Life For Mozambique 2024 Highlights

Vacation Bible School at the Melanie Center 3.

We give thanks to God for all of the many blessings that he orchestrated through and for the
people of Mozambique. We at Life for Mozambique are grateful for the opportunity to have a front-row seat as He works to change lives and hearts in Mozambique. Below are the highlights of the 2024 ministry year.

Orphan & Child Care Highlights:

 

·      12 Children were successfully adopted into forever families.

·      Three Albino children whose lives were threatened were successfully protected at MC1 and re-united in a new home in a new community with their biological parents.

·      Seven of our older children received higher education:

o   1 studied sewing

o   1 studied to be a kindergarten teacher

o   2 studied to be welders

o   2 studied to be electricians

o   1 studied to be a plumber

·      15 children graduated from the MC2 Kindergarten Program.

·      Two children were selected by Mozambican Airline (LAM) for a flying experience for a special trip from Beira to the capital city of Maputo with Maria. They had a blast.

·      Two of our older students who graduated from the trade school Young Africa were recently employed by local businesses.

·      The MC1 received a donation of five computers to help with our administration work and to teach children how to use them. Two went to MC2 and three are being used at MC1.

·      We completed the court process of legally placing all our orphan children under the legal guardianship of John and Maria.

·      The MC1 was officially chosen as a Community Health Center by the Governor where once a month a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, and psychologist come and use our center to educate them via a seminar on health issues, do physical examinations and medical consultations, and dispense any needed medication for the children and families of our community. 

·      MC1 received construction assistance from the National Bank of Mozambique to improve our centers dorm rooms, kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and library.

·      All our children in primary and secondary school passed their end of the year exams and will move on to the next school year.

·      Two International Schools visited the MC1 and MC2 to learn about orphan care and the needs of the poor in communities and brought gifts of food and clothing.

·      The BCI Bank of Mozambique held two special lunches for all our children at MC2 to bless them.

·      15 children from our MC’s were selected on Children’s Day to attend a special celebration party organized by the Governor of our province.

·      The MC3 had its first Vacation Bible School that was attended by 128 children from the community. For two full days they learned about Jesus, did crafts, played games, and were served a delicious lunch. On the last day, they were given new clothing.

·      The MC3 had a HUGE Children’s Day lunch. Over 350 children from the local community played games and ate a wonderful lunch.  

 

Church Highlights:

 

·      The ministry planted an additional 45 churches in 2024. The current total number of churches is 576.

·      The number of churches in the country of Malawi is now 58

·      We hosted a big international conference focusing on the Year of Jubilee that was attended by over 800 pastors, leaders, and church members.

·      Two students attended the Theology School of Sofala. Fernando graduated and Boisse is working on his thesis.

·      Training our Pastors and church leaders was a huge success in 2024. In a discipleship format with very creative use of colors and drawings assisted us in training our pastors and leaders in deep theology without the need to know how to read or write. The majority of pastors and leaders have no or very limited literacy capabilities. The trainings have taken our churches to a whole new level of depth in their understanding of Theology, Bible, and Leadership.

·      We shared the love of God with many pastors and their spouses with good, timely and effective medical care.

·      In 2024 we distributed over 100 Audio Bibles to our churches. It continues to be our goal to have one audio bible in every church.  

·      We assisted countless single mothers, widows, and very poor families in the communities with much needed food, clothing, and school supplies through programs lead by the church.

·      We offered dozens of special lunches in 2024 for the children in remote communities feeding thousands of meals to some of the poorest of the poor.

Water Well Highlights:

·      We raised funds for one well to be installed in 2025.

·      We found seven individuals to each raise funds for a well in 2025.

 

Joseph Did You Know?

Bethlehem, a long time ago …

He’s tired. The 90-mile journey was hard. The adrenaline of the birth is starting to wear off. He looks up and offers a prayer of thanks for the innkeeper’s wife. He laughs, I bet she didn’t know she’d be delivering a baby today. He shakes his head, wondering what he would have done without her. This isn’t really what he’d planned for the baby’s birth.

 

But then again, was any of this what he expected back when Mary said, “Yes”.

 

He sits, leaning against the barn’s wall. He peeks up, the night is clear, and the vast expanse of stars look down upon him. Those stars just might outnumber the flashes of doubt and fear he’s felt over the last nine months. The moments of having to battle the disbelief of his parents, his friends, his neighbors.

 

“Yes, Eema, there really was an angel. One met with Mary too, you know!”

 

“No, Abba. We’re not sending her away. Oh, and by the way, she’s moving in.”

 

“I don’t care what everyone’s been saying around the well. This. Is. From. The Lord.”

 

He closes his eyes. Puts his face in his hands. He thinks of the times when he was alone in his workshop, sheltered from the endless gossip, whispers, and jeers. Nine months of being shunned and pushed to the margins. In those instances of solitude, he could pray for strength and plead for the anxiety to leave. Another deep breath. Finally, he begins to let the joy sink in. I’m a father! But the joy is suddenly met with doubt. Fear rattles his bones. Uncertainty gurgles in his stomach. How on earth do I do this?

 

How do I raise the Son of God, he thinks? Shaking his head, I have to teach the Torah to its author!

 

He looks up. There’s a rustling coming up the path. He stands quickly, blood pumping, on guard once again. Tense. The hair on his neck perks up. A band of scruffy men, nearly a dozen he thinks, are approaching. Some are old, others much younger. Their status is declared by their stench. Shepherds for sure, he thinks. But something is off, they don’t appear as suspicious or threatening as he would expect. Their faces are glowing, with wide-eyed smiles. They stop mere feet away. The men stare at him for what seems like minutes. He can feel the tension melting because they are all radiating immense joy. 

 

“We heard there was a baby,” one of them says gruffly.

 

“You heard,” Joseph asks? “How?” 

 

Suddenly the stars above begin to shine even brighter. 

 

+++

 

I think God sent those shepherds for Joseph’s sake. 

 

It’s Mary AND Joseph, right? However, Mary gets all the attention. The Blessed Mother. The subject of numerous paintings and sculptures. Undoubtedly the most famous and beloved woman in church history. She’s with Jesus until the end of his life on earth. But Joseph? After losing and finding their twelve-year-old son in the temple, he becomes a footnote. He’s not mentioned again until Matthew 13 when Jesus is called the carpenter’s son. 

 

We don’t know Joseph’s age. The best guess is that he’s in his early 20s. Regardless, he was the man. He steps up big time. He obeys God, he stays the course and takes the hard road. Just think about how fast he had to grow up all while showing the faith of Abraham and the self-control of Jackie Robinson. And as a normal human, I’m sure he was filled with doubt, questions, worries, and fears.

 

We’re told that after the shepherds left that Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. What was Joseph doing? I hope he was treasuring and pondering too. I bet he was also guarding, protecting, and sleeping with one eye open.

 

After Jesus is born, the adventure really begins, and the stress multiplies. He smuggles Mary and the baby to Egypt. It’s full fugitive mode with Herod’s henchmen on his heels. Hopefully the gifts of the Magi paid for a nice VRBO with a view of the Nile. How many times did he look up at the stars, take a deep breath, and remember those shepherds? three years later they go back to Israel, and he’s relegated to postscript status, raising kids, and building Nazareth’s best dinette sets. Then he fades into the background, and as tradition holds, dies before Jesus begins his ministry. 

 

Joseph had a huge role to play, and I think those shepherds were sent not just to find the baby but to also give Joseph a divine blast of encouragement. An angel at the beginning and a band of shepherds at the end. Booster shots of courage. A message to say, “You’ve got this. I’m with you. I love you, but there’s so much more to do.”

 

Are you feeling like Joseph today? Is your faith and trust mixed with fear and worry? Stressed by finances or job loss? Is there a loved one battling sickness? Or is life just really hard right now?

 

Then today, think of Joseph, look up at the stars, listen for the chorus of angels. And remember those shepherds. They didn’t bring money, oils, or spices, but those unlikely good news-proclaimers brought bundles of courage, heaps of reassurance, and loads of strength to a guy when he required it most. Ask God to give you all you need. The same God who sent his son to be with us provided what Joseph needed, and he’ll provide what you need today. Take a deep breath, you’ve got this. Most importantly, your heavenly Father’s got this too.

 

Merry Christmas!

The Woman Who Got Thanksgiving Going

Nor need we power or splendor, wide hall or lordly dome; 

the good, the true, the tender -- these form the wealth of home.

--Sarah Josepha Hale 

When you sit down at the table tomorrow, surrounded by loved ones and plates of your bountiful harvest, with words of gratitude dripping from your gravy-soaked tongue, remember to tip your glass in honor of Sarah Josepha Hale.

 

Who, you might ask? Well, none other than the Godmother of Thanksgiving.

 

Hale died in 1879 at the age of 90, but if she were alive today, she’d be considered an influencer. She’d go by SJH or SaHa. She’d have a website, a podcast, a magazine, a book deal, and a million followers on Instagram. She was Ina Garten meets Oprah meets Brene Brown. 

 

SJH

 

The bulk of her career was spent in Philadelphia as the editor for Godey’s Lady’s Book. The publication was a bit of a big deal back then. It was Good Housekeeping, Bon Appetit, and Vogue rolled into one. Without a rival, it had a massive readership for its day. When Americans, especially women, wanted to learn about taste, morality, cooking, fashion, literature, and architecture, they turned to Godeys. It was family focused and deeply religious. Hale, as editor for 40 years, had a huge impact on the American way of life. 

 

Her role as editor allowed her to champion numerous causes such as the importance of play and physical education for children as well as higher education for women (she helped found Vassar College). She opposed slavery but did not support women’s suffrage. She rallied the nation to build a monument at Bunker Hill and she helped save Mount Vernon from desertion and demolition. Impressed yet? Her list of causes and accomplishments is too long for me to keep going. But here’s one more: this energizer bunny of a lady also found time to push for a national Thanksgiving holiday. 

 

Hale's letter to Lincoln

Thanksgiving wasn’t a unified celebration in Hale’s day. It was big in New England, but not so much in the south. Each state had its own holiday, ranging from October to January. Through her work in Godeys, she campaigned for a national holiday for Thanksgiving and Praise to commemorate the Pilgrims’ feast of 1621. But her campaign took nearly two decades. She hit roadblocks and dead ends. She wrote to presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and eventually Lincoln. In Lincoln, she found support. And in 1863 he dedicated the last Thursday in November to be a day of National Thanksgiving and Praise.

 

Hale wrote to Lincoln in September of 1863, just a few months after Gettysburg. I wonder what in Hale’s letter struck such a chord in Lincoln’s heart. Why did he respond favorably when his four predecessors gave her the cold mutton chops? Did she speak into his grief over the thousands of dead soldiers and the massive rift in the country? Or was it his longing for repentance over his perceived national perverseness and disobedience? How about his compassion for the newly widowed and orphaned? Or maybe his desire for the “beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens” to “heal the wounds of the nation”? Perhaps choice E: all of the above, for they all can be found in his Proclamation of Thanksgiving written less than a week after receiving Hale’s letter. 

 

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation 

Her letter doesn’t mention reasons to be thankful or the results of gratitude, but I think Hale and President Lincoln both understood the power behind day of unity for the nation and the internal peace that flows from a posture of gratitude. I bet it was a thankful heart that carried her through grief and the struggles of raising five children while also bringing home the bacon and the salted meats. I believe it was gratitude that propelled her to be a source of education and inspiration for women up and down the eastern seaboard. 

 

I wonder what Hale and Lincoln would think about today’s headlines. A pair of wars dominate the news. Estimates of 40-50 million people are trapped in slavery worldwide. And the American states seem about as un-united as they were during the years preceding the Civil War. Hale and Lincoln would have every right to think that nothing’s really changed.

 

But then we could point out how far their concept of a national holiday has come. A total of 87 percent of Americans say they celebrate Thanksgiving. An average of nine people will gather around dinner tables from Turkey Creek, AZ to Cranberry Township, PA. Americans will spend $1.2 billion on 46 million turkeys. Approximately 80 million people will travel 50 or more miles this weekend. I’d say their idea has taken off.

 

Our Thanksgiving traditions have massively morphed over the last 161 years. Parades, football, and shopping seem to overshadow its original purpose. But when you peel away all extra trappings that make up Thanksgiving in 2024, it’s still the same as it was in 1863 and 1621. Family and friends coming together, sharing a meal, and giving thanks for their blessings. 

 

It doesn’t get any simpler, or better, than that. 

 

I think SJH would be thrilled. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!