OK so now what?
One of the things that we continue to hear from God is, "Ok so you moved to Mozambique, now what?" Well we feel that this question is continually being reshaped and that we are everyday experiencing new opportunities and new ways of telling others about our Lord.
First some of you may have heard that we are trying to adopt a Mozambican baby! (hopefully two, but we will see) We have submitted all of the paperwork, met with the ministry director and have scheduled our first home visit for the 29th of March. This meeting is with the director of the department of Women and Children and with the Director of the largest state run orphanage. We could have a baby in as little as 30 days. We are scared and overjoyed at the same time. This process has been so good for our continued patience with life here. It takes hours to get a 10 minute meeting, hours to make copies exactly the way that they need, then hours to get every page notorized in some socialistic assembly line of paper stamping and signing. You really have to experience it to understand it. All that said it is such a great opportunity for us to be Chistians here. It gives us the opportunity to engage and talk to people and show them our Savior in real life. No sermons, or work projects, just lving life as transparent as possible for the people here to see. We realize that everyday we have opportunities to show people Christ by the way that we live and love one another. By the way the same is true for all of you reading this!
Second, we have had the opportunity to get involved personally with several people. Two of whom are our "fruit girls." Here the street vendors bring things to you, just about anything that you can think of. Extension cords, phone covers and even underwear, boxers or briefs. But the best are the fruit stands. People bring fresh fruit right to your door on these wheeled carts that are made from scrap metal and car tires . We have two girls who bring fruit to us who are so nice and always happy. Their names are Bebe and Albertina, Bebe is pregnat and is due anyday (she is keeping the baby, we already asked). Sarah has been very forward with them about their lives and they are very open to share with her. Sarah offers to pray for them in the street, they always say yes. One day when Steve rushed home because of a migraine headache to take a nap, the girls were here. They stopped and said to Sarah that they wanted to pray for him. I will tel you that after 1 hour of sleep my headache was gone, now we have another thing to talk to them about. We can testify that prayer works and that we have a trustworthy God who hears us when we pray. By the way the other benefit of this relationship...they always save the best fruit for us! Kind of like what happens when we engage with God as well.
When we came here almost two years ago it was to do business development that would create economic opportunities for the economically challenged here. (which by the way is 99% of the population) Never did we think about a Re/Max real estate office, but God is using it. We have 4 agents who are now making over $1000 per month in commission. My partner has just sold a $2.2 million dollar building and will make $50,000 in commission. We have a full time office coordinator who is highly educated and now has a full time job and security. She is learning skills that she will use for the rest of her life. Also never would I have guessed that I would focus on the chicken industry, but for now this is where God has us. I am engaging with some of the biggest businesses in Mozambique and showing them ways to improve their business by utilizing the rural poor. We are working on having over 300 new farmers raising chickens by Christmas, with average incomes of around $100 per month. (the national minimum wage is $45 per month) I get the opportunity to meet with Government Ministries and have meetings with Ministers and National Directors. I just submitted a three page document to the Minister of Commerce asking him to lift the duty on nationally produced chickens for three years to stimulate the market. Who would of thought that this would be our roles here right now.
Anyway, we just wanted to update you regarding our lives. We are still living with our eyes wide open to see the next logical step that God has for us. We hope that you are all well and sensing the Father in your lives. You can show the world Christ simply by how you love them. Love someone differently today, tomorrow and everyday.
God bless.
Steve and Sarah
First some of you may have heard that we are trying to adopt a Mozambican baby! (hopefully two, but we will see) We have submitted all of the paperwork, met with the ministry director and have scheduled our first home visit for the 29th of March. This meeting is with the director of the department of Women and Children and with the Director of the largest state run orphanage. We could have a baby in as little as 30 days. We are scared and overjoyed at the same time. This process has been so good for our continued patience with life here. It takes hours to get a 10 minute meeting, hours to make copies exactly the way that they need, then hours to get every page notorized in some socialistic assembly line of paper stamping and signing. You really have to experience it to understand it. All that said it is such a great opportunity for us to be Chistians here. It gives us the opportunity to engage and talk to people and show them our Savior in real life. No sermons, or work projects, just lving life as transparent as possible for the people here to see. We realize that everyday we have opportunities to show people Christ by the way that we live and love one another. By the way the same is true for all of you reading this!
Second, we have had the opportunity to get involved personally with several people. Two of whom are our "fruit girls." Here the street vendors bring things to you, just about anything that you can think of. Extension cords, phone covers and even underwear, boxers or briefs. But the best are the fruit stands. People bring fresh fruit right to your door on these wheeled carts that are made from scrap metal and car tires . We have two girls who bring fruit to us who are so nice and always happy. Their names are Bebe and Albertina, Bebe is pregnat and is due anyday (she is keeping the baby, we already asked). Sarah has been very forward with them about their lives and they are very open to share with her. Sarah offers to pray for them in the street, they always say yes. One day when Steve rushed home because of a migraine headache to take a nap, the girls were here. They stopped and said to Sarah that they wanted to pray for him. I will tel you that after 1 hour of sleep my headache was gone, now we have another thing to talk to them about. We can testify that prayer works and that we have a trustworthy God who hears us when we pray. By the way the other benefit of this relationship...they always save the best fruit for us! Kind of like what happens when we engage with God as well.
When we came here almost two years ago it was to do business development that would create economic opportunities for the economically challenged here. (which by the way is 99% of the population) Never did we think about a Re/Max real estate office, but God is using it. We have 4 agents who are now making over $1000 per month in commission. My partner has just sold a $2.2 million dollar building and will make $50,000 in commission. We have a full time office coordinator who is highly educated and now has a full time job and security. She is learning skills that she will use for the rest of her life. Also never would I have guessed that I would focus on the chicken industry, but for now this is where God has us. I am engaging with some of the biggest businesses in Mozambique and showing them ways to improve their business by utilizing the rural poor. We are working on having over 300 new farmers raising chickens by Christmas, with average incomes of around $100 per month. (the national minimum wage is $45 per month) I get the opportunity to meet with Government Ministries and have meetings with Ministers and National Directors. I just submitted a three page document to the Minister of Commerce asking him to lift the duty on nationally produced chickens for three years to stimulate the market. Who would of thought that this would be our roles here right now.
Anyway, we just wanted to update you regarding our lives. We are still living with our eyes wide open to see the next logical step that God has for us. We hope that you are all well and sensing the Father in your lives. You can show the world Christ simply by how you love them. Love someone differently today, tomorrow and everyday.
God bless.
Steve and Sarah
posted by Sniders in Africa at 3/13/2007 07:33:00 AM
<< Home