Pretty Girls in their new wrap skirts and t-shirts!
Excitedly waiting for the gifts to be given out!
Handing out shoe boxes from Samaritan's Purse
Checking out the cool presents!!
6 years ago
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Little Nativity
The baby house kids and Tracey's "Little Dorm" of preschool age kids put on a Nativity presentation. It was so adorable! (I made the costumes... even in Africa and I still can't get out of sewing Christmas costumes!)
The Cutest Little Angel!
(Leanora from the baby house)
Christmas Eve Candle Light Service
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
Christmas 2007!
Merry Christmas!! I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas and end of the year Celebrations!
I am trying to update you with pictures, but the system is slow today, so I may have to load them one at a time...
Christmas morning, checking out the new presents!! (Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes)
Check back for more pictures later...
Blessings,
Anna
Thursday, December 06, 2007
December 2007
New Kids!
Eliza and Antonio (twins) arrived in November
They had to have daily hand and feet soakings to kill the worms that
had burrowed under their skin. They came from a situation of neglect
and malnutrion.
Eliza and Antonio (twins) arrived in November
They had to have daily hand and feet soakings to kill the worms that
had burrowed under their skin. They came from a situation of neglect
and malnutrion.
"You are my son, today I have become your Father." (2 Sam 7:14)Eliza and Antonio
They are now happy and healthy and extremely cute!
They have settled in quickly, and love to play and tease.
God's love is sooo amazing!
Children's conferences
October 10-11, December 6-7
In October we had a children's conference for the kids at our center plus the kids
that come to school here. In all we had about 450 children ages 5-12.
It went so well! Lots of crafts, juice, cookies, games, and 4 themes.
The second conference in December is for kids from the communities and villages around
Zimpeto. We invited kids from the city garbage dump, and sent busses to pick up children from several Iris churches. We had about 600 kids attend!
We stuck to the four same themes:
First: Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and ressurrecting to give us new life
Second: The message of Salvation
Third: The Holy Spirit
Forth: Hearing God's voice
Sharing with these kids the Truth of God is like pouring life into them!
May there be much fruit from the seeds planted durring these two outreaches!
The Girls are getting excited for Christmas! I am too:-)This has been a full and blessed year! God has done so many thing. It is worth every day living for Him. May you be blessed as you finish off another year! May God's favor and transformation fill the new year!
Thanks so very much for your prayers...I need it. It's hard being away from my family, especially durring Christmas, and a few deaths of close friends. But I am so encouraged by your love and support. Thank you for being sensitive to God prompting you to pray for me.
Love in Christ,
Anna
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Robbers in the day time!
Wednesday and Thursday we had an AMAZINGLY wonderful Children's conference here. Geared to kids preschool up to forth grade, we had some 400-450 kids. Community kids and our kids who attend the school we have here.
We had morning and afternoon sessions, and served lunch inbetween. It was lots of fun with skits and dramas, memory verses, 4 lessons (Jesus dying on the cross, a salvation message, hearing God's voice--I got to teach that one, and Making the right choices), crafts, games, prizes, 450 little dixie cups filled with juice, and cookies for snack time, and a juggler! It was lots of fun. The kids really had a great time, and it was so awesome to see them drawing pictures of what they felt God saying time them, and hearing a 5 year old recite the memory verse from the day before!
We are planning another one in November for community children, and kids from the city dump. I am looking forward to it!
Friday morning I and a missionary friend from Denmark, who is working here, left by bus for South Africa. She had to get a new visa, and we were both looking forward to the rest. We stay for $10 a night at "Mercy Air - Wings of Love". A missionary aviation where they send out emergency planes, and also go on outreaches. They have guest housing for missionaries, and this time we were blessed to stay in a missionary families own house because they were at home on furlow.
We arrived at the bus stop in Nelspruit (about 3 1/2 hours from our center in Mozambique), and took a very short walk up the side walk to a little cafe for lunch. We then started back towards teh bus stop, to the grocery store right by it, and on the way stopped in at a cell phone shop to buy credit for our phones. Suddenly a lady appeared in the door way to the shop announcing that "There are some robbers that were going to rob you to ladies, so please stay in the shop until we tell you! The police are after them now." The first thought that ran through my had was " Lord, how are protect us and look out for us! We are just walking along our merry way, and you are going behind us guarding us and looking out for us!"
A few minutes later another lady shows up in the door way saying they have caught 3 of the men but questioned them and there are still 3 more guys (6 in all!) that ran off, so please stay in the shop until they tell us. The man behind the counter, seeing the surprised looks on our faces, says, " Oh it's no problem, that's why I carry this...you are safe here." ANd He reaches into his leg pocket and pulls out small gun! We are now going "Ok, are we safer outside or in here with you mister?!" He said he would take us wherever we needed to go, so he walked us to Shope Rite. Then he says to do our shopping and he will wait for us and take us wherever we are going, but we thanked him profusely and said we would get a taxi. We called the taxi, and the guard at the door to shop rite (By the way, there ARE guards at the grocery stores, and every else around here) said to wait with him until the taxi arrived, and when it did arrive he motioned to the taxi driver, and gave us the all clear that he would watch to make sure we got to the car ok.
Once inside the car and the doors locked, we told our taxi driver the story. He said in a repremanding tone "How could you be so stupid to walk around Nelspruit?! I carry a gun, and I woudn't even do that!" And when he dropped us off at Mercy Air he handed us a newspaper article about a man who was mugged the day before and they were going to kill him but he ran off.
For all of you wondering, I won't walk there again... but also know that I and many other missionaries HAVE walked there many times, but the violence in that area is growing and now we are seeing it. My story is to let you know God is defending us and we are free in Him! No need to live in fear. I wonder how many times God protects us from things we never even know about??
We had morning and afternoon sessions, and served lunch inbetween. It was lots of fun with skits and dramas, memory verses, 4 lessons (Jesus dying on the cross, a salvation message, hearing God's voice--I got to teach that one, and Making the right choices), crafts, games, prizes, 450 little dixie cups filled with juice, and cookies for snack time, and a juggler! It was lots of fun. The kids really had a great time, and it was so awesome to see them drawing pictures of what they felt God saying time them, and hearing a 5 year old recite the memory verse from the day before!
We are planning another one in November for community children, and kids from the city dump. I am looking forward to it!
Friday morning I and a missionary friend from Denmark, who is working here, left by bus for South Africa. She had to get a new visa, and we were both looking forward to the rest. We stay for $10 a night at "Mercy Air - Wings of Love". A missionary aviation where they send out emergency planes, and also go on outreaches. They have guest housing for missionaries, and this time we were blessed to stay in a missionary families own house because they were at home on furlow.
We arrived at the bus stop in Nelspruit (about 3 1/2 hours from our center in Mozambique), and took a very short walk up the side walk to a little cafe for lunch. We then started back towards teh bus stop, to the grocery store right by it, and on the way stopped in at a cell phone shop to buy credit for our phones. Suddenly a lady appeared in the door way to the shop announcing that "There are some robbers that were going to rob you to ladies, so please stay in the shop until we tell you! The police are after them now." The first thought that ran through my had was " Lord, how are protect us and look out for us! We are just walking along our merry way, and you are going behind us guarding us and looking out for us!"
A few minutes later another lady shows up in the door way saying they have caught 3 of the men but questioned them and there are still 3 more guys (6 in all!) that ran off, so please stay in the shop until they tell us. The man behind the counter, seeing the surprised looks on our faces, says, " Oh it's no problem, that's why I carry this...you are safe here." ANd He reaches into his leg pocket and pulls out small gun! We are now going "Ok, are we safer outside or in here with you mister?!" He said he would take us wherever we needed to go, so he walked us to Shope Rite. Then he says to do our shopping and he will wait for us and take us wherever we are going, but we thanked him profusely and said we would get a taxi. We called the taxi, and the guard at the door to shop rite (By the way, there ARE guards at the grocery stores, and every else around here) said to wait with him until the taxi arrived, and when it did arrive he motioned to the taxi driver, and gave us the all clear that he would watch to make sure we got to the car ok.
Once inside the car and the doors locked, we told our taxi driver the story. He said in a repremanding tone "How could you be so stupid to walk around Nelspruit?! I carry a gun, and I woudn't even do that!" And when he dropped us off at Mercy Air he handed us a newspaper article about a man who was mugged the day before and they were going to kill him but he ran off.
For all of you wondering, I won't walk there again... but also know that I and many other missionaries HAVE walked there many times, but the violence in that area is growing and now we are seeing it. My story is to let you know God is defending us and we are free in Him! No need to live in fear. I wonder how many times God protects us from things we never even know about??
Monday, September 24, 2007
Still down...Whales...and Life in Mozambique!
Hello everyone!
Just wanted to let you know I AM alive and doing wonderful!
My computer is also still alive, but in South Africa being fixed.
I will update you when I can get it back!
But lots of good things happening here. Yesterday a girl who went to live with
her uncle came to visit. I was really worried because I hadn't seen her for so long
and nobody knew where she was. She has moved back in with another uncle and is
now about 30 minutes from the center. It was so good to see her looking healthy
and well!
Last week I went to the beach and as I was walking along the sand by the water, I heard
some shouting and comotion. I looked out to see a HUGE hump back whale rise up out
of the water, headed straight towards 2 fishermen in their boat!
They were paddling for their lives, then the whale turned and swam to the right of them.
The whale was up out of the water for more than 10 minutes. He almost got stuck on the sand and was tossing around trying to get off the bank. Then he dissappeared back into the great deep. It was incredible! I had been praising God for how amazing the oceans are and His works are wonderful. Then it was this silly moment like God saying "You think that's something, wait till you see what else I have made!" Then the whale came splashing up out of the water. It trully took my breath away. And to think that their are thousands down in the water! It was such a gift from God to see such beauty He has created. Sometimes I think the life down under the ocean is just for God to enjoy, and give us glimpses of every now and then when He wants to surprise us.
LIfe in Mozambique is far from life in America. Trucks driving down the road with the bed packed with people, standing because there would not be enough room for them to sit. Sandy roads that even 4-wheel drive trucks start getting stuck on. BEAUTIFUL sun sets every night, and then an amazing display of stars in the sky...you can see like layers of stars where some are higher and some are lower. Lizzards, cock roaches, NO MICE!!:-) I love Africa. I love the children and the sweet Mamas and the love God has for all of them is sooo rich!
Blessings to you all!
In Christ,
Anna
Just wanted to let you know I AM alive and doing wonderful!
My computer is also still alive, but in South Africa being fixed.
I will update you when I can get it back!
But lots of good things happening here. Yesterday a girl who went to live with
her uncle came to visit. I was really worried because I hadn't seen her for so long
and nobody knew where she was. She has moved back in with another uncle and is
now about 30 minutes from the center. It was so good to see her looking healthy
and well!
Last week I went to the beach and as I was walking along the sand by the water, I heard
some shouting and comotion. I looked out to see a HUGE hump back whale rise up out
of the water, headed straight towards 2 fishermen in their boat!
They were paddling for their lives, then the whale turned and swam to the right of them.
The whale was up out of the water for more than 10 minutes. He almost got stuck on the sand and was tossing around trying to get off the bank. Then he dissappeared back into the great deep. It was incredible! I had been praising God for how amazing the oceans are and His works are wonderful. Then it was this silly moment like God saying "You think that's something, wait till you see what else I have made!" Then the whale came splashing up out of the water. It trully took my breath away. And to think that their are thousands down in the water! It was such a gift from God to see such beauty He has created. Sometimes I think the life down under the ocean is just for God to enjoy, and give us glimpses of every now and then when He wants to surprise us.
LIfe in Mozambique is far from life in America. Trucks driving down the road with the bed packed with people, standing because there would not be enough room for them to sit. Sandy roads that even 4-wheel drive trucks start getting stuck on. BEAUTIFUL sun sets every night, and then an amazing display of stars in the sky...you can see like layers of stars where some are higher and some are lower. Lizzards, cock roaches, NO MICE!!:-) I love Africa. I love the children and the sweet Mamas and the love God has for all of them is sooo rich!
Blessings to you all!
In Christ,
Anna
Monday, September 10, 2007
Computer troubles...
Hello to all my dear friends and family!
So sorry I have not updated you all. As it is, my computer decided to give me some difficulties so it is currently in South Africa being fixed. I have been checking my e´mails about once a week on other people's computers.
Things ARE going amazing and I look forward to telling you all about it! Please stay tuned till I can post photos and give you a proper report.
Just want to thank you for lifting me up and encouraging me! God is mighty and wonderful!
A brief update...
Last night was our grand opening of the new kitchen in the girl's dorm. We had a festa that included cooking all day (butchered five chickens...but more to come later, I won't spoil it all now). What a wonderful evening of celebrating God's blessings on our girls. It always amazes me and fills me with joy to see "orphans" and "unwanted" and "abused" children dancing and laughing and filled with joy. God turns our mourning into laughter and our sorrow into shouts of joy! It is incredible, and beyond words.
Please pray my computer is fixed properly and that I get it back safely.
Bless you all!
Love,
Anna
So sorry I have not updated you all. As it is, my computer decided to give me some difficulties so it is currently in South Africa being fixed. I have been checking my e´mails about once a week on other people's computers.
Things ARE going amazing and I look forward to telling you all about it! Please stay tuned till I can post photos and give you a proper report.
Just want to thank you for lifting me up and encouraging me! God is mighty and wonderful!
A brief update...
Last night was our grand opening of the new kitchen in the girl's dorm. We had a festa that included cooking all day (butchered five chickens...but more to come later, I won't spoil it all now). What a wonderful evening of celebrating God's blessings on our girls. It always amazes me and fills me with joy to see "orphans" and "unwanted" and "abused" children dancing and laughing and filled with joy. God turns our mourning into laughter and our sorrow into shouts of joy! It is incredible, and beyond words.
Please pray my computer is fixed properly and that I get it back safely.
Bless you all!
Love,
Anna
Saturday, August 18, 2007
The joys of home...
A walk at Quail Hollow State Park with Mom and my three youngest siblings. We had a picnic lunch, then walked through the herb garden, and took a hike on one of the trails. I love hiking in the woods!
I meant to post these while I was at home, but was having trouble with Blogger.
So here is a taste of what I enjoyed doing at home for 10 weeks:
Our Garden was so full of zucchini!
How easy to grate zucchini with the Kitchen-Aid attachment!
22 cups of zucchini in the freezer. Mom will make allot of zucchini. bread this Winter:-)
We ate so much zucchini this Summer:Zucchini Crisp (aka Mock Apple Crisp)
Zucchini bread
Fresh cut up zucchini with veggie dip
Fried zucchini
Crispy Parmesan zucchini sticks baked in the oven
Baked zitti
And so much more...
I love being with my dear family. I treasure every moment I was with them the past 2 1/2 months.
It is amazing how God's grace is sufficient for me. When I desperately long to be with my family God gives
me the peace and comfort to live in another country far from the pleasures of being at home. He has given me a home where I am and a heart to make wherever I am beautiful and lovely and welcoming. I pray I can
somehow make others feel at home here too!
Blessings, and have a wonderful Sunday with the Lord!
Back to Mozambique!!
At the airport Wednesday morning (August 8th, 2007)We all got frappicino's at Star Bucks. It was so nice to be with my dear family a little while longer...
Lots of laughing and talking and being. Then lots of crying and hugging and me not wanting to go any sooner than necessary!
(*Notice we all wore our "crocks" for fun:-)*)
I arrived in Mozambique on Friday, August 10th! As we began our descent, I could see all the corrugated tin roofs, and red dirt roads, and tiny caniso huts. How my heart leaped when we came in for a landing at the familiar tiny airport. Getting off the plane I could see Bob and Inge, 2 missionary friends who came to pick me up, watching for the balcony. Yay, I am home!It was very hard saying good bye this time, for some reason, so it was a relief to actually feel at home when I arrived here in Mozambique!
We drove the familiar busy roads to the center, dodging people running across the streets, and keeping alert for any shoppas (Mozambican transportation by bus) cutting out driven by crazy
drivers. And soon, we were pulling into the gate at Iris Ministries in Zimpeto. We drove up the path, past the church, and around the maintenance building. To my surprise and delight, all the girls were standing there outside their dorm screaming "Mana Anna! Mana Anna!" I couldn't help but cry a little as I opened the door and was smothered with hugs. I was then brought into the girls dorm where they sat me on a chair, sang and danced around me a song of welcome in the Shanghaan language, and then they proceeded to lift me up in my chair singing and laughing! How sweet they are:-)
After being here a week, I hardly feel like I ever left. Except that I feel very refreshed and patient;-)
Monday we got a new little girl, age 5, named Margarita. Her Father ran away after abusing her mother, and her mother is now unable to walk and could not take care of her two small children. Margarita's brother has gone to the little boy's dorm, and she has come to be a part of our joyful group of girls. She was a little shy
at first, especially of me being white. But she has quickly warmed up and is running and playing and laughing
with the rest of them!
Though at times there are struggles, and situations to work out, and people to discipline or teach, this is my
calling. Lord help me live each day from the strength you provide! Thank you for your mercies that are new every morning. I would rather be no other place than right here where God has placed me. Whether it's for 1 year at this center, or 10 years, may I never grow weary in serving the Lord, and running wholly after Him with all of my heart!
The next part of the journey has begun, and I look forward to sharing with you the things God is up to over the next year!!
Many blessings to you!
Anna
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