Life Glimpses

Rudy and I were just talking and trying to figure out where the last two weeks have gone. It has almost been a month already since our attempt at getting into Malawi which means we have to renew our one month visas this week. Thankfully we can do this right here in Lichinga and we don’t have to leave the country. This renewal will be good enough to do use till we go to Kenya.

Yes an opportunity has opened up for us to do a little bit of traveling at the end of Rudy’s time here. Lord willing on March 9th Peter will drive us six hours down south to the Cumba. We will over night there and catch a train at 3am the following morning. It will be around a 12 hour train ride to Nampula, where we over night once more and then catch a bus from there to Pemba. Iris has a base there in Pemba so we will stay there for a few days. We might have a chance to get to the beach there some as well as getting to know the ministry of Iris a bit better and then on the 16th we will fly from there to Nairobi, Kenya. My sister Joia and her husband Philip and their two children will be in Kenya for three weeks and so we will spend about two weeks with them. Philip is a doctor and will be helping in a hospital there during that time. We are excited about this it will kind of be a mini family reunion on the other side of the world. Lord willing I will fly back to Mozambique on the 30th and Rudy will fly home to Canada from Nairobi.

This means we only have ten days of work left till we start our 1,000km journey across Mozambique to the coast and then on to Kenya. We are very happy to finally have all the little details finished up on the round house. We finished the kitchen and poured small concrete patios outside the doors. Some of the ladies are going to make curtains for it this week. We probably won’t end up living in it before Rudy leaves. There is a man from South Africa coming to Lichinga this week and needs a place to stay for a few weeks so he is probably going to be living in the round house. I am looking forward to calling it home when I return from Kenya, I think it is going to be a nice little place for me for a while and maybe another guy if the Lord were to send someone.

Just a little note if anyone has a love for the Lord and would like to come and work along side us here for any length of time please feel free to send me an email and let me know. There are always plenty of things to do for people with any skill levels. I am not pressuring you but if God has already been speaking to you then maybe consider it.

The work on the admin building has come along quite well. We have had a few good days of block laying and the walls are up quite high. We have all the lintels poured over the doors and mainly we just have to build the walls up the rest of the way to the ceiling. It has been continuing to rain a lot almost every day so we often have to quit outside work for a few hours in the middle of the day while the storms pass.

What it was like when we started.

Where we have gotten so far.

This past Saturday morning we lowered the last five rings down into the well. We are very happy to see that there is over three meters of water in there now. That should be plenty of water as the Wilcox’s will be building a house down there next year, Christian and Christie have have just started building a house on that property as well and Lord willing in a few weeks there is a couple coming from the states who will be build there too. It is so exciting to see the new people that God is calling to come here, some for short term some for longer. We are happy to have them for any length of time.

Last Tuesday Rudy and I went to the prison with Tyren and Victor. I really like the time we can spend with the men in the prison. I am so encouraged when we can spend time with the men who have given their lives to the Lord. To see them worship the Lord as truly free men even though they are still locked behind high walls. God is bring transformation in there as His church in the prison is reaching out as his hands and feet to their fellow prisoners. Two Muslim men accepted the Lord while we were there and it is evident that there is a softening of the hearts of many more of Muslims. Please keep these men in your prayers there are about 20 or 30 out of the 300 or so who have accepted the Lord. Also prayer for the guards that their would be opportunity to speak into their lives and that they would have hearts ready to hear from Jesus.

Peter and Debbie went to Malawi for a few days the week before last because Debbie needed to go to the dentist. They were praying a lot that they wouldn’t have any problem getting across the border into Malawi after the trouble they gave Rudy and I. They went into the immigration office and the officer asked them “Are you Christians?” they reply enthusiastically “Yes we are?” This lead to a lengthy conversation with Him about the Lord and why they believe in God and why they have entrusted their lives into His care. After sometime the officer said “I think today is my time to give my life to the Lord.” It is so encouraging to meet people who’s hearts are open and ready to receive the Lord. Unfortunately it wasn’t the officer that gave Rudy and I a such a hard time but we will keep praying for him.

Here is Howard's roof completed.

A nice grass hopper pic Rudy took.