Consider it Pure Joy

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The past few weeks have been busy, challenging but instrumental in growing our faith.  Last week on Monday I taught the Culinary Course.  It was stressful trying to get everything printed out in Portuguese and ready for the class.  I left the house at 11.30am.  All the traffic lights were not working in Maputo as I made my way to the class.  This was very stressful as it was a free for all at each junction!  I eventually made it and we started the class.  The recipes we chose took longer than expected to complete and I got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home.  I eventually made it home at 7pm.  When I arrived home Melvin was with the three children.  While I was away Abigail and Joshua went into the toilet and locked the door.  All our windows have metal grills so it is impossible to get in through any of the windows.  When they locked the door they could not open it again.  Melvin spent 45 minutes directing operations from the other side of the door in order to get them out.  All this happened at the same time as Noah decided he needed fed NOW and Melvin was with the children alone!

On Tuesday we went to South Africa because we understood that we needed to take Noah out every 30 days.  We went with our Brazilian friends who also needed to leave the country after 30 days.  We had a lovely day with them but on our return through the border the officials told us that Noah could not return on his current visa as it could only be used once.  This was an expensive visa that we purchased in order to get his resident Visa (DIRE).  We had to purchase another Visa but they said that it would not suffice for applying to obtain a DIRE.  Eventually after a long wait at the border we made it home.  We feared we would have to return to the Mozambican Consulate in Nelspruit, South Africa, to pay again for the other type of Visa.  On Wednesday we dropped all our other plans and went to Immigration with Noah in order to see what could be done about his DIRE.  We prayed all the way there!  We decided to not explain anything to the official; just submit the paperwork with the passport and hope for the best!  We were holding our breath!  It was as if God blinded her eyes to the new Visa.  She stamped all our paperwork and gave us a receipt to confirm the application.  Praise God!  On our way out of the office Melvin met a young man who had worked on one of the construction projects in the past.  He had been working in the north so Melvin had not seen him for a while!  We gave him a lift and on the way Melvin was able to chat openly about God's plan and purpose for his life.  We believe that this was a Divine Appointment!

We got home and Melvin left again to meet one of our Pastors for lunch.  When he went to pay the bill he realized that he did not have his wallet.  He thought it was at home but when he returned we could not find it anywhere!  It contained all his cards and driving license.  Without the license with you it is considered illegal to drive here.  We were lamenting how this was going to be a nightmare to get all the cards and license replaced from this side of the world.  We prayed!  I got up the next morning and read the passage in James in preparation for our ladies Bible study group.  God really spoke into my heart about trusting him in every situation.  I drove and left Melvin at the Maputo Bible Seminary and went to my Bible study.  There we prayed about the situation.  I went back to the Seminary for a meeting about the Culinary Course.  During that meeting Melvin's phone rang.  It was a man saying he had Melvin's wallet. We couldn't believe it at first.  Melvin then went with a couple of Mozambicans to meet the man and it was indeed Melvin's wallet with all his cards.  In the process Melvin asked the police to provide surveillance in the case that anything untoward were to take place.  As soon as the man handed the wallet to Melvin, three plain clothes policemen surrounded them, identified themselves and led them to the police station!  The police took a statement, praised the gentleman for going out of his way to return the wallet and then asked Melvin for 'refrescos' (Coca Colas!).  Melvin offered to buy everyone involved Coca Colas and so he passed over some cash hoping that someone would appear with some refreshments!  Someone got refreshments but they didn't see any!  Through this ordeal, Melvin had a very amicable dialogue with the Police and was invited to speak with the Police Inspector.  We feel that this was another Divine Appointment.  Pray for Melvin as he plans to go back with a Bible and Christian Book for the Inspector!

We must encourage ourselves!  Maybe God has plans that are not our plans!  He desires to give us Divine Appointments to show His love to others!  Even our trials He can use and turn them into Triumphs! Our God is STILL a miracle working God!  More soon!