A New Home For Masana

At the end of September we received word that the house that has been home to Masana for almost 6 years is being sold to a local grocery store who will destroy it to build another shopping center.  We are devastated to say good bye to this home but know that God is with us in this season of transition.

In the past 6 weeks we have looked at numerous properties all over our city, signed a lease on one in the city-center, met with the bosses of the grocery store about details of our relocation, started renovations to the main house where my family will be living along with the 4 boys we care for, met with architects about plans for a building to serve the needs of our day center (classrooms, office, medical room), started packing boxes  All this while continue to run our day center at the old house.  Needless to say, its been an exhausting 6 weeks.

But when I think back over the past 6 weeks, I can see the hand of God in all of it.  It was Him who led us to this house in the center of the city...the perfect location for a project with street kids since they live in different parts of the city.  It was Him who gave us favor in meetings with the new landlord who has accepted to deduct some of the building costs from our rent.  It was Him who helped me connect to the owners of the grocery store so that I could get permission for us to stay in the current house until our Masana year ends on November 30.   It was Him who made it possible to get boxes and a truck donated for our moving day.  It was Him who brought together a great team of workers, including some who simply volunteered their service, to get all the repairs done on the house so that its ready for us to move in at the end of the month.  It was Him who has connected me to and architect in the city who is helping us find ways to build cheap but with good quality.  It was Him who has abundantly blessed us with the finances we need in this time of transition.

Even though we are physically tired at the end of each day, we rest well each night knowing that God is orchestrating our every move.

Almost a Home

The house we are building in Catembe is almost done!  It is a very typical Mozambican cinder-block house.  There is one bedroom, a living room and a bathroom.  The carpenter just has to mount the doors and windows and there is a little work to finish up in the bathroom.  So in a about a weeks time, this will be Nelson and Ginito's new home.  We have reached out to people living in the Maputo area asking for donations for the house - kitchen pots, plates, utensils, linens, bunk beds, dressers, sofas, etc.  Hopefully we'll receive a little to make the house feel like home for these boys.  If you happen to live in Maputo and would like to help, please send me an email at solds19@gmail.com

Chico: Home Again!

In 2012, I posted about taking one of my favorites back to his family.  Chico.  His story of leaving the streets has been a tough one.  His mom's home is on the outskirts of the city and for the past 3 years, he's fought the allure of returning to the streets....often loosing the battle.  He's been back and forth from home and the streets more times than I can remember.  Each time he showed up at Masana, we'd try showing tough love in hopes that he'd quickly return home.  Some of his stints on the street were for weeks or months.  At one point, we only allowed him to come to our center 2 days a week in hopes that he'd return home.

Earlier this year, Chico went back home again.  And its seems as if his family have finally figured out how to help him.  His grandmother, who lives a good 30 or 40 minutes from the city, has taken him in.  Simply putting some distance between him and the city has done the trick.  This past week I visited him at his new home.  How he's grown-up over these past 3 years!  His grandmother's home seems filled with joy.  She genuinely loves Chico and wants to see him doing well.  Getting him into school in that area is going to be a challenge because of his age vs. grade level.  But we will see what options we can find for him.  For now, he's helping his grandmother with the farm and raising a few pigs.  So beautiful to see him finally living a normal Mozambican life!!

Putting Down Roots - Part 2

"God makes homes for the homeless"

Psalm 68:8 (The Message Bible)

I shared in "Putting Down Roots - Part 1" that we have purchased land in Mozambique to build a home for our family.  We will not build our house for a couple of years though so we have felt God calling us to make a home for the homeless.  We have chosen 2 boys, Ginito and Nelson, who have both been on and off the streets since I first started working with Masana in 2009.  We have started the process of building a small house on the land where these 2 boys will live and have the opportunity to make a new life for themselves.

Ginito is 18 years old and Nelson is 19.  Neither of them are your typical street boy.  They are both so respectful and hard working.  Thankfully, God has protected them over the years from falling into the temptations of drugs and alcohol.  Ginito is very intelligent and eager to go back to school, which he will in January when the new school year begins.  Nelson is a worker. . . he doesn't do well sitting around and has, over the years, always arranged small jobs like selling bread or working in a shop.  He is now the newest employee at Armadura Gym, the gym that serves as an income generator for Masana.  

When we finally do build our home on our property, the boy's house will still exist and we've told them they are welcome as a part of our family until God gives them their own families.  Join us in praying for Ginito and Nelson as they enter into this new season of life.  Pray they will fully embrace the plans and purposes God has for them.

Putting Down Roots - Part 1

As a family, we have always prayed about the need to put down roots here in Maputo.  Since before we married, Roberto has talked about wanting to buy land and build a home.  I’ve always been hesitant because I like living in the city.  But living in the city means renting which is not something we want to do for the rest of our lives.  So we’ve felt God directing us toward the option of buying land.  For me personally, it is as if He’s reminding me that Mozambique is my home.  He has called me here.  He’s given me family here.  Now He wants me to put down roots.  

After prayer, we decided that we would sacrifice our trip to the States this year and use the money we would have spent on plane tickets to buy land.  We have purchased a 40x50 meter plot in an area called Catembe, which is just across the Maputo Bay here in the city.  For now, its only possible to get there via ferry boat but a large suspension bridge has been started and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017.  Once the bridge is completed, Catembe will be easily accessible and will, essentially, become a part of the city.  

We don't plan on living on our land until the bridge is completed as it costs about $20 to take your car across and back on the ferry.  So that gives us a couple of years to dream and plan for our future home.  But we aren't going to just sit on an empty plot for these next couple of years....stay tuned for "Putting Down Roots - Part 2"  

Zacarius: Still Suffering

Over the weekend, I received a phone call from some of the street boys telling me that Zacarius was really sick.  You may remember a post I wrote in March about Zacarius suffering an injury that required the use of a catheter for 3 months.  The doctor had instructed him to return to the hospital every 15 days to change the tube to his catheter.  Zacarius agreed to go back home where the conditions were more sanitary than on the streets and, for the first month, he did well with keeping to his biweekly doctors visit. 

But then Zacarius gave into the temptation to return to the streets…as so many boys do after they’ve tasted this life.  And he stopped going to the doctor to have his tube changed.  That brings us to this past weekend when the other street boys called me because Zacarius was really sick because of an infection. 

Roberto spent a few hours with Zacarius at the hospital on Tuesday where the doctor very painfully removed the infected tube and put in a new one.  The doctor has decided that he will need surgery to fix the problem in his urethra.  But there are only 2 urologists in Maputo, which means they are very busy and can only schedule Zacarius’ surgery for September. 

3 more months with a catheter.   

3 more months of fighting the temptation to return to the streets again. 

Please join us in praying for Zacarius.  Roberto’s heart broke in the hospital as Zacarius cried out in the midst of all the pain asking God what he had done to deserve this.  May he know God has not caused this suffering but that God desires to use it to draw him into a relationship with Him.  Pray for Zacarius to resist the temptation to return to the streets.  Pray for his relationship with his uncle and aunt, with whom he is living.  Pray for his healing. 

Zacarius and his brother were the first street kids I met when I moved to Mozambique.  They continue to have a special place in my heart.  I desperately want to see God transform their lives.  Despite the fact that, after 7 years, they are still on the streets, I know God has not given up on them.  So I won’t either.

Turning My Eyes to Jesus

This morning I woke up feeling nervous...butterflies in my stomach.  And the reason why is quite odd.  It's because, as of today, I have set aside Wednesday mornings to be alone.  From now on, I will leave Masana on Wednesday mornings.  No street boys.  I will leave Melina and Maya with our amazing nanny.  No daughters.  I will leave Roberto to carry on our work at Masana.  No husband.

It's just me.

And that makes me nervous.

It's been a long time since I've intentionally set aside time to be alone.  But its so necessary.  These past few weeks, I've felt like I'm drowning.  I've felt so overwhelmed trying to juggle being a wife and mother and caretaker to 30 boys.  I feel like Peter who stepped out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus.  But somewhere along the way, I, like Peter, took my eyes off of Jesus.  I started looking towards my family and my ministry.  And all of a sudden, I've found myself drowning.

So today I place my eyes back on Jesus.  I reach out my hand and take His.  I put my need for Jesus before my responsibilities with my family and my ministry.  Because I know that I need Jesus to be able to love my family as they deserve to be loved.  I need Jesus to be able to serve the boys of Masana as I long to serve them.  I need Jesus.