one another.  The catcher looked to the coach, who provided direction.  It was clear that the coach was ‘in charge’ yet the team was functioning as ‘one’ in an orchestration that had clearly been drilled and planned out before the first pitch.

But, then I moved my focus to each player and saw the excellence and unique gifts brought by each of these talented ladies.  With each player I saw the same intensity of focus and yet, relaxed in who they were on the team, knowning their role, not trying to ‘one-up’ their team mates.  The unity of purpose was inspiring.   

When errors happened (not often!), the team didn’t blame but came together and would encourage the errant player, affirming their importance to the team, building them up.  When good plays happened they would draw together as a team and celebrate the success.  Fun in excellence.  When players became tired and were replaced, the team affirmed the leaving player as well as the new player and the focus on the task at hand would continue.  

The training and work happened before the game, but with the game in play, the coaches were there to affirm, to correct, and to make small changes, but the outcome was clearly in the hands of the team.  When a player made a mistake or perhaps dropped a ball, the coach would pull them aside and there would be an intense time of instruction while at the same time, you would see the coach gently patting the arm of the player.  You could see the great affection the coach had for each player, whether batting, striking out, dropping balls, or catching seemingly impossible balls.  It didn’t matter, they were the coach’s girls and although excellence was expected, there was no question that each girl was important as a person.  Many say this was the reason for Pat Summit’s incredible success in UT basketball, because even in her incredible intensity, each player knew in their hearts that Pat loved them in an unconditional way as she drove them to excellence….because she did.  You cannot fake that kind of love and there is tremendous power in sincere love, not for the purpose of receiving something back, but because you truly love.  (1 Corinthians 13)

From that first game, we have made it a point to attend as many home games as we can and we listen to many of the away games via the Internet.  The team has become ‘our lady vols’ and we feel like we know each one of them, even though they have no idea we are even there.  I envy that they have experienced such a positive team experience and pray that they will take much from this experience as they enter into life after college.  I celebrate their ability to have fun in the intensity of what they do week after week.  I find joy in each player’s uniqueness and how together, they have built a team personality that is one of the best in the nation.  I admire the skill of the coaches to work with this team of young ladies with full hearts and how they allow each to express their individuality within the context of a larger group with a common goal.  It is magic to watch.

The team has a habit that I think probably drives the coaching staff and the fans crazy.  Although the team is amazing, sometimes they seem to play to the level of the opposing team.  In one case, we watched them play a non-rated team from a small college in Ann’s hometown.  Our girls had just come off a difficult weekend against a SEC team and now were playing what should have been an easy game.  The other team came focused as they knew they were playing against one of the best teams.  That team played well and were ahead of our ladies, two - nothing.  I wonder how often we do that in our own lives - play to the level of our opponents?... 

But here is where leadership comes in.  Before the fifth inning, the coaches did some serious motivating in the dugout.  I don’t know what was said, but I imagine it was along the lines of ‘enough already, where is my team?  Go out there and do what I and your fans expect you to do…’  I have no idea but everything changed.  The intensity changed, the pitching changed, the hitting changed, and before we knew it, the game was over 8-2.  

I have seen team and how it can work.  It is based in love, working towards a common goal, with each sacrificially giving his or her all for the team, and in that, encouraging each of the team members as they reach for individual excellence, but in concert with the others to reach a commone goal.  But crucial to lasting success is leadership that exercises genuine caring (love), where direction, discipline, and doting are part of encouraging individuals to be the best they can be but not at the expense of the team not being the best it can be.  There are great spiritual lessons in all of this.

Book I refer to is on the right in this photo.

I just finished an interesting book on leadership called ‘Leadership and Self-Deception’ by the Arbinger Institute.  It’s an easy read and talks about being ‘in the box’ and ‘out of the box’ and it rings so true of my life before missions as well as my experiences in mission.  The bottom line of the book is that we need to see people as people, with families, spouses, dreams, interests; that we need to respond to those times when we know we should be doing something to help others instead of deceiving ourselves with why we shouldn’t (or rationalizing why we don’t have to) and then ascribing blame to justify why we are not doing what we know ‘darn-well’ we should be.  If we are blaming or self-justifying, we need to consider that perhaps we are the problem and we are in the midst of self-deception, where we lose all perspective.  I have been on both sides of this fence and cringe as we cry out in song, ‘change my heart oh God….’

The secret may be to see people as people of value, not units, resources, departments, men, women, black, white, yellow, republican, democrat, churched, un-churched - but rather, people of value.  We are each wonderfully and gloriously made in His image.  Being on team should not mean sacrificing your identity or uniqueness.  We need to value diversity and the richness it brings, just like we see in our Lady Vols, who we see as Ivy, Ellen, Melissa, Raven, Lauren, Ashley, Tori, Madison, Hannah, Kat - precious young ladies at the beginning of a new phase of life where we pray God will lead and direct.  Wouldn’t it be something if we could all get on God’s team and together submit to His coaching?  In this case the song is “wouldn’t it be loverly…” 

We have so far to go in this game we call life as we continually fight the battle to lose ourselves and gain the whole world.   As we all try to work on the various teams in our places of employment, our schools, our churches, and our families, may we regard others as better than ourselves, as people of value made in the image of Christ, as people better than ourselves.

Ann at prayer walk station

This day, our Sabbath, we were privileged to spend four hours together on a prayer walk where we were able to walk in isolated woods to specific locations to consider Grace, Adoration, Stillness, Surrender and Rest.  We poured out our hearts, knowing that we are His children, and we simply need to ‘Be’ as he heals our wounded Spirits and accepts our worship, our surrender, our praise and repentence.  It was truly a time of renewal where we stopped to ‘be’.

Be still and know that I am GOD

Be still and know that I AM

Be still and KNOW

Be STILL

BE

It is a state of ‘being’.

With love,

Dave and Ann

When I doubt His love, I hold to His wisdom.

When I can’t understand His justice, I cling to His mercies.

When I wonder about His faithfulness, I cherish His grace.

When I fear His sovereignty, I bow to His holiness.

In that, my heart can rest.

Verdell Davis

[Note - this blog was actually written some weeks ago; just never got around to posting it...]

Something for Nothing

In our personal devotions this morning we were discussing the significance of Good Friday.   We also discussed the rapid change in Jesus’ life from Palm Sunday to death on the Cross less than a week later all those years ago.  

There are four events associated with Thursday:  the washing of the disciples feet, the Last Supper; Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer, and the betrayl of Jesus by Judas.   Each of these events were significant as Jesus gently shared with his hand-picked band of disciples what was to come.  His example of humility and tender care was demonstrated the practical washing of the disciples feet, dirty and sore from travel.  It was love by example.  Then came the agony of prayer as he ‘was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death’ as he relented His will to the Father’s.  It was only the previous Sunday when Jesus came into Jerusalem a victor to the praise of the people on Palm Sunday, only to be betrayed and reviled by the same people a week later as the Messiah they longed for was not the Messiah they expected as their reality was skewed.  I think the only time you can be virtually sure you are in error is when you are marching with the masses, moving with voices of the culture.

We tend to see the world through our own reality filters and often put way too much confidence in our perception of reality.  The people wanted a Messiah, but their reality was skewed and the Messiah they received was so much more, canceling the impossible burden of being ‘good enough’ to be loved and accepted by a Holy God.  They wanted the military leader who would lead the mob in rebellion, like we see across the world, time and time again ultimately leading to ruin, war, cruelty and calamity.

Even in the world’s failing political dramas, we look for a messiah to provide for our every need, to enforce some sort of flawed man-made reality of ‘fairness’, as we seek to find our salvation in governments, leaders, systems, agencies, religious institutions, etc.

Our realities are skewed because we are incapable of seeing how all the pieces fit together as an infinite God ‘hovers over the waters’ (Genesis 1).  There is a plan that far exceeds anything we can see or imagine.

The human condition seems to be to 'want something for nothing'.  We see it in the headlines every day in one form or the other across our culture and across the world.  We see it as we hear the debates of ‘fairness’ - whatever that might be (and certainly 'fairness' is about as subjection a term as there is).

Well, God has met that condition by truly doing all the work - we can receive an abundance we cannot fathom or contain.  Instead of complex rules and regulations that we cannot possible fulfill, He has made a way to receive God’s favor through Jesus’ death on a cross; this is the way we can receive the peace that surpasses understanding through a simple recognition of our lost and selfish state, and seeing that there truly is a God who loved us enough to give us a choice: to believe, or not.  

The expection?  Repent and believe - that’s it.  With that will come a life-time of transformation as we trust in Him.  It’s like receiving everything, for virtually nothing.

I wonder if Jesus came today, would the religious of today - would we recognize Him because of our need to appear pure on the outside, yet resisting the cleansing power of relationship with Him, that power that transforms us through and through.  May we all be  “real,”  whatever that might mean in the context you find yourself.

Sunday marks that blessed day, He is alive; He is risen; it is finished.

May God’s presence touch your heart and soul this special weekend as we celebrate receiving eternity for virtually nothing because God knew we were incapable of receiving it unless He did it all.

Thank you Lord.

Celebrate Sunday for He is risen.

Dave & Ann

“...Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  John 7:37 - 38

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:30 - 31

Tropical Storm Dando

  

Mozambique is being challenged by tropical storm Dando.  There has been quite a bit of flooding and the main north - south road (there is only one!) is washed out at the Gaza - Maputo province border.  We have a team from the Wesleyan church trapped here because they were unable to get north to Xai Xai.  The city of Xai Xai is already out of diesel fuel and basic things because the infrastructure of Mozambique is so very fragile.

When we were speaking during our furlough time, I used to say that I could count the times it rained over four years on my two hands.  This year has been quite a bit different!    The good side is the gardens are growing well and we see grass where there has never been grass before.

There is much damage as the sand washes out so easily and roads crumble and cave - disrupting traffic flow.  But people take it in stride, where waiting in a line for hours is, well, just normal.

These photos are of the roads right outside of where we live after the water receded.

This storm is hanging out in the sea between Mozambique and Madagascar and moving so very slowly.  The weather forecasts change hourly.  It reach cyclone speeds for a while but has done lots of damage.  It is a very slight taste of what it must have been like in those terrible floods of 2000 when a series of cyclones whacked Mozambique.

We take weather so much for granted.  But, no matter what happens, we can be sure that God remains on the throne and that nothing happens of which He is not aware.

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it."  Is 45:8

Happy New Year

Church at Sao Damasco

It is amazing that we have passed another New Year’s day in Mozambique.  The years are clicking by way too fast, as I’m sure many of you can attest to in your own lives.  Of course, it really is just an arbitrary day on a man-made calendar not unlike any other, but it provides wonderful opportunity to think about where you have been in the last year and where you might be going in the next!  We are in the midst of such an analysis, proud to have had a small part in the planting of over 120 churches in the past five years and approximately 15,000 decisions for Christ.  What a privilege it has been but there is a change in direction here taking place, and we are sensing that God may soon be moving us in new directions as well.  We look forward to seeing what He will do in the coming year and we seek only to walk in His path for we, like sheep, are far too dense to see the divine picture and plan.

Purchasing Bibles at the Bible League in Maputo

Due to various scheduled times out of our team members, we spent Christmas here in Maputo with two missionaries on short term assignment here (Kyla and Phillip) and with our friends the Brains who are with the International Mission Board (IMB) and preparing to return to the states next week for their own furlough.  Ann hosted Christmas dinner here and everyone pitched in for a traditional meal and my precious wife, who’s love language is ‘gift giving’ had small gifts for all.  

The culture here pretty much closes down mid-December through mid-January, usually due to heat (not so much this year! PTL (so much for global warming)), and many take holiday time.  It is a time of family and friends, but Christmas remains a bit sedate in the churches, where-as ‘all the stops’ are pulled out for Easter.  

Chad, Ann, & Sergio with Solar Jesus Film Equipment

We have re-stocked our church planting supplies, including new Bibles in a newer easy to read Portuguese translation as well as local tribal dialects.  These will eventually find their way to our church planting pastors along with new training materials for children.   In addition, Ann has some translation work in progress translating the OMS human trafficing material into Portuguese for use in our training centers spread throughout the country.  This remains a problem in Mozambique and a South African city right over the border is reported to be a central hub for this kind of activity.  You feel a heaviness when you drive through this town, and it may be because of this horrible sin impacting so many.   In addition, we hope to have the translation of new Village Church Planting Pastor materials underway in the coming weeks.  (Six new manuals have been completed, which will replace the 23 booklets we are currently using and which are difficult for us to obtain and reproduce).  

We are partnering with the Weslyan work in Xai Xai on setting up and using our solar powered Jesus Film equipment.  Chad, shown in this picture with the hat, and his friend Sergio have a sound lab at the Bible College in Xai Xai and can do the requisite computer work to get the Jesus film moved onto the SD cards this equipment uses.  They will make it look easy (the advantages of youth!) and be able to get it into use quickly.  What a joy to partner with like-minded folks reaching Mozambique for Christ.

"Grandma Ann" with Tristen & Jocelyne Helm

While we were in Xai-Xai, we stayed with our missionary friends, Jason and Rachel and enjoyed just spending time with them and kids.  Our lives have been enriched through friendship with this dynamic couple who serve with an organization called Unitas Inteternation.  They have established a fish farm (among other things), where they are growing fish to provide food and funding for the Xai-Xai Bible college.  They also oversee a farm where they have chickens, beef cattle, fruit trees, fruit, and vegatables for sale, with the funding all going to support the Bible College.  Not without challenges, they perservere for the cause of Christ.   I was able to help Jason install a water tank in his attic - a two hour job that took the better part of a day - like all plumbing work!!  I’m not sure how much I really helped, since we had to ‘re-do’ it about three or four times before we got it right!  Isn’t that also par for plumbing work.

The Helms in Xai Xai

Christmas at new "Pic n Pay" in Maputo

Kyla and Phillip, our short termers serving at CAM, have been here since last summer, serving in the Christian School operated by OMS.  They were getting a little stir-crazy with the school down for the holidays, so we took them to South Africa with us to pick up things for the school, check the mission mail, do more eye exams (Ann) this time.  We came back through Kruger Park, (I know, someone has to do it!  ;-)).  We had a delightful time with these precious young people, who have stepped out in faith to see what God might say to them as they serve here in Mozambique.

Some missionaries we knew here who are not coming back to Mozambique, left many things in storage here thinking they would be back by now.  I’ve been spending a few days here and there getting their things ready to ship back to the States.  The hard work is done, although now it is the detail stuff, getting it through customs and the like.  We need to get their stuff shipped, to free up storage space needed by the OMS School.   That has been a joy for this family served many years in Mozambique and partnered with OMS on many occasions.

We’re in the midst of Mango season and the cashew fruits are coming in, so there will be much preparation of cashews in the coming weeks.  I was discussing these things with some Mozambican friends yesterday and there is much tradition associated with the cashew and preparation.  There is the nut and the fruit.  The fruit is used to produce a kind of wine (we saw it on the side of the road while we were traveling to Xai Xai) and there is a cultural memory of killing and eating elephants this time of year as the Cashews come in.  I asked if they had ever eaten elephant, and they said ‘no’ but they have heard the stories and there is supposed to be great power in the eating of elephant and the cashew wine, but they stay away because there is also witchcraft involved in all of this.  Oh Africa, oh Africa, there is such a spiritual darkness that is so much a part of culture…. That explains the stories I also heard in Tenga in 2007, where a lone elephant came through the area to be feasted on……

We wish you a happy new year.  More importantly, we pray that God will reveal himself in new and powerful ways this year.  There is much happening in the world and there is much ‘spin’ on everything you read or hear.  It seems so much like the time of Israel in the time of the Kings, prior to going into captivity; the countries are different, but the stories are the same - rebellion against the Creator and a worshipping of men.  There is nothing new under the sun.

So today, we leave with you what has become our favorite and maybe our life verse from Romans 15:13: 

“May the God of Peace, fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so you might overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  

It’s all about Him - it is not about us.  Overflowing hope comes from trusting He who is always faithful.

Happy and blessed New Year.

Dave and Ann

Mr. Elephant in Kruger Park

Phillip & Kyla

Rya Brain re-arranging our Nativity Scene

James Brain enjoying Christmas in Mozambique

Ann opening presents from her Precious Pearls

 

Ann's (formally Mabel's!) Christmas Tree

World Race

Our friends John Michael and Ashley

The days turn into weeks and the weeks into months, and suddenly you realize you haven't written for a while.  My apologies!

As I started to write this, my dear wife was doing some medical consultation at the door and searching for medicine to help someone.  She pretty much does this in her sleep anymore and has learned the common things here that cause people difficulty.  We brought a fair amount of medical supplies back with us and are going right through them.  She's been doing some on-line nursing things as well to do the requisite training to keep her license current and that has been something she has been enjoying.  She does love the nursing field.

We just returned from a medical trip for a couple of days in South Africa where I got another eye work-up related to the problems last August and a scary high pressure reading a couple of weeks ago and ended up with a clean bill of health for both the eye doctor and our general doctor here, getting some of our prescription meds going again.  On the way back, we got a call from a couple from our home church who were on their way to Mozambique from Cape Town on a bus, and could we host them, and oh by the way, there are 21 of them.  They are participating in a ministry called World Race.  They take a year of their life and travel to 11 countries, working in each one about a month on different ministry assignments.  It actually put a bit of a lift in our step to know we were getting visitors from home!  So, they came in for one afternoon and night and it was our joy to help them find transportation to the north of Mozambique where they were going to work in two different locations.

I took a picture of the license of the bus, just in case!

Ann whipped up a dinner for the 21 young people (something she loves to do) and we had a wonderful time getting to know them.  They are a few months into their journey, having visited China, the Philippines, South Africa, and now Mozambique.  And bright and early in the morning, the bus we arranged actually showed up and off they went with their back-packs to work.  We texted with them on their journey, which took something like 24 hours on what they called "a real African bus".

They told stories of being shook down for money by the border people when they entered Mozambique - that was their first impression, and then while we were arranging for some sort of reasonable transport for them, I made a wrong turn and they got to witness first hand the police corruption, for they took my license and wanted a huge fine.  I admitted fault and knew that the fine was 1000 mtn, but he was insisting on 5000 on the spot.  I had a copy of the law but we were in a hurry and to work your way through this corruption can easily take an hour or two, so I ended up paying 2500 on the spot to get my license back - which of course he wouldn't receipt.  It's the first time since returning I've had to deal with this but it got quite ugly and he was going to keep my license for three months and I wouldn't be able to drive; he kept making different kinds of threats and didn't let up until I finally say that I would just have to leave the country because I couldn't work if I couldn't drive and I would all our workers lose their jobs - is that what you want?  I was willing to pay the fine but he was be corrupt and was damaging his country.  At that, he came to 2500, which in my frustration I paid and went on my way - all right in front of the Mozambique capital building with the flag flying on top.  Then one of the Racers said 'welcome to Mozambique'.  First impressions - you get one chance to make them......  But, I have to admit, I was at fault.....

Anyway, it really was a bright spot to have the racers here and I was able to have some good conversations with several of them, and it is always good to hear how God is working in the lives of His people.

Today we had the joy to participate in a baptism service at one of our churches.  The entire area around the church has been without water for nearly a year and the estimate is the required infrastructure upgrades will be completed by May.  So, the ladies of the church carried water in buckets for nearly a mile to fill a rather large baptismal.  Quite a sacrifice as the people being baptized were from a remote church outside the city and were using the facilities of one of our larger city churches.

I don't think I will ever get used to the length of services (3 hours for this one), but that is one of the big cultural differences I've spoken of before - Americans have watches and Mozambicans have time.  They asked me to speak a word of encouragement at the end, which was my privilege, and a great homework assignment to work with my Portuguese teacher.  

That's probably enough for tonight.  I have many things on my mind to write but need to think them through a bit more before I write them up!

Thank you for standing with us.

We just issued our monthly and quarterly church planting reports and continued to be amazed at what God is doing throughout this beautiful country.  We have just received news that we have our first 4th Generation church planted!

Dave and Ann

May we all be able to say:

  "I have fought the good fight, I have completed the race.  I have kept the faith."  2 Timothy 4:7

The Fun Things We Get To Do

We have quite a list of Mozambican friends we wanted to reconnect with and haven't had the time to do so as of yet.  So today, we set aside the urgent and the foolish, for the important.

We were able to spend some time with Reggie and Melita, a precious couple that just enter into your heart.  Many missionaries have invested in this couple, including the Shacklefords, the Theissens, the Glancys, to mention a few.  This couple married during our last term and they live far north of Maputo, but Reggie commutes by the dangerous mini-buses each day to work in administration at Central Hospital in town-down Maputo - a commute of about 2 hours each way.  On the weekends, he is leading a church near his home; a church they started and that now has about 90 people attending on a given Sunday.   He is a layman, leading a successful church.

We were able to visit with them in their home today and bring greetings and a gift from Mike and Sarah Theissen, which was such a blessing to them.   We looked through their photograph album, and it was clear the importance that all of the above mentioned people were in their lives.  We were greatly encouraged by our time with them and it is always a reminder to me of why we are here: to invest in the lives of Mozambicans who want to reach their nation for Christ.  So often we get distracted by things that just don't matter in the time-line of eternity.

Melita has had some surgery that could impact her ability to have children, which is something they desire. Pray with us that God would do a miracle in their life.  Also, they live in an area that is difficult, with much drug activity, drinking, and the like, and it makes it difficult for them to minister there.  They asked for us to pray for a moving of God's Spirit across their Bairro (neighborhood).  In addition, they are trying to get a small store going in front of their house as there is no nearby store for food and the like.  It is a great dream, and thanks to Gene and Francis, they have this nice container to use as a store; they just need a bit more work on it.  The cover provides protection from the heat and the rain - as the roof of the container isn't all that good.

It's a challenging thing - here is a case where strategic investing in a couple did not build dependency, but they have continued to be self-sufficient in the face of considerable challenges, to serve Christ where they live.  There was great wisdom by those who came before us to invest in this wonderful couple.

We found some new roads today, and several times were very thankful for the 4-wheel drive - used it much today.  Even went over to a small island today north of Maputo by ferry to check out some potential sites for the annual team retreat held each February.  We prefer something close to Maputo if possible.  We held our breath on the ferry, sure that we were way overloaded with six cars and 50 plus people on a boat designed for two cars, but it went well!  The photo shows the one life jacket we could all share 'in-community'.


On the way back, we were able to connect with a young lady from our home church, Sam Peat, who has been working at Arco-Iris orphanage the entire time we were on furlough.  We were so concerned we wouldn't connect with her before she left.  It was  great to spend a little time with a friend from home.  She was friends with a couple of our daughters.

Blessings this day.

Dave and Ann


"But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."  Titus 3:9