Missonary update

From: "Brenda Lange"


Subject: Blog October 28, 2012

Date: October 28, 2012 6:09:37 AM CDT

150+ NAMARA CHURCH MEMBERS GET FAITH BOOSTER TODAY

A woman came to the church for the first time today with an injured leg that had been swollen and very painful for over a year. After church members prayed for her, EVERYONE watched as the swelling went away and she was able to walk without pain! This was a real faith booster because THEY prayed and Jesus answered. Because I had prayed when other miracles had happened, some of the members were thinking that Jesus would only answer my prayers, even though we told them repeatedly that THEY HAVE THE AUTHORITY as believers to ask in Jesus name and EXPECT the answer. This was a super valuable faith lesson for all of them today. PRAISE THE LORD for His mercy and grace!

FAITH IN JESUS CAN MOVE ANY MOUNTAIN IN OUR PATH, BUT WE MUST BELIEVE!



Here’s one to put up on your wall.

FAITH-sees the invisible

BELIEVES the incredible and

RECEIVES the impossible

(author unknown)



2013 SPEAKING TOUR OPEN FOR INVITATIONS

Due to commitments in Mozambique, my 2013 USA tour will be from Feb. 1st to March 31st. Invitations are already flowing in, and there are only a few Sundays to work with.





If your church would like to hear our story first hand, please contact me immediately so we can work out a visit date. I always look forward to seeing as many people as possible when I’m stateside.



Eric Dry, Associate Director in Balama, and our Master Movie Maker, is hard at work putting together a DVD on all we have accomplished in 2012. Your love and prayers mean a lot to us and the kids.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.



FYI: OUR CHRISTMAS WISH LIST IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED.



This is your opportunity to give a special gift to a family member or friend and help an orphan at the same time.



NAMUNO FOOD HANDOUT COMPLETED LAST FRIDAY!

These malnourished kids and their parents now have food and seed to plant, thanks to your generous donations. Over 49 TONS of CORN, 12 TONS of BEANS, half a ton of salt, and 1,240 BARS of soap were distributed to these hungry families thanks to your love gifts. They will be busy organizing their corn and bean fields this week as the HOPE ONLY JESUS can bring, has put a smile on their face and a new beginning in their hands. AGAIN WE THANK YOU for making this possible.



ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS GOES GREEN

Michael Lowe, from Engineers without Borders, is flying in from the USA next Saturday, Nov. 3rd. His objective during his 3 week visit is to train up members of our staff to build a special type of “rocket stove” that uses very small amounts of fire wood to cook a family’s daily food. Firewood is getting scarce in our area, and our foster mothers use about 40 bundles per week! (20 pieces of firewood/ bundle). There are many “rocket stove” designs, and Michael travels the world teaching locals how to build the one that will work best in their area, depending on what type of materials are available. This will not only benefit our foster mothers, but we hope that our team can begin teaching others in the villages how to build them so they, too, can also cut their firewood usage. Ask any woman around here and she will tell you that finding firewood takes up most of her day. I’ll keep you posted on how this develops.



CONSTRUCTION WRAP-UP

Both our construction sites are in the final stages of the “detail work”. (slow and tedious) Balbina’s Home, which houses all girls, should be completed in a few weeks so they can hopefully move in by Dec. 1st. The Boy’s Dorm, which houses our Jr. High and High School boys, should open by Christmas.



With all the new national requirements for foster homes, construction has taken longer than expected on all these buildings. We will not be able to complete the final 3 orphan homes this year. It just isn’t physically possible. Construction for those houses has been moved to April 2013, as the rainy season is about to begin, and all construction must come to a halt by Christmas. Pray for favour as we have to report our inability to complete the project in our next government reports which are due at the end of November.

I’ll keep you posted on their response.


Blessings to all of you!

Bush Bunny Brenda

P.S. This is Linda -- I was attacked by a rogue vacuum cleaner and wound up breaking my pelvis last Thursday night. I am blessed to be home to heal. Please pray for a speedy and complete recovery. -Thanks!

German shrunk or schrunk

I mentioned the other day that I wanted to buy some furniture off craigslist.  Well it turned out that every time I made appointments to see furniture they would text me and tell me that it had sold.  That is all but the German shrunk that I wanted.  I text ed several times and the lady said the ad was about to run out and she was not going to renew it and that she would save it for me.  Its a few hours away so its not like we can just jump in the pick up and run over to get it so I am thankful she is so willing to wait.  We will try to get there Monday or Tuesday and rent a uhaul when we get there.
One dear friend had never heard of a shrunk so I asked the seller to send me pictures since the craigslist ad was no more and here they are.  Oh and I had never heard of one either until my sister got one and was talking about them.  Anyway here are pictures of the shrunk I am buying.

The top picture makes the shrunk appear darker than it really is.  These pieces come from Germany and were brought over mostly by service men.  They come apart in several pieces so they are easier to transport.  The problem is the service men pay several thousand dollars for these shrunks and then when they get to the states they discover that the homes here usually don't have enough wall space to allow them to be set up.  I happen to have just the place for this one.  Granted it it will take up one entire wall but it will look beautiful.  Of course we wont have the bar part set up as we don't drink but it can be used for other things.  I am quite excited to purchase this first piece of furniture for our new home. This piece is something like 9 feet tall by over 9 feet wide and about 2 feet deep at the deepest part which is the bottom piece which by the way is the largest piece of all.

Egg freshness chart

Measurement chart

I think I will print this out and tape it to the inside of my cabinet door.

Yes, thats better

     Friday evening our pastor/friends/family came for an overnight visit.  After they arrived we dressed up and left the kids at home and drove to Corpus Christi and drove along the water front for a bit then headed back towards home and stopped at a nice place to eat.

     Saturday I made biscuits and gravy and then we all got to work.

     Christina emptied the pond and cleaned and scrubbed it and got the pump working again.  I gave the boys hair cuts and Jeff and Bill put a new antenna up and then backed the storage trailer up to the front door.  That will make it so much easier to unload.

     Sunday Jeff had to work so after church I started the unloading process and two wheel dollied in about 6 or 7 loads.  I got it all unpacked and put away.  When Jeff got home from work he helped me carry in two book cases we had bought off craigslist and he wheeled in another huge dolly of stuff for me to put away.

     Sunday evening we got a happy call.  Mollie had planned to come visit next weekend and she changed her plans.  But the great part is that she is not coming for a visit but is coming back home to live.  We could not be happier.  I was not quite ready for her to leave but I could not say so because she was 18.  Being away from home for two months helped her realize that she wasn't quite ready to leave either.  I am so happy.  Thank you Jesus for answered prayers.

     Joy had an interview Friday and has another one with a different company today.  I am praying the right job comes along and that she loves it.  Her 20th birthday is coming up and we have a great surprise for her, but that's all I am saying.  he he

Missionary update

From: "Brenda Lange"


Date: October 21, 2012, 3:54:02 AM CDT

Subject: Blog, October 22, 2012

HAPPY KIDS IN NAMUNO COUNTY THANKS TO YOUR GENEROUSITY
Last week 24,500 TONS of Corn and 6 TONS of beans went out to the hungry children of Namuno County thanks to YOUR LOVE GIFTS.

The same amount of food will go out this week to assure that these families have enough to eat AND SEED TO PLANT to give them a fresh start for 2013.

The rainy season usually starts in mid-November, so planting time is near.
Two churches have started in 2 different areas of the county, and funds supplied to help these 80+ new converts to put up a grass roof veranda in which to meet under out of the sun. It is too late to build anything permanent this year, but these new believers are super enthusiastic and happy to have a shady place to meet. Sports evangelism for the children is going strong in 5 villages thanks to the new bikes supplied by supporters for these pastors.

As I write this, our Bible School teacher just took off on his motorbike to meet with one of these churches today. The rainy season will soon close the dirt road to this county, so he wants to get as much of God’s Word into them as he can before that happens.

Keep your prayers coming for these 2 Pastors to have a Harvest of Hearts for Jesus very soon!

Also for these families to have an abundant harvest of corn and beans in March of next year.



NAMUNO CHURCH ROOF COMPLETED TOMORROW
Over 200 adults, teens, and children showed up at 7:30a.m. to PRAISE THE LORD for their new church roof!

Our carpenters should complete this beautiful tin roof by tomorrow, and then the painters will come in to “water proof” the outside walls before the rainy season hits in November.

EIGHT children and THREE adults received Jesus this morning. A very elderly lady, Assaia (Ah-seye-ah) Keemao, came to “find Jesus”. Walking with a stick, bent over slightly at the waist, she and I DANCED TO JESUS before the church this morning after she received her salvation. She doesn’t know how old she is, but she was born before the Moz. civil war started in 1960. After praying for salvation, Assaia turned to the other 2 women (much younger than herself), and told them they should do the same! The whole congregation had a big laugh and truly enjoyed her “Holy Boldness” in sharing her new found love for a God that brings life to people.



Many new mothers came with their children today because they heard that “Mama Brenda” truly helps people with her “ backpack of healing goodies”.

Jesus told me many years ago that if I would “show His love” the way He did when he came to earth, that many would respond. He healed the sick, gave encouragement and teaching to the multitudes, and handed out food to 1000’s of people. All of us At Orphans Unlimited have tried to “walk as Jesus walked” ever since. YOUR LOVE GIFTS make that “walk” possible.



WE THANK YOU for your love for our Lord and all you do to bring His Love to the forgotten children in remote areas of northern Mozambique.

His love is now being spread by our Pastors in 3 counties that one must “purpose to find”.
BAA BAA BOTTLE BABIES
One of our new Mommy goats passed away this week after having beautiful twin baby girls. The babies were born extra big and strong, and are doing fine thanks to the Bunny’s newly formulated mixture of powdered cow’s milk and baby formula. At present they are eating heartily from a normal human baby bottle, which they will soon outgrow. Michael Lowe, an engineer from Engineers Without Borders, is coming in November to help us, and will bring proper BABY GOAT BOTTLES for these youngsters to drink from. Another Mommy goat became super anemic after giving birth to a male goat this week. That baby is also doing well on my Super Baby Goat Formula, as his mother isn’t producing much milk at the moment.

How are we handling all these bottle babies? Had to promote my best goat herder to “foster Mommy”, and hire another experienced herder to take his place with the 70+ goats in the pasture. It takes 3 men to keep these goats from straying, as they are a lively bunch. Assane, the substitute Mommy, now stays in the barn and just handles all the new mommies and babies. At present we have 3 mother goats in the barn with their newborn kids and 6 more mommy goats about to “bingo” by the end of October. With 3 babies to bottle feed every 4 hours, it keeps him busy. The night guards relieve him in the evenings since all the goats sleep in the barns to prevent theft and wild animal or dog attacks.



BUNNY FINISHED HER DRIVING TEST THIS WEEK—FINALLY

You have to be “scheduled” to take your driving test in this country as they only give it once a month.

After passing my written exam in July, I was finally allowed to take the practical driving test 2 days ago.

No problem there, but results won’t be out for 2 weeks.

The driver was a young guy who asked me how long I’d been driving. I responded: “41 years, Sir.”

He waved me to “do my thing”, so I took him for a spin up and down the only paved road in Montepuez and he was happy.

The only thing he watched closely was to make sure that when I parked, I left the car in “reverse”, pulled the handbrake, and turned off the engine before releasing the clutch. That is the Mozambican way of doing it. When in Moz., do it there way or flunk.

Glad to have that over with. In 6 months or so, I should finally get the actual driver’s license card. Things move a little slow in the “card department”.



PERSONAL NOTE: Just because I’m busy, don’t hesitate to write. I truly enjoy your notes of encouragement.

After this week, the program should “slow down a bit” as we will have most of the intense food programs completed.



Blessings from Mozambique

Bush Bunny Brenda and the Balama Gang

Slow going

This has been the slowest move I have ever made.  I am older and have a hitch in my get along and most of the girls have moved away.  Hannah can only do so much and Jeff is so busy at work it is just really slow.  If Mollie were still here I think we would already be done.  Jeff keeps reminding me that my dad died right in the middle of all this so I cant count the days we were out of town for the funeral.  I guess he is right but my its taking so long.  Its so hot here and working outside is so hard for us.  We do have a two tier cart we wheel to and fro that is a tremendous help.  Also a two wheel dolly.  Both of these are a great help with our moving.

I am thankful I finally have some place to move to.  Although it does look like the circus came to town with the FEMA trailer, the 5th wheel and the 30 foot storage trailer sitting along the curb.  Good thing we have 3 lots or we would be out of parking space.

This weekend I am hoping to buy a dining room table with 8 chairs and a buffet.  We will go look at it tomorrow and if its nice I will pick it up then.  Then hopefully Friday we can head the other way and look at a couch and over size chair and if they are nice buy them and bring them home.  Then the following weekend we want to head to Waco to look at a German Shrunk for one wall of the living room.  The posting has expired so I cant show a picture but the lady said she would not renew the listing until I have a chance to come look at it.  Its a wall unit about 9 feet tall and over 9 feet wide and brought here from Germany.

If I get the table, chairs, buffet, shrunk, couch and over sized chair that should take care of my living room and dinning room.  Total spend not including gas will be $1,400.00  Not too bad, certainly nothing to what it would be if we bought new furniture.  We don't want new furniture, just nice furniture.  We have beds and Hannah has a dresser of sorts so we can make due for a while.

That is what is going on in my world.  Hannah wants to go bring in another load so I will end this post.  Have a great day everyone.

he he

Missonary update

MORE GOATS AND MANY MORE ON THEIR WAY

On Saturday I went out to see the goats and inspect the new corral we just built for the 4 “teenage” boy goats who now think they are ready to be Daddies.

They keep chasing the little girl goats, so it was time to give everyone a rest by keeping them apart during the lunch break.

Just as I arrived, 3 goats were born and they were ALL GIRLS! Yippee and Praise the Lord!

One set of twins from the goats in barn Number 1 which is where all the individual donor’s goats live, and one single birth from Barn No. 2, which is the Butler FUMC barn. All 3 are healthy and were up sucking before I left the scene. The latest Butler FUMC twin boys were in our hollow tree, playing their version of “king of the mountain”. All is well on the “goat scene”.



I have to tell you that last week, one of the 3 week old boy goats got really upset when one of the teenage boy goats tried to mate his Mom.

If I’d had a video of the performance of that 3 week old, it would have made World’s Funniest Videos for sure! He had all of us in stitches during his 60 second performance to protect his Mom.

The little guy literally ran from front to back of the older boy like a fast moving puppy can nip and bite and dodge out of the way before a bigger dog can catch it. He had that bigger goat running in circles trying to defend himself. Needless to say, the older goat left his mother alone from then on!

Baby goats 1, Teenagers 0.





DONATED CORN WILL POUR FROM OUR BARNS THIS WEEK

On Tuesday, both trucks and one Land Cruiser will roll out of our gates filled to the brim with corn and beans for the hungry kids in Namuno.

We plan 3 days of massive distributions this week, and 3 next week in order to get ALL THE FOOD to these children before the rainy season starts in November.

Had a small rain yesterday, so took that as a warning to “get hopping”!

In these 6 days over 50 TONS of corn and 12 TONS of beans will be distributed to the Namuno children.

Each child will also receive soap and iodized salt.

These are YOUR LOVE GIFTS at work.

Thank you for giving so that these kids might live to hear about Jesus.

Our 2 evangelists are working hard to bring the gospel to these children by attracting a crowd with a soccer ball.

Two churches have already been started in the last 30 days!



NAMUNO CHURCH SCENE

The crowd is growing as we had over 100 Sunday School children and about 40 teens and adults today.

Little 3 year old Gilda, a child who has brain damage and partial paralysis on her left side as a result of having cerebral malaria as a 2 year old, was seen by our Balama Doctor last week. He prescribed some medicine that I was able to buy in Pemba to help control her minor seizures that are a result of her brain damage. After 1 week on the meds, Gilda’s Mom reports that she had NO seizures this week at all! Gilda was super alert and seemed very content to be in church today. Normally she is very restless. It’s wonderful to see how such a small thing as getting a prescription filled for a single Mom can make a difference in 2 people’s lives.

Why no major miracle stories for several weeks?

Cause most of the group are HEALTHY thanks to Jesus and no miracles are needed at the moment.

The long lines for prayer for the sick are down to only 4 or 5 people!

I challenged everyone to bring a friend to church next week.

So all is going very well this side.



May God’s Blessings be heaped on all of you this week!



Bush Bunny Brenda and the Balama Gang

Quilting

Members of the women's club making quilt. Granger Homesteads, Iowa 1940

Someone to talk to

Farmers' wives gather at Mrs. Clement's grocery store to exchange gossip. Stem, Granville County, North Carolina 1940

Coping with hardship

Buffalo, New York. The Grimm family. Mrs. Grimm, a twenty-six year-old widow with six children under twelve, is a crane operator in a war plant. The two youngest children live in a foster home during the week. The others stay at school all day, but on Saturday are home and do all housework. 1943

Moving in

     I think its time to update you all with what has been going on around here.  Some happy things have happened and some very sad things have happened, so you know its real life.  Good and bad, happy and sad, that is life.

     After 6 delays I wont even get in to we finally signed on our new house last Wednesday.  We moved a few things in and spent the night that night.  Early the next morning I got a call from my sister that my dad had passed away.  The girls and I had just went to see my mom, and step dad and my dad over labor day and spent a week with them.  I am so thankful we went when I felt the urge.  Four of my five daughters got to see him then.

     The week before he passed my two oldest daughters step mom passed away unexpectedly.  She went in for an angioplasty and went into a coma and then died.  She was only 57.  My oldest daughter who lives in Cody Wyoming was able to come for the funeral.  It took her two days to get there.  She was not able to come for her grandfathers funeral and it made her very sad but everyone understood it was nearly impossible for her to come.  There were three of the grandchildren who were unable to attend.
My two sisters and I took my dad out in the country and said a prayer and scattered his ashes.  That was the hardest part for me for some reason.


This is my dads obituary.

Robert L. (Bob) Collier, 76, died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 at Trinity Manor Nursing Home in Dodge City. He was born Feb. 9, 1936 at Trousdale the son of Henderson Laverne and Ruby Jewell (Ghan) Collier.


Collier grew up in Ford and graduated from Dodge City High School. He then attended Dodge City Community College. He worked for Mayrath Manufacturing in Dodge City. Collier later worked in the family business's at the Boothill Grill and Delmonico Restaurant. After he retired, he worked at Wal-Mart.

On August 23, 1959 he married Vera Sonday in Woodward, Okla. They later divorced.

He was a member of the Wichita Midian Shrine where he was a Shiner's Clown.

Collier is survived by three daughters, Roberta Conley and husband Wayne of Dodge City, Carol Collier of Dodge City, and Debra Olson and husband Jeff of Lake City, Texas; two brothers, Charles Collier and wife Norma of Littleton, Colo. and Richard Collier and wife Judy of Barataria, La.; 10 grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Gene Collier.

Memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 at Swaim Funeral Home with Rev. Ryan Ausmus presiding. There will be no public visitation as cremation has taken place.

Memorials are suggested to the Shriner's Childrens Hospital of St. Louis in care of the funeral home. Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online guest book at www.swaimfuneralhome.com.

My dad was a great dad.  He adopted my older sister and I when he was just 21.  Even after my parents got divorced he was still our dad.  He never abused us, he was always fair.  He was not perfect but he did his best. 

Sorry for the absence,my sweet dad passed from this earth.  My niece led him to the lord a while back so we take comfort in that.

This picture was taken in September when we came to visit.  I am so glad we came.