Weddings

For the last three weekends, we have had the privilege of participating in wedding services at our T-3 church and the parties that follow afterwards.  It is a great honor to meet with and to pray with these young couples as they begin their covenant relationship together with the very Creator of the Universe.  These events make our days fly by and for me, it takes quite a bit of preparation to have my Portuguese all lined up before the service.  I utilize some of the guards at the place where we live, some of whom are pastors and church leaders, to help me with pronunciation and cadence as well as our language teacher who helps us on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Language, language, language - it can be so frustrating as it really limits your effectiveness, but sometimes I think that is also a part of God's plan.  It keeps us humble.

It also provides a great time for fellowship, relationships, and learning about culture.  As an example, today's wedding was a bit different - the actual wedding had been at another church on Saturday, and it was more of a blessing this day vice a wedding.  But, we realized that it had a completely different feel than the other wedding celebrations we have attended, mostly associated with the OMS founded denomination we work with.  Maybe we are starting to recognize the subtleties of culture a bit better.  It is a long process.

Here are a few photos of some of the recent weddings.

This morning, we took our neighbor's three and 1/2 year old to church with us to give her mom a break.  We love this little girl, and it took us back to our days so long ago of our own precious daughters whom we miss so very deeply.  It was fun to have her with us; but she was running down a hallway and fell and skinned her knee - such drama that I hope doesn't keep us from being able to steal her away again some time in the future!

Much love.

Dave and Ann

"And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and Have not charity (love), it profiteth me nothing."  1 Corinthians 13:3

 

Wedding Celebration

This past Sunday, we participated in a 10-year wedding celebration at our T-3 church.  We have been attending this church regularly since we arrived as we didn't want to take our borrowed car (from a missionary friend) into the places we tend to go!  We have enjoyed that and enjoyed getting reconnected there.

Culturally, as in most cultures, Mozambicans celebrate weddings in a big way.  They also do rather significant recognition of wedding anniversary dates, 5 years, 10 years, and 50 years.  So, our 37 years - that will have to wait a few for a big celebration!  

Last Sunday, Isabel and Celso celebrated 10 years.  They are leaders at the T-3 church and we were privileged to participate in the ceremony which was very similar in all aspects to an actual wedding except that the vows were recommitments, which is a good thing that all of us married folks should consider from time to time.  I prepared my part of the ceremony, went over it with my Portuguese teacher, and then practiced it with whoever would listen!  Saturday I spent with the two guards who watch over the school and the property where we are living.  They had lots of good ideas and it allowed us to move into even more conversation about spiritual things.  I enjoyed that time under the cashew tree, just talking with these dear men.

The church started at 0900 and I think we left for the party a little after noon.  The celebration at their house lasted the rest of the day and we enjoyed singing, presenting gifts, and eating the standard party food, including rice, beef, chicken, cucumber salad with tons of mayonnaise, bread, a carrot salad, soft drinks, and of course cake.  There was also Shema, which I love, which is a corn-based meal much like grits.  And beans, always wonderful Mozambican beans.

I find myself much more relaxed at these affairs as we have enough language (with a long ways still to go) to converse and understand.  Such a far cry from when we first arrived over five years ago.  God is truly gracious and we thank Him for that wonderful provision.

A standard fair is for the singers / dancers to enter into a dance competition where one dancer challenges another and they dance to the song and clapping sung by all of us.  The challenged dancer attempts to keep up with the same fancy foot work as the sand flies and the sweat builds - it is truly amazing to watch and although to me they are both clearly outstanding, it to everyone else, there is always a recognized winner, who then challenges someone else.  Both men and women participate and I could only dream of moving that way.  There was a time that all the wedding participants danced with their wives within the circle of the singers and clappers, and we enjoyed that.

It was a great day and I did get to talk with one man at length about his life, his church history, and the reality of drawing close to God, which is different from attending church, and which is the key to a transformed life, which leads to the desire to be with God's people.   Leading lives of simple humility and casting away our foolish pride.

Speaking of pride, it is something God is always challenging me with.  Pastor Daniel invited me to dance with him (compete) and I declined - foolish pride.  I really need to get rid of that 'what will people think' thing - it would have been fun even though I would have been left in the dust - literally!    

  

Tomorrow we deliver a wedding dress to one of our rural churches for an upcoming wedding.  What a blessing these donated wedding dress are to the people here.  Thank you!

Wishing you God's blessing this day.

"Search me o God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."  Ps 139:23

This young man is the son of one of the couples we have worked with and who was born while we were gone.  Say "Boa Tarde!" to Claudio, son of Marcos Zito and Anita.  Precious little fellow with wonderful parents.

First Wedding; Mocuba Training Center

Sometimes we just get so excited about things we can hardly stand it.

We just sent in our monthly church planting report, and we were thrilled to see that 2 new churches, 62 baptisms, 217 decisions for Christ, and over 800 in structured discipleship training. This is great news. But some other things really excited us in a few emails we’ve received the last couple of days.

One is that we just had our first wedding at the Mocuba Training Center; that just thrills us to no end to see how this facility is being used for our OMS-founded denomination. And, the wedding dress is one of the ones sent by some of our dear supporters. There is something so very special about the love shown across the miles from the churches in the States to the churches in Mozambique. And then, Antonio and Theresa are the Patrinho and Madrinha (Godfather and Godmother – very important cultural role in Mozambique) and Juka officiated. We still could use an influx of cash to finish off some things at the center – I think that is always the case!

And on the 14^th of August, our trainer in Ilhe, Dinis Ramos officiated a wedding there as well.

I am also including a precious picture of Milca, Juka’s daughter carrying water for the garden at the training center – you can see the center in the background and the small house. Juka will move there eventually. In addition, this other picture shows the water well that is the solution to water needs at the center in the short-term; a hand-dug well. There was not sufficient flow to support a pump type well.

I am also including a photo of Juka and Milca planting a tree - I had always cast a vision that the center would be like the SIL center in Nampula - that someday there would be big trees to cast shade and provide a respite from the heat and a peaceful place to study and learn about God. I almost cried when I saw the picture as I miss them so much.

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

“Do not let you hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1

Wedding

I have written a couple of things, but then never quite got to posting them and now they are on the other computer in another town in this transient life we are living. We've only been in the states for two weeks and haven't stopped moving yet.

We just finished the wedding weekend and my youngest daughter is now a Smith. It was a beautiful Christ-centered affair and we had dear friends from all over the country come to celebrate this wedding with us. We had people from Pittsburgh, Mozambique via Colorado, Mozambique via Chicago, [former missionaries to Mozambique] Alabama, Idaho, Tennessee, Georgia, all sorts of places. The wedding was outside at a nearby farm and absolutely lovely. The rains came in the day before and cooled things down a bit and the wedding day was beautiful and much cooler although still a bit toasty.

Tomorrow at zero dark thirty I take my oldest to the airport so she can return home. We have especially enjoyed

some 'alone time' with her today - it has been a long time. I really miss spending time with my precious girls. She is on the right in the above picture.

In the above, precious daughter Lynsey on left, me, Allison (bride), Byron, beautiful Ann, and precious Krista. Daughter 3 of 4 (Sarah) is in Nashville and we just got the call - a baby is coming this week, so we are on our way to Nashville right after our next transitional workshop session on Wednesday. So, the first grand baby will be here very soon (she is being induced on Thursday).

I didn't cry too much at the wedding - As with my other Son's-in-law, when you just really like them, you don't have a problem with the wedding. We're very fond of Byron and they are a good match for each other. I did fine until I walked Allison to the altar to pass her to Byron and have to admit that I shed a few tears at that point. Allison was so beautiful and your life passes by your eyes in a moment as you see your baby daughter now a beautiful bride - it is quite moving.

Our sessions with Godspeed Ministries have been very helpful to us as we re-enter this culture. It is hard to explain to someone how 'shocking' it is to re-enter our home culture after being in a developing country for four years. I really should try and write more about it and after we finish with our debriefing sessions - I will try to do that a little later.

The wedding provided a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with dear friends from Pittsburgh and with distant family that we haven't seen for quite some time. But, it is also a time when we are spread pretty thin so we never get to spend the one-on-one time we would like to have with our friends in the wedding environment. It really made us look forward to being with our friends again in a few more weeks.

Thank you for standing with us so faithfully!

Dave (& Ann)

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united (some versions use the word "cleave" which I like a lot better) to his wife and they will become one flesh." Gen 2:24

Weddings are a wonderful celebration in any culture!

Weddings

Our weekends are filled with weddings right now! And it is no small affair and we are finding we aren't as young as we used to be based on our endurance (and reality!)

Last weekend, Carlos and Christina (Tina) were married. Juka and Elina were their godparents (padrinos) and had returned to Maputo for this and the wedding of Elina's brother this weekend. I've written about weddings in the past and they are truly joyful affairs as they should be but it is a total weekend commitment. We were especially excited about this wedding as we have spent time with this couple and the godparents are good friends. The godparent responsibilities in this culture are tremendous and they have the responsibility to coordinate absolutely everything associated with the wedding. They retain responsibility for this couple from this point forward and if the new couple has difficulties, it falls to the godparents to resolve. It is also a considerable financial committment both short-term and long-term.

Our day started at seven at which time I left to pick up family members of Carlos and take them to the 'Wedding Palace' in down-town Maputo. They had the slot between 0800 to 0900 for the official government wedding. They seem to run about two weddings every 10 minutes through the Palace. But the surprise was when two three-wheel carts showed up with the Groom in One and the godparents in the other. We leave Machava in a caravan - two three-wheel Bajajs and several cars to the wedding palace. There is a traditional honk you do on the horn (long - short blasts) that we all do all the way into town. No police roadblocks today as we're passed right through - people waving and shouting as we pass. Much singing coming out of each carload of people (I think I had 15 or 16 in my car!). We arrived a little late at the Palace and we wait about an hour for the short ceremony. After many photos outside this beautiful and old facility, the bride and groom are loaded together into the carts and away we go to a nearby park for the traditional photographs. The singers and dancers arrive first and the bride and groom pass through them to much song and celebration. Many different poses are done throughout this beautiful park that was actually a trash collection area when we first came to Mozambique, but is now a privately owned area that caters to weddings on the weekends. We can smell and see the Indian ocean from this bluff.

After a very pleasant time in the park and literally hundreds of photographs, the wedding party moves back to the cars, and we now have about seven total cars full of people following the three-wheelers throughout Maputo. Around and around we go with the bride and groom hanging out of the carts waving at everyone. And everyone waves back and hollers greetings. The photographers are in the front car photographing the carts in every possible configuration, jumping out and every corner in Maputo photographing the carts as they go by. People are really responding as I can't recall seeing these carts being used for weddings before - probaby started something new! I'm getting a little nervous as there is lots of traffic and I see two "almost" accidents caused by all of this stopping and starting and a few people are raising their fists at the party but they are oblivious. The driver in front of me is clearly getting upset with all of this and after several discussions with Juka, he takes off, presummably for the church and two others go with him. The tour continues and finally we head for the church, arriving at 1430 for a 1200 ceremony at the church pastored by the family the bride lives with (her parents have passed). He is NOT happy, but the wedding party is oblivious to it. The church wedding is held and the bride's party follows.

We took off early because we are to prepare to receive the bride and groom at our house for their first night together. Ann has prepared our guest bedroom very specially. The couple is to arrive at 7 PM but I know better!

At midnight, we get the call they are in-route and will arrive 'soon'. The first order of business is a meal. Afterwards, we retire and they retire with the understanding we leave at 0800 in the morning for service at the Khongolote church, where Carlos is one of the Pastors. He says "no problem", they will be up by 630 and breakfast at 700. Ok.

At 0745, I call Juka because there is NO movement from within and no response to knocking. I called Juka and he tells me I must pound on the door as they are nearly there! At about 0815, Juka and the bajaj drivers arrive and he and Elina enter the bedroom and we leave for the church at 1000 for the 0900 service. Again, honking and weaving, arriving 45 minutes later. All of this delay, perfectly acceptable in the culture.

They enter into the church and I become quite emotional because he is their Pastor and the church excitment is undeniable and the singing beautiful beyond imagining. They dance to the front and Abel challenges them with a powerful sermon on fidelity. Tina is challenged with the responsibility of being a Pastor's wife and the church covenants to pray and watch over them. We pray over them and after testimonies, greetings, presents, the service ends. I quit watching the time, something I have learned to do here, and we again caravanned back to Carlos' family's house for the party. The old Khongolote tent had been set up to receive the guests and Ann repeatedly remarked how it had been the most beautiful Mozambican wedding to date.

After the meal, we and the other guests took our time dancing and singing as we presented gifts to the couple. When dark approached, we made our exit, knowing that more food would be forthcoming and the event would continue until late. As we prepared to leave, the bride's family arrived with her goods, a bed, a couple of chests, clothing, dishes, supplies. With great celebration and dancing, the goods are taken into the house.

We leave, feeling such joy to have had our small role in this celebration. Juka and Elina look like they are about to drop, but their responsibilities will continue through the next day, when the goods are transported back to Carlos' simple house, the tent is dismantled and returned to Khongolote, and the couple is taken back to Khongolote.

While it was a joyous celebration, I cannot help but think of the incredible burden all this on those who can ill afford it. So many we know never marry as the culture expects all of this - it isn't a wedding without it. So, instead, people live together, which really puts the 'wife' in a difficult situation - a wife but yet still not quite accepted culturally, and certainly without official status. A few, but very few, are toning this all down and focusing on the covenant between a man, a women, and a holy God.

And yet, in this culture, this marriage is truly 'owned' by the godparents, the families, and the community and all of this comes through the incredibly complex process that must be navigated prior to a wedding. It all works and there is certainly a kind of strength that comes through this kind of accountability and process. So who am I to even have much of an opinion on cultural things like this, truly? Certainly they had parties in Jesus' day and he did his first miracle at a wedding celebration, not so unlike one like this. It truly is a time of celebration.

It was a marvelous weekend and we pray God's rich blessings on this precious couple who are involved in full-time ministry. They are solid, they love God, and they are following Him.

Blessings,

Dave & Ann

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to himi and praise his name. for the LORD is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4-5

Updates

We continue to spend much of our time in formal language study. We have completed the first level and have been advised our final exam will be Monday. So, you know what we will be doing this weekend. I will loose one class Thursday as I'm having oil-pressure problems with our Toyota and plan to run it to South Africa Toyota for repair. I ordered a sensor and am praying that is the problem - I've tried all the tricks I know but something is not working quite right. It all started after Toyota Maputo fixed my broken starter - so I'm thinking they hit the sensor and damaged it removing the starter - if so it will be no big deal. I didn't take it to Toyota Maputo because if they have to order a part, it could be months as compared to days in South Africa. The sensor is waiting for me in South Arica. I spent Saturday under the hood fixing some electrical problems, replacing wiring and taking care of a few things but it didn't do anything for the oil pressure problem. The car is old, the temperatures here hot, and electrical wiring breaks and the insulation falls off, causing all sorts of problems.

The water well at Intaka - the fellows who installed it were there on Sunday and promised a quote, proposal, and 'fix date' to me by Friday. Now, they didn't say 'which Friday'...... This has been a long-time coming.

We took two sewing machines from our sewing center at Intaka to the repair shop. The two needing repair are the more exotic machines whereas the simple Singer is jugging away. The person at the shop just shook her head and said "these machines get alot of use don't they?" Yes, indeed they do. So, we are awaiting the call.

We have a wedding dress that we share amongst our churches as they are quite expensive. We just got it back from a wedding in the north and our white dress looks like someone drug it through red dirt. The dry-cleaners (yes we have them here) was doubtful they could do the magic this time but we are hopeful. They said the same thing last time and it came back beautiful. It's been used something like 10 or 15 times, so we really can't complain too much. Our next wedding is December 19 and we promised this dress. There is also one in the north this coming Saturday but they will have to rent something. We need to get a couple more dresses - hopefully at some second-hand shops while we are in the States although we need something more conservative than what you typically see in the States. They can add a little jacket or something to them. Anyone sitting on some old wedding dresses you aren't ever going to use? We can promise they will get used and used and used here. Send us a line.

We had a field retreat in South Africa recently with speakers from OMS - US. It was a weekend of rest and challenge. Great messages although I (Dave) came down with a horrible cold / sore throat thing and spent the better part of one day in bed (doing Portuguese homework). We stayed at a small garden hotel thing outside of Nelspruit and enjoyed the fellowship and time away. Two of the three men who came were good friends of ours, which was a special blessing and the other a very interesting man from South Africa working with Men for Missions International (MFMI) and who had just completed a 5000 km bike ride raising money for Bibles. He also holds several world records in bicycle events and is a little older than me but in incredible shape. I have no excuse..... I greatly enjoyed hearing his stories about competion and about his business endeavors in South Africa and Malyasia. Very interesting and a great testimony - he was saved through a "mighty men" conference in South Africa lead by Angus Buchan; I wrote about the movie "Faith Like Potatoes" which is about Angus Buchan's life. I have heard recently that this movie is now being shown in the States in some venues. The last 'might men' event attracted something like 200,000 men. Pretty incredible.

The message of the retreat centered on Fellowship with God - that is the first thing and we started from the story of Mary and Martha (see below). A message all of us who get 'busy' need to keep hold of...

We bought another load of bibles this week for distribution in our churches and communities. It's always a good thing when we get Bibles out into the hands of people seeking God's direction in their lives.

We have a big baptism event at Picoco on December 4. We will unfortunately miss that special day. We took our MFMI visitors out to Picoco while they were here and happened to catch a training session for those new believers and the Pastor asked me to speak, which gave me great opportunity to launch from the story of Philip and the Eunuch in Acts. Bottom line was to encourage them to follow the Lord in baptism and not worry about a party, a god father or god mother for the event, but rather to simply follow in obedience to the Lord's command. It felt good to do it in Portuguese and have Nelio be able to then translate to Shanghanna. It was a great time and that church is continuing to grow and it thrills my heart to see the steady stream of people getting water at the well. I had some balloons with me that day and blew up balloons and talked with all the kids gathered around the well, inviting them to the church, and challenging them about life in general. Balloons are a great conversation starter here and many kids don't have an idea of how to blow one up. I see all these kids here and just grieve about their tomorrows. The church is slow to reach the youth here and the youth are tomorrow's church and tomorrow's leaders. We adults are but a 'flash-in-the-pan'.

I want to write about the government excess car but it deserves a separate entry. It is another great example of how 'you get what you pay for....'

Blessings.

"And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."" Luke 10:41

Two Weddings

In what we often call our “past life,” we frequently went to weddings and receptions as it is an important part of any culture. Each culture and even family has its traditions and expectations based on the culture around them, what they have experienced, and what is ‘normal’ for the cultural context. I remember very vividly the dramatic differences in weddings in Idaho, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina and am sure that much of it is culturally driven. This is not necessarily good nor bad, but simply a reflection of the local cultures. Here, the culture puts amazing demands on a couple and as a result, many simply live together, have children together, and never marry because of the cultural barriers that come into play. So, as missionaries, we face into some interesting challenges when people are called to be Pastors and church planters and yet are not married, or maybe have multiple wives.

I am daily challenged in my thinking to realize that all the cultural bias I brought to Mozambique is simply that, bias. I must cast that aside and simply look at God’s word and evaluate the practices by Gods’ word and nothing else. However, even that is fraught with challenge because we all cannot help but read God’s word through our individually culturally-fogged glasses, praying that we might cut through and see God’s truth as simply that, TRUTH.
One of the interesting things for me here is that outside of the cities in Mozambique, life is not so different from the culture that Jesus walked in over 2000 years ago. The stories of the Bible carry direct relevance into the culture here and do not need to be explained, because people truly understand them as written. I have also found it easier and easier to read the Bible ‘as if I was there’ because as I sit on the mat on the floor of the house, I sense that it isn’t so very different now as then. With that comes great encouragement through a different kind of understanding of this timeless book.

Last weekend, we had two weddings of people who are important in our lives here. The first was for one of our Trainers who is tasked with training church planter-pastors as a part of our church multiplication program. We have been ‘encouraging’ this wedding for a very long time and trying to help our trainer through the cultural struggles. (See first photo) The second was for one of our OMS Counselors whose friendship and counsel we treasure greatly. The challenge for us was trying to be two places at the same time, a situation we find ourselves in frequently here and so we have readily adapted to the African proverb “to arrive late means that you were able to attend…”

So, for this blog entry, I’ll write about the second wedding, first. You may remember that last September, I wrote about a dear lady we knew who had died of Malaria. It was sudden, tragic, and touched us deeply. Well, this was our Counselor’s wife. I remember after the funeral, sitting and praying with this man of God in his living room. He loved his wife dearly but still has children at home and because of a previous stroke, he himself has need of someone to help him. So, he boldly asked that God would provide a help-mate for him. It was pure from the heart and full of love and admiration for the wife he had lost, but still a heart-felt cry to God. It was one of those defining moments where you just felt the very presence of God in that quiet place as we prayed together – almost a light shinning in the room kind-of-thing.

Well, here we are six months later and God has answered that prayer. It’s a beautiful story. Our friend and his late wife were very close to a couple in Xai-Xai where our friends frequently taught at a Bible College. The two couples did everything together and had been fast friends for many years. A few years back, the husband of the lady in Xai-Xai died but the friendship continued. Then the wife our friend died and the friendship continued…..to a decision to marry. The photograph is of them at the wedding.

This man is dearly loved here and a wedding here is a two and often three-day affair. We had many responsibilities in our Trainer’s wedding and had to choose and decided to attend part of the second wedding Sunday after church Sunday. We went to the church wedding of our trainer in the morning and left shortly afterwards, arriving around noon at the second affair. Our Pastor friend had the church service in the morning in the area around his house and it had just ended when we arrived. A large area had been set up with a tarp overhead for shade from the strong African sun. Two large mango trees provided additional shade for the others and I estimated several hundred people in attendance.

We were brought in to two chairs under the tarp that had been reserved for us. The bride and groom were seated next to each other with the “God Father” and “God Mother” of the wedding (called Padrinho and Madrinha in Portuguese) on each side of them. As is the tradition here, they were extremely composed, looking very stern, formal, and serious. However, our dear friend did let us see a bit of a twinkle in his eye when we arrived, which warmed our hearts as we knew he was glad we had come.

We arrived at the time the wedding gifts were being presented and that process continued as we walked around and quietly greeted all those we knew (and didn’t know!). These greetings are extremely important culturally and it can take quite a while. We had our name added to the list of people presenting gifts and sat quietly to enjoy this outward demonstration of love for this couple. A man acting much like an “MC” would announce who was next to present and the group would assemble together with their gifts, and then break into song, slowly dancing their way to the area in front of the couple. Then, as the singing continued, the gifts were presented, giving to the Padrinho or Madrinha, who in-turn would provide to the couple, who then passed to the Padrinho who placed it on the table. In some cases, fabric or clothes were draped over the couple, or dishes were provided as “his and hers” with specific instructions that bordered on fun harassment – a great time of laughter and joy. And through it all, the couple keeps their stern look – I’m thinking it must be a cultural challenge to see if you can make them smile! Another man would then write down the gift and who it was from in a small book so the appropriate ‘thank you’s’ could be delivered later at a later date.

When our name was called, we gathered our gifts and since I can’t sing or dance, I challenged the wedding singers/dancers to help me and taught them a new song (thanks Kent Eller for the idea!), and we had a great time singing and dancing and presenting our gifts. It’s not if you can, if you’re good or not, it’s just participating and being part of the process.

Afterwards, a dinner was presented of rice, shema (a corn dish used like rice and similar to grits but MUCH better), chicken topping, and beans with soft drinks. I sat next to one of our other OMS advisors and across from the couple and we enjoyed a wonderful time of conversation. Then, it was time to cut the cake – here you cut the cake into little squares and pile them in a bowl, and everyone takes a little chunk of cake. The bride and groom travel through the crowd feeding the cake a piece at a time to the people who helped with the food or otherwise assisted with everything as a way of saying ‘thanks’.

Then, it becomes a time to talk, fellowship and people gradually depart. Our day started at 7 in the morning and by 7 that night, we were home – a wonderful time but exhausting as my brain starts smoking (short-circuiting) after about three hours of Portuguese.

We did visit with his son and daughter in law, who used to live below us when we first moved to Mozambique. Their daughter, Leonora, was born two days after we arrived and we can easily judge how long we’ve been here by Leonora as she continues to grow. However, they are struggling as Leonora’s dad doesn’t have work right now and so, like so many, they struggle to keep things going each day. In addition, he seems to be having more and more health problems, which is a concern. We spent quite a while just listening and offering suggestions. We make it a point to visit with them from time to time as we feel God has put them in our path for a reason.
As we were leaving, we were asked to take people home – something we do quite a bit of in this land where you use chappas to get around or you walk. The Pastor’s house is way off the beaten track with limited access by chappa. We were able to communicate some with our riders but most didn’t know Portuguese, only the tribal language, so it became more of an exercise in traveling to known landmarks (Shop-rite, Matola), and then upon arrival saying “left”, “right”, etc. So, language in Mozambique is always a bit of a challenge with the older folks, but the younger ones are all good at Portuguese (and some English) because of the emphasis on education.

In the end, I just kept remembering his prayer for another wife – a prayer that he said with certainty and trust while deep in my western mind I’m thinking, “wait a minute – you’re old like me – how are you going to remarry at this point” and yet, six months later, we see the answer. Lord, forgive me for my unbelief! It sounds like the story of Abraham and Sarah and I’m Sarah….

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

“Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Gen. 18:13-14