Muito Desculpe
Wow! Who knew that there were only 24 hours in a day in Mozambique as well. We are so sorry for not updating lately. It has just been a little crazy around here.
I thought that I would just bullet a few highlights and give some updates about what has been going on here. Sound OK? Thanks for being so agreable.
1. I (Steve) almost drowned at the beach during Thanksgiving. Seriously. The ocean at Xai Xai beach is very strong. There is also a reef maybe 150 meters from the beach. It turns out that the ocean directly in front of our campsite has a break in the reef. I was sucked out 100 meters beyond the reef in 5 seconds. Exhausted and panicked, God graciously planted me on top of the reef instead of in it for a much needed breather to get back to shore. The scariest part was seeing Sarah and the kids playing on the beach while I was scared to death and panicked. I can say that while I was swimming and breathing heavy I was also praying that the Gracious hand of God would save me. I have also found out since then that that particular break in the reef is where more people are killed by sharks than any other spot in Mozambique. Praise God twice.
2. My work is beginning to be very fun. We are receiving our first funding for the chicken project that we talked about before and that is really exciting. I have also been helping a local guy with his small grocery store. His name is Sam and he is what Isaiah 61 calls an Oak of righteousness. Pray for this guy. He is going to be one of the success stories. His light is shining bright. Please let me know if you need any rice or sugar OK? I am also working on a project to help raise sugar cane in central Mozambique. We have just met with the 15 owners of the land and have begun to layout the details of an agreement. This project would create about 150 new jobs and would create a money generating project for the next 8 years.
3. Kaleb has been moved to third grade at school. That is a bit of an adjustment, but after discussion with the staff at the school and the teachers, his second grade class was just not going to be challenging enough for him. His new teacher is a Christian who goes to our church and his friend from church is in his new class. He is enjoying playing soccer and he is learning how to play Cricket. But he sure misses baseball.
4. Our new house is working out great. Our guards are keeping us safe and so far we have not had any run-ins with anyone wanting to harm us. Mia is so happy playing in the yard everyday. She and Simba are the best of friends. We also have inherited a turtle that she loves to talk about. His name is Tony. Mia fell the other day and has drastically messed up her front teeth. There was blood every where and then a quick trip to the local dentist, which wasn't as bad as you might think. She will be fine, but her smile looks a bit different now. Lucy is learning how to read and is working with phonics. If any of you know about them it takes about 1 hour to read 6 pages, but we are so proud of her and she is so happy to be reading. She is singing tomorrow night in her schools Christmas program. We cannot wait to see her up front.
5. Sarah and I had a date he other night. Kind of. We had a friend from work come and watch the kids while we went to a movie in town. The movie was average, but the company was great. We hope to do more of this in the months to come. Going out here is just not quite the same as back home. We have also met a few nice friends here. We actually were invited over to a friends house for dinner the other night. Every little bit helps to feel more connected here.
6. We are coming home on January 2nd! I have a couple of meetings in Minneapolis and Baltimore and I thought that it would be too mean to leave Sarah and the kids here while I am in the frozen north. We will be there until the 19th of January.
7. Christmas season is high crime season here in Maputo. Please pray for our safety. It is just such a real threat here, somedays you forget and that could be bad. That is what some of the people wait for. They watch you and target you waiting for you to mess up.
8. We are in a small group with other missions people and are tremendously enjoying adult conversation, IN ENGLISH. We are going through Mark in a manuscript study. No verses or paragraph breaks. It is really a neat way to read Gods word. I am also leading a small study with 5 young Mozambican men. We are just getting togther to pray and hold each other accountable. We are going through Brennan Mannings book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. It is so neat to hear about their struggles and weigh those against my experiences 10 years ago. These guys are potential leaders in a few of the business development programs that we are working on so please pray for them.
9. Did we tell you about the mango flies here? They lay eggs in your clothes on the clothes line and then they bore into your skin when you wear them. We have not had any yet, but our dog has. He gets these pimple looking things that have these white heads on them and when you pop them, (we were told that you have to by the guards, the neighborhood kids and by the vet), a live maggot shoots out. It is the grossest thing that you have ever seen. We pop about 10 a week. I can send photos, but only on request.
10. God is continuing to provide and his favor is clearly rested on the Snider family. We thank you all for your support both financially and spiritually. We know that you make us a priority in your prayer times and we feel it here. We do not know what the future holds for us here, but I can tell you that we love it and are excited to start each day and see what God has waiting for us.
*By the way gas is about $4.25 per gallon here ($1.10 per liter)
Just in case we don't blog for a while, Merry Christmas.
May you all know why we truly celebrate.
Jesus was born and gave His life as our gift. Receive the gift if you have not already and experience salvation and forgiveness.
I promise that it is the best gift that you could ever do or receive.
Separado Mas Junto
God Bless
The Sniders
I thought that I would just bullet a few highlights and give some updates about what has been going on here. Sound OK? Thanks for being so agreable.
1. I (Steve) almost drowned at the beach during Thanksgiving. Seriously. The ocean at Xai Xai beach is very strong. There is also a reef maybe 150 meters from the beach. It turns out that the ocean directly in front of our campsite has a break in the reef. I was sucked out 100 meters beyond the reef in 5 seconds. Exhausted and panicked, God graciously planted me on top of the reef instead of in it for a much needed breather to get back to shore. The scariest part was seeing Sarah and the kids playing on the beach while I was scared to death and panicked. I can say that while I was swimming and breathing heavy I was also praying that the Gracious hand of God would save me. I have also found out since then that that particular break in the reef is where more people are killed by sharks than any other spot in Mozambique. Praise God twice.
2. My work is beginning to be very fun. We are receiving our first funding for the chicken project that we talked about before and that is really exciting. I have also been helping a local guy with his small grocery store. His name is Sam and he is what Isaiah 61 calls an Oak of righteousness. Pray for this guy. He is going to be one of the success stories. His light is shining bright. Please let me know if you need any rice or sugar OK? I am also working on a project to help raise sugar cane in central Mozambique. We have just met with the 15 owners of the land and have begun to layout the details of an agreement. This project would create about 150 new jobs and would create a money generating project for the next 8 years.
3. Kaleb has been moved to third grade at school. That is a bit of an adjustment, but after discussion with the staff at the school and the teachers, his second grade class was just not going to be challenging enough for him. His new teacher is a Christian who goes to our church and his friend from church is in his new class. He is enjoying playing soccer and he is learning how to play Cricket. But he sure misses baseball.
4. Our new house is working out great. Our guards are keeping us safe and so far we have not had any run-ins with anyone wanting to harm us. Mia is so happy playing in the yard everyday. She and Simba are the best of friends. We also have inherited a turtle that she loves to talk about. His name is Tony. Mia fell the other day and has drastically messed up her front teeth. There was blood every where and then a quick trip to the local dentist, which wasn't as bad as you might think. She will be fine, but her smile looks a bit different now. Lucy is learning how to read and is working with phonics. If any of you know about them it takes about 1 hour to read 6 pages, but we are so proud of her and she is so happy to be reading. She is singing tomorrow night in her schools Christmas program. We cannot wait to see her up front.
5. Sarah and I had a date he other night. Kind of. We had a friend from work come and watch the kids while we went to a movie in town. The movie was average, but the company was great. We hope to do more of this in the months to come. Going out here is just not quite the same as back home. We have also met a few nice friends here. We actually were invited over to a friends house for dinner the other night. Every little bit helps to feel more connected here.
6. We are coming home on January 2nd! I have a couple of meetings in Minneapolis and Baltimore and I thought that it would be too mean to leave Sarah and the kids here while I am in the frozen north. We will be there until the 19th of January.
7. Christmas season is high crime season here in Maputo. Please pray for our safety. It is just such a real threat here, somedays you forget and that could be bad. That is what some of the people wait for. They watch you and target you waiting for you to mess up.
8. We are in a small group with other missions people and are tremendously enjoying adult conversation, IN ENGLISH. We are going through Mark in a manuscript study. No verses or paragraph breaks. It is really a neat way to read Gods word. I am also leading a small study with 5 young Mozambican men. We are just getting togther to pray and hold each other accountable. We are going through Brennan Mannings book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. It is so neat to hear about their struggles and weigh those against my experiences 10 years ago. These guys are potential leaders in a few of the business development programs that we are working on so please pray for them.
9. Did we tell you about the mango flies here? They lay eggs in your clothes on the clothes line and then they bore into your skin when you wear them. We have not had any yet, but our dog has. He gets these pimple looking things that have these white heads on them and when you pop them, (we were told that you have to by the guards, the neighborhood kids and by the vet), a live maggot shoots out. It is the grossest thing that you have ever seen. We pop about 10 a week. I can send photos, but only on request.
10. God is continuing to provide and his favor is clearly rested on the Snider family. We thank you all for your support both financially and spiritually. We know that you make us a priority in your prayer times and we feel it here. We do not know what the future holds for us here, but I can tell you that we love it and are excited to start each day and see what God has waiting for us.
*By the way gas is about $4.25 per gallon here ($1.10 per liter)
Just in case we don't blog for a while, Merry Christmas.
May you all know why we truly celebrate.
Jesus was born and gave His life as our gift. Receive the gift if you have not already and experience salvation and forgiveness.
I promise that it is the best gift that you could ever do or receive.
Separado Mas Junto
God Bless
The Sniders
posted by Sniders in Africa at 12/08/2005 11:35:00 PM
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