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!

The importance of marriage

(First of all, this was not my original idea. It came from my friend Laura who lives here and is responsible for a dorm of 5-10 year old boys. You can check out her blog at http://clearlyliving.blogspot.com . Thank you for your creativity Laura!) 

Purity

That is the topic we are about to cover in discipleship with the older girls.

Being pure in God, living lives to glorify the Lord, becoming pure through His cleansing us and molding us into His likeness.

To start off our topic, Rachel and I decided to have a wedding, and clear up a common misconception here, that once you have kids together, you are considered husband and wife. Never mind the marriage, the covenant before God.

     In Mozambique, in order to get married, most couples of many expenses to consider. The groom will have to pay the "Lobola" (the bridal price, set by the Father of the bride). This could include several crates of refrescos (pop/soda), money, cows or goats, and capalanas (the traditional fabric here, used as wrap skirts, baby slings, blankets, and many other uses). They will also have to afford a wedding, and a celebration feast. The feast will not just be for the wedding guests, but any neighbors or people that want to come could show up and must be fed! Because of lack of money, often people just live together, sometimes for many, many years, but never make the important commitment of getting married.

       We had a wedding to explain what marriage is, and the significance of different parts of the wedding. 

Please join us for the wedding ceremony!...

Fiona and Dito were our pretend Bride and Groom!

They did a fantastic job. Fiona borrowed a real wedding dress, and Dito wore a tie and dress shoes!

Some of the wedding guests (i.e. the girl's discipleship group).

They LOVED the wedding, and participated in singing and making it a real African celebration!

Dito presented the Lobola to Fiona's "father", Estevao. Age 6. 

We asked if he approved of Dito marrying his daughter, and he said Yes. What a relief!

Fiona and Estevao, waiting for Dito to present the Lobola.

They exchanged rings, said their vows, cut the cake, and everyone had cake and punch to celebrate! 

Dito made sure the girls understood this was NOT a real wedding, and they were NOT really married! :-)

"But for Adam no suitable helper was found...

then God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man,

and He brought her to the man...

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother

and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

Parts of Genesis 2:20, 22, 24

...Treasures in Heaven... August 30, 2006

Gina, Anna, and Maria Crimilda

Rainy Saturday

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

How rewarding it is to sew into people's lives and reap heavenly rewards! Each of the children and people here are treasures and it is such a joy to minister to them!

Lately the Lord has been speaking me about spending TIME with people. Just as He loves to spend time with us. It is not the 'things' that we give people that builds them up and encourages them, but the time we take to focus on the person in front of us. Loving on them, listening to them, caring for them, praying for them.

Saturday night is movie night in the girls dorm. It was pouring down rain, cold, and very windy. After turning on the movie (The Parent Trap) and passing out little bags of chips, I huddled in with the girls (all trying to keep warm) and enjoyed their laughter, and repeating lines. It was so nice to just be with them.

Sunday afternoon I walked with 2 girls that are rather shy, Paula and Judite, to the pool down the road. It was too cold to swim, but we sat and had french fries and coca-colas. They were teasing each other and laughing the whole time. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The girls had so much fun!

We have started discipleship in the girls dorm. The girls are divided into age groups, and 2 afternoons Ellie (missionary also involved in the girls area) and I invite the girls, and one of the Mozambican dorm mothers, into my house. We serve them tea or juice, and sit down in a comfy setting to learn about God. So far we have watched a film about the prodigal son, and how the father is like our heavenly Father. That has brought us into a session on the Father heart of God. Something important for these girls to learn, as many of them have a bad example of what a Father is. We do activities with them, and they get a memory verse to work on over the week.

I so enjoy being here! The Lord is faithful all the time. My days are filled with nursing small cuts with bandages, holding little girls who's feelings were hurt, laughing with those who laugh, praising the good things and disciplining the bad. It is amazing to be here, and I love it!

Things are going well in the baby house. I will only be running it along for another 2 weeks or so, and then Tracey comes back (yay!!). Everything has gone smoothly, praise God! The babies are lovely and growing so fast!

For those who may not have heard, baby Jill did go to be with Jesus. It was very hard, but the Lord has been gracious. And we have a new baby here now named Nehemiah. His dad is a pastor of a church near here. His mom died 3 weeks after he was born. He is about 6 weeks old now. Today his dad came to visit him. He comes a few times a week. When Nehemiah is a bit bigger he will be able to go live with his daddy.

Every day I am blessed by the treasures God gives to us! And I am reminded that our treasures are not our possessions, or our money. Our treasures come from how we are living our lives and using our time! Is it for the Lord? That is the richest life to have!

Bless you each! Take time to store up heavenly treasures! Of all things, you will NOT regret it!

Love in Jesus,

Anna Coumos