An Onion.

This onion.... brought me such great joy this past week. Really. In over three years of living in Mozambique I have NEVER seen a Red Onion in shoprite. Sometimes they dont even have regular onions (for two months last year!)- which is enough to put this Onion loving lady over the edge, but i managed to survive without them. Surviving without small things that I enjoy and "crave" has become part of our "normal" over here. But back to my Red Onion- I was so excited about this onion- i photographed it- I actually bought a whole bag of them, but split them with another missionary here who was equally as excited about the arrival of a few small bags of the things! They cost us almost a DOLLAR an onion, which to me seems outrageous but i hear the cost of onions is going up back home as well. It seemed to me that i should make sure to use these onions wisely... i mean.. at a buck a peice they had better be used in some GOOD FOOD! As I contemplated how I would use my new treasure, i started thinking about onions in general... how they have layers.... how I have layers (wife, mother, missionary, friend, sister, daughter, aunty, fun loving adventure seeker, scared to try new things scaredy cat, etc).... and finally... how our ministry here has layers. Which brings me to my point! This week was one of those weeks where I saw a whole lot of layers in our ministry! (that was a really long intro to get to that point wasnt it!?)

 (pic of Tendai taken by our friend Shayle)

Our family has decided to make it a point to participate in the English church service in Chimoio (an hour away) on a more regular basis. Its good for us to get out and see other people and enjoy worship and fellowship in a group. The gentleman that usually leads it was gone this week, so Rick and I were asked to take the service. It was so nice for me to hear Rick preach (in English) again, and I enjoyed leading worship (although I was petrified since I dont usually lead worship with my guitar!). Just another layer added to our ministry here- occasionaly reaching out and ministering to those who minister (other missionaries and aid workers). (sorry no pics from then.. we were kinda busy)

This past week one of our mission staff had to bury his wife. This young man has already lost a child in recent months, and now his wife as well! He is broken, hurting and in need of encouragement. At our devotional time the day after the funeral he came, hungry for a dose of encouragement and prayer. It was so awesome to see our missionary staff, and the local staff reach our to lay hands on him, and pray for him in this difficult time. I was nearly brought to tears as I listened to one of our local guys pray passionately in Shona for healing in this mans life. Encouraging and supporting our local community in the struggles, trials... and even in the joys they have- just another layer of our ministry!

A few weeks ago I blogged about two widows who had recieved audio Bibles. This past week I was able to take Vicki and Barb to visit the home of one of the ladies. Vicki and her husband Keith are VERY involved with supporting and promoting the work of the organization who makes these solar Bibles available to us. She was really happy to get to see one of the Bibles in a home, being used!

Listening to Galatians 6:9- encouraging Mae Loliata not to give up!

 While there we also met Mae Loliatas newest grandchild (her oldest daughter is married and lives in Chimoio)- an adorable, as of yet unnamed boy, four day old bundle of cuteness! She joked they would name him "Eric" (thats how they pronounce Rick's name here)- but we shall see if they do! :)

When they are born, even most Mozambican babies look REALLY white, but give him a month or so and he will look like all the other kids! 

Barb prays a blessing for the Baby.

Visiting local homes, distributing audio Bibles, cuddling babies, eating casava root cooked in water from questionable sources- just another layer of our ministry!

 Our house is still progressing, though we are almost to the point where funds are going to be the reason we have to "pause" (or rather, the LACK of funds!) This picture is the back end of our house, that door will lead into Ricks office/ministry storage room. I was very exciting to see the end "peak wall" go up.. it looks so much more like a house now!

 A glimpse of the front part of our house thru the Garage window. The first window on the left will be the living area, the second one is the dining area.

Some of the local staff posing with some donated clothes from South Africa that the mission was able to bless our workers with last week- they also happen to be posing unintentionally with rows upon rows of bricks for our house! Each of these bricks is made by hand using a metal mold. So thankful for workers who have been able to help us save lots of money by making good quality bricks here at the farm rather than having to transport lower quality ones from town!

Building our future here, building our family here, providing jobs to local people so they can build their future and their families- just another layer of our ministry here!

The local community requested that we come with our (the mission's) tractor and try to "level" the community soccer pitch for them.  What they really want is all the clumps of thorns and pokey grass taken out as the pitch itself is actually quite nice and level already. Unfortunately the tractor is no match for mozambican thorns and pokey grass so the community will have to do some field work before the tractor can come back and make it nice and smooth. At least we TRIED! (and in the three short minutes we were there we attracted quite a crowd!) 

Helping the local community (or at least trying to!) have a place for fun and community events- just another layer of our ministry here!

And finally, a few pictures from our annual Easter meal with Francois and Alta (our South African colleagues).  I make a cake for this meal every year. An ice cream cake. It takes a lot of work to make an ice cream cake in Africa (and some planning too bc ice cream isnt allways available!) Francois LOVES ice cream cake, so he is always asking me to make one, but I tell him.. only at Easter! Its too much effort to make those things unless we are celebrating a resurrection! This year I finally "perfected" the cake, the first year the recipe I used resulted in a great tasting but rock hard base. The second year the base was great but the icing was so sweet it could knock you over. This year... we mastered it. It looked and tasted soooo yummy! I even managed to create a few piped chocolate decorations which im pretty proud of!

 The giant chocolate blob in front is the stone in front of the tomb. Its hard to see the chocolate crosses that were standing on the cake.. but they were pretty cool. Thanks to my sister for bringing me real chocolate chips that Ive been hoarding since December!

 Tendai was pretty stoked about the cake. 

 Francois and Tendai rolling away the stone.

 We used a small tupperware dish to create a "tomb" in a section of the cake. Inside was a note saying "He is not here, He is Risen!" I think this will be a new easter tradition for us. Making the tomb did not take much effort over and above the normal effort to make this cake, and it was a neat way to talk about Jesus' resurrection. 

The cake had chocolate butterflys and flowers symbolizing rebirth and new life, and a rainbow cake base - symbolizing God's promise to us! Overall I think it was a pretty meaningful cake- and it tasted REALLY yummy too.

Celebrating God's Blessings with our African friends, encouraging each other in our work here as we are all far from family and things we hold dear, making memories as a family, creating traditions for our home- just another layer of our ministry here!

Thank you for praying for us! As one of our friends recently put it- although we need financial support, packages from home, emails and a familiar voice every once in a while, PRAYER is by FAR our greatest need here on the mission field!  This week we will be travelling to Zimbabwe to attend a seminar to get training on using soccer as an evangelism tool in a large group setting. It should be very interesting and we look forward to meeting with others from all over Africa. We will get to see some old friends (not that they are old, but weve known them for a while) and also get to visit with the pastor who hosted my missions team when I was 16 years old- he and his wife are responsible for igniting a passion for Africa in me! We appreciate your prayers for our safety as we travel and try to avoid getting stopped by corrupt officials.

(another pic by Shayle)

God Bless, Rick, Heather & Tendai!

Happy Easter!

this just makes me feel like "Easter!"

Blessings! We have had a great week here at the farm, despite Tendai having another round of malaria (thankfully a not so bad one, that she is bouncing back quickly from!) a bad incident with a propane tank and a green mamba snake tried to "get" Tendai at our front door as well! On monday we delivered the monthly food amounts to the orphan homes- taking with us a group of volunteers from South Africa who were interested in learning about the Amigo Orphan Program and how we "do" ministry here.

It was a blessing to be able to share with them!

I had the opportunity to hand out a stuffed dolly to one of the newer children in the program. Angelina has never had a dolly before- and was beyond thrilled to get one. The doll was donated by folks from a church in Fort McMurray, AB, to give to children in the orphan program, along with numerous coloring books, crayons, sweets and small toys and school supplies. The kids were so excited to receive the gifts, but none more so than Angelina and her granny with the gorgeous little dolly.

This picture just makes me smile. Such weathered hands holding a fluffy and soft doll... :)

  Granny Lolieta shows me her basin- a plastic basin that she has patched up (you can see its nearly split in half!) ... first with some sap and "gum" type substance, and now she is SEWING it! wow. 

This is Farai's notebook, with the food chain depicted. Was really exciting to see how much detail he put into his notes.... and that they were completely readable! (handwriting is a struggle for many kids here so its exciting to see he is doing well!)

And one final picture... Tendai helping daddy learn how to ride her bike. What a good helper!

Thanks so much to our faithful prayer supporters back home. As I mentioned, weve had a great week, but a lot of scary incidents also! When those things happen we KNOW it is the prayers of the faithful back home, lifting us up in prayer on a regular basis that make it possible for us to continue here.

Prayer Requests this week-

Safety & Health

Travel Safety

That work will continue well on our house

That our ministry funds, as well as our house funds will continue to come in

Praise Reports-

Tendai is over her malaria and was protected from the snake.

We had a fabulous Easter Weekend fellowshipping with friends and refreshing our souls!

The center wall on our house is NEARLY complete! Yay!

God Bless, Rick, Heather & Tendai!

Ministry in many forms..

We've been busy the last few weeks- with many different kinds of ministry. One day we visited a local group of Pastors studying in our Faith Bible Seminary. Lately the missionaries have made it a point to visit local schools to encourage them and answer questions and concerns the pastors have. 

Rick learning the names of the pastors.

 While Rick visited with the men, I spent time with the Simukai group (our ladies literacy program) learning how to read a paragraph in Shona. I do not speak or understand Shona at ALL... but it was fun trying! I was certain we were reading a Bible verse, but later Mathew translated for me and it turns out I was learning how to make Sudza!

while her mother studied this little one played inside the church 

The Simukai group.

Another area of ministry I have been involved in quite a bit recently, is visiting sick and elderly widows. These particular widows are in our Amigo Orphan Progam, so I visit them every month anyway, but in Lynn's absence (she and Dwight are in Canada on furlough) I am also helping to ferry Celestino to and from  their homes to check on those who are sick, do health assesments etc.

 After visiting the Pastors group we were told this granny was ill, we decided to visit and pray for her. We were pretty sure after meeting with her, that she had suffered a stroke (in addition to being nearly completely blind and deaf).

The next day we brought Celestino with us, who did a full assesment- checked her pulse, respirations, blood pressure, etc.  Praise the Lord, she is improving each time we see her, although still unable to move one of her legs, her hand and arm are now much better!

Another area of ministry is making sure that the projects on the go around the farm keep GOING! Rick is one of the few guys here able to drive and use the Back-hoe, so he has been asked to assist and keep and eye on the the work going on at the airstrip. It was exciting for everyone when the BIG trucks arrived with the BIG machinery to level the airstrip- one step closer to being ready to use it!

 This was the first "big" truck loaded with HEAVY machinery to cross the bridge... we all held our breathe as it drove over but the solid timber beams handled the load.. no problem!

 The roller. It looks really big from this angle doesnt it!?

 I just thought this picture was funny. All four of them standing watching as the guys unloaded the machinery.

 Next the Bulldozer arrived. Everyone loves a bulldozer- even Tendai thought it was cool!

Digging up pea gravel to be used for leveling the runway and making sure it is "just so" so the water drains properly, and planes can land and take off.

Of course our major focus right now is our house! Its definetly a part of our ministry, since once we are into our new house our "survivability" out here will go up sooooo much! We are desperate to get into our new house, where Tendai will be able to sleep in a room rather than a "corner" and have a bit of space to play! It will be nice for us to have our own space- to relax, to refresh- and even to have our friends over to visit. We had a group of friends join us a few weeks ago and had to relocate to the campsite with all our food and chairs since there was NO way the two families were all going to fit in our tiny cottage!  We also have people waiting to move into our cottage, ( and out of a tent!) so our hope is to get out of here and into our own place ASAP. 

 marking the walls where the channel will need to be cut out

 Currently Rick is working to install the electrical conduit piping, so the guys can finish the tops of the walls.

 Once this center wall is at the correct height (about ten bricks higher than it is). We can start putting the roof on- IF we have enough funds to purchase all the supplies!  We had thought we had enough to purchase all the materials for the roof, but with the prices of things going up and several extra expenses we hadnt calculated for with the walls, we are a bit short. We have ordered all the truss beams, all the ceiling boards, etc, but still need to pay for the zinc sheets and small lumber strips to secure it to.

Unfortunately, due to the design of the house, we cant start the roof until ALL the supplies are here since they will have to go on one right after the other . Please pray that funds will come in for our house construction. Currently we have recieved half of what we need, for this project.

 Installing the piping down the center wall, where it will branch off into the various rooms.

The guys hard at work making supports for the beams that will have our lighting and some electrical wires crossing them.

 Tendai helps by coloring on the floor with sidewalk chalk.

 This weeks preschool-ish fun (parenting ministy!)- I made some colored rice for Tendai- so far its entertained her for about 5 hours and it took me maybe ten minutes to make! SO easy and well worth it! She loves the stuff!

 Praise Reports for this week-

- that the granny who had the stroke is improving each time we see her!

-that the allergic reaction Tendai had last week has gone away- PTL

-safety as we have driven back and forth quite a bit recently

-a new church has come on board to sponsor us monthly.

-for the opportunity to do a skype interview with a radio station back home in Canada- highlighting the need for Mosquito Nets for children in developing nations where Malaria and mosquito borne diseases are prevalent.

Prayer Requests

- for health and safety as we travel to and from town, visiting local homes etc.

-for protection for us, our home and the farm

-that we will continue to find new ways to fellowship with the friends we are making here. Having friends our age has greatly encouraged us in our lives here.

-that our monthly support needs will be met, as well as the funds for our house.

And, one final picture from this week- Jose, our guard, came by this morning to show me his teeth. Hes had them for a few months now, but I had not gotten a good picture of him SMILING yet- I asked him to come down and we would get a good one- and did we ever! We are so glad the mission and generous donors from Switzerland made it possible for Jose to smile again- with a mouth full of brand new teeth!

God Bless, Rick, Heather  & Tendai Neufeld

Sharing the Light...

This week Mariano and I had the honor of giving out two Solar Powered Shona New Testaments ( preloaded mp3 players) to two of the widow caregivers in the Amigo Orphan Program. Ive had the chance to visit both of these ladies in their homes over the last two weeks and have had a fabulous time getting to know them a little bit better. 

They were soooo excited to receive the audio new testaments, they actually walked to the farm on Monday, instead of waiting till Tuesday, which is the day they come each week to participate in the work for food program. They have to walk a pretty long way to get here, but they said once they knew the Bibles were ready for them "they couldnt wait.... not even one more day". Neither of these ladies can read, or even write their own names, so they having an audio Bible is a huge blessing for them. They are already sharing the Good News with their families and neighbors- When I visited Mae Lolieta today there was a group of kids listening under the shade of their mango trees!

 Gervais hanging out under the Mango trees. This is one of the nicest yards around- simply bc they had several big Mango trees that provided such lovely shade!

 Lolito showing me the Litchi tree he is caring for.

 Mae Lolieta prepared some Sudza, sweet corn and eggs for us.  I usually decline when they offer to make us food at the orphan homes, but she had already started so I decided to eat with them. Sudza has a consistency somewhere between mashed potatoes and mashed potatoes mixed with jello jigglers. It tastes very bland, so its not the flavour that I dont enjoy, but the consistency. I was so blessed though by her offering me such a lovely meal!

 She also showed me a picture from her wedding! Very rare for folks here to have photos of their family, let alone one from their wedding (especially since actual weddings are very rare!).

 The boys (Lolito and Gervais) raise these Guinea Pigs- which i thought were fairly cute, even though im not a super huge fan of rodents... then I found out they raise them so they can EAT them! Ack!

On our way to the house, Pastor Mariano insisted on walking the path in front of me as I drove the truck. He was checking for any pokey sticks that might be on the sides since the path had been widened by Mae Lolieta and her kids just so we could visit, even though I told them it was not neccesary! I felt terribly silly driving behind Pastor Mariano as he walked in front of me!

 Mae Farecia's place, that I visited last week. Her twin sons, Abel and Zachariah, and daughter Rimbudzai are all in our program as well. Here she is showing me her house, while Rimbudzai fed porridge to a nephew. This widow is amazing, she has each of the children working their own small garden area, raising animals (goats, pigs, chickens) and her kids have the highest marks and best attendance records at school of any of the children in our program. Its amazing, especially when you consider that Mae Farecia herself cannot read, or even make an x as a signature.

Mae Farecia's Saleiro and matchesa. (Salerio is a food storage area and a matchesa is an outdoor living area/kitchen)

I had a great time visiting these two ladies, getting to know them a bit better, and seeing where the kids live. It is such a blessing to be able to work with these children and minister to their families as well.

Thanks to all who are praying for us, we are all doing much better this week, after Rick and Tendai having Malaria last week, Rick having an infected tooth, minor surgery in his mouth, and all of us not sleeping due to us all being under the weather.

Its exciting to see the house work continuing, soon the plumbing basics will be installed in the walls, and the rest of the piping for the electrical outlets installed. In the next month we will be ordering the beams for the roof, ceiling boards and roofing sheets. The door frames for the house are almost complete so Ill be painting (putting a protective seal) on them soon! Please join with us in praying that the funds we need will continue to come in, and also for our health!

God Bless, Rick, Heather & Tendai Neufeld