Tonight

Tonight, there is one less boy sleeping on the streets of Maputo, Mozambique.

Tonight, a family is able to celebrate the return of their lost son.

Tonight, Marcus is at home.

A New Car!!!

A little over 3 weeks ago, i had the frustrating experience of my car breaking down while on a sand road only accessible with 4x4 and about 3 hours from the city where i live. 9 hours later we finally made it home with my car in tow.

Since then, i have been amazed as i've watched God provide! My family and friends in the States and other parts of the world began praying and giving. God also put me in contact with an amazing family involved with the U.S. government here in Mozambique who was preparing to leave the country. They had a beautiful car that was perfect for my ministry needs. So i began praying for it. With the car, we discovered there were some taxes involved in switching it from diplomatic status to normal registration. the owner of the car was expecting it to be around $1000 in taxes and had told me he and his wife would pay up to $1000 if i could make up the balance. the family was also amazing in working out a payment plan with me in which i have til jan. 1 to pay the total amount.

friday he called me with the shocking and sad news that the taxes would be $8000! i was so disappointed. he and his wife really wanted me to have the car so they had talked and prayed and agreed to pay $4000 of the taxes if i could cover the rest. i told him i couldn't do it as it would put the cost of the car out of my budget. so i gave up on getting their car and started looking at classifieds again.

sunday, the owner of the car texted me and asked me to come by their house. they had prayed about it more and still felt like i was suppose to have the car. they decided that i could "borrow" the car til september when the taxes owed would drop to $5000 then they will pay that amount as a gift to me. then he gave me all the documents and the keys! and the car is mine!!!

thank you all so much for helping me raise the money for this car! i still need a few thousand dollars more by january 1st so please keep praying and give if you are able (go to www.theunveiledfaces.org to give).

i pray this blog is a reminder of God's faithfulness. He loves to give good gifts to His children!

Lena

if you've followed my blog for long or heard me share stories about life in mozambique, you've probably heard me mention gaspar and zacarius. they are brothers and were teh first 2 street kids i ever met. they became a huge part of my testimony and calling to work with street kids. sadly, i write this blog with bad news. their mother, lena, passed away friday. she was 6 months pregnant and died of complications related to the pregnancy.

this afternoon when i got home, gaspar and zacarius were at my house. they had tears in their eyes and told me their mother had died. i thought they had to be confused. manuel and nelson, 2 of my friends, had just spoken to her the day before. thankfully, manuel and nelson were with me so they talked to the boys and then we jumped in the car with my housemmate, ian, and went to matola to speak to the family.

gaspar, zacarius, and matilda (their 13 year old sister) ended up coming home with me to stay at my house a night or two while the family figures out what to do about the funeral. sadly, it did not seem to be anyone's priority to look after these kids. a friend of mine is going to let me use her car tomorrow so that i can take the kids to get some clothes and then back to matola to check in with the family. lena's parents are living and so are some brothers and sisters so i'm really praying they will take in these 3 kids.

the boys and matilda seem to be doing okay. i think them staying here with me is a good distraction. they've just enjoyed watching tom and jerry cartoons and have laughed a lot. please keep them in your prayers these next few days. . . and me. life in Africa is so harsh.

Lena and her 4 precious children.

Soccer With the Street Kids

Every Thursday, me and the housemates head down to a soccer field in the city to play with the boys. We have anywhere from 20 to 35 boys join us. A few of our Mozambican friends go to help get the games organized. The boys found out that I use to play goalie back in the day so that is now my permanent position. For a few of the boys, their goal each week is simply to score a goal while I'm playing keeper.....as if that's really a big feat!!! It is so much fun though to connect with the boys through soccer. Each week, we play til the sun goes down and then we wrap up with a quick devotional and prayer.

Towards the end of July, we will be holding a week long soccer clinic. We'll promote the clinic among street kids and also open it up to kids that live in the city. The whole point of this clinic is evangelism. The different components of soccer will be used to share Christ. Please be praying for this clinic as we prepare!!

Soccer is such a part of life here and such an incredible tool to share the Gospel!!!

Daniel, the director of Ambassador in Sport Mozambique, visited Masana and played some games using soccer skills.

Me and the housemates with some of the boys at the soccer field.

Devotion time after our soccer game.

Worship on the Roof

We have an amazing group of young Mozambican guys that join us every Thursday to help with the soccer evangelism ministry we have started up with street kids. Afterwards, the come to our house to share a meal together. Every other week, we have started worshiping and praying for the city of Maputo. This is one of my favorite times of the week as I love hearing the passionate prayers of the young men and the beautiful worship in 3 different languages - English, Portuguese, and Shanghan.

I met these guys while I worked for Iris Ministries and was able to remain close to them as I moved to the city and began working with street kids. Now, almost all of the guys have left the Iris center and are living in a community near the Kunhymela House, where I live. So they come by often and help out whenever we need them. Amazing how God blesses friendships!!!

Ministry Vehicle Needed

This is a huge request but I am in desperate need of a new car. The car I am currently driving has had lots of problems and has now broken down on me twice within the last couple of months while I've been 2 hours or more outside of the city. It's no longer reliable. I also do not think it is wise to spend anymore money on fixing the problems. However, I also cannot be without a car as it is invaluable to my ministry among the street kids here in Maputo. My car is used for the shopping we do for Masana, the project I work with. We use my car for all of the visits to doctors and most importantly for reintegration. Each week, we are visiting families of the boys that have already returned home or are in the process of returning home. Without a car, this is not possible.

Unfortunately, cars in Mozambique are not cheap. The transmission in my current car has gone out again so I'm not even sure I can sale it to help towards the cost of a new car. I am thinking I will need at least $10,000 to purchase an SUV or truck that will serve the needs we have with Masana.

If you are able to give specifically towards a new vehicle, please send donations to the below address and mark the check "Masana - vehicle". Checks can be make payable to Unveiled Faces and sent to:

Unveiled Faces
PMB #275
3400 E. Speedway Blvd. #118
Tucson, Arizona 85716-3960

You can also go to www.theunveiledfaces.org to give online.

Please be praying for the Lord's provision of a new car so that I can continue in my ministry of returning street kids to their families!

Masana's New Home

After 3 months of working to get the property ready, Masana has finally moved to its new home....my house! The new area is complete with 2 separate classrooms, a kitchen, a shelter for meals and church services, showers, a station for washing clothes, and a room for temporary housing.

On MOnday, we had a party to celebrate Masana's new home! A couple of the leaders from the community came and gave speeches welcoming Masana to the neighborhood. We were a bit worried about how the transition would go as its a bit farther for the boys to walk each day. But it hasn't even been an issue as we've had over 25 boys each day so far this week!!! Now we just need a bigger pot for cooking rice to feed that many!!!

a group shot of all the masana workers and boys along with the community leaders that came to welcome masana to the neighborhood.

the classroom used for the first level of education. these boys are learning to read and write.

this is the shelter where we eat meals together and have our church service each day.

this is the classroom for our upper level adult literacy students.

the kitchen with a rooftop patio above. we used the fire pit up there to grill chickens for the party.