100

My blogger "dashboard" has informed me that this is to be my 100th post. I feel like I should be doing some sort of celebratory thing-a-majig or something. My friend gave away some books to a lucky reader with her 100th post, but somehow the prohibitive cost of postage from Mozambique to where most of my readers live is not making that a very appealing option. I thought of uploading a hundred pictures from our year here, but the thought of uploading for four days straight with our crazy satellite internet pushed that idea out of my head as well. Then I had the bright idea to come up with 100 quotes and experiences from the last year, until i realised that by quote #10 you would all have gone asleep or have given up on my Blog entirely.... so i scrapped that idea as well.  At this point i ran out of ideas and decided to simply blog a few pictures from the week. So here you have it... my stupendous 100th blog post!

The yummy tarts I made with the strawberries we bought from a little store about half an hour away from here - quite an accomplishment for me, as a year and a half ago i couldnt cook anything that didnt come out of a frozen food box!

One of the pedreiros (bricklayers) working on the foundation walls for the mercy air house.

Quesito working on the cement and stone foundation for the bridge that will lead to the airstrip.

On our way back from taking pictures at the bridge, Lynn and I ran into this lovely lady, a grandmother who had come to the farm with another elderly lady the mission assists. We discovered she had her ten day old baby granddaughter with her, and asked her if she would like to have the baby weighed and see if we could arrange for some formula for the infant. That tiny bundle on her back is the baby.

The little girl gets weighed at the clinic.. she weighs 1.750 Kilos... sooo incredibly tiny.

Granny with the blanket and clothing we gave her to keep the little girl warm.

And what would a 100th blog post be without a pic of one of the HUNDREDS of creepy crawly ickey things that live in our neck of the country. Someone told me this is a baby bearded dragon. ewww. does that mean there are big ones like this running around???? AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

Thank you all so much for your prayers. Tendai is doing sooo much better (for those who dont know, she had a bad case of pneumonia), and will be off the antibiotics soon. We are still waiting for paperwork to be aproved by a judge in Sofala province so we can begin the adoption proccess here in Manica province.

Rick has been down with the flu for the better part of this week, and ive been busy taking care of both of them! :) Praise the Lord Rick seems to be on the mend, and thankfully the weekend will be here soon so we can relax.  We heard this week that another 2,000 dollars came in for our truck fund - putting us past the half way mark! WOOHOO. God is good and we know He will continue to provide for our needs.  Thanks again for your prayers, as always, please know we appreciate each and every one of them! Blessings,

Rick & Heather

Orphan and Widow Food Delivery

Last week Lynn and I got to do orphan food delivery together again for the first time since Feburary!!! I was pretty excited as it meant I didnt have to either: a) drive our truck myself or b) con some willing short termer into driving it for me! ( I hate driving standard with a PASSION- although i am getting better) Of course I was also excited just cus its always more fun when Lynn comes with!

This is Mae Farece, she is in our Mercy Ministries program along with her blind daughter- they are such lovely ladies and we are really excited to be building them a brand new brick house with a zinc roof! Here Lynn is changing the dressing on a wound that developed on her ankle- thankfully it is slowly but surely getting better.

Mae Vaida, Gina, Farai and me. They had just recieved a packet of gifts left for them by the Nursing team that visited their home for three days to better understand " bush life."I have to tell you how excited I was to see the kids in our orphan program again after being gone for a month. When we got to Gina and Farai's to drop off the food and gifts Gina wasnt there, and I was rather dissapointed as I allways look forward to her huge smile and big hugs (in which she lovingly pats my fat rolls and calls me the shona equivalent of "fat mama"- which is a whole other blog post in itself.. one day...)

 As I said, I was rather dissapointed, but we got Farai to carefully check the supply list, and sign the reciept saying he had recieved them and prepared to go. Just then I looked up the highway and saw Gina, running full out... arms open wide. She ran right into my arms and gave me the biggest hug and asked where I had been. You know.. its moments like that, which remind me of why we are here, and what we do actually makes a difference in the peoples lives. I love knowing that I have developed a freindship with these children and hopefully they are seeing Jesus in me every time we drop of food and supplies to help them.

Vira and Angelina very happy to get their food supplies.. with an extra bonus this month, more awesome green beans from Vanduzi company!

Our maize storeroom is almost overflowing with sacs of Maize- PRAISE THE LORD!!!! We pray this will be enough to last until the harvest next year. Pray for a good growing season here in Mozambique.

Jorge shows me some of the clothes he purchased with money donated by a young boy in Canada (im sure lynn will blog the whole story yet so I wont steal the story- but its really cute!)  Jorge thought I was funny when I wanted a picture of these pants specifically- they have ASTRO BOY on them.. remember him??? I used to watch that show all the time!

Trying some of the clothes out on Francisco.

He is sooo cute. I havent seen him for quite a while so it was nice to get a chance to say Hi and see how he is doing! (they live deep in the bush).

This isnt one of our orphan kids, but he is a friend of Tito's- who as you will see in the next picture is also sporting a "all I want for Christmas...." smile at the moment!

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work with these children and their grannies, to train mozambiquan leaders in childrens ministry skills, and to work with so many amazing pastors from around the country. It is such an amazing feeling to absolutely love what you do and know that God has called you to do it!

Please continue to pray for us- we are slowly making some progress with the paperwork needed to apply to adopt Tendai- right now we are waiting for aproval from some key people, including the judge, in Sofala province, for her to be transfered officially to our province (Manica Province). Please pray that the judges heart will be softened and they will be receptive to our request. 

We also need prayer for our vehicle fund, the doors on our truck have started to refuse to lock again, so we had to disable some of the doors so its lockable again- I dont understand how it all works, I just know we need a new truck! LOL.  

Thank you so much for your prayers and support- Blessings!

Rick & Heather

Wow... what a week!

This past week we had twenty some pastors from around central and northern Mozambique, here on the farm for the July Intensive Training Seminar for our Bible School. We all had a hand in teaching different classes, and it was great to continue to build relationships with so many Christian leaders.  (see photos below) 

We were also blessed this week to be invited by local political leaders to join the greeting line for the President's visit to Vanduzi, a local community and our district centre. Having the president visit is NOT a common ocurrance, so it was amazing to be asked to be a part of it. It was also a testimony to the impact ASAM is having here in our local area! 

President Guebuza arrived with an entourage of SIX helicopters to a crowd of several thousand singing and dancing people- (not us- those of us in the line had to stand shoulder to shoulder and keep the "line closed"). It was quite an experience, and I must say I was bit awestruck by the grandness of such an entrance in a country with so much poverty and suffering.  The president seemed like a nice enough man, and even reached out and held Tendai for a little bit, allowing for some photos, before shaking our hands and moving on. The local officials were quite amazed- apparently he doesnt normally cuddle small children, so they were impressed! (So were we- we have a picture of her with the president.... this could come in handy for the adoption application proccess!) Anyways, here are some pictures from the day and last week.

President Guebuza cuddles baby Tendai Rosa- I was pretty excited about that. (you can ask lynn- i was pretty giddy)

Me teaching some actions for a bible verse, encouraging the pastors to use different methods of memorizing scripture.

Rick teaching a youth leadership course to several students.

The  pastors, and some of us missionaries. (missing: Alta and Lynn)

Rick, Tendai and I waiting to meet the president. (all of us squinting in the bright sun)

All dressed up and ready to go!

Once local leaders saw the president hold her, they all wanted to hold her! Here is our district police chief, Commondante Stephen.

Bye Bye Helicopter!!

I just liked this guy- he was one of the drummers who provided the music for the presidents arrival.

Aunty Lynn gets some cuddle time in.

We want to say thank you to all of you who have been keeping us in your prayers! Our truck fund is continuing to grow, we still have a way to go until we can purchase a new vehicle, but it is encouraging to see the goal getting closer.  We are also continuing to work on getting all our paperwork in order so we can apply to adopt Tendai officially. We appreciate your prayers and ask you to continue praying for us as we live and work here, for good health and safety for all three of us, and that our ministry will continue to be effective. 

Blessings, Rick & Heather