Monday, December 31

This post was viewed on Lakeside Church's blogspot...written by Jim Record

We started the day with a great devotional by Marty, about the giving of yourselves to
God without question. Then went to see and interview some people on the street. Emily and Stephanie are doing some film work for some of the spanish t.v. stations in the sac area. Met some of the families that are going to get a house. Their grandmother is 76 and preparing to be with the Lord - please pray for comfort and no pain. Grandfather is 84 and cannot hear and is broken hearted - please pray for his comfort. Then went to the construction site on the other side of town and met the family. We proceeded to start framing on the concrete slab and at the end of the day had walls up! We just need to put in window and door frames and then roof. Dave, Tory, Collean and Lynn played soccer with the older kids at the end of the day. God bless you all and have a great happy new year. Jim

We Have Arrived!

We have arrived in Ica! HURRAY!! It has taken 2 days to get to our final destination here in Ica and we are all very happy to unpack our bags. WOW what a journey it has been to get here ......The final 6 hour bus ride from Lima Peru to Ica was a very eye opening experience for all of us. The devastation from the earthquake has left many towns in rubble and the people have set up make shift shelters out of whatever they could gather . We have been reminded how grateful and blessed we are.

We will be starting work on our first house this morning Monday........The team is very excited to meet the families we will be building the homes for........We will have more details and pictures this afternoon......Until then, Love and Hugs to all of you from all of us here in Ica

Ica, Peru

Lee sets out for Ica, Peru on Friday! The group will be departing Lakeside Church in Folsom, California on Friday December 28, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Please pray for God's protection for safe travels and good health for the team. Following two days of travel they plan to arrive in Ica, Peru on Sunday December 30, 2008 around 6:30 p.m.

Thank you so much to our share partners! We invite you to follow along as we come alongside Shelter Our World to develop greater favor for their work in Ica, Peru. In response to the long terms needs of the survivors of the August 15, 2007 earthquake that resulted in more than 60,000 homes being destroyed, our team will be participating in two low cost home construction projects and Christian outreach in the poor neighborhoods throughout Ica, Peru and the surrounding area.

Back to USA

We are back home safe and sound! I guess it's taken me a while to update the blog now that we are home! We are adjusting to the time change and culture shock. As many times as I've been on mission trips, it still amazes me when I get home and see how truly blessed we are. But I also am feeling as though part of me is left back in Africa. I love the people there. My heart goes out to them.

I tried to create a video but I must say that the quality on the computer looks quite poor compared to our actual pictures. I think I'm not very good at some of this Internet stuff! My age is showing. Anyway, if you'd like to try to view it, it can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5576618264104974516 . Copy and paste the URL if you can't click on it!

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

A Relaxing Day at the Beach

OK, we don't have our beach pictures yet, so this one will do! We spent the day on the beach, relaxing, just like these hippos! We went to Macaneta Beach. We had to take a ferry over but the drive was well worth it! We started off with a jog down the beach, then some of the men helped the local fishermen pull in nets. We packed a picnic lunch, played football, and just had fun! At night Rodger BBQ'd steaks for us as a final hurray - the depindencia is done! Yea!

We leave tomorrow at 11:40 for our long, long flights home. We'll have a 7 hour layover in Johannesburg. Please pray for a safe trip home!

No Water and an AK47

We are truly experiencing Mozambican life! Today we noticed our water pressure was gone - come to find out that the city had turned off the water a few days ago and we had been using up the tank water. We were almost out of water in the tank. Plus, we were out of drinking water! It's a weird thought to be all out of water! Thankfully, the Lord supplied us with water. This morning we awoke to the water being turned back on and the drinking water will arrive in an hour or so.

What is this about an AK47? Yes, we had quite the experience last night. We went out to dinner and on the drive home in a dark alley we were pulled over by the policia. It is common for them to pull over drivers and ask for papers of the driver. Well, our policia was "policia with attitude." He demanded papers of not only the driver, but also out of all of us. We did not have any papers with us but we did not tell him that. Then another policia arrived with an AK47 and opened Lee's door demanding papers. Rodger knew he had no right to open the door or demand papers so he finally got him to close the door. In the mean time he continued to walk around the car with his rifle trying to intimidate us. Yes, he was intimidating! The other policia argued and argued with Rodger over the papers. I prayed that God would give us favor with this man. After quite a while of heated discussion and intimidation, they let us go. Rodger said it was the first time since 2000 that he was nervous of the policia. Back in 2000 he had an AK47 pointed to his face demanding money from the policia. He said that the stop was night "right" and he was going to call his friend who is a police inspector today and let him know what happened. Needless to say, we had quite an interesting evening! We are thankful for God's protection.

We’re tryin’ to catch up on our blogging! We’ve been busy. The depindencia is almost complete – finishing installing windows, hardware, painting. It’s looking beautiful! Larry and Lee installed cabinets and will soon be varnishing the windows. The only thing left is painting the floor. Yea! It’s going to be a great place for interns and visitors. We were laughing because from the outside it now looks better than the house.

Monday Pam and George went to Casas das Formigas – an orphanage/daycare type facility. The woman who started it is a 70 year old Brazilian. They have Bible classes along with classes in sewing, crochet, art, basketry (made from recycled school paper), shoe making, tapestry. Lynne hopes to get ideas for neighborhood programs. George was able to diagnose some of their computer issues.

Tuesday was our safari at Kruger Game Park in South Africa. We left the house at 4:45 AM and drove to South Africa. We spent the day appreciating God’s spendor in creation. We were able to see many rhinos, wildbeest, baboons, elephants, giraffe, hippopotamus, impalas, kudus, zebras, vervet monkeys, warthogs, and a leopard at the end of the day. We also saw many reptiles and birds.

Wednesday was another work day. The men finished up windows and installations. Pam and George went into town with Rodger. Lynne had spent the night at a friend’s house and after picking her up, her hand was accidentally slammed shut in the door of the van. It cut her finger and she may have 1-2 broken fingers. She and Rodger are still in town so we haven’t heard the latest. Please pray for Lynne! We hope to take them out to dinner tonight to help her out. George finished up computer work at the Christian school. Pam and Lynne’s friend Corrine went to the orphanage again. (Lynne planned on going but because of her injury she wasn’t able to go.) Again, it is overwhelming seeing the kids at the orphanage. There was one little girl – about 2 months old – that was very skeletal. She had the distended tummy and skin hanging on her arms. It is so sad seeing these sick kids that beg and beg to be picked up. I literally had 6 kids hanging on my legs trying to climb up into my arms. Don’t get me wrong – the orphanage does a great job with the supplies they have – they just need more help there.

We’re back out to work! Thanks for your prayers!

Church - African Style

Today we went to church in a remote village (non jungle setting, just rolling plains with cool trees, shrubs and ant hills the size of people). It was awesome. There were about 25 Mozambicans and our band of 8. It was in the village of Xigubuta (pronounced She-gu-butta). The pastor’s name was Alfredo Mikwawa (named after the Mikwawa tree. During the war, Alfredo’s grandparents hit enemy soldiers with the fruit of the Mikwawa tree to knock them out. That is how they were given the last name Mikwawa). It was a truly African experience. We held church in an unfinished block church building with a dirt floor. Most of the church members were barefoot, but all were well dressed and extremely friendly. The music was awesome and Roger interpreted the sermon. They served us a special lunch of Xima (corn paste which looked like mashed potatoes and tasted like corn paste ), Matapa (peanuts, leaves of the Matapa tree, coconut juice and chicken broth), black eyed peas and rice. They also gave us some Mandioca root which they dug up right before our eyes. We are frying these into French fry type sticks for dinner. We then came home and took power naps (well the men folks did at least). Now Lynn and Roger are preparing us a barbecue chicken Mozambican feast!!! Tomorrow is another work day, we are close to being done. Keep praying for us that God would bless our hands and help us communicate to these wonderful people. Larry

The Market!

Hi all!
We had a great day of fellowship today. We went to the Saturday market and shopped. We were able to purchase lots of Mozambican goodies - batiks, wood carvings, etc. It's full of bartering so we are thankful to Rodger for his knowledge of the system and language! After a couple hours of bartering, we were off the to fish market. Yum! The fish are all fresh and grilled there. We had a kilo of fish, two kilos of shrimp and a chicken! Another couple joined us - Daniel and Christi. They are newlyweds recently graduated from college. Daniel was born in Mozambique. His family was a missionary family. When he was around 11 someone broke into their home and murdered his father. They were able to escape. It was his desire to return back to the country to live and serve the Lord. They are going to take a year to get situated, have his new wife learn the language, and then they will decide exactly where they will settle here for ministry. They are looking into a sports type ministry or one geared toward youth.

After our lunch we took a quick trip down to the beach. It's quite a beautiful area.

FYI - we have taken a lot of pictures but are unable to post them until we return. Sorry! For those that are new to our blog, the pictures on the blog were taken during my trip last year. We'll put a link for pictures after we return!

Lee's Moz Adventure Log

Hi Everyone,

Today we started the day with a bible study in Philippians led by Pamela. We then proceeded to have a yummy breakfast of egg and cheese burritos with hot sauce. Jim and Corinne with World Venture joined us for breakfast and then we had a prayer time.

George and Rodger left to go to the Christian Academy to work on their computers, and then over to Jim and Corinne’s to help them with their computers.

Larry and myself continued to work on the guest quarters. Larry was finishing up doing the plumbing and diagnosing a few problems while I installed hardware on the doors. The place is really shaping up. Rodger has two Mozambicans, Isaac and Joaquin, helping us to complete the painting which is really transforming the overall appearance. The iron screens are in place with work starting on the gate which will complete that portion of the work. We also worked on the window frames that will be getting new glass that Roger will pick up tomorrow.

Pam was able to meet with Lydia today who is a neighbor that we met yesterday. She came to the house and Pam helped her with learning English and she helped Pam with Portuguese and Xangana. Xangana is the language that the working class are familiar with and Portuguese the trade language. It was fun learning just a few words in Xangana to greet the locals which they thought was very unusual to hear white people speaking their language. Rodger says that Xangana is the language of the heart. It is so much fun to spend time with Rodger and see him interact with these people because of his love for them and to see them respond in turn. It just catches these people off guard that a white man is interested in them and their culture.

At the end of the day we had our first customer to the guest quarters. Since Larry was able to get the hot water working to the shower, Joaquin thought he would try it out and he loved it! It is heart warming to realize that Lakeside can be involved in such a worthy endeavor that will impact these people for God’s Kingdom. Roger hopes to have these rooms occupied with young people who will go out into this community and share the good news and do ministry by January.

At the end of the day Lynn made us a Brazilian dish with beans, rice, tomatoes, onions, and garlic that was very tasty for dinner. Afterwards we headed into town to have some ice cream and drink some coffee next to the Indian Ocean. This was a nice little break from work. We hope to start getting out a little more to see more of Mozambique before we come home. Thank You again for your support and prayers.

Lee

Larry's Tribal Tidbits

Wednesday
Well we woke up to another sunny morning in Africa! Today we worked on electrical and plumbing, finally solving the electrical short we have been fighting for several days. We also began painting walls and installing ceiling fans. We have two Mozambicans working with us. They are a joy to work with although the language barrier is frustrating. I really respect their work ethic. They stay busy and don’t have to be told what to do. When they see something that needs done, they jump on it right away. We ended the night with an awesome thunder and lightning storm. It was an awesome show and the lights went out several times. It only lasted about an hour then it was done.

Thursday
Today we made pretty good progress; we almost finished the electrical and plumbing. The ceiling fans are installed and we are putting in new door locks and latches. George went to the Christian Missionary School and began evaluating their computer system so he can set up their network. Pam, Lee and I took a long walk with Roger around the neighborhood. We met many of his neighbors and were given some lettuce by a very nice family. It is interesting to see how they live. Maputo is very similar to Mexico border towns with the litter problems and living conditions and like Mexico the residents appear clean and happy despite the excess garbage lined streets. The work that Roger and Lynn have taken on is very needed in this town and I am happy we can be here to help.

June 6 Orphanage

I visited the orphanage today at Ulene (You-lay-nee). It's the same one I went to last year and it was a joy to visit again. It's a heartbreaking visit, really, and so very difficult to explain with words. As you walk in there is an inner courtyard and the toddlers "hang out" there. It is fly infested and most kids just sit on the ground or walk around. There are very few, old toys. They beg to be held, vie for your attention, and hang on your legs. They are jealous of each other for one getting held and as many cling on to you as possible. I helped feed the babies...they sit 3 in a row and get fed from the same bowl and spoon at the same time. It's quite a sight. I helped feed the toddlers. I then went outside and played soccer with some older boys.

It's really hard to tell you exactly what it is like. The smells are awful and the children so sick with runny noses and dirty faces. Yet it is a nice orphanage and the children are loved. They just don't get much attention for the few people that work there. I was surprised that I recognized an infant from last year - Angelina - who is now a "toddler". She is a very needy little girl.

The thing that is the saddest is that 95% or more of the children at the orphanage have AIDS. They are sickly and are in so want of love. To be held is the most wonderful thing to them. In one sense I wish they had more toys, but looking at it, I don't think that's what they want. They just want to be held and loved.

Please keep these children in your prayers. I wish I could have taken pictures but cameras are not allowed. (Somehow Stacy last year was able to get permission! You go, Stacy!)

A Blog from George - Mozambique Team

06/05/07
Today we all seemed to have woken up a bit early due to bad sleeping habits. Wewoke up starting at 2am on through 4am and decided to have some coffee and visit. As we started the day, Lynn and Rodger again provided a bed and breakfast atmosphere for us before we started the work for the day. We continued to trackdown the electrical problem from yesterday and remove all items from walls and ceilings to start painting the intern quarters. It was a blessing to work side by side some local Mozambicans and start a working friendship.
Larry seems to be the hero of construction when tracking electrical shorts and finding a bad element in the water heater. Both Lee and Larry have been mostly working with the window and iron working men to beautify the new "abodencia".
I have been working diligently to get laptops and printers working at the mainhouse for Rodger and Lynn. I(George) was also blessed to accompany Rodger topick up a head board for his bed that was build and hand carved by one of the Mozambicans who has done some carpentry for him in the past. Mozambicans areextremely polite and have a great sense of humor in the midst of the surroundings.
It was amazing to see all the smiling people as they walked passed the brick or straw homes without doors. The homes did not normally have windows but there were concrete floors and many per household. As we traveled a few miles off the paved road to a small 10X10 shack; Arsenio lived here, and he covered Rodgers eyes beforerevealing a beautifully hand carved head board, picturing two giraffes amidstsome palm trees. Arsenio was so happy to provide Rodger with his work. It was quite a treat to see how much happiness it brought him to make this for Rodger.
I am looking forward to going to the Christian school later this week to puttogether a computer lab for the Mozambican students.
In greatful and blessing gratitude,George

We're Here!

We made it to Mozambique safely! We had a 10+ hour flight to London with a 6 hour layover, then a 10+ hour flight to South Africa with a 2 hour layover and finally made it to Mozambique. We had smooth flights and didn't lose any luggage! Wow! AND...the food was great! Really! We were impressed with British Airways food.

The Schmidts welcomed us with open arms as usual. They are doing fine despite Lynne's accident last week. (In fact, just this morning Lynne honked at a driver and he got made and side swiped her other car trying to knock off the mirror!) We are staying in the home with the Schmidts. Steven gave up his room for George and Larry and Lee and I have the guest room.

Work has started on the dependencia - the ministry house for Mozambican interns. It has 5 bedrooms and 2 baths. It needs a lot of repair - but they have quickly started! Rodger hired some local men to help scrape mold off the outside of the building. While I type this, Lee and Larry are testing out the electrical to figure out what they need to do to get the building safe. We'll be working on plumbing and painting as well.

We had a great time running errands today...very Mozambican. George and I stayed in the car to guard it (I'm a really scary guard!) while Lee, Larry and Rodger went inside. We went to about 5 different shops and got to see a lot of the city. It's been raining this week and the roads were quite interesting!

Thanks so much for your prayers. We hope to post a couple pictures in not too long. Pray that a lot gets done on the building and that we are able to minister to the locals.

Ready to Go!

Well, we're ready to go!

Thank you so very much to all who are supporting us through prayer and financially! God helped us raise our support and it is amazing! Thank you, Lord! We appreciate so much the prayers of our family and friends. We will leave Folsom Friday at noon. Thank you, Jim, for volunteering to drive us to San Francisco! Thanks to Pam's mom for flying out to stay with Lauren and Brett!! yea!! I love you, Mom!

Pray for our families left back home. Please continue to pray for our safety. We will try to post daily blogs IF we are able to get to a computer! If you don't see a blog, don't worry - we were either too busy or couldn't get the computer to work.

Getting Ready

We're getting ready! We have a praise that after waiting a very long time, despite trying to expedite, Lee's passport came in last Wednesday. We quickly mailed it off for the Visa. We are hoping they will have a quick Visa turn-around!

Thank you so much, supporters and prayer partners, for your support and prayers! We have nearly raised all our money. It's amazing what God can do! Please continue to pray for our family back home - Lauren and Brett. It will be difficult to have mom and dad away at the same time. I am so thankful to my mom for coming to stay with them! It's a long few weeks for her!

We leave Friday, June 1. We still have prayer requests for transportation. We need a ride to the airport in San Francisco Friday afternoon at 1:00. We think we have our ride home covered - that's still in the works as well.

Rodger and Lynn have lots of work planned for us in Mozambique. They are excited for us to come.

Thanks for your prayers!

More Praise

Thank you, everyone, for your support so far of our Mozambique, Africa trip! We are excited that we are able to travel as a couple this year to Africa. We are praying that God will do great things and that HIS will will be accomplished! We still have $2,000 to raise, but are SO grateful for the amount that has come in so far! It's really a miracle and we know that GOD is providing! A special thanks to whoever gave our "anonymous" donation! Wow. Wish we could properly thank you. Only 7 weeks to go! hurray!

Praises!

Thank you, Lord!
We thank the Lord for His sustaining goodness! We got our camera back! United airlines sent it to us via Federal Express. Yes! This is a picture of the sign they built for the Victory Park home division.

And...I hate to tell this story...but if you are taking the time to read my blog, I will tell you! I was in the shower this morning trying to think of a way to keep my license safe when we travel to Africa. I didn't want to go through another airport without my ID! So I thought and thought and then I remembered...oh yes...I'll hide it in my secret hiding place in my travel purse. Then it hit me. MY SECRET HIDING PLACE! So and looked...and there was my license all along! Augh! I hid it so well I forgot about it! ha. I have to laugh at myself and say sorry to Hertz for thinking they took it! I'm just a ditz!

We're home!

Many praises! Thanks for your prayers. Our last day in McComb was good. We visited friends we met and said our good-byes. Then we headed to Slidell and visited Operation Blessing. They help demolish homes and clear the debris. We visited the Ninth Ward, the place of the most devastation. We ate dinner in the French Quarter. Yum. We've had a week of a lot of good souther cooking!!

Can you believe - we lost our camera with all our pictures!!!! It was left on the plane from Louisiana to LAX. Pray it gets returned to us. I never got my license so I have to go to DMV and fill out paperwork for that. I'm glad we have Monday off school!

Final Prayer Requests...

1. Get camera back
2. Pam to get her license
3. Clodene - a resident who is very, very disturbed since Katrina. She is a sad woman with many trials!
4. Helen and Brenda - residents who lost everything but the joy of the Lord IS their strength!
5. Caroline - resident with diabetes. Former school teacher. Don't know if she knows the Lord or not
6. Support for Pam and Lee's Mozambique trip. We need to raise over $5,000!