aaron and hur

I’m realizing more and more that I need to keep connected with y’all for prayer coverage. I’m reminded of the story of Moses, Aaron, and Hur. God commanded Moses to hold his arms up and, as long as he did this, the Israelite army would continue to advance and defeat its enemy. Aaron and Hur came along side Moses to hold his arms up for him when he grew tired.

“When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” Exodus 17:12

We all need Aaron’s and Hur’s to hold our arms up as we fight the battles God sets before us. Here is my current battle. Will you be my Aaron or Hur?

The new house is coming along great. We’ve almost completed the construction on the part of the property that will become the new home of Masana. We’re hoping that in early April, things will be all set for the boys to start coming here each day for meals, showers, school lessons, and teaching from the Word of God. We’ll also have office space for Masana complete with a new laptop being donated by the American School here in Maputo!

We’ve had a few boys staying here at the house already. One is 17-year-old Semera that I wrote about before. He is diabetic so living on the streets is not a good option for him. There are some issues at home he still needs to work through so, for now, we’ve given him a place to stay at our house and, in exchange, he’ll help out with the younger boys that may stay here from time to time. We have to work through a few issues with him. I sometimes forget he is just 17 years old. Please pray for wisdom in what boundaries we set with Semera and

Upon my return to Mozambique in January, I discovered that 3 of the boys we reintegrated last year were back on the street. We’ve now sorted through the issues with each of them and taken them back home again. Each of them stayed here at the house for anywhere from 1 night to 2 weeks as we were in the process of arranging things with their families. Most recently, 12-year-old Felix stayed with us for 2 weeks. He brought so much joy to the house! Please pray for him as he is back home now. His family near the city refused to take him in so we’ve taken him back to his father. Felix’s father loves him but does not know how to deal with his behavior issues. Many families here still follow very traditional ways which include visitng witchdoctors when problems arrive. Felix’s father plans on consulting the witchdoctor about his son. As a Christian this is such a hard thing because I want so desperately to see these street boys in loving families where they will grow in the Lord. Felix has a loving family but not one that will lead him closer to God.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve felt a lot of attack. Issues like what we’ve dealt with in taking Felix home, weigh so heavy on my heart. I’ve had things stolen from my by the street kids. I continue to have problems with my car. I’ve also had a couple of my close friends here in the city leave in the past months. I am going to take a few days off this week and spend some time alone with the Lord. Please pray for refreshing rest. Life here is hard sometimes but I do love it. And I believe that God is moving in the lives of street kids and in this city.