August 17, 2007 - Apples and Eggs

Let’s have some fun!
So if you are looking to have some fun why not do an egg toss with 31 boys?! Not just any 31 boys, but 31 boys who live in Mozambique , Africa and value an egg completely different than a boy in a first world county. Well, guess what? I did just this. On Saturday, July 28 we had the 2nd anniversary of our boy’s birthday party here at our center in Dondo and it was a blast. The egg toss with the added bobbing for apples kick were enough to make anyone’s belly hurt from laughing so hard. The faces of our beautiful boys were full of tenaciousness as the object of the egg toss was not to be the first team finished, but was to be so careful with the egg as not to break it because they wanted to save it and eat it later. And in the event that the egg did go splat against one of their chests as their teammate threw it too hard or it was crushed in their hands the whole team would run to eat the raw egg quickly before continuing to the next egg. It was such a sight to see. I knew their reaction to the egg toss would be very different than children’s in the States, but I did not know what exactly to expect.

And then bobbing for apples came….it was a time to conquer as they had to walk on their hands with a friend helping them– wheel barrel style – and then grab the apple with their mouth…no hands allowed! This year our little boys did much better as they learned last year from our bigger boys to dunk their whole head in the bucket to grab the apple. Their faces of tenacious energy were absolutely great! You would have thought they had never had a maca (apple) before. J It was a blessed time.

Cade is back home!
This past Sunday afternoon Esau and Cade had a special service to dedicate Princila to the Lord. The first thing they did during this time was thank God for his miracle of healing in Cade’s body. On Tuesday evening Esau and Cade, with their two children, moved back into their home. Hallelujah!!! I have attached a picture of myself with Cade and Princila on the day of the dedication. They are both happy and healthy!

New Library
We recently had a visitor come and bless our base with a library for our children and Bible School students. She brought one laptop computer with a typing program so that our children can begin to learn how to type and use the computer. The boys are enthusiastic to learn to type and are enjoying the library very much. It has been great to see what types of books each boy chooses to look through. Some enjoy books about space, others like things about the human body, and there are quite a few who are enjoying the English dictionaries. Our little boys in particular like the fact that they now have a good place to come and draw/color. Our older boys are really enjoying having a place to listen to the variety of praise and worship CDs/cassettes we have.

Trip to Caia
I just got back from a three day trip to the district of Caia which is about 6 hours drive from my home in Dondo. It was great to once again be in the home of Pastor Phombo and his family and see the work that God is doing in this district. On the very last night Pastor Phombo took us to Chirimadze. As he spoke about this place and told us that the chief of the village would be there he had fire in his eyes. He had such a fire of passion in his heart to see this chief come to know Jesus this very night. There was such unity amongst the team as we lead the people in praise and dance before Jesus. At first the people who were there were hesitant and just stood and watched, but as some time went by they began to join in and their faces brightened with joy. I still have the face of one woman who was close to me engraved in my mind. She was short in stature and wearing a capulana (African skirt) as usual with a green and blue head wrap. She kept looking up at me with hesitation masked with a smile. At first she just looked at me and then she began to move a bit. As she joined in the celebration of dance with us her face began to shine more. The whole night was absolutely beautiful under the starry sky. We showed the Passion of the Christ movie and explained it to the crowd in Cisena as it was playing. At the end of the movie Pastor Phombo got up and spoke with an invitation to come to Jesus. Many people came quickly to the front to surrender to Jesus. This night we would plant a new church in a place where there was none. We presented to the people the man who would pastor the church along with the secretary. We also honored and blessed the chief of the village as he accepted to fully work with us. My heart was so happy! I felt Jesus smile! The next step is that a physical “building” will be put in this village so they can have a place to meet for church. The next day the man put in place as pastor of the new church in Chirimadze went door to door through out the village to do follow-up.

The work is so great here, but the laborers are few. I am physically very tired after this trip, but it was well worth it and I am looking greatly forward to visiting Chirimadze hopefully in the near future. My heart has been really burning to go out into the surrounding areas again to preach and teach, but with only Lisa and myself here at the base right now it is not really possible. Please pray for God’s timing and guidance in this desire that He has placed so strongly within me.

Thank you again for your love and support. “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:15-16)

All glory to Him who is ultimately faithful!!
Ashlee