Missions Trip to the Ukraine!!

A team of eleven from our church (Community Of Believers) went on a two week missions trip in October to the Ukraine. We went to build a bath house in a Gypsy village, but the Lord had plans to accomplish allot more than that! We ministered in many churches, prayed for hundreds of people, played with and ministered to kids at a rehab center for abused children, visited a public school and got to do a question/answer time in their English class. There were three of us ladies on the team, and we did a 2 day children's conference in the Gypsy village, and spent a day doing fluoride treatments in the village. We also cut and painted the little girl's nails, and did up their hair with new hair ties. Through all of this we shared the good news of Jesus, and loved the people of the Ukraine. God opened many doors for us, and accomplished what He planned. It was a wonderful time! 

Enjoy this short video highlighting some of the trip:

May 24 PLEASE PRAY!!

I got word 2 days ago that one of the pastor's in Mozambique, Pastor Andre (I went on a few outreaches with him) passed away in the hospital last week. 

Tonight I got on the computer and found out that Saturday at midnight one of the drivers, Pedro, got ill and died in the hospital. That was very sudden and unexpected. The ministry loaned our bus to take the family to the funeral of Pedro and on the way the bus was in an accident. No one was seriously injured, praise God.

Needless to say, my family in Mozambique (missionaries and natives) are in a place of warfare and need lots of peace and wisdom and strength right now. We must pray and lift up our brother's and sister's to Father God! We need to lift them up, so they can keep fighting! 

"Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Ps 124:8 

We don't serve a busy God who doesn't have time for us. We serve the Creator of the universe, and our help comes from him! HE IS ABLE. Let us pray! 

~From Mozambique to Ohio~

A week ago today I was learning this new style of braiding hair...

Aminosa took a nap while I spent 2 hours braiding and twisting her hair into this...

Just wanted to post those pictures:-)

Sunday in church they prayed for me, sending me off to Ohio with blessings, and a capalana (Mozambican wrap skirt...very useful for many things, from carrying babies on your back, carrying something on your head, or wrapping around your waist as a skirt. It is a good bye gift as a way to bless someone).

My last church service in Mozambique!

On Wednesday morning after saying some bitter sweet good-byes to all of the girls, tias, and Mozambican friends, then to the missionaries, I left Mozambique and began the journey to America...

On Thursday I arrived home, tired after 27 hours or so of travel (and only about 2 hours of sleep!), and happy to see my family waiting for me at the airport!

We made our traditional trip to Starbucks:-) Then my other brothers and sisters and my grandparents came over in the afternoon! I gave them gifts I brought home, and dad made hamburgers on the grill. My niece and nephew are getting so big, and my newest niece is such a cute, chubby baby!! I am so happy to finally meet her.

I miss the girl's so much, and all of my family in Africa. 

But I am so glad to be home now, with my family here. 

There is a plaque on our kitchen wall that my cousin made that says:

~Family - the greatest gift you will ever receive from God~

I will have to agree. And now, for however long or short this time will be, I get to be with mine! 

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement you have sent my way.

God bless you all abundantly!

And may our adventures with God continue...!

Prayer

"Dear Jesus. Bless Mana Anna because she is going. And I ask you to make her want to stay, and then we will have a big party for her. Bless the people who are in the prison. Give clothes to the people who live on the street. Heal the people who are in the cemetary. Sleep with us in our room and protect us. Amen." 

--Amelia Salamao, age 6

This was what she prayed tonight when I was praying with the little girls as I tuck them in bed.

Saying Good bye to the girls Part 1

I will be leaving Mozambique in 1 week from today (on April 29th). It's going so fast. God is giving me some precious time with the girls and tias and missionaries. I feel so undeserving and overwhelmed of all the special conversations and quality time I have been getting.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we took almost all of the girls and tias out to eat at a restaurant in the city called "Mimmo's". I was given a donation to do something special with the girls. Rachel and Heather took the money and organized the event, including arranging with the restaurant to do this. 

We loaded up in the big flat bed truck and headed off. The girls were so excited and sang the whole time in the truck. When we arrived they formed a line to walk into the restaurant. The waiters and waitresses had set up the tables in a long row, and all we all sat down. They came to serve us drinks, followed by plates of half chicken, french fries and rice. There were 55 of us in all! 

I really felt like this time was such a family time. All the girls getting to go out on a trip *together*. All the missionaries who work in the girl's dorm, and half the tias, and all the girls. It was so special! What a treat.

(above) Lucinda waiting patiently for her chicken to arrive.

(above) Fatima enjoying her coca-cola.

(This was Fatima's very first time to eat at a restaurant. AND she got to taste ketchup for the first time too! Her face lit up when she tasted it, and then she soaked her french fries with it.)

(below) The girls all got to try out knives and forks. 

Normally they eat with their fingers, or a spoon. They loved the opportunity to cut their chicken with a knife and eat their french fries with a fork. 

Serina getting the hang of her knife:

(below) Rute (Ruthy) gave up on the fork and found it much more enjoyable to revert back to using her fingers. And she sucked every last bit of meat off her chicken bones!:

Saying good bye with the girls Part 2

Rachel made this cake "Thank-you Mana Anna" for us. The waitresses at the restaurant stuck a sparkler in it and came out to present it to me:

Then the tias started dancing and singing, and all the girls joined in chorus. Even the waiters and waitresses were dancing! They made it so much fun! They were singing a song in Shanghaan that says "You are going, go with Jesus". It was so beautiful, it made me tear up. I got up and danced with them:o)

Then Tia Julieta and I cut the cake like they do at weddings, and fed each other a bite. After this the girls cheered. A few of the girls stood up to say, "Thank you mana Anna for taking care of us for three years."  Then we served cake for everyone (including our friendly waiters and waitresses).

Saying Good bye to the girls Part 3

After thanking our lovely waiters and waitresses at the restaurant (who I am sure had just as much fun as we did), we loaded up in the back of the truck again to head to the park.

Me and Margarita - it was so cold!

Heather and Mimi - Heather is taking on the girl's dorm now.

She is doing a fantastic job, and is such an answer to prayer. God has truly equipped her for this next season in the girl's dorm! I am so glad we have had 2 months to become friends before I go. I will miss her!

Here's the girl's in the back of the truck. They sang the whole time! 

We went to this park to play for 20 minutes. Since we were already out we thought we would not waist the opportunity! They had a great time swinging and running around.

We ended our outing with a few groups photos. 

Missionaries in the photo below include (L to R) Betty, Rachel, Anna, and Heather

It was getting late as we were heading back, and it takes about an hour to get back to the center. We called the center to ask them to save supper for the girls. Apparently they had already eaten, and given out extra large portions to the boys since the girls weren't back yet! I called Larry, who works in the kitchen, and he said to buy bread and he had peanut butter. So in the dark we pulled off the road and bought 30 loaves of bread from a sweet lady. It must have made her day! The end of the day and wanting to head home and she was able to sell ALL the bread she had left! When we arrived at the center Rachel, Heather, and I cut the loaves in half, spread peanut butter and jam inside, and served the girls a late dinner after they took their showers. They were still singing and so happy when we went in to serve them their sandwiches. 

It was a great day none of us will ever forget! This was a gift from God. 

My Name sake!!

I have come to know a young couple here, Julio and Marcelina. They have a little 4 year old daughter named Angelica. A month ago Marcelina gave birth to their second daughter. 

One day Julio came to see me, he said he had something to ask me. He then shared the news that his wife had just had their baby, and they would like to name her "Anna", after me. He wanted to know if that would be alright with me?

What an honor! Here it is a big thing people do, to name their child after someone who means allot to them. It is a very special honor, and I am so thrilled.

Today I got to see baby Anna for the first time. She is so cute!

I am leaving Mozambique in 2 1/2 weeks, and feel so touched to be leaving behind Little Anna Two. My very own Name's sake!

The Last Supper

I was planning discipleship for this week, and God laid it on my heart to teach about The Last Supper and communion. I looked up several verses that explained various things, like why the Bible talks about using unleavened bread, what the bread and cup represent, who can take communion, how we should examine ourselves before taking communion, the reason we take communion together, etc. 

Turning a lesson into an activity makes it a memory they will never forget!

We made unleavened bread together:

Rosalina pressing her lump of unleavened bread dough:

Our communion elements: Flat bread and coco-cola (I don't think Jesus served coco-cola, but I didn't have any grape juice, so I bought a bottle of coke at the market! And anyway, ever since I have been here I have only ever been served communion with various flavors of pop, LOL)

It was such a special time with the girls. We really went in depth, and they had lots of questions. Apparently before this they didn't even know WHY we take communion!

Now they can never forget it. 

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:22

Therefore when Christ came into the world he said..."sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am,  I have come to do your will." 

He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will we have been made Holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5, 8-10

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

For whenever you eat this bread or drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

He rose and conquered the grave! Jesus is alive, and He is offering pure, new LIFE to those who call on Him. 

May this be a weekend of remembering and celebrating and realizing the LIFE-giving blood Jesus poured out to purify us, that we can live in the presence of a Holy and AWEsome God!

Baking a cake...Mozambican style!!

We recently bought a real oven and stove for the girl's Saturday cooking day.

Every Saturday the girls make dinner for the whole girl's dorm. They choose the menu, head to the market for the ingredients, and return to spend the afternoon cutting, peeling, and preparing meal for 55 or so people! 

With an oven, the girls can learn to make cakes and cookies and things. And who knows, maybe one of our girls will love it, and become a chef or baker?! And if not, they will at least be well equipped to look after their own families one day...

Tia Marlita spent an afternoon with six of the girls, teaching them the fine art of baking a cake.

They had so much fun!! It is so lovely to have the girls together in the kitchen, laughing and having fun, learning and experiencing, making memories and creating futures. 

I forgot...

...that I am living in one of the poorest countries in the world. Not just a "third world country". Mozambique is on the list of the 10 most poor countries. 

The "Bocaria", Maputo's garbage dump, where people live, and spend all day rummaging

through the trash that is dumped off in trucks like this one. And when they find something worth keeping or selling, they are thrilled!

I really think before I throw anything out, because I know it will be uncovered here.

An advertisement for witch doctor "medicine", labeling some of the sicknesses they promise to cure. Witch craft is so steeped into this country. The president of Mozambique has ceremonies for the witch doctors to "consecrate" new buildings with their rituals.

Mama and baby heading home from "grocery shopping".

Somehow, after living here for 3 years, it only just occurred to me yesterday, that I really live in a third world country, with the very poorest of people. Yes, I know they don't live like American's. I know they live in little one or two room grass huts or block houses. I know they are lucky to eat 2 meals a day, and there is a very large percent of unemployment. I know the average monthly salaray is about $50. 

But yesterday, it all just really hit me. I was walking home from visiting an old man in the community who I help look after. I had just shared a Bible story at his house to 5 little kids who had followed me there. Every time I walk in the community I have a group of "followers". There are about 30 of these sweet little kids (30 that know me) in the community behind our center, and when they see me, they come running, shouting, "E Malungu Mana Anna!" (It's the white mana Anna!!). On my walk home, I encountered several more of the children. Then I heard from behind a row of thorn bushes, "Mana Anna, come see what we are doing!" I came around to see. There were about 8 or 10 kids gathered around 2 very tiny cooking fires they had made with little twigs. And on these 2 miniature cooking fires they had cut a pop can in half, to be a cooking pot, and they were boiling the potato peelings from the potatoes their mothers were cooking on real fires for their dinner. They were pretending to be cooking dinner. These children were so excited to show me their play, and one of the mothers came over to greet me, and laugh with me at the fun these kids were having.

That's when it hit me. "Do these kids know they are the poorest of the poor? Do they know they are the ones on the bottom of the list? That they are considered hopeless?" 

Compassion is not feeling sorry for someone, it is having hope for them. When I see these happy kids, running around in filthy clothes that fit them 2 years ago and certainly don't now, clothes that are full of holes. When I see these dirty little bare feet, I can't see them as poor. Because I see their sparkling eyes, and I have such hope for them! The sweet little dirty hand that slips into mine and walks along beside me. The hungry hearts of kids who sit and feed off the story of Jesus calling the little children to come sit on his lap, because he loves them. The joy in their voices as they laugh and play, and say "Look! Here comes Mana Anna!" And when I must leave them, they say, "We will see you next time!" 

Oh, the love I have for these kids. This country is called the poorest of the poor. But to God, they are the richest of the rich. They are the ones with the most hope. They are the ones Jesus was talking about, when He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

The closing of a chapter...

Mozambique, Africa

One way to transport a tire...

A sweet little girl outside her home.

The way to carry things around here.

Visiting Olga, who was reintegrated to her home, with her older brother Celino.

A Mozambican lady setting out her produce to begin selling for the day.

About a year ago God put it on my heart to start praying for the person to come after me in the girl's dorm. At first I thouhgt, "I am not planning on going away any time soon!" But I did pray off and on for her, that God would be preparing the right person for the right time.
Then when I was preparing to go home last August, the Lord spoke to me that my time here was coming to an end. I went home and shared this with my parents, and prayed allot. When I returned in October, I spoke with my leaders here, and they prayed with me, and released me to keep following God's plan for my life. We prayed for God to bring someone to fill my responsibilities here, in the girl's dorm. What God called me here to accomplish in and through me has been completed, and I have built on the foundation others had laid. In February Heather arrived, and it was clear she was the one God had prepared for such a time as this! She is from England, and is exactly 2 weeks younger than me! She really loves the girls, and God has really blessed us with plenty of time to transition, and get to become friends before I go.

I will be leaving here on April 29th, and closing this amazing chapter God has written in my life. I will be sad to say good bye to my dear friends (both Mozambican, and missionaries). And it won't be easy saying good bye to the precious daughters God temporarily placed in my care. These past 3 years have been a time of growth, and seeing God do so many miracles. He has protected me, comforted me, changed me. He has shown me how big and wide and deep His love really is. He has given me compassion for those who have no hope, and taught me to hope for them, and teach them to hope. I have gotten to be a carrier of His love and life to countless babies, children, and adults! It is a privilege I do not deserve, but have been given and am so grateful for.

I want to also testify that I have such peace, and God has given me such grace as He takes me from this place, to a place yet unknown. He is amazing, and I am seeing it more and more every day!

The next step...
will be going home for a time. At first I really struggled with just going home, and not knowing where or when I will be sent back out to the "foreign mission field". But as I submitted to God's word of "Wait", I felt such peace, and I see that He is giving me an incredible gift of getting to spend time with my dear family for awhile! I will get to see me niece who I've not met yet, and spend time with people I haven't had much time with in the last 3 years. I will be home at least until the end of the year (and I am so excited to be home for Christmas this year!!). In September I plan to do a 2 week medical course called "Missionary Medical Intensive", which will be very useful for a future in third world countries. And in the mean time, I am going to soak up this time with my family, share God's amazing love with those in Ohio, and wait on God for my next marching orders!

"My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek...
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:8, 13-14

My twenty-third birthday

I am so overwhelmed at all the love I have been showered with over my birthday. Everyone made it so special!

First they surprised me with an amazing Anne of Green Gables party Friday night (see last post). Saturday morning 11 of us loaded up and went to "The round garden cafe" (I think it is really called "The Blue Moon Cafe"):

We wore our "Anne Hats" from the night before, and pearls and fancy fans... true ladies we are!

We had delicious iced coffees (nothing compared to Starbuck's Frappicinos, but they are very good!) and dainty, little sandwiches...mmm:-) It was so fun to hang out and laugh and chat.

While we were away, the girls and tias were preparing the Saturday night dinner in the dorm (every Saturday the girls choose a dish to make for dinner, go to the market, buy the ingredients, and return home to spend the afternoon cooking for all 48 girls, plus the tias, and others who want to join). This Saturday they were preparing something extra special...

As we gathered in the girls dorm in the evening on the grass mats they sit on to eat together, out marched the girls and tias with a pots of rice, a big pot of chicken in a sauce (very special here!), and 2 beautiful birthday cakes! They sang happy birthday to me, and to Tia Inez who's birthday was Friday, and lifted us up in chairs, and had us cut the cake like they do at weddings and feed it to each other, then gave us each a cup with milk to give each other a drink! It was an evening I will never forget! The girl's presented me with this beautiful card they made, inside each of the girls had made me a little card that was glued in (they had help from Heather and Rachel--two missionaries working in the girls dorm). The tias served all of us the special chicken (it was sooo good!), and we had cake and talked and laughed. It was so special!

Thank you so much to all those who helped make my birthday absolutely unforgettable! Thank you to those who planned and worked so hard on the surprise party, came out to lunch, helped the girls, everyone who phoned, or e-mailed, or sent cards, or messages... I am so blessed by each one of you! You are all amazing. I pray God's richest blessings upon you...:-)

Birthdays!

It's birthday time! We had 2 birthday parties in 2 weeks for about 18 girls who had birthday's recently. These birthday parties mean so much to the girls. They love to look at the birthday list on my while, and find their names, and see who has a birthday in their month so they know who they will be having a party with. A day to make them feel special and loved. A day to celebrate their life!

The balloons are hung, the gift bags arranged, everything is set...:

A decorated cake is a must-have to make a birthday special:-)...:

We have a theme for the birthday parties for a whole year, so each girl gets to experience it. Our current theme is princesses and butterflies. At each party the girls come, and open presents (just a few little things: chapstick, a sticker sheet, a bracelet, and some candy) and "ooh" and "ah" over each others gifts. Next we play a game, do a craft, sing happy birthday and pass around the birthday bear that sings happy birthday and lights up. We finish up with cake and juice, and the girls go away feeling on top of the world. Such a simple afternoon that creates memories they will never forget!

The game we are playing this year is lots of fun. The girls find partners, one of them is blind folded and has to dress up their partner. The first to get all the dress up items on their partner is the winner!

In photo below: 

Tania (left) and Serjia (right), twin sisters, age 10.

... Speaking of birthdays... Tonight all the ladies made a very special surprise birthday celebration for me! It started with dinner with 3 other missionaries. That part I knew about. It was so nice to look forward to that all day. After our dinner, they said I would have to find the cake and cut it while blindfolded. They then blind folded me and led me away, and gave me 23 turns - I was quite dizzy...- and we somehow ended up at another missionaries house where they shouted surprise and took off the blind fold. Most of the ladies were there, and they had it all decorated just for me! I am just so blessed by all the work they put into this night for me. We had such a fun evening, watching Anne of Green Gables on the projector, dressed up with fun pastel colored "Easter hats", and they had a wedding dress for me to wear for the evening:-) We had cake and desserts, and decorations my mom sent me. It was the most fun birthday! I had never had a surprise party before, and this was certainly a surprise! 

     Tomorrow, for my real 23rd birthday, we are going out for lunch at a lovely little green house cafe. In the evening the girls are making rice and beans for me, my favorite Mozambican food:-) I am blessed indeed...

A new little girl

This afternoon I was called to the girl's dorm to welcome a new arrival. This little girl is about five years old. Her mama abandoned her here today on the sidewalk by our clinic. The ladies who work in the clinic found her sitting there alone. She is blind, cannot walk, and is possibly autistic. She doesn't talk, but she does an awful lot of babbling and "singing" in baby language. And screaming. We prayed for her, and then Rachel (missionary who is helping in the girl's dorm) and I brought her back to my house to change her diaper and bathe her. She loved playing in the basin of water and splashing it all over the floor. 

We have no idea what her name is, so I got the pleasure of giving her a name. The only name that kept coming to my mind was "Lydia". That happens to be my favorite girls name, but I always just planned that I would name my first daughter Lydia. I never thought about naming another child that. But today that name just seemed right. (I just looked up the meaning, and it means "Noble, Kind". Nothing extravagant, but atleast it is not Mara which means sorrow!). 

She is a bit of a handful, but also sweet. The girl's all gathered around to watch me feed her her supper tonight. Then I set her on the bed in the room she will be sleeping in. I think it was her first time to sit on a mattress. She loved it, and laid down and kept rolling over and laughing. I think she is used to sleeping on grass mats on the floor. 

Please pray for Lydia. She has old cuts on her shoulders from witch doctors (they cut the shoulders with a razor blade to "bleed out the infirmities"). 

Tomorrow morning our home visiting team will head out to try and find her mother. If they don't have success we will look at putting her in another children's center for disabled kids. 

It is such a privilege to be here, to be a mother to the motherless, and welcome with open arms kids who have been rejected and abandoned, and to pour out love and life into each child God brings here. 

Thank you for your prayers!

The Reading Program

The girls love books! They love to read, they love to be read to, they love to pretend they can read and make up stories for the pictures...

Those who can read LOVE these books:

They are chapter books about a little girl in preschool who gets into allot of mischief. The girls would sit there reading and suddenly burst out laughing. I decided to see what was so funny, so I started reading them to the little girls. And those girls sat through the entire 2 hours, listening and laughing through these books!

Those who cannot yet read are well on their way. One of the girls (who is in third grade, and 9 years old, but still didn't even recognize the letters of the alphabet) just put all the letters of the alphabet in order with some cards at her counseling appointment! The tia is charge of the reading program was sooo excited to tell me that! She should be proud because she is the one who taught Mira the alphabet. 

Playing Memory is a good game to help prepare to learn to read. You learn to recognize and memorize. 

I was on Renee's blog again (http://bakersdozen.typepad.com) and came across another idea which I adapted with what I have. She has these Montessori sandpaper letter cards. Each letter of the alphabet was made from sand paper, and the idea was for the child to use his index and middle finger (the two fingers you use to hold a pencil) and trace the letter while saying the sound that letter makes ("Buh" for B). So smart!

I printed off some letter cards on card stock:

Then I colored them in (in the same colors as the alphabet chart I made so they could see for example, the red Aa just like on the chart, or the blue Pp, etc.). I don't have sand paper here, but I did have some glitter glue I brought for  card making. So I carefully put the glue on each of the letters, and let dry. Then I had the idea of writing the letter in the corner along with the lower case or upper case equal, to help them know it goes together. They turned out really cute:

I hope this helps put the letters and sounds in their memory! In my opinion, once they know the alphabet, teaching them to read is a piece of cake. It's trying to teach them the letters that is hard! In the schools they are taught by repetition. The teacher shouts "A!" and the kids repeat "A!". The teacher shouts "E!" and the kids repeat "E!". So they can say all the letters, but if you put the letters in front of them and ask them to find the letter "S" they look at you clueless. It's hard, but I know God is giving us ideas and we are already seeing them "getting it". 

Teatime Treats

Before coming to Mozambique, my little siblings and I started a tradition of having a Valentine's Day tea party. We invited some friends from church, and would all dress in red and pink, and make heart shaped scones, and salad, and of course yummy desserts. One of those is from the wonderful "American Girls Party Book". It was part of Samantha's tea party:

I wanted to make a special snack for the girl's for Valentine's Day, so we pulled out the party book, and made heart shaped 'jam tart cookies'.

First you mix together the ingredients (we made a double batch). Aidinha will show you how:

Roll the dough into little balls, and press your thumb in the cookies twice to make a V shape (heart shapes). Fill the hearts with strawberry jam.

I love how the girls were sooo very careful with this part:

Bake them in the oven, arrange them pretty on a tray, and serve them to your friends! (in our case, the 47 other girls in their dorm)

Serina and Aidinha did a fabulous job. They really did the whole thing themselves, all I did was tell them what to do, and make an example. After dinner they passed the cookies out to each of the girls.

As we baked Serina was saying how she made a cake with her mom once (her mother died). She said, "I learned from my mom how to make cake. Now I learn from Mana Anna how to make cookies!" It is a privilege to mother the girls whose mothers have died. To carry on that role in their lives. I know her mama would be proud of her!