Tune in to some amazing tales of God's grace in Mozambique...
Thief #1: Augusto, one of our workers who is part of the Church of Christ that meets on this property, forgot to lock the door of his humble clay-brick house. His cell phone and 1/2 of his monthly salary were in his pants on top of the TV. A thief entered that night. A neighbor woman saw the robber, but fearing her own safety, she alerted noone. The next day Augusto requested us to pray for him as he felt a great temptation to call a witch-doctor to curse the thief. He notified his wife, Gracinda, to return home from their small farm out in the country. When his wife returned, she brought a "healer" witch-doctor with his magic potion of leaves to put in the house and a guarantee that the stolen goods would be returned in a couple days. (This is a common practice here.) By the fifth day, Augusto threw the potion out of the house, but sat with his secret. In March, he confessed what his wife had done, without taking responsibility for his own part in it, so we had a chance to share some of the Gospel with him. Recently, he and his wife finally came to a church leader & I, convicted of his false profession of faith and now really wanting to hear God's message. His wife, while she attends church with him, is still very stuck in her beliefs. She has much to loose if she becomes a Christian. Her mother won't get a proper burial to send her successfully "into the invisible world of ancestors who live among us and who would then persecute her by causing a myriad of worse things to happen." Now that Augusto is eager to hear God's message; we're praying that Gracinda will be also . These opportunities in the city help us better prepare our training for rural church leaders.
Thief #2: A sneaky thief cut a hole through the thick and thorny brush fence in the back of this 5+ acre property a few weeks ago and targeted the missionary's home next to ours. He reached through a window and stole two laptops and a camera. Yikes!!! Our dogs did bark and alert the guard but the thief must have stayed hiding in the grass. We have realized our vulnerablility and are adding more re bar to windows, lights around the houses, and hoping to buy a German Shepherd puppy to train as another guard dog. How relieved we all were that no one was hurt.
Plethora of Thieves: After 35+ years as a missionary in Brazil, Mom is quite a trooper here in Mozambique. She recently had both side mirrors stolen off her truck and this weekend at the city market, her cell phone disappeared. Every time we get groceries, many crowd around wanting to "help" unload the food into the car, but Mom has learned not to allow this, as she has had bags of food disappear. We also keep very alert to make sure they don't re-open our car doors to take food. We do praise God that there are some very honest people in this country! (We just haven't met them yet. Just kidding!) May they reach the rest...
A new season for Elijah: We knew in coming here, we would have some sadness in being separated from our kids. We hadn't anticipated it coming so soon for Elijah. He experienced two severe cases of malaria in the month of April, along with a whopper flu virus. He became anemic and lost over 10 pounds, leaving him very weak. He is seriously considering enlistment in the Marine Corps. Becoming ill again could make his goal impossible. Therefore, God willing, Elijah will be returning to the U.S. before the end of the month. Initially, he'll be spending time with his married sisters, then moving in with a family from our home church in Kansas City where he'll complete his homeschooling studies. It feels like a cannonball wound to our hearts. It's gaping...but we know our son is in the hands of the great I AM, so we have nothing to fear. Elijah's strength is slowly resuming and for this we are truly thankful.
Thank you for your prayers,
Daniel & Melissa with Elijah & Esther
www.beatoday.org
