MozamWeek

You know, if you suffer in the family of God, you don't suffer alone. Since the "incident", we have received lots of love and encouragement. First it came from our Mozambican brothers and sisters. They don't have STUFF to give, and no car to give us a lift, but they love us and we feel it. They are praying for us and offering support in practical ways. Friends in America and Sweden immediately responded with prayer and notes of love. Just knowing that you are standing with us in this whole tough deal helps. We also appreciate the more tangible gifts soon to arrive to a PO Box near us... thanks! We can't replace the stuff immediately... most cars that are here are quite heavily depended upon daily... so there aren't extras to borrow and even the rental company has to order cars from out of town! So we are dependent. Compassion and help come from all over. Some business people and tobacco company contacts have gone out of their ways to help in practical ways! ...

Just happened to have pictures of the stuff that was taken... If you see these things in an African town near you, they were mine :)

On Monday, we dumped several loads of stuff at our new house. Living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and bathroom stacked with boxes packed one and a half years ago. How do you start? Tomorrow… or the next day. So on Tuesday, I put the kids in the car with Adriana… a friend needing a break from the hectic Tete heat. Mikael wanted to stay and work on Exodus, put beds together, and meet with the translators. We were off to the Bible College in the mountains for another load of stuff. 3.5 hours away. Cooler climate… quiet area… no noisy neighbors. 2 nights away, good conversation, kids excited about seeing the kittens and excited to be heading back to Tete… a new home… again. Wednesday night there was a storm with power cuts normal for this time of the year. Midnight brought what I’ve always been able to avoid: a break-in. I quickly found out what I’d do if someone tried to break into my house and I was there… and awake (I’ve always prayed that if it happened, I’d stay asleep). I grabbed a f...

So, once we get the keys we need to get the stuff. And to get the stuff we need to get more keys. We have been so blessed with friends in Tete who support us in really "extreme" ways! Our Zambian friends got in touch with a Zimbabwean mission pastor to get permission for us to move into an empty house on the Good News Ministries property here in Tete. Right beside a church in a fairly secure compound this little two-bedroom cottage sits empty... waiting for a missionary to live in it. Our friends got the keys and cleaned the house so it would be ready for us when we got to town. We arrived Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve... on Lavendar's birthday. I brought her a cake; she invited us to lunch. Nice to have friends in town! Upon inspecting the house, we noticed the power line was cut. There have been lots of storms lately. The line was reconnected the same evening. Nice to have friends in town! For several days, we tried to contact our friends in Tete who have stored our stu...

We were in Vila Ulongwe for Christmas... and came down to Tete for New Years. Happy New Year to you all... all over! Thanks for sticking with us. God Bless you!