Thankful

Our Thanksgiving was quite eventful….as always in Africa. Jenni was making little apple turnovers about an hour before we were to go to a missionary Thanksgiving dinner. She put them in the oven right before we left so they would be nice and hot….then the power shut off. We thought, “surely it will just come back on!” WRONG. The power was out the rest of the night. The turkeys weren’t done on time, dinner was 2 hours late, we were dripping wet from it being so hot and of course there were no fans or A/C to cool us down. We thought it would come back on before going to bed….WRONG. It didn’t come back on until 1 am. We had every window in the house open TRYING to get a breeze, which there wasn’t one! When our power is off, our water pump doesn’t work, so we couldn’t even cool off or wash off all of our sweat. So we just laid on the bed miserable, with a wet washcloth on our heads, missing cold, snowy UTAH! We did reminisce in the candlelit room…I guess we could try and look at it as a forced romantic evening! That’s a stretch though. The biggest bummer of all….we couldn’t talk to our family and friends.

Oh well, I guess that’s just how life goes here…but did it have to happen on Thanksgiving? And did it have to be like 150 degrees with 100% humidity that day!? We looked at each other that night and said the thing that we were most thankful for was electricity! Now each time we go in our air-conditioned room we are thanking God!! Actually, it sounds really bad…and it was….but we were able to laugh through it like….”hah! Isn’t this miserable??” The best part of the evening was the dinner…it was so delicious! We took our friend Choveque so he could experience the goodness of a Thanksgiving dinner! He said that it was the best food…he had 4 plates full and he said he has never felt so miserable. He thought he needed to go for a walk to make him feel better! We told him this miserable feeling was normal after Thanksgiving Dinner.

Last year at this time we were in the bush for a month long training called “40/40.” We spent our Thanksgiving in a tent, and had a lantern-lit chicken dinner since there were no turkeys around. We are happy that this year we had the opportunity to eat some turkey and stuffing! As we remember our 40/40 experience, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite memories: One day we met a couple of ladies in town of Petauke and talked to them about why we were there. Then they started talking to us about AIDS and they wanted to know what we thought about it and if there’s a solution to this huge problem. This gave us an open door to share about the cure for our hearts! We had a great conversation with them and talked to them about how Christ is the only solution to our “infected/sinful” hearts. It is more important that the inside of us be cleansed before we even think about our physical bodies. We will all die of something…nothing can cure physical death…but Jesus Christ is the only way to have everlasting life with Him! They thought this was a wonderful idea and solution to the problem of AIDS. We told them it’s not our idea but God’s and that it’s in the Bible. So they really wanted a Bible they could read in their own language, Nyanga. We didn’t have a Bible with us but we told them we would get one for them and bring it to them the next day. During this time we learned how blessed we are to have the Word of the one true God in our country and how much we take it for granted. Getting a Bible in their own language isn’t an easy, inexpensive thing to obtain. The next day we returned and gave one of the ladies a Bible. She was so excited to receive this gift that she invited us into her house for tea and bread. Then after we had eaten, she handed us a live chicken! We couldn’t believe it! We didn’t need a chicken but we were told that it’s offensive to them if you decline the gift they’ve offered to you. So we accepted and took it with us back to camp.

We loved being in Zambia last year. The people were so friendly! Then God blessed us with a great opportunity to see the majestic Victoria Falls. Since our internet wasn’t fast enough, we didn’t post any pictures, but we must say that it was a highlight of our trip! One night we even got to share the gospel with a couple that was there on their honeymoon! We stood in awe of God’s beautiful creation and the wonderful opportunities he always gives us to share His love! If you ever get the opportunity to see Victoria Falls...TAKE IT!! It is one of the most amazing things you will ever see!


On Sunday, Corey was able to preach in church. Choveque translated for him again….they are a good duo! It was a really neat day, as Corey preached about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet and the importance in following Jesus’ example. After the message, he had the whole congregation sit in a circle, and we all washed each other’s feet. It was an amazing time. Everyone broke out into praise songs. We just felt God’s presence there and it was so worshipful. It spoke wonders to the people. Most of the Africans think that if you have white skin, you are the “chosen” and deserve to be served. I think that the people who attended saw that this isn’t true. We are all sinners, we all need Jesus, and we all need to love each other equally, no matter what color your skin is or what position in the church you have. Corey concluded by encouraging them to not just make this a one time “attitude” of humility and love, but to go home and daily serve their wives, kids, neighbors, friends, and relatives as Jesus demonstrated.


We want to thank everyone for praying for Corey to heal quickly. He is 100% better now! Join us in praising God that he has protected us from malaria to this very day! Our prayer requests are almost the same as last post. Please pray this week for: 1) Leaders to emerge from our TLW group. Pray that their walk with the Lord would deepen each week as we meet. 2) Pray for wisdom and clarity for us as we are starting to make some big decisions about coming home in 4 months. 3) Pray for opportunities to share with our friend M. He has been asking a lot of questions about the differences between the Bible and the Koran. Pray that God would give us His words to speak, and give M ears to hear.

We want you all to know we are thankful for more than just our AIR CONDITIONER! We are thankful for each and every one of YOU! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and prayer supporters! We love and miss you all! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We thank God for all of you!

A Great Reminder

The last two weeks have been full of very different experiences! To start off, Corey preached in a church in the bush and our good friend Choveque translated for him in Makuwa. God has really helped Corey’s language improve daily and he was able to do the whole sermon in Portuguese. Imagine that…the first time he ever preaches, it’s in a different language. He shared with the congregation the importance of sharing the gospel with people. God worked through him and he did an amazing job with God’s strength! It was also the very first sermon Jenni understood completely, from start to finish! It’s much easier to understand the “Americanized” Portuguese! The church we went to was literally out in the middle of nowhere. The people were so friendly there…they gave us a chicken and some peanuts as we left. They also insisted on making us lunch. The people out there are so poor, but they are so generous and giving. We were overwhelmed by their kindness. It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to minister and be ministered to as well.

Over the last month, Jenni has had several opportunities to use her nursing skills to help the nationals we work with, as well as the missionary community. Last week, our guard’s wife, Claudia, became very ill and had so much pain she couldn’t sleep at night. We went to her house to visit her and to see if Jenni could help figure out what was wrong. Every time she would go to the doctor, they would give her a different medicine and tell her to go home, not explaining anything. The first time we saw her, she had a central pain in her belly, but no other symptoms. Then the next day she was in excruciating pain and showed classic signs of appendicitis (her pain moved to the right lower side). We tried very hard to convince her she needed to go to the emergency room, and she finally agreed. Once we arrived, she said NOTHING. Jenni had to speak to all of the doctors for her. Only when she was asked a question did she say yes or no. Patients are so timid and the doctors and nurses have no compassion. When they checked for appendicitis, the pushed so hard on her belly…to which she screamed in pain. This happened 5 different times. They weren’t convinced it was a appendicitis…so what did they do??? Gave her a prescription for diarrhea and sent her home. Not once in the last 6 months has she even had diarrhea. This type of situation shows us the need of powerful prayer since it is only God, our Great Physician, who can heal her.

A couple of nights ago, Choveque called us at 1 am to ask us to pick up him and his 9 month baby Ivan and take them to the hospital. Ivan had severe diarrhea and vomiting which had caused him to be severely dehydrated. We took him to the most ghetto bush hospital…it gave us the creeps. Choveque said to the nurse, “My son has diarrhea,” and that was it. They wrote a prescription to STOP the diarrhea. No more information asked for and no more was given. We told Choveque not to give that medicine as it could kill Ivan, and instead we gave him some oral re-hydration drinks. We took them home and prayed with them. Ivan was better within hours!!! He has totally recuperated, which is a miracle. Dehydration kills most children here. We saw the healing hand of God!

Unfortunately, whatever Ivan had….Corey has. Corey has been vomiting/diarrhea and is really weak. So what are we going to do??? We are going to take him to Nampula Hospital and have the most compassionate people heal him! Yeah right!!! We, as well as our national friends, are calling on our Great Physician to display His healing power. So often we forget that it is God that allows medicine to work in the bodies He has created in the first place. We should always go to Him first, whether we live in a place with excellent health care, or totally incompetent health care. He is the only One able to sustain, heal, protect, and cure! Our experiences this week have really brought us to our knees and humbled us. We can’t trust in anything but our God! We are grateful that God reminds of this truth through trials like these.

Please pray: 1) God would heal Corey and restore his health quickly, 2) Pray for Claudia and that God would continue to take away the pain she has, 3) Pray for leaders to emerge from our TLW group. Pray that their walk with the Lord would deepen each week as we meet. 4) Pray for wisdom and clarity for us as we are starting to make some big decisions about coming home in 4 months.

Two Weeks in Africa

Wow! It’s already November! The time that we had with my dad went way too fast! It was such a neat time, and as promised…though a little late…here are more pictures of the time that we had together. The last week he was here we had the opportunity to spend time with our kiddos at the orphanage that we love! The last time my parents visited they had brought the kids some fun little card games like Go Fish and Old Maid. Well, before my dad came back, or even thought of coming back, a little girl (Cocas) asked if I could write home and tell my mom and dad how much she loved the card games and that she would love it if every kid could have their very own set, since the cards that they had weren’t being shared with all of the kids. So I sent along her request, and when my dad arrived with a whole backpack full of fun games for each kid, she got the biggest smile on her face! This was the same little girl that I had shared with that my dad was considering to come back, and she said that she would pray that God would help my dad make the decision to come and visit her. She not only got a fulfilled request for Old Maid cards, but also an answered prayer. She was so happy and that happiness was contagious! The kids loved having my dad back again. We all played the games together and the room was filled with laughter and joy filled voices of the kids! It was such a fun time. The second time was a little different: my dad had a meeting with Victor about the future plans of the orphanage and then later spent time with the kids. He handed out Blow-Pops, coloring books, and crayons. Coloring is a very serious project here. Everyone got really quiet and started coloring like their lives depended on it. It’s pretty funny how particular they are with coloring! They are all little perfectionists! The room was silent…only an occasional noise coming from licking their lolli-pops! However, despite the silence, the atmosphere was very cheerful!


We also continued our work @ Choveque’s house. Every morning it was harder and harder for us to wake up and crawl out of bed! Building a house is hard labor and the heat sure did a number on us. However, God gave us the grace and strength to persevere and keep serving Him and Choveque’s family. It was awesome to see the progress each day of the house. Even though it was strange at first for Choveque’s family to let us work, they grew on the idea when they saw that was our true desire to HELP and not watch. If they told us we needed to rest and didn’t give us a task, we would come up with things that we could do. They laughed a lot at our “unskilled” labor, but it made an impression on them. Finally, during the last week, they asked Choveque, “Who are these people and why are they here…WORKING?” “Shouldn’t they be sitting in the shade and watching us work? Why would they want to come and work?” Choveque then had the perfect opportunity to share with his family that we were his brothers and sister in Christ, and that we had come to show God’s love to his family, because God had put this on our hearts. They just shook their heads in disbelief! Why would “rich” Americans want to do such a thing as come and help a poor African that works for them, with hard labor in the hot sun?


I think the best way to explain it is the words from a song from the latest “Caedmon’s Call” cd. The song is ironically called “Two Weeks in Africa,” and it has lyrics that just rang in our heads the whole time we worked with them… “We put the walls up, but Jesus keeps them standing. He doesn’t need us, but He let’s us put our hands, so we can see that His love is bigger than you and me.” We know that this message on our hearts and was sent to Choveque and his family. We are glad that we can experience in our lives that God’s love is bigger than any of us. He doesn’t need us…we need Him and He allows us to be apart of His service to share this LOVE with His people.


The day that my dad left, Choveque came to say goodbye to him. Choveque was very sad, but had a heart full of gratitude and joy for what God had done in the past couple of months. So he told his gratitude from the very beginning, like a story, of how God has worked in his life through us coming to Mozambique, through God leading my parents here, then my dad coming a second time, all the way to the present day. It was awesome to reflect upon the ways God has provided, blessed, and ordained everything to happen as it did. Choveque had shared with us how he prayed for help with building a new home before rainy season….unbeknownst to him, God had been putting this same burden on my dad’s heart in America. How great is our God!! The way Choveque recounted the events reminded us of a couple of verses: Psalm 77:11-12 “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 105:2-4 “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and judgments He pronounced.” It was a very special time of remembering and a perfect way of ending our time together with dad. To say the least...we were all a bit teary eyed. Choveque kept saying that his heart was weeping inside because my dad was leaving and that he needed to take the day and just meditate on God and persistently pray for God's protection on my dad’s journey home (he now called my dad…his dad). This day made us realize how hard it is going to be for us to say goodbye to our special friend and brother Choveque.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for safety, health, and for God’s blessings upon this project. My dad safely returned to America. The house is not totally finished, but our hopes is to get it done in the next week or so. The rains have already started, so we ask that you pray for the “constructing” to go a bit faster, and that the rains will not damage any of the work that has already been done. Also pray that we would continue to share God’s love with Choveque’s family and that God would stir their hearts to see this love is from Jesus and not from ourselves.

Throughout all of this time, we continued in our TLW ministry. We ask that you would pray for continual guidance for the discipleship program. We are unsure of what the next steps need to be with our team. Please pray for clarity for us to make these decisions. We have 4 ½ months to go and we want to make the most out of every opportunity that we have here. Please pray that we would do this!

Dad…we already miss you greatly! Thanks for stepping out in faith and serving God with us in Mozambique. We built more than a house….we built some incredible memories and we will always treasure the time we had together! We love you and thank God for you!