Chinhangane Village

It was a HOT week in early October (around 100 or above) but we still had good times with a team from Grand Rapids. The rains should be coming by now, but it looks like it may be another year of drought and heat. There is no food in the granaries, but people are now making money by rhino poaching as they are close to the Limpopo and Kruger Parks. They know they may not live long, but at least they will live well, so they continue the risky activities. The village leader is in jail in SA and some of the men have been killed. Massingir District where Chinhangane is located, seems to be a hub for this illegal activity.

 

Crocodiles are also a big threat. Last week a group from Chinhangane went to a nearby village to fish in the river. They dive and spear the fish, but this time a man was taken by a crocodile. They only found part of his body but got permission to catch the croc in a trap. They opened it up and found some other body parts. It makes one very willing to just view the river from farther back.

 

 
 
 

 

People’s lives are certainly not easy and comfortable in Chinhangane. This church from Michigan has provided a drip irrigation system for their agriculture field, a water system so they don’t have to get it from the river, and they have taught skills like knitting and sewing. They work with children and church leaders and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also showed them how to tell Bible stories in a way that helps non-literate people re-tell them and uses a lot of discussion – Simply the Story. There are only four churches in the village and three of them teach a mixture of Christianity and traditional religion/ancestor worship. There are plenty of challenges but we thank God for what has been accomplished.

This is one of the discipleship groups greeting us with songs and dancing.

The Big One that Didn't Get Away

While passing by a fresh water lake during our travels to Chokwe over the years, we have seen ladies selling freshly caught fish. So fresh that some of them were still wagging their tails, or so it appeared. Once we stopped with a friend who bought some that were still gasping for air, water actually, but they were quite small. Recently the fish have become larger due to improvements in the retention dam and the size of the lake. Having changed our diet to more fresh foods and natural oils, we found that fish in Maputo are quite expensive, so on a recent trip I stopped and bought some tilapia from the ladies. After some experimentation and a little learning on how to properly clean and cook these fish we decided to try it again. The tilapia were there and we bought some, but so was a much larger fish, for the same price, so I could not resist the opportunity to see what it would be like.

First off, it weighed a lot, was harder to de-scale as compared to tilapia and hard to handle. How to cut/filet such a thing? All I had was small, but good quality hunting knife that was really sharp. However, these was still a lot of meat left on the ribs, so we left half of the fish intact and baked it rib bones and all.

One piece made supper plus leftovers for quite a few future meals. After cleaning this one, the four tilapia were a cinch, but will make only 2-4 meals for the same purchase price.

Coconut Sagas

As some of you may recall, we helped start a cold pressed coconut oil business back in 2006 with a startup donation from some of our friends at Harvest Community Church. World Relief supported the idea and a WR manager (who was approaching retirement age and from that community) agreed to take the managing partnership role.

Producing liquid, white gold (from a tree no less)

Needless to say, it has been a live, learning curve in action from day one. I could go on, but needless to say, the first 7 years we lost money, maybe broke even the next and actually made a profit last year (if the books are to be believed, since they got done after the fact from a year’s worth of records). This alone is a series of sagas that could at times turn one prematurely gray!

So, we wrapped up production in December with my requesting they buy a few more coconuts at higher prices so that I can have some oil to sell in the off months. (Which they don’t. Prices were too high and they were too tired.) Then in early January, our manager says he and his wife have made a decision that he would retire this year and sell the factory. Wow, just like that, no discussion, questions or what do you think about this idea, Steve?

Well, we need a new manager and likely some new partners/investors in the mix if we want to move forward with production, growth and innovation. So, I share/shop the idea around to about six different parties that I know of who are either doing coconut oil, buying from us, selling oil, or want to sell it.

One comes back right away with, “Sure, I want to rent your factory for the next year and make oil. Here is my proposal.” Well, we had enough experience with this person to believe the offer was about 95% likely to fall flat before getting out the door, so I said, “Give us a written proposal, not just discussion” and that was just about the last of it, except a phone call to say, “No longer interested’ about 4 weeks later.

Another says, “Here is my idea/proposal, I bring you the coconuts (since I am starting similar operations across the street), you process and sell me your oil.” Our manager is convinced this is it, the answer to all his problems! Raw materials and export are covered, just run the factory. (I am not. What happens to our current customers who are depending on us for supply?)

Two more candidates who are actually working in the area with coconut products, have serious and real responses. Can we see your books and what would you charge for the company? Here’s the rub, no books since last year. How long to whip things into shape? Four weeks. That feels like a life time, even in the off season for a businessman. So, we wait. Once the books come out, we get verbal confidentiality agreements and share the data. How do they look? Not good, not terrible, so we have to think about selling this thing on its potential, not its actual profitability and return on investment, which is reasonable based on high demand from current customers, new people asking monthly and not being able to keep product in stock.

However, the price is just too high “for now.” We really need another year to make improvements, add capacity and build up revenues. What to do? Partnerships, alliances, new leadership, investments are all possible if we pursue and agree. So, we keep talking seriously to the two most likely candidates. One is like minded, business as ministry, the other community minded and profit driven.

New bombshell, the manager is selling his house and moving out of the community, even Mozambique. Wow, so much to not like about that unilateral decision. What to say or not say? We spend 2-3 days exploring options and talking about it. (I need to travel for two weeks now.) Ok, he will stick around until end of April. Lots of direction to pray for here. What is best for the company, him, us, the community, the business?

Talking to a close friend and advisor from our sending church, we ask these questions and receive the response, “You need to decide if the primary focus is ministry or business. I have seen each doing the other, but the primary focus must be agreed and done, or the other will interfere and create confusion.” True, we have seen that many times. Good food for thought. Primary goal has to be make a profit. Once this is sustainable, then as one producer said, the jobs will come (and so will opportunity for ministry.) The big outstanding question is now, how to structure the management, which partner to help us and who to hire for this year?

New bombshell (one that is easier to live with), the manager has decided not to leave Mozambique and wants to stay involved. Now the question is, how to move forward with the current limitations of present leadership? (So, my own advice comes back to remind me that, “If it were not challenging, it would not be called business!”) The saga continues……… (with hope).

“The best and most difficult decision I made in my life”

Our WR colleagues sent this story. It gives some background to what many people in the villages believe and how their fears rooted in Animism control them. Thankfully Mr. Tivane made the right choice of trusting God.

Boaventura José Tivane, is a 60 year-old man from 25 Setembro/Chibabel Village in the district of Guijá. Mr. Tivane has two wives and seven children. He sustains his family as a farmer. He became a Christian five years ago, however he continued practicing African traditional religion until very recently.

He explains: In 2010 I began to go to church even though my family depended on the counsel of witchdoctors. If we had any disease or perceived some bad luck we ran to a witchdoctor. I am also the eldest son of the family so I was required to lead the religious ceremonies of my siblings if they were advised to do so by their witchdoctors. To maintain the family spirits I was required to build a hut specifically for them where I kept some red and black cloth and some coins to appease them. All the family’s religious ceremonies were held in this hut.

I decided to surrender my life to Jesus as Lord when I observed the lives of two people, including my own daughter. Besides going to church, they started to live devout lives, loving and serving other people in the community. I wanted to be a Christian who really loves people to the point of serving others. In conversation with my daughter I told her that I would change if she would call her friends to pray for me. My daughter attended a WR training in a nearby church. When they came to pray for me, they offered to destroy the hut for the spirits and burn the artifacts if I wanted to dedicate my life fully to God. I accepted, and I think of it as the most difficult and the best decision I made in my whole life.

Indiana Summer

Well, it's been a long time since we paid attention to this blog. Our excuse is that we were taking a break in the U.S. since the end of June.

This included spending fun times with family including three family reunions.

We loved being with the grandbabies! (And our kids, of course ...)

 

One of the reunions was in Tennessee so we spent a little time hiking in the Smoky Mountains. Beautiful!

 

 

 

In between the travels and reunions we did get some work done. For Steve mowing a pasture is fun work. He and his brother also spent time fixing tractors and getting them ready to sell for their Mom. There was also work to do for his parent's estate such as helping to sell properties, cutting down many small trees that were in the wrong place and lots of miscellaneous things on the to-do list. It was great to be able to help her which we haven't been able to do much while we're in Moz.

We also had a good time reconnecting with people from our church and other friends. This is an important part of being home for us.

Labor Day weekend we made our traditional sojourn to Lake Michigan. Bocce ball in progress here.

 

We fit in a baby shower for the next grandbaby coming soon and had fun being creative with the melon. Keith put his artistic talent to work.

 

 

On our way home to Mozambique we stopped in Germany for a weekend to visit missionary friends but that will wait for another entry. We're back remembering how to live here. Steve is OK with driving on the left but he keeps forgetting what side the blinkers are on and so the windshield wipers go on quite regularly!

 

One of my first impressions at the airport was the spontaneity of Africans, laughter, joyful singing. Yeah, and a guy talking so loudly that he interrupted my nap.  But it's good to be back.

 

 

 

 

May Newsletter

Just a note to let you know that our latest newsletter has been posted and you may click on it on the sidebar if you don't already receive it.

Livraria Evangélica

Steve and I have been on the board of a non-profit local CLC Christian bookstore for many years. For most of that time it has been an advisory board which meets 1-2 times a year. Lately, however, I have been getting more involved in the nitty gritty daily affairs.

 

A young man managed the store for a long time and the great thing was that he was very honest. The downside was that he didn’t want to go out to churches, conferences and seminaries to promote the store. After the store moved, many people no longer knew where to find it. The regional director was very frustrated but felt she couldn’t find anyone as honest as him. We know a young lady who loves marketing, is very honest and loves God and suggested her. A year later she came on board.

There was no handover so she is figuring things out as she goes. One of the huge challenges is termites! The wooden shelves are full of them and they are in termite heaven in a bookstore. All that paper, all that wood, yum, yum (and no apologies from them)! Many of the books have been damaged and the shelves are a loss. Used metal shelves are being donated in England and will be put on a container to send here but that will take awhile. In the meantime we need to figure out what to do so that all the books are not eaten before we can sell them.

I have been helping a bit with book tables at community fairs and meetings. It is great to get out and meet people who have been looking for the store, or for a place to buy Christian literature. Please pray for success as it is the only evangelical bookstore ministry in the country (there is also a small branch in Beira).

A Pig in a What and She Bought What?

Life in Africa has been more about travels these last 3 months than about being in one place, which has been Maputo.  We hope that this does not represent a trend that continues for too long into the future.  That said, Steve will be traveling extensively until we go on home leave starting June 20.  After April 7, he will be in Zambia twice, Eastern DRC, Rwanda (just passing through) Kenya and South Sudan.

While our previous blog focused on N. America visits, this one is for Mozambique.  The week after Rachel got back from the US, she went to the village and Steve went to Maxixe to visit the coconut oil factory.  On the way home, I, Steve took a bus that was not too full of people, but was certainly packed with goods.  One of those items was a live pig.  You have probably heard of people transporting live chickens on the bus, where the old lady had one in her basket, or there is a crate of them you have to climb over in the aisle. 

Well this was a pig.  Ok, granted I did not know it was on the bus because they had stowed it down below in a separate compartment.  Its legs were tied and it stayed quiet until they picked it up to toss in onto the side of the road.  You might imagine the pig squeals that the handling and tossing of a trussed up pig can elicit.  Well it certainly got my attention in the middle of Maputo. 

 

Rachel in the meantime, was having her own adventure.  She decided to buy a bunch of bananas from the agriculture association in Mohambe. Ok, I said, no problem.  No, she said, a whole bunch, like the whole thing that hangs on the tree!.  Really? Who is going to eat them since I am traveling next week.  Oh, they are green so it will take them a while to ripen.  Yes, but they will all ripen at once!  Now for the true African, Oh-o-O-o-O! (the 5 syllable, drawn out version meaning “really?”, or “I see, so that is how it is!”)  

The solution was obviously to cut them off the stalk and offer them to our work mates at a reasonable price.  Now Rachel only has about 20 bananas to eat (but they will still all get ripe around the same time).  Bananas, anyone?

 

Rachel here - Actually I was just trying to help my friend Rosalia (below) with some sales. So I brought a crate and a half of tomatoes, and some huge, delicious papayas that you cannot find in the city. Our friends at work would have liked even more produce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we're talking about trees and fruit - has anyone ever seen anything like this fruit below?

 I certainly haven't!

 

 



Visit to the U.S. to Meet the New Grandbabies

Last year when we learned that two of our children would have children within a month of each other we decided it would be a good time to use our Delta miles. It was a very special family time and we are grateful that we could go.


On our first stop we met Oliver who was just getting out of the hospital for the second time since birth. He had RSV and was in NICU on oxygen for more than a week. We are so thankful that he is healthy again.

It was great to spend time with Oliver's older sister, Sophia. She loves books, her babies, and she has learned some signs to communicate, such as "more" with a pleading look in her eyes!

 

 

From their house we drove 1.5 hours to our daughter's home. (Isn't it nice that they live close together? It made it very convenient for us.) Joanna was due in about a week but I assumed she would be early since I always was. Wrong. Miss Evelyn decided to wait for another week and a day after her due date. But she came at just the right time and it was a privilege to be with Joanna and Keith during her labor and delivery. Keith did a great job of telling Joanna vivid stories every time she had a contraction to distract her from the pain. The nurses were all talking about this natural birth and how beautiful it was. Evy is an answer to prayer and we thank God for her.

 

 

 

 

 


Before I came back to Moz I visited Janelle and David at their new home which I hadn't seen yet. They live in a winter wonderland on a wooded lot. This year the snowfall record was broken so you know they have had a wild winter! Thankfully it was fairly calm when I was there.

When I landed in Maputo it was a bit of a shock to breathe the warm, humid air. But I've adapted and now the seasons are starting to change as we head toward Fall.

Thank you, God, for a time to be with our growing family at such an important time. Thank you for our two homes and the ability to travel fairly quickly between them and for your provision.

"For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." Ps. 100:5

Boas Saidas e Boas Entradas

We had a very restful end of the year. Our preference would have been spending it with family but the next best thing was to find some beautiful spots in Mozambique. So we went to the beach!

Our friends Rachel and Natasha joined us for a few days.

After the beach we headed to Swaziland to a lodge on a working farm.

 

 

 

Here is the view off our front porch.



One evening we saw an incredible sunset that lasted for about a half hour.

 

We went for many walks around the farm, usually accompanied by the farm dogs. Unfortunately the ticks found us. Rachel got African tick bite fever a week later but thankfully Steve didn't get it, because he's already had it and is immune to the fever. With the help of some antibiotics and God's healing, Rachel is fine now.

 

After one day at home to catch my breath it was on the road again. This time I accompanied the WR Africa directors to a working retreat. I helped organize the logistics and this bus was a huge answer to prayer when we were down to the wire.

 

It's back to the beach again!
 

The sunrises were awesome!



Of course we spent most of our days inside this room and only got to enjoy the beach on our breaks.



The last evening we had a very meaningful time of communion and hand washing.

On the last day of our retreat we visited the villages where WR works and this church leader's training.
One of these women, Carlota said,

 "We used to think about the life to come but not how to live in this world.

Now we know it's not only important to come to church but how to care for my family. We had to find the African God who cares for us and is stronger than the witchdoctor."

Carlota is conveying the lessons and stories she is learning to five other people in her church.

 

 

We also made a home visit to Rosaria. She was full of rage after her husband abandoned her. After she started attending WR church partners trainings she realized she needed to forgive him. God has done many things for Rosaria. She is now a leader in the agriculture association and in her church. 

The verses Rosaria wanted us to read:
Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done.
I Chron. 16:8-12a

 

Merry Christmas

Life in Maputo is quickly slowing down as many foreigners head home for the holidays. The end of December and January is like August in Europe. Even the restaurants close! I guess you can't blame them for wanting some time off too. We will be around and are looking forward to some extended beach time with friends.

We have written a December newsletter which you will find on the sidebar at the right of the webpage.

I've been enjoying these pictures taken by my talented brother, Galen.

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year 2014!