Our small ministry here in Mozambique has grown to two houses for babies, caring for a total of 19  children now. Each child has a very hard start to his or her life. Few of them have to live with AIDS the rest of their lives. Baby Luis, Telma, Hawa and Idrussi have their blood drawn every month, have a doctor’s appointment every month and twice a day they have to take their anti retroviral. They are only three years old. What have they done that their birth was also a death sentence, they will always carry the tag “Living with AIDS” All four of them are my heroes as they bravely do these tests and willingly take the medicines. All of them were extremely ill when they first came to us, mall nourished, severe infections, but Jesus is so faithful and it is such a joy to see them run and play. I believe Jesus have a dream for them and we hope that one day their lives will bring glory to Him.  

Hawa is almost three years old and living with AIDS, she is very fragile and does everything at a very steady pace. She is very malnourished and when you pick her up you can feel every bone. She is very special to us and it is so amazing to see her smile. She is a real little fighter and we believe that one day she will have an amazing testimony that will bring glory to Jesus. Please pray for her, that she will experience a miracle that will bring glory to Jesus. We posted some more photo’s of her in our photo album. 

On June 1st we celebrated children’s day here in Mozambique. It was so much fun to take all of our children to a local restaurant. They were all dressed in new clothes and they are always very excited when they realize they are going to a restaurant. The day also reminds me of the many children in the world that are left homeless, hungry and suffering on the streets. Many more will be orphaned this year because of AIDS and many of them will have to live with AIDS. We see the suffering here in Mozambique almost on a daily basis. We are overwhelmed most days with the needs of this nation and we look to Jesus for a miracle. He died for each of these children and He is calling them to Him. Hawa and Antonio joined our family here in Mozambique, both of them have mothers that are dying of AIDS. Hawa is HIV positive and we still have to test Antonio. Another mother came for help last week, she is dying of AIDS, she no longer have the strength to take care of her child. Our second house are almost full, but Jesus are bringing more children to us. Please continue to pray for us as we welcome the ones Jesus brings to us into our family. (More photo’s of children’s day in our photo album) Photo: Aida and Gercio.

Yesterday Hawa came to live with us; she is almost three years old and weighs 9 kilogram. She is extremely malnourished and she is HIV positive. Her mother Felizmina is 20 years old and has three children. The oldest one is 5 years old and the brother of Hawa is a year and two months old. The husband of Felizmina died of AIDS and she is also HIV positive. We decided to take in Hawa, because she is really struggling with her health, while the other two children seems much healthier. We are going to provide food for the mother to take care of the other two children. Please pray for Felizmina, for strength so that she can take care of the other two children.

Our jewelry project is going well. Today Felizmina joined Maria for training. We hope to sell the jewelry they make so that they can have an income. Felizmina and Maria are enjoying it so much and you can see that they have new purpose.

Tears of joy flowed from the eyes of Grandmother when she saw running water coming from the tap. It is the first time in her life that she has running water at home. It is such a blessing to see that something so small can bring such joy. Thank you for making this possible!

God is so faithful in providing for our small but growing family here in Mozambique. We are so grateful for your prayers and support. This Sunday we celebrate children’s day here in Mozambique. Please pray for the children of this nation, there are many more that need our help.(Photo’s Hawa and Maria) 

“There is a spiritual battle raging for your passions. A few wrong choices and you can lose what it took years to build up.”  In 1992 I was at a mission conference in Cape Town, the speaker was Floyd McClung.  It was during this conference that I knew God called me to serve Him in other nations. Floyd has always been an inspiration to Rika and I; always encouraging us to walk out this calling God has given us. I am busy reading his latest book, and I want to strongly recommend it to you. The title is “ You see bones, I see an army”. I think you will be challenged, it will inspire you and I believe it will make you passionate about Jesus and His church. Rika and I dream about a church movement that will love and care for the orphan and the widow. Floyd challenges in his book that we can choose our passions. What are you passionate about, and what are the passions of Jesus?  Let us become a church with the things Jesus is passionate about.

Gercio is a three-month-old baby that was abandoned by his mother. The chief of the area in which he was abandoned came to ask our help. So today little Gercio joined our growing family here in Mozambique. We bought everything he needs and he will be joining Daniel and Nicols in the new house for babies. Please pray for him, we still have to do a HIV test on him.

Allison Scarlett joined our team here in Mozambique. Allison did the All Nations, CPx experience in Kansas City. She has a heart to work with young women and to disciple them. Please pray for her as she seeks to build relationships with young women in our community.

We have a new project that we are starting shortly; we want to train five young women to make jewelry from beads. It will be an opportunity for them to earn an income and also for Allison to spend time with them. We hope to train even more woman in the future and create jobs for them.

 God has really challenged us to improve the homes of our educators; some of them have to walk many miles for water. We would love to provide all their homes with running water and electricity.

Rika and I also spent some time in Cape Town during an All Nations gathering. It was a time of encouragement for us and also to dream some new dreams. Rika are also doing much better and are finally walking without crutches. Thank you so much for your prayers and support in this time.

For those of you who have sowed into our project for making new beds for the “babies”, thank you so much. Soon we will start making the first beds. 

We entered the year of 2008 with great anticipation and as our family traveled back from Cape Town we were very excited to return home. We looked forward to be with the children and start the New Year. Things did not happened the way we hoped for or planned. Rika spent ten days in hospital, they did several blood tests and in the end they treated her on the strongest possible anti biotic. She is still struggling with her leg and is still walking with crutches.

Luis started living on the streets when he was 6 years old. He survived by stealing, washing cars and guarding cars. He was found on the streets by Heidi Baker and taken to the Iris center in Zimpeto. This is where we met him and saw him grow up. When we came back in Mozambique to start our house for babies Luis joined us. In March he will be living with us for three years. He helps with the babies, outreaches and also running of the ministry. He also attends night school and we were so proud of him when he passed his grade last year. He and his sense of humor always bless teams and visitors that comes here. Please pray for Luis as he serves with us and for his schooling.

The children are doing really well and growing fast. They also speak so much and it is always such a blessing to listen to their remarks. One of the things I enjoy so much is to visit them in their beds before they go to sleep. Each of them have a unique personality and it is so much fun to watch them interact. Idrussi one of the toddlers living with AIDS loves his food and you should not touch his plate of food. Luis, Telma and Idrussi live with AIDS, but they are doing really well and it is not possible to tell they have AIDS. Thank you so much for your support, that makes it possible for us to take care of these children. 

Tsunami Sam is inspired by a true story. It is written by a friend of our work here in Mozambique. It tells the story of Sam who lost his family and whole village during the Tsunami. Part of the proceeds from sales of this book support adoption and orphan care world wide. Teri Lane the author of the book is also the founder of The Birthday Angel, there are a link to her website listed under Blogroll. The book are available on amazon.com

Rika is finally out of hospital, after spending a total of 10 days in hospital. She is recovering, although she is still walking with crutches. We want to thank all of you for praying for her; we were so blessed by all of your support.

We have received many parcels from you and I am sorry for not being able to let you know we have received them. Thank you so much for the gifts and parcels; it is a huge blessing for us.

Friends of us came and put up a jungle gym for the children. They love it and it is so much fun to see them play on it. There are some more pictures in our photo section. The children are doing really well and are starting to talk full sentences. It is such a blessing to be home with them. They were so excited to see us and it was so amazing to hear their little voices cry out Mama Rika and Papa Pieter.

Telma were really struggling with her health, her CD4 count was going to almost 90. Last month she started on anti retroviral, she is starting to do better. She is also gaining weight and it is so good to see her interact with the other children.

The “babies” are no longer babies and one of our smaller projects this year is to make all of them a new bed. So they will need mattresses, linens and cushions. It will cost about $100, for the bed, mattress, linens and cushion. If you are interested in sponsoring a bed for a child please e-mail us.

Michael and Rita served with us for three months as volunteers. They did make a difference, as I read their blog it reminded me of a saying by Heidi Baker, that we should stop for the one. Here are a segment from their blog.

It seems Michael and I just hopped off the 12 hour bus ride from South Africa to the sandy streets our new home. This blog entry only touches on the edge of what we have experienced during the last three months. I am sure when we see you all we can share more stories over a latte… When we arrived and saw the poverty, the countless children lining up at the AIDS clinics and women struggling to care and support for their families, I would often think – ‘what if the world was different?’

What if the world found a cure for AIDS so the children here didn’t have to suffer? What if the world donated one day of their Starbucks coffee change to provide a malnourished child with suitable formula? What if the world provided free food to street children and children here didn’t have to eat out of the rubbish dumpsters? The list could go on, what if the world was fair to children? Pause. I have my breath back again. Yes, I am venting my frustrations. I’ll stop now. Mike and I often debate the state of these issues as we lick our mango stained fingers and have wondered if we have made a difference?

There are so many problems with so few answers that are effective and little changes. The emphasis is on the word ‘change’. Change in Mozambique is slow but constant. Its because of people like you, that are reading this that have given your time, support, prayers and funds to various causes including to the children here that new lives have begun to change. You can see Daniel and Nicholas are flourishing in their new home.
This change couldn’t have occurred if it wasn’t part of a bigger plan and your help. I read once that living today well, makes tomorrow a dream towards happiness. I have learnt here that change takes action and action isn’t always instant, but without it; happiness cannot begin to occur for others. I found that if you look at the enormity of the world’s problems, it can be exceedingly overwhelming. Yet, if I take the little steps to change the environment positively that I am in, a corner of the world is improving.

Michael and I can see in the last 12 weeks that change has happened here. Nicholas isn’t skin and bone anymore. Telma is no longer malnourished. Aninha is beginning to smile, Ricardo does not have HIV. The children are learning to enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood.