Challenges & Opportunities!

It is hard to believe that we are back from South Africa 9 days! Time has just flown!

We had a really good retreat. Pastors from a church in Nelspruit spoke and we were blessed by their ministry. Abigail however contacted a throat and ear infection so we had to take her to the doctor and she was prescribed antibiotics. She did recover quickly.

Since then, Abigail and Joshua continue to be well. They are growing more and more adventurous by the day! They had a great time when we were staying in South Africa at Mercy Air playing in the sand pit & having fun on the slide.

When we got back Melvin had two important meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. The first was with the National Leadership of Igreja Evangelica Palavra Viva and the second in relation to the construction of CAM school. He is now in the midst of recruiting workers for construction-11 are currently employed! There is so much to do in preparation for the start of construction. Besides the meetings Melvin spent last week buying items to set up a kitchen to feed the workers & buying other materials. If they have a good meal in their stomachs they are more likely to work well! This week has been really busy also. Melvin is juggling supervising the workers, having meetings and buying materials.

I am continuing with my Portuguese lessons & caring for the twins. This week I went with Aimee to visit a young couple. The man is a Pastor in the church and his wife had a baby boy last week. This week we heard that baby died. We are not quite sure what happened. Reports are that the baby was healthy when born but then developed Jaundice, stopped feeding and died. This was the couples first baby. I am reminded of the statistic here in Mozambique that one in ten children will die before they reach 5 yrs old. Life here is so fragile. When we went to the house to visit we found that the young lady was having severe shaking. We offered to take her to hospital. We waited for ages with her as she was being examined by a doctor. We left and then received word that she had been discharged. When we asked what was the diagnosis we were told that the doctor had not said and had simply sent her home! As I think about my experience when the twins were born in Ireland, it is so far removed from the experience of this young couple. In the UK we are so blessed with good medical care. Please pray for Carlos and Tina as they come to terms with their loss. Pray that God will be their refuge and strength. Pray that we will minister the love of Christ to all that we meet day by day!

Carlos is on the back right of the photo-the one who is pointing.