Subject: Blog, May 6, 2012
Date: May 6, 2012 1:33:40 AM CDT
Eric’s team drove out Thursday, facing a 4 day drive to Mozambique’s capital of Maputo, about 1000 miles south of us, on not such nice roads.
He will arrive this afternoon, May 6th, to pick up the new truck tomorrow, then load it with cement, truck tires, groceries, and other supplies that are not available here.
He hopes to be back around May 14th if all goes as planned. This big 7 ton truck will need 6 days to traverse the roads back to Balama.
Our 11 year old tractor badly needs 2 huge rear tires replaced, but a phone call revealed that Maputo had none in stock.
PTL because on Thursday afternoon, Eric was able to find them in Nampula, the city 7 hours south of us.
MAF in Nampula is storing them till his team returns with the big truck, as these huge 4.5 foot tall tires overwhelm a pick-up.
Most missionary groups network here, making it possible for God’s people to achieve the objectives He has given to all of us.
We PRAISE THE LORD for MAF and other missionaries who link arms with us.
19 BAPTIZED IN LOCAL COW POND MAY 5TH
These new believers in Christ, from the remote churches of Pequaria and Namara, will observe their first Holy Communion this morning.
3 YEAR OLD FERNANDO IN BICYCLE ACCIDENT
Fernando’s older brother borrowed a bicycle on Wed. and took his little brother for a ride.
They live with their grandmother in one of our orphan homes here in Balama.
Fernando got his foot caught in the rear wheel spokes causing a bad sprain, as well as tearing off a large part of the skin and tissue of his right ankle, exposing his Achilles tendon.
The hospital treatment was not up to “par” as the Dr. is out of town, so I prayed and asked God how to treat such a serious wound.
His answer surprised me: “Treat it like a BURN with Silvadene”, which is a cream that helps skin regenerate and seals burns from infection.
Thanks to Blessings International in Tulsa, I have 3 tubes of Silvadene cream in my medical supply. We prayed that God would accelerate Fernando’s healing.
We were AMAZED to see that within 24 hours the wound had closed by 20 %. I’m doing twice daily bandage changes, and each 12 hours a remarkable improvement is noted.
What was a 3 inch X 2 inch wound is down to a 1 inch circle by yesterday with NO signs of infection (4 days after the accident).
There is no way Silvadene alone is doing this miracle healing.
I PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS MERCY AND PROVISION that allows us to help those who otherwise would suffer severe consequences or even death from problems like this.
My THANKS to Harold Harder, founder of Blessings International, for providing ALL our medicines, so that the multitudes can live to know who Christ is.
FIRST DAY OF BEAN BUYING
Many ask me what my “normal” work day looks like. My response is “there isn’t one”.
So I thought I’d share a bit of what went on last Thursday so you can better understand why we need more missionary help, and have to work 12 to 14 hour days from May to November.
Thursday, May 3rd was the first day of bean buying.
Bunny gets up at 3:30a.m.
4a.m.
Our BEAN BUYING TEAM loads the tractor with supplies, and heads out to the Mpaca village, the “bean growing capital of Balama”.
5a.m. (sun is rising)
Capena, driving a Land Cruiser, leaves 30 minutes later with his 4 man team and the huge scales for weighing feed bags.
(Capena is our Program Manager who organizes the village coops, distributes the feed bags, then weighs, inspects, and buys the 500+ TONS of corn and beans every year).
Eric and his truck fetching team leave at 5a.m.also.
5:45a.m. team devotions with the construction crews.
6a.m. Leona Philips, from S. Africa, and the newest member of our missionary staff, opens 3 warehouses where our food is processed and stored. Multi-tasking, she shows us her management skills as she simultaneously supervises:
1. Barn repairs (termite damage to 3 roofing support posts)
2. Maize mill grinding for our normal Balama food give out
3. Cleaning out and reorganizing of the construction supply warehouses
As the ONLY driver left in camp, I’m busy hauling the food to our Distribution Center for the weekly handout to 300+ orphans and widows (along with Linda and my Moz. staff) when I receive a Police Summons for 6a.m. (now what?)
I quickly organize all the construction supplies, hauling them to the dorm kitchen site, then race down to the police station (10 minutes late).
A drunk, who had stolen a door from one of our orphan houses the day before, had filed charges against me, saying I stole money and his cell phone from his house while the village chief was searching his home for the missing door on Wed.
We answer the charges with witnesses, and the case is thrown out, but it’s now put me 30 minutes behind in my work.
9a.m. Water well drilling team has completed the first water well for the hospital, but their drilling supervisor is very ill with malaria. He received treatment at the hospital, but needs a bed, as these guys sleep in their trucks. So we put him to bed in our men’s guest house, parked all 3 of their huge drilling trucks, and gave his 6 man team a shady spot to set up camp.
10a.m. Fernando (story above) shows up with his food injury needing a bandage change along with several other sick orphans. (clinic time)
11a.m. Helped Leona complete the warehouse clean up by hauling off the trash, then had lunch.
2-4pm, busy with construction and organizing supplies for the next day’s work.
4pm, Bean Buying Team returns—Leona gets the men to unload into the barn.
The Water Well Driver is worse, so I called his boss in Nampula, and Capena loads him into his truck and rushes him to the Montepuez Regional Hospital where they save his life with Quinine. Capena gets back at 7pm and we all finally get to settle down for the night.
WATER WELL DRILLING should resume later this week with the Nacacca church well, once their driller is strong enough to work.
THAT is a “typical” day in the life of de Bunny and her staff.
Blessings and thanks for your prayers. Remember, Eric is on the road till May 14th, so help us keep him covered.
Also, our food buying helpers arrive this Saturday, so I’ll be off to Pemba to fetch them.
(Don Hitsman, MI, and Kaylan Vollmering, TX fly out Thursday from the USA).
Bush Bunny Brenda and the Moz. staff
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