10.20.07

Boa Noit!

Today was the day i went with half my team to the Savanee church
plant. we piled in the truck (truck-like with room for one shotgun, 3
or 4 in the back seat and 2 or 3 if you really must in the backback,
riding backwards and feeling all the bumps really well). guess where
jeff and i rode today for our 45 minute journey over bumpy and/or
washboardy roads? yep you guessed it. did i mention dusty with the
back window cracked? actually that's not a direct correlation - it
RAINED last night and so the dust on the road was settled which meant
we got to have the window cracked a bit for air. it was still dusty,
everywhere, it always is.

i survived and volunteered to ride in the same spot on the way back...
so i could practice my attitude & try to get it right that time ;)

we were greeted by a little guy - maybe 4 yrs old - standing my
himself as we entered the village area. he followed us to the church.
BIG eyes. we find out that his mother left him and father is not a
very good caretaker (we didn't see him) and that this little guy,
Nando, has mental problems. i could also see some physical sores, eyes
weren't quite right, and breathing was raspy at times. anita scooped
him up on her lap and we gathered round to pray. he just looked around
with big eyes, squirming a bit, but settled, even nestled, as we
prayed. he did not speak or try to communicate; just taking it all
with big eyes. as were we. later, after Pastor Jeronimo started our
meeting, Nando made his way over to me, so scooped him up. of course i
wrestled with a few thoughts about the filth and safety of it, but in
the end how can you argue with the voice that says 'God has given us
opportunity to love on this boy and there is such great need. to see
him reach out now for love, putting his arms up around my neck,
touching the buttons on my shirt, how can you turn away from that?'

oh - i forgot to tell you i had grabbed my drum to take along today
and did have a chance to play on it for the first time in the one room
dirt floor mud-packed-for-walls church as our team got settled (but
before the mozambiquens started to come in). it was pretty significant
to me to be playing this drum for the FIRST TIME in this small church
out in the african bush as we prepared to minister. by the time things
got rolling i was holding Nando and so one of our interpreters
(augustino from the dondo church) asked if he could play it. it truly
was an experience to be in the midst of my first african worship time
of singing and dancing and one drummer drumming. it was all raw,
nothing electric, no instruments from the stage, a few ladies and
nearly all the children just gathered in the open area of this room
between the benches where we sat facing forward and the few chairs at
the front for the pastor, etc. but it was loud and true call-response
singing and a lot of feet moving! i did what i could to stand and do
some feet moving wtih Nando in my arms :)

the children's activities went very well, thanks. we had fun outside
in a large group with a ball/circle, some name sharing and 'jesus
loves me and jesus loves you' interaction (in Portuguese), a bed sheet
used for a parachute game where we would take turns going under god's
blessings, an enactment using volunteers of how you can't get to god
on your own ("Q: how do get from here to there but you can't step on
any dirt? A: jesus carries you) and then we ended by handing out
bottles of bubbles. can you believe we had JUST ENOUGH? it was the
same story with the women who were educating about personal hygiene
and handing out packets of shampoo/conditioner - they also thought
they were going to run out but ended up having JUST ENOUGH. EXACTLY -
in both cases exactly. now that gave us goosebumps when we swapped
stories on the ride home!

i think i will end with that. for more of the experience, you simply
must join me next time.

good night, faithful prayers. and thanks for your encouraging replies
as well - nice to hear from you and you are here with me :)

tomorrow - i'll be with the group that stays here. pray for the ones
that go to the other church plant and their various pieces of
sharing/teaching. and pray for us as we may be asked to give our
testimony (i can't find mine that wrote out specifically to work with
translation). we may also attend a baby dedication tomorrow in the
afternoon. if so, this promises to be very powerful - when babies are
born they remain in the home until they have either the church come to
the house to dedicate them to the Lord OR they have a witchdoctor come
(more common) and dedicate them. people here pay witch doctors for
protection, provision, health, to conceive, etc. if you see a child
walking around with a string tied to their wrist or ankle or waist,
their families had them dedicated by a witchdoctor. the power the
witchdoctor pedals is real. but in the end always destroys. well, even
from the beginning it is bondage, even if they do, for example, find a
job or get pregnant. the evil always has its control -- until jesus is
invited into the picture. jesus always wins. He is always more
powerful than the evil one. He already has the victory. we are on the
winning side. we are working to bring more of His light, love, freedom
into people's lives. the battle we fight is real and pretty obvious
here. i was thinking the other day - to take a trip like this is kind
of like "spiritual warfare for dummies". you can't miss it. it is
NIGHT AND DAY to see the differnce in the eyes, on the faces and in
the countenance of the christians here. the ones who don't have jesus
can be very dark as they stare at our truck go by on our way to one of
the Ray of Light projects. satan does not want us here. we want to be
here. we worship god and sing a lot and process together and encourage
one another. and have good leaders to help us. and God is faithful, He
will not lead us where we are not ready to go.

tonight in our group devotions we sang:

if you say go, we will go
if you say wait, we will wait
if you say step out on the water, and they say it cant' be done,
we'll fix our eyes on you and we will come.

continue to pray for our hearts to be affected by the Lord's great
love and He molds and shapes us to be people wtih greater capacity to
carry this love to the ones He loves. and us too.

pray for each person to get what they need each day. we realized
tonight we are a group of introverts and each need to find some time
alone!

wow, this turned into a long email. and of course i didn't even cover
everything!

good night dear friends. please remember to say a quick prayer for our
sleep. we don't take that for granted and it can so effect us to not
be rested for days that are demanding both physically and emotionally.
and i pray the blood of jesus over our dreams too.

blessings and jesus blood cover you too -
jen