4:30 am Call

   I crack my eyes open trying to figure out what has woken me and come to the realization that Conrad is on the phone. As I’m trying to make sense of the fact that it’s still dark outside, I hear my husband saying “I’m fine”

    I think, “Who calls at this time of night and asks how you are.” 

    Then I hear, “Yeah, I can do that.  From where to where?  Ok, on my way.” 

   Suddenly I know exactly what the call is about.  I also know that our day is not going to look at all like originally planned.  A sense of fear starts to penetrate my heart because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that either someone is sick and needs to be immediately taken somewhere for medical attention if they have any hope of living, or there has been a home invasion and the family needs to be removed immediately.  Is it someone I know personally?  Are there children involved?  Are there meals and housing that need to be arranged?

    When he finishes the call, I learn the details.  A worker at a mine to which we fly often is very sick and needs to come back the hospital here if he will have any chance of living.  While Conrad dresses, eats, and grabs the needed items for the flight and rest of the day, I prepare the coffee and lunch.  Then in a few short minutes, he is out the door and on his way to the hanger.  A couple of hours later as I hear Conrad fly over on the way to another flight, I wonder if we were in time and if the man will live.

   Around lunch time, I receive a text saying that the man was sick with malaria but it appears like he would make it.  I breathe a sigh of relief that we were in time and a life was save.

  At 4:30 in the morning, the call seemed like an invasion to my very tired brain that only wanted more sleep.  But as I listen to the report that a life had been spared, the lost hours of sleep seemed insignificant.  The longer I live here, the more I realize how quickly one can go from healthy to deadly sick.  The fact that we were able to help save one life, is a special gift.  Today, I know that we were able to touch this man and give him a second shot at life.  While I pray for complete healing and that the man will come to know our Lord and Savior, I’m thankful that we were at the right place at the right time.  I’m thankful for the team of people that stand behind us, enabling us to work here.  I’m thankful that God has a purpose in everything He does even if it involved being woken at 4:30 am.  But above all, I’m thankful to be part of what God is doing here in Mozambique through MAF. 

Joyful Sharing

It’s hard to believe that we are already in 2014.  I wonder what this year will hold.  In the next couple of days, I will try to post some pictures from our Christmas here.  We have been having a number of “most of the day” power outages, so that makes posting much more difficult.  Conrad called the electric company the other day and they said “Sorry for the inconvenience but we are working so you aren’t in the dark in 2014.”  Well we have officially been in 2014 less than 2 days and have already had two power outages. J

Today I want to share you a story that blessed my heart this holiday season.  A daughter of a missionary set up a “Day Spa” for missionary women to bless them.  She asked some girls from the local orphanage ( Evanjafrica) to help her.  The “Day Spa” included foot massages, head/shoulder massages, haircuts, extension braids, facials, crafts, pretty snacks and beautiful dishes with Christmas music playing. 

  It was a very special afternoon of hanging out with friends.  As two young orphan girls rubbed my feet with huge smiles on their faces, my heart was blessed.  Their joyful attitude in serving other was so refreshing.

I was able to buy some fun gifts that they had made and then I headed home. 

Later, I heard the rest of the story.  At the end of the evening after everyone had left, the girls were giving the money they had earned from their crafts.  If divided evenly, it would have been about $2 each, enough to get a new pair of flip-flops or a shirt at the market.  But do you know what they did with the money?  They decided to buy bread for the whole orphanage so everyone in the orphanage could have bread for breakfast the next morning.  They wanted everyone to enjoy a treat.

My heart was so touched by their selflessness.  They have so little and yet when they got something of “value” they wanted to share.  This holiday season, their example kept running through my mind.  How could I selflessly share what I have with others?  And when I think of selflessness, my mind goes to God’s gift to us of Jesus.  It was a gift that cost our Heavenly Father so much.  Yet, He gave because He loved you and me. 

  Am I willing to share so selflessly?  May I always be listening carefully to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and share whatever and whenever He speaks to my heart.  May I grow in sharing selflessly, seeing it as a joy.