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.

Rejoicing in Christmas

Since coming to Mozambique, this is the first Christmas that we don’t have something “extra special” planned.  This year there is no visitors or no trips.  This year it’s going to just be us, here at home.  We have a couple of boxes from family and friends in the states and a couple heading our way so we have something special.  But this Christmas looks so different.  No holiday gathers with family, no Christmas eve carol singing (We did ours here at the beginning of Dec when people are still around).  Yes, Christmas looks different this year. 

Since Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday I was feeling a little sad about not having more “excitement” planned.  Then the Lord spoke to my heart reminding me that Christmas is a time of rejoicing and being thankful.  Being thankful and rejoicing are a choice. It’s not based on what is happening or what is not happening; it’s a choice to rejoice no matter the circumstances.  So I choose to rejoice.

While I miss my family during this holiday season, I choose to rejoice and celebrate the friends that God has given me here.  While I will miss the snow this year, I choose to rejoice that the rain has come to quench this dry land.  The rains of life replenishing the ground so people can grow gardens and have food to eat.  So I will praise God for the rain.  While I will miss the “Christmas feel” the states offer, I will choose to rejoice in the fact that God is anywhere in the world.  While I will miss the beauty of everything done up in lights, I will treasure and rejoice in the Christmas projects my kids do and decorations in my living room. 

Alissa's Nativity that she made this year all by herself.

  Because Christmas is about Jesus, the best gift ever.  So I will rejoice in the greatest gift ever.  I will be thankful for my many blessings and rest in the fact that I know I’m exactly where God wants me right now. So I will rejoice in celebration of my Savior's birth, Christmas, this year.

School Day Fun

This year we are home schooling due to health concerns of our son.  While it's been an "interesting" adjustment and is a lot of work, there are days that we get to do really fun activities to add excitement to school.  Here are some pictures for recent school days.

Dress Up Day

Justin was suppose to dress up to represent a letter of the Alphabet.  Of course the girls wanted to join in the fun.

Justin: Court Jester

Alissa and Kayla: Princesses

Later Justin decided he wanted to be dress like a King.  He also wanted to show off his crystals that he made in this picture.

Cave Paintings

In Social Studies, we have been studying about people leaving their stories on the wall of caves for future generations.  The project called for acrylic paint, not something that is easy to find here.  But red dirt is all over.  So we mixed up red dirt and water and started our painting.

Starting to work on their "cave paintings" on crumpled paper bag

Painting different scenes from their life

Baseball Mozambique Style

I hear them playing outside.  This is what I saw.  It made me smile.

Sunday Evening Carol Sing

Well, the weather outside is frightful

And the heat is so spiteful

Since we have no place to go

Turn the air con way down low

Ok, so that is not exactly how the song goes, but well, here it’s hot.  With sweat a constant companion and one must constantly be drinking to stay hydrated, it’s hard for this Midwest girl to really believe that Christmas is just around the corner.  There are no signs in town yet of Christmas coming, although I’m sure soon there will be a few places with decorations. Yet, the calendar doesn't lie.  The calendar says that in just 14 days it will be Christmas.  So even though it’s hot and it just doesn't “feel” like the Christmas season, we have started playing Christmas music.  Hopefully this week our decorations will get put up.  We did have a very special treat last Sunday night at the English Fellowship.  It was a night of singing Christmas Carols.

   Conrad has agreed to lead the worship part to the English Fellowship service every week.  I usually help out some way, sometimes it’s playing violin and other times it’s running the power point.  It’s a way that we feel we can bless others. I remember the first Sunday here and being able to sing in my heart language (English) after spending 10 months worshiping only in Portuguese.  Tears flowed down my face.  The words were familiar and I could just worship without making sure I knew what was being said by translating everything in my head.  Recently, we heard of a young man between 10-12 ,who has asked his family to come every Sunday night so he could worship in the language of his heart too.   So we do believe it is filling a need here among the English speaking Christian community.  Since Conrad is in charge of music, we decided to do one night of carol singing this year.  Originally, the carol sing had been planned to be right before Christmas.  But since we wanted to have another missionary who plays piano join us, this last Sunday was the only Sunday this month that worked for both of us.  So we planned an evening of singing Christmas Carols with the Christmas Scriptures read amongst the songs.   I put up a few Christmas decorations to help “set” the mood inside the room.   It was such a special night as even in the heat, we could celebrate the birth of our Savior and the reason that we are all here.  Without Jesus’ birth, there would be no reason for me to be in Mozambique. 

   While the weather outside doesn't remind me of Christmas, Christmas is coming.  Christmas is a time of celebrating the birth of a child named Emmanuel that changed the world forever with His sacrifice on the cross 33 years later.  So even in the heat I will hang my Christmas lights, put up the tree, work with the kids on memorizing Luke 2, and be thankful that God was willing to send His only Son to the world to save me from my sins. 

As you entered the room

This was in the front.  Alissa helped put the decorations on the tree and set up the nativity.  She was soooo pleased with how it turned out.

Thanksgiving

While the calendar says that it’s Thanksgiving, I have a hard time really believing it here in Mozambique.  Here it’s hot and dry.  There are no signs of Thanksgiving.  No pretty napkins in the store, no corn candy to buy, no signs talking about it, no specials on turkey, yet the calendar still says it’s Thanksgiving. 

Celebrating a very “American” holiday in a culture that doesn’t is always a little interesting.  But as I look at this particular American holiday, I feel it’s important to pass on the art of being thankful.  No matter where you are living, you can still be thankful.  On Sunday night at the English Fellowship, we were reminded that being thankfully is not just an American idea due to a holiday.  But it’s all through the writings of Paul.  While we live in a culture that isn’t taught to express thanks to others, I will teach my children and practice it myself.  Why?  Because God instructs us to be thankful in all situations. (1 Thes. 5:18)   

So even though the weather was seasonably hot, culturally it’s not a holiday here, and there was not turkey for the meal, we gathered with a small group of friends and celebrated.  We did have some American treats though with stuffing, green beans with mushroom sauce, and pumpkin pie.   We even got to watch some American football, thanks to a previously recorded game and a projector.   It was a special day and I’m so thankful for the many blessings God has given me.

the kids' table

the fellowship

the location

the entertainment: American college football

the hosts

While the adults watched football, the kids had a great time playing outside.  The meal was hosted by a family living on the Wycliffe compound.

Justin enjoying the good climbing tree.

Playing in the fort that a number of missionary kids are helping to build.

It is very important that you sweep your dirt here as a way of keeping the place looking nice.  As I was walking back from the "fort", these sweeper marks in the dirt caught my attention.

Things I’m thankful for:

• Knowing that God loves and cares for us no matter where in the world we are
• An amazing husband that loves me just the way I am, even with all my uniqueness
• Our children that God has blessed us with
• Christian family in that states that bless us to serve here even though it’s a sacrifice for them too.
• Friends that are a special part of our life here in Mozambique
• That I’m part of something bigger than myself, I’m part of what God is doing in the world.  Since He is the creator, He also never makes a mistake and I can rest in Him.

Twists and Turns

This last week has had a number of times when we had faced twists and turns.  Let me share a few highlights from this last week.

On Monday, my “little” girl turned 8.  She was super excited to have a friend from school come over to play.  One of the things she misses the most about going to school is seeing her friends every day.  So the promise of having a friend over to play was a major reason for excitement.  She was up very early (before either parent was out of bed) and counting the hours.

   All morning the girls played happily together.  All seemed well with the world.  We had a lunch of pepperoni quesadillas (thanks to pepperoni shipped from someone in the states).  It was time for the cake.  I had made her a doll cake and like requested the dress was white and pink. 

I light the candles and started snapping pictures as we merrily sang “Happy Birthday”.   Somewhere around the second “Happy Birthday” I noticed something unusual in the viewfinder of my camera.  It appeared as if the hair of the doll was on fire.  Sure enough, the hair WAS on FIRE.  With some quick blowing, things were calm again.  I moved the offensive candle.  We relight the candles, sung again, and Alissa got to blow out her candles this time all by herself.

It was 4am.  My eyes are firmly shut as I was studying the inside of my eyelids.  I hear somewhere in the distance, “Mom, Mom.”  I shake my head trying to figure out what is going on.  I hear it again, “Mom”.  As I crack open my eyes, I see Alissa standing by the bed.  “What”, I croak.  “Mom, we lost of phase and I’m hot.  Can you help?”  “How do you know?” I ask still confused.  Alissa response with, “My fan isn’t working but the living room and bathroom lights are working, so we much have lost a phase.”  “Lost a phase” my mind searches for understanding.  Then it dawns on me.  The way our house is wired here we have three different phases of electric that enter the house all are suppose to be bringing in 220 volts.  When all three phases work, everything in the house works.  When we lose a phase, certain outlets and light will not work, but other parts of the house has electric.  I glace at our air-conditioning and sure enough it wasn’t working so that meant phase three was out.  I know that phase three also has the kid’s fans on them, which explained the "I’m hot."  I sleepily drag myself out of bed and head to the kid’s room, by this time Conrad is also awake.  We round up some extension cords, getting the fans running again.  From each bed we hear a small, “Thank you.”  And we head back to our room, rig up a fan so we can sleep a little longer.  With fans in place, we all get a few more hours of sleep.

Wednesday was election day here.  Due to some unrest that has been happening in the south of the country (very far from where we live), we had no idea what would happen.  We prayed for peace, had others praying, and trusted the One who is ultimately in control.  It was decided that we would stay at home that day.  So for us it turned into a work day.  We got the front porch painted, a faucet in the kitchen fixed, the first coat of paint on the doll house, some sorting, and a few other things done.  The day was peaceful and quiet.  While in our city, the voting will have to be done again due to errors on the ballot, I thank the Lord for bringing peace to us on a day that had so much potential for harm.

What the porch looked like before

The finished project

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the family.  

Ok, so maybe it’s not a member of the family but it has made my life just a little bit easier.  Our electric situation here is not very good.  Each phase is supposed to have 220 volts but most times if we see 200, we feel it’s pretty good.  There are times when it dips even lower than 180. This fluctuation in electric is very hard on electric appliances, especially air-conditioners.  Our main air-conditioner has had to be fixed three times in the last month, all due to problems caused by the poor electricity.  Due to our son’s allergies to dust and mold, it’s important that we keep our house as dust free as possible.  Currently, we are in the dust season and the air is full of dust, so we have to use the air-conditioner to help lower the dust in the house.  Friday, Conrad was able to take a couple of hours and find this voltage regulator.  He then hooked it up to the phase that runs the air conditioners.  Up to this point if you had the air on you had to always be listening to the fan and if it started to make “bad” noises, you must run and shut it off and hope it hadn’t ruined anything.  Then you would wait a little and hope the electric was better and try turning it on again.  Since having the voltage regular installed, it has been such a huge blessing to not have to worry about the electric as it keeps the output at somewhere between 205 and 222 volts. Maybe someday we will get the whole house “regulated” but for now I’m so thankful for being able to use the phase three without worry.

As I reflect on the things that have happened this week, I see a thread over and over.  Life here takes flexibility.  Whether it’s a birthday cake fire, a phase of electric  going off, or unrest in the culture, flexibility is a must.  But through all the things that have happened, I see the hand of God caring for us and giving us peace.  As I thought about the voltage regulator, in some ways my God does the same for me.  Life here constantly is throwing us twists and turns.  Causing us to improvise and be flexible. But if our trust is in the Lord, He will keep things manageable.  The moment that I try to handle things by myself, life starts to fall apart.  But as I trust in my Lord, He is the one who will give me peace, flexibility, stability, and the ability to continue on with life.  But more importantly all twists and turns much first go through Him and He will NEVER give me more than I can handle.

A view from the cockpit of the 210 Conrad was flying.