Pray for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has Mozambique as its closest neighbour. The forthcoming elections are explosively loaded as Robert Mugabe seeks a 6th term in office. Robert Mugabe has not just defeated his enemy by destroying all opposition parties but he has destroyed the country as a whole. With an inflation rate of 10 000 % and increasing daily people are suffering.

The next elections will be on 29 March 2008. We seriously need to pray for Zimbabwe to prevent what happened in Rwanda and currently in Kenya.

POLICE READY TO SHOOT

(AP) Police in Zimbabwe are ready to use force to quell any violence during national elections next month and any unrest after the poll, the official media reported Wednesday.

President Robert Mugabe is accused of holding onto power by using intimidation and rigging to ensure previous election victories, and the latest comments by police were likely to add to concerns the March 29 vote will be no different despite promises of reform.

Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri said police officers will not hesitate to use "full force" to stop politically motivated violence, the state-owned Herald newspaper said."Police will never treat perpetrators of political violence with kid gloves. Please be warned," the paper quoted him as saying. "There has been talk from some opposition circles and civil organizations of street protests or Kenya-style riots if the ballot does not go in favor of one's political party ....

It is time for political parties to own up if they lose," he said. Mugabe faces a challenge from a former finance minister, Simba Makoni, as well as the head of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Police had banned the prayer meetings under security laws. New legislation rushed through parliament at the end of last year has relaxed the security laws, but so far there have been few signs of a more tolerant government approach to opposition demonstrations.

Mozambique has already seen a huge influx of Zimbabweans flocking into a country where there is little infrastructure to support the people. Thank you for praying!

School desks for the FIRST TIME EVER!

Our bush school received their first school desks ever!! Our just more than 200 kids has never had the opportunity to receive education sitting in desks. Many of our kids had to sit on the floor trying to write and do their homework. Christmas gifts from various wonderful people made it possible for the mission to buy 40 desks. We still need 20 of these to fulfill all our needs.

Picture 1: The truck arrives at the school at 06:00 in the morning. Teachers are ready to offload. Wish you could see their faces when the brand new desks arrived.

Picture 2: The teacher proudly received and tested the new school desks. The people that helped us to obtain these desks fulfilled a 12 year dream that we had at our bush school. A legacy has been left by those who cared enough to give!Picture 3: And then the kids! Wish you were there to here the screams (and I mean screams) of joy and laughter. I quietly had a tear or two. The appreciation and utmost thankfulness for this gift was overwhelming. The first kids who arrived at school shouted so loud that I though something terrible happened. I had to shout with them when I realized it was because they saw the new desks in their classes. A blessing - a great Christmas gift - straight from the heart of God. It showed again - if you pray and you have a dream - God will answer - using great people to do so.

Bless you all from a cheering, happy and joyous bush school!!!

Art school a HIT with children!

There is a few things the people of Africa can do very well! Dancing .... you should see them - from 1 year olds to "madalas" of 80. Rhythm is in their bones and being. Wonderful to watch when they sing and dance. One of the other things they do so well is being creative - arts and crafts. But during the war a lot of Mozambicans lost the ability to create new art - and you will only now see as you travel in Mozambique some arts and crafts for sell.


We decided to start an Art School within our Bush school. It was an instant hit and success. The girls are learning cross stitching and the boys are busy making wire toys to sell. With these newly learned crafts we also incorporate entrepreneurial skill so they could possibly make a living out of what they are learning. Here are some of those moments captured:

Girls concentrating hard on learning cross stitching. Alta and Eunice are responsible for teaching the girls their new craft.

Boys working from a detailed sketched page to start their design.

The bicycle are slowly but surely taking shape.

Building the Future!

Although we have many building projects ongoing on the mission base eg. the training centre, mission housing we are also building great projects for the community. We have helped a local church planter to finish his church. Pastor Kwaramba enjoying the site of his new roof going up. This church was a partnership between the mission and the church. They tithed until they could no more ...... and only then we helped. We donated (with the help of our partners) cement, transport and roofing to make this dream possible.

Our escolinha (pre-school) is slowly but surely being resurrected from the dead after surviving 30 years of war. Lynn took an awesome photo - you can still see the bullet holes - heavy machine guns that were used during the war.

From this dead old worthless building ..... slowly but surely transforming it for another more than 200 kids that will use this. Watch this space as we show you the final product.

Being blind in Mozambique!

Extreme poverty - you can smell it ..... but you have never seen it. You can hear people complain and listen to children crying ....... but you have never seen them. It's a survival game out here in the bush but to add to your survival skills you are surrounded only by darkness.

Meet Mateus. He is 20 years of age and I met him the first time in 1999 when I taught English and Bible Education to a rural community. He was sitting in the corner listening carefully to every word. When it was time to write exams he politely asked if he could do a verbal exam. And he passed them with flying colours every time. When I started a Bible School in the area he attented again. Same procedure - he passed the Bible School without a problem. He is a brilliant scholar. The friendliest kid I have ever met - polite, well mannered and blind.


The mission decided to help Mateus so he could attend a School for the Blind in Beira. They helped him to read and write braille (Portugeuse). He finished his course and is attending a normal school to live out one of his dreams - to complete school. Mateus visits us often on the base - easily walking 30 km by himself and his walking stick to keep us updated on his progress. Please pray for Mateus and help us to support him and others like him.

Governor visits mission base!

I don't know who of you ever read the book "Animal Farm"? If not do yourself a favour a get a copy. The bottom line the author tried to communicate is that we are all equal ....... but that at the end it is important to note that ....... well some are more important than others! We sure experienced that with the visit of our new Governor when he visited us. We slashed overgrown grass, fixed up the road, planted new trees, swept our yards, painted the office and the clinic and so on and so on .........! He eventually arrived with screaming school children who met him on the road to all of us standing in straight line (we were ordered to do so)!!

Here is some of the photos to tell the story!

Kids lining up to welcome the new Governor of our Province. Laughter and songs filled the air as they waited in anticipation.

The governor had a whole entourage of people following him. I stopped counting at 70 people - with the police force, tribal leaders, nurses, education delegates, agricultural ghurus and who knows what more. They came in force - overloading vehicles as they moved from one area to the next.

Before he could arrive the police force had to set a security perimeter. Roger 10-4 all is safe bring in the big brass!

Wait, wait - not yet - gotto get the TV crew ready first! Testing ..... 3 - 2 -1 Action!

And then our Governor arrived. He recieved a Bible from the mission and an introduction into all our ministries and areas of influence in Mucombeze, Mozambique. A pleasant and wise man that carries a lot of weight on his soldiers. The mission, as it is custom in Mozambique, gave many gifts to our newly allected Governor. He recieved not just a Study Bible but also a bull (yes the one with the 4 legs and 2 horns - with an attitude) and 5 litchie trees (very sought after in Mozambique). A great day with a great man! We all had fun!

U2 & Bono share on poverty! Enjoy the music!

U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Look
Video sent by trashfan

Have you found what you're looking for?

Just refreshing your mind!

Country Comparison

• Mozambique United States
  Population 9.4 million 295.4 million
  Land Mass 302,739 sq. miles 3,537,439 sq. miles
  Life Expectancy 42 years 78 years
  Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000) 104 7
  Literacy Rate 46% 97%

• Primary School Enrollment 60% 92%
  Access to Safe Water 42% 100%
  Average Annual Income (GNI per capita) $250 $41,400
  

What is it like to live here?

Located on the southeastern coast of Africa, Mozambique is bordered by Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and South Africa. The country provides access to the sea for neighboring landlocked countries along its 1,531 miles of coastline.

Thirty years of guerrilla warfare have taken a heavy toll on Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world. At the height of the war in 1992, more than 1 million people had lost their lives and nearly 40 percent of the country’s population were refugees.

The aftereffects have significantly impacted the country’s economy and infrastructure.Extreme flooding and intense drought have further devastated Mozambique’s people, who are now deeply dependent on foreign aid for food and other basic necessities. Roads and railways are few and in need of repair, making the transport of goods difficult.

KID JOY!

I have said it so many times - and here I go again! Once you have seen an African kid laugh and have heard the giggling sounds your heart melts and it is a sight and sound you will never ever forget.

THE REASON: In total poverty but with total joy. It is always these extremes that you find but can never really understand. Watch some of our kids and you will understand!

He is grade 2. His name - Zito. He loves sweats he says. He is an introvert but very helpful and loves attention. He has to cross a huge river to get to school but he is not afraid he says (maybe thats why he is wearing his Superman outfit for the day!)

Meet Joao who is a grade 5 student. He's been with us from grade 1 and grew up a fine and brilliant student and human being. Because his family cannot afford any shoes he decided to make his own. He used hard plastic from a container and made it fashionable for everyone else to envy. What is his dream for the future: To become an engineer.

Well I think with that great shoe design he should be in fashion design. Want to see a closer view of those great shoes? He says there is no copyright on this design - so go ahead! Well ....maybe you could think of paying him some royalties!

Ok one more picture to bring our kids at our bush school a little bit closer to you.

Not just do we care for more than 200 kids at our bush school but we have another 550 orphans we help in the northern parts of Mozambique. Many of them are trapped in flooded areas. Please pray for them.

Girls never had the oppurtunity to attend school. Because of cultural traditions girls were rarely allowed any education. They ussually got married at the age of 12 and have babies by the age of 14 or 15. Luckily the law changed and girls may not get married before the age of 16. We have eagerly fought the battle in our area to allow more girls in our school.

We are glad to report that all our grades, even our pre-school has plenty girls. We provide arts and crafts to make them feel special with netball as a girl sport.

And offcourse toys are very rare in the bush. If you can't find any - use live ones. This kid got some kind of bug to use as his pet. Why? Well he said later that it makes a weird noise and if you put in someones clothing it tickles in a nice way! But - he exclaimed - girls don't like them very much.

Bush Schools open with a bang!

It's eight o'clock sharp. There is a buzz around the school and more than 150 kids are ready to start their new school year. They are dressed in their best clothing - some a little more dirty than others because they had to cross flooding rivers to get to school this year. We heard that a child nearly drowned this morning trying to get to school.

Mozambiquean children don't need to be motived to come to school - they love it and see it as a great oppurtunity and honour to attend school.


A few words of encouragement from Francois and Joao Benjamin just before the national anthem are being sung.

Our bushschool is 11 years old this year. It was started by Francois and Alta Rauch in 1997. It has seen many changes - from starting under trees, to tents to a grass roof school to what it is today - a beautiful painted building with classrooms and a safe zink roof.




Children recieving their first books for the year. School is free on the mission so parents would not have to worry about educating their kids. In our area there are no or little schools available and thus education is rare. The Education Department in Mozambique sees us as an educational institution and therefore we recieve textbooks for free. We still have huge shortages though.

Stationary is provided by the mission and sponsors like you who makes this possible.


Our parents form an integral part of what we try to achieve with their kids.

Here Francois is explaining to parents their role and partnership with the mission to help their children.

It is also a time to answer many questions and some of those were:

• Crossing rivers with crocodiles and snakes in it;
• witchdoctors that snatches children on their way to school;
• please discipline our children and will you constantly teach them respecting elders, themselves and others.

Mmmmm some problems seem global don't they ..... I guesse the western world don't have crocodile invested waters but drugdealers would make up for that. Don't forget to pray for our children - here and in the Western and Eastern world!

Meet our teachers for this year:
* Paulo Inacio - grade 1 and 5
* Tito Mabuleza - grade 3 and sport
* Joao Feniassi - grade 2 and 4
* Simon Nicolau - pre-school and our
medical assistant
and English teacher