Worms

Just a quick funny story from my day:

Here in Mozambique, we occasionally take pills to kill any worms that might be in the stomach due to food eaten. The Ministry of Health gathered together street kids this past Thursday and gave all of them these pills.

One of my boys, Felix, who is quite the animated one, just told me "esta a sair uma cobra." In English that means, "there is a snake coming out." One of his friends showed me with his hands how big the "cobra" was and another of his friends began to reenact how the "cobra" was coming out. They then offered to take me and show me where Felix has gone to the bathroom so that I could see the "cobra."

I declined the offer.

But oh how I love these boys!

Street Kids in My Home

One of my favorite authors, Erwin McManus, says, "home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging and we are all searching for home."

the past week or so i have been having some problems with my landlord and neighbors. i live in a building with 5 other apartments and my neighbors have been complaining about the street boys being around. my landlord wants me to set better boundaries between my work and my home. i've tried to explain to him that this is not work for me. i gave up everything to move to mozambique and minister to these kids. that ministry doesn't just end at 2:00 when the center closes. it is so important to me that the boys be able to visit me in my home. they sometimes come to play with the toys i have here or just to ask for a cup of water. they also come to me when they are sick or injured. i love that they do these things!! to me its a very small way to share the love of God with them and its all a part of building a relationship with them so that they will receive the Truth that i speak into their lives. i've spoken to all the boys and asked them to help me by not loitering around the building waiting on me to come home or wake up in the mornings. i've also asked them not to come after dark. in the end, the landlord agreed to give me a couple of weeks and see how it goes with these guidelines for the boys. i'm pretty sure it will be a one chance thing and that if a neighbor calls to complain again i will have the option of telling the boys they aren't allowed here at all or moving out. i would choose to move out before i would tell the boys they aren't welcome in my home. i hope it doesn't come to that though and i ask you to pray. pray that the boys will be more respectful of the other people that live here. pray also that the hearts of my neighbors would be softened towards the boys. the boys aren't doing anything bad but there are so many negative stereotypes about street kids. i've been able to talk to them a bit about this and challenge them to start making better choices about how they behave, treat other people, and even their appearance. i've told them that they can't expect to wake up one morning and magically their life be changed. the responsibility to make wise decisions is theirs and they have the power to help break some of these stereotypes put on them.

i'm only here for 2 more months. november 21, i'll be going to visit my family and friends in the states. when i come back to mozambique in january, i'm planning to live with some friends who are starting a new project called kunhymela house. the heart of this ministry is to provide "a home that serves the disenfranchised just as Christ served them during His walk on earth, by living in community with them and focusing on relationship over all else." i will continue working with masana and we will partner with kunhymela house when we have street kids who are really sick or for the boys who are preparing to return home. it will be such a blessing to live with a other people who have the same heart as i do for the street kids!!!

Bird Catching

Today some of the boys met me at my house at 9:00 in the morning and off we went to the bush so that they could show me how they caught the little bird they had given me a couple of weeks ago. We drove about 30 minutes from the city. Our first stop was this tree:

The boys climbed up the tree and picked berries.

Here is Ernesto with his berries. Inside is a white substance.

They put the white substance in their mouths and chewed it up. Then they stuck it on the ends of sticks. Once mixed with saliva, it becomes sticky like a glue.

Then we drove to another area where there were lots of masala trees. Ernesto climbed up to the top and tied the sticks with the berry glue onto the highest branches.

Then we all hung out in this tree and waited for a bird to land on the stick and get stuck in the berry glue.

Here is the first bird we caught!

It was a cute little bird with bright yellow feathers.

Abrantis poured water into a bottle cap for the little bird to drink some.

Jito got the second bird. He tried to feed it some berries.

And that is how you catch a bird in the bush. I have seen people selling the birds on the street. Not sure who buys them or what they do with them but now I know how to catch them!

My Bird

Today, 3 of my boys showed up at the door with a present for me....a little bird. They named is Sarina which means "little sarah". I have no idea how they caught this bird but they brought it in a little plastic box that holds computer disks. They even found some kind of plastic thing that works as a water and food bowl. When I asked them what I was suppose to feed it, Abrantis responded "whatever you are eating today."

Feeding Sarina some granola.

Abrantis "Malucu" with Sarina

Abrantis wanted to make sure Sarina had a friend so he found some "friends" in my toy box. Sarina was afraid of the cadbury bunny that clucked.

But I think Sarina likes the rubber duck!!!

Not really sure what I'm going to do with Sarina. For now she's on my veranda. I love the little ways these boys show they care!!!

UPDATE: Sadly, Sarina de Passarina did not make it through the night. But she is one present I will never forget. . . just as I'll never forget the boys who gave her to me. . . they have a place in my heart.

1 Death, 1 Prodigal, 1 Feast

Today we went up to the Gaza province to take visit Fazinda and Castigo, 2 former street boys who have now been living with their families since May and to take one street boy, Pedro, back to his family.

As we walked up towards Fazenda's house, his grandmother, who normally rushed to greet us and get us chairs, sat on the ground crying. Fazenda was not there as he had been sent to fetch other family members from a near-by town. In Shanghan, the local dialect, the grandmother began to tell Luis, my coworker, that her only living son was in the hut dying. He had returned to his parent's home 6 days ago because he was sick. They had taken him to the near-by hospital where he received some medicine and was sent home to die. Luis went inside the hut to check on the son. He reported back that his heart had stopped beating but there was still life in his eyes. We began praying for his healing. Moments after we finished praying, Fazenda's grandfather arrived and went to the hut to check on his son. The son was gone. He called over his wife who began weeping. Now 14 year old Fazenda is the only family they have left.

Seeing death like this reminds me of how harsh life in Africa is. We left the family to mourn with promises to return in 2 weeks.

Next we went to Pedro's house. Pedro is 12 years old and has been living on the streets of Maputo for 3 months. He originally came to the city to live with his grandfather. One day as he was out in the city, he damaged something in someone's garden. The security guard took him to the owner, 45 minutes outside of the city, to confess what he had done. The owner was gracious and decided not to punish Pedro or make him pay for the broken belongings. But they didn't offer him a ride back to the city. Pedro eventually found his way back to the big shopping center in the city. He asked a street boy if he could tell him how to get to a certain area of the city. The boy said he didn't know. So instead of returning to his grandfather, Pedro stayed with this boy who brought him to Masana. And tonight he is back with his family in a little village about 2 hours from Maputo.

Another prodigal son returned to his family after 3 months of living on the street, begging, and stealing.

We left Pedro with his grandmother and siblings and continued on our journey to Castigo's house. As we walked up, chairs were brought out for us to sit in. No one came over to sit with us but carried on with what they were doing. It didn't take us long to figure out they were preparing a meal for us....the honored guests. Family member after family member appeared as word spread that we had arrived. As the women cooked for us, I kept myself entertained by making silly faces at all of the little children who were so captivated by the white people visiting. The women prepared a delicious meal of rice and chicken. After eating, all of the women and children gathered around. The grandmother of the family, said "In our village, first we eat and then we greet you." She then spoke on behalf of her family in expressing how grateful they are for all that we have done to help Castigo return to his family. As we left, they lavished us with gifts - a large bucket full of tomatoes, 3 or 4 large heads of cabbage and a live chicken.

Now back in my Maputo apartment, the tears have flown as I've reflected on the day and allowed my heart to truly process it all. Time after time, our home visits remind me of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. First there was death to self as the son chose to humble himself and return to his father asking for forgiveness. Then we read of the beautiful reunion between father and son as the prodigal returns. Their reunion is followed by a feast in honor of the son who was lost and now is found.

Today we too experienced all 3 - death, a prodigal returning home, and a feast.

Land Mines

A couple of days ago i was flipping through a book at Masana. Its a book used in the public schools here in Mozambique for grade 5 and teaches grammar and vocabulary. I was very impressed that all of the texts in the book did a great job of describing Mozambican culture - communities, farms, ceremonies, etc.

The following title caught my attention: Cuidado com as Minas! That translates to "careful with the mines." It was followed by a comic strip of a girl who is sent out to collect fire wood. As she's picking up wood, she comes across a land mine. Just as she is about to pick it up, a man rushes up to her and tell her not to touch it and then gives her a brief lesson on the dangers of touching things when you don't know what they are. She then goes around the community with this man informing the neighbors about the location of the land mine so that they know to avoid it.

Definitely not something you'd find in an American grammar book. The book was published in 2005 so it's not very long ago that land mines left over after the civil war were very much a concern.

Such a different world I live in.

Break In At Masana

A couple of nights ago, someone broke into the kitchen at Masana. They climbed over a wall with barb wire on it, climbed up the outside wall of the kitchen and in through an opening about a foot wide between the wall and the tin roof. Once inside, they stole a stack of 40 plastic plates, our electric tea kettle, and all of the chicken for the month of August that was in the freezer. Then they exited through the same space between the wall and tin roof . . . breaking part of the wall in the process.

It could have been a lot worse as this is our only storage area at the project so all of the school supplies are there, our guitar, footballs, and other kitchen supplies. We are now in the process of figuring out how we are going to block off that space between the wall and roof. Please pray for protection over the project. . .the Lord is really doing great things among us!!!