Christmas with Children

Peace and Joy - MERRY XMAS!

Christmas Thievery

After some last-minute Christmas shopping with her grandchildren, my friend was rushing them into the car when four-year-old Jason said, "Grandma, Susie has something in her pocket." He reached in and pulled out a new red barrette.

Though she was tired, my friend knew it was important for Susie to put the item back where she had found it. They did just that. Later at the grocery store checkout, the clerk asked, "Have you kids been good so Santa will come?"

"I've been very good," replied Jason, "but my sister just robbed a store."

On this joyous note - have a great and merry Christmas. May Christ be close to you and may you experience His peace during these great days. May our awesome God lead you through 2009 and reveal HIS great plan for you as you journey with him in the New Year.

If you are with family .... enjoy and if you would - would you spend 30 seconds in prayer for the people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique who are currently starving.

Blessings to ya all!!

Francois & Alta Rauch

It's stormy .... very stormy today!

Our prayers have been answered. Showers aplenty! Wish you were here to see the workers, their smiles and the twinkle in their eyes. We nearly had 150 mm in 2 days and although the previous crops failed because of the drought many of the population are replanting their maize seed.

Keep on praying!

Crisis Christmas!

My wife says I am too serious this Christmas. I love laughing and sharing life with people but around us Christmas is all but a happy affair for so many. We are currently facing the following challenges:

* Hundreds of Zimbabweans crossed the border as Zimbabwe is collapsing economically and

politically. That means we have hundreds of people flocking into our area without food,

a place to stay or the basic necessities to stay alive.

* Mozambicans are experiencing extreme drought at the moment and their most important

crop (maize) has still not been planted. That means that thousands of Mozambicans around

us are not even able to eat one good meal on a day. Although we provide "work for food"

programs it is not enough to sustain everyone.

* We have more than 300 pastors struggling with starvation as I am writing this.

If you feel you could be part of the solution please contact us via this page or lovemoz.sg.org.za for more information. All our partners on the base are raising support at this moment and will distribute food and seed before the end of this month.

Thank you for caring and please keep on praying for all those who are suffering and on the run - because they have no other choice. And for many others in Darfur and the Congo ..... Santa would probably look like this:

Hey ..... if you think this was a sad, dark blog post ........ (maybe) .... but let's cheer up. Christ is with us ..... God has a plan .......... we are alive ..... and we can make a difference.

Reaching out to African Leaders

As you might know by now our leaders follow an intensive 6 year theological and academical course with us. Our first 12 students successfully graduated in July 2008. We have more than 350 pastors in northern Mozambique following a course that will allow them to:

• * have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and a diploma endorsed by Hebron Theological College
• * a good understanding of local ministry within their communities;
• * extensive training on leadership qualities;
• * character training;
• * ministry help with children's, women's and orphan ministry;
• * health training
• * church planting and growth
• * evangelism tools

........ and all of this in a cultural relevant method introduced by African Leaders themselves!

Below: We even brought in help from Polokwane, South Africa. Past. Johan Pieterse provided teaching with the local monitors from northern Mozambique. Self Leadership was one of the topics covered by Johan in a very practical way.

TOP: Francois explaining to local leaders and pastors the importance of ........ (looks like Assyria and Babylon) ..... Joao Benjamin standing on the left is an University of Maputo student guiding and helping the students with us.

Crying with Zimbabwe

I saw images this morning of people in Zimbabwe being carried in wheel borrows to hospital. They have been infected with the cholera disease. As family members are trying to push them to the nearest hospital they had to stand in front of closed doors. There is no doctor ..... and worse - no medicine. The man will probably die. I sat this morning ..... and I just cried. I have seen people die in my life (and around us in Mozambique) .... but to die like this .... in a wheel borrow in front of an empty hospital .... not fair!

I have to be so careful not to become bitter when I look at Robert Mugabe in his big white house (called "Graceland") hanging on to power whatever the cost. The following article from the BBC will update you on the situation.

GENEVA (AFP) — Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak has killed 575 people with a total of 12,700 suspected cases in the poverty-wracked country, according to latest figures released by the United Nations on Friday.

The capital Harare was the worst-hit district with 179 deaths and 6,448 suspected cases as of December 4, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
"The entire health system is collapsing, there are no more doctors, no nurses, no specialists," said OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs.

Many health workers are on strike because they have not been paid or have simply deserted hospitals and health centres as the crisis grows, she told journalists.

"As a result, we do not know the exact scale of this epidemic because the figures we have are those collected by the health centres that are still functioning, but many are not functioning any more and thus there are many cases which are unknown," Byrs said.

The World Health Organisation said it was the worst outbreak of cholera in the country since a 1992 epidemic which killed 3,000 people, and there were no signs it was slowing down.

The United Nations Children's Fund meanwhile called on donors to urgently provide funds to enable relief operations, saying that none of the nine million dollars UNICEF was appealing for in Zimbabwe had yet been provided.

IF YOU ARE ABLE TO BE A VOICE ...... PLEASE HELP US!

How to help:

• Please pray for all the peace-loving Zimbabweans. They are hungry, sick and dying.
• Help us to help Zimbabwe. We need maize at the moment to feed the hungry.
• If you are in South Africa write an urgent letter/email to your member of parliament to make them AWARE of the situation.
• If you are in South Africa - PLEASE STAND UP against this cruel situation.
• We are totally outnumbered here in the bush - we need you. Contact us if you will so we could guide you in the process.
• PLEASE - Act ..... it's not just "Africa again" - good people are dying.

Wonderful people ..... important things to remember!

I met this wonderful lady (and she will be very angry if I compliment her too much) Annemie Bosch (you may know her husband as the well known Theologian, Prof Dawid Bosch) in Rwanda of all places. She was one of the speaker at an Amahoro gathering of African leaders conversing on "Justice and Reconciliation in Africa". She taught me much about suffering and standing up for human rights and "being there" for those who cannot speak for themselves.

She send me the following cartoon as a memoriam. Hope you can read this. If not follow the link at http://www.thescreamonline.com/images7-1/nonsequitur.jpg

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This blog posting is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iraq , Iran , and others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

Blessings!

Aids in Africa - the impact on the continent

HIV & AIDS are having a widespread impact on many parts of African society. The points below describe some of the major effects of the AIDS epidemic. For a more detailed examination, visit our African impact page.

• In many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is erasing decades of progress made in extending life expectancy. Millions of adults are dying from AIDS while they are still young, or in early middle age. Average life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa is now 47 years, when it could have been 62 without AIDS.


• 
  The effect of the AIDS epidemic on households can be very severe. Many families are losing their income earners. In other cases, income earners are forced to stay at home to care for relatives who are ill from AIDS. Many of those dying from AIDS have surviving partners who are themselves infected and in need of care. They leave behind orphans, grieving and struggling to survive without a parent's care.


• 
  In all affected countries, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is putting strain on the health sector. As the epidemic develops, the demand for care for those living with HIV rises, as does the number of health workers affected.


• 
  Schools are heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. This a major concern, because schools can play a vital role in reducing the impact of the epidemic, through education and support.


• 
  HIV/AIDS dramatically affects labour, setting back economic activity and social progress. The vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa are between the ages of 15 and 49 - in the prime of their working lives. Employers, schools, factories and hospitals have to train other staff to replace those at the workplace who become too ill to work.


• 
  Through its impacts on the labour force, households and enterprises, HIV/AIDS can act as a significant brake on economic growth and development. HIV/AIDS is already having a major affect on Africa's economic development, and in turn, this affects Africa's ability to cope with the epidemic.

Article taken from http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm (Please visit for more info on Aids in Africa)

An open letter from Zimbabwe - urgent!

Letter from Zimbabwe sent in by John Winter

I reckon that these are the last days of TKM and ZPF. The darkest hour is always before dawn.

We are all terrified at what they are going to destroy next........I mean they are actually ploughing down brick and mortar houses and one family with twin boys of 10 had no chance of salvaging anything when 100 riot police came in with AK47's and bulldozers and demolished their beautiful house - 5 bedrooms and pine ceilings - because it was 'too close to the airport', so we are feeling extremely insecure right now.

You know - I am aware that this does not help you sleep at night, but if you do not know - how can you help? Even if you put us in your own mental ring of light and send your guardian angels to be with us - that is a help -but I feel so cut off from you all knowing I cannot tell you what's going on here simply because you will feel uncomfortable. There is no ways we can leave here so that is not an option. I ask that you all pray for us in the way that you know how, and let me know that you are thinking of us and sending out positive vibes... that's all. You can't just be in denial and pretend/believe it's not going on.

To be frank with you, it's genocide in the making and if you do not believe me, read the Genocide Report by Amnesty International which says we are - IN level 7 - (level 8 is after it's happened and everyone is in denial). If you don't want me to tell you these things-how bad it is-then it means you have not dealt with your own fear, but it does not help me to think you are turning your back on our situation. We need you, please, to get the news OUT that we are all in a fearfully dangerous situation here. Too many people turn their backs and say - oh well, that's what happens in Africa

This Government has GONE MAD and you need to help us publicize our plight---or how can we be rescued? It's a reality! The petrol queues are a reality, the pall of smoke all around our city is a reality, the thousands of homeless people sleeping outside in 0 Celsius with no food, water, shelter and bedding are a reality. Today a family approached me, brother of the gardener's wife with two small children. Their home was trashed and they will have to sleep outside. We already support 8 adult people and a child on this property, and electricity is going up next month by 250% as is water. How can I take on another family of 4 -----and yet how can I turn them away to sleep out in the open?

I am not asking you for money or a ticket out of here - I am asking you to FACE the fact that we are in deep and terrible danger and want you please to pass on our news and pictures. So PLEASE don't just press the delete button! Help best in the way that you know how. Do face the reality of what is going on here and help us SEND OUT THE WORD.. The more people who know about it, the more chance we have of the United Nations coming to our aid. Please don't ignore or deny what's happening. Some would like to be protected from the truth BUT then, if we are eliminated, how would you feel? 'If only we knew how bad it really was we could have helped in some way'.

[I know we chose to stay here and that some feel we deserve what's coming to us] For now,--- we ourselves have food, shelter, a little fuel and a bit of money for the next meal - but what is going to happen next? Will they start on our houses? All property is going to belong to the State now. I want to send out my Title Deeds to one of you because if they get a hold of those, I can't fight for my rights.

Please! - do have some compassion and HELP by sending out the articles and personal reports so that something can/may be done. 'I am one. I cannot do everything, ---but I can do something.. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.'

Edward Everett Hale

PS Please note - due to the lenght of the article some sections has not been published. Please pray with us for Zimbabwe.