MEET DANIEL MANUEL, OUR NEWEST FAMILY MEMBER
Daniel, born July 2nd, lost his Mom 30 days later to postpartum complications.
Born in the Marica Village, his aunt, Deolinda, 8 months pregnant, had to walk over 15 miles to ask for our help to save little Daniel. Since they live so far away, she received 2 weeks milk at a time. After her last visit, Aug. 21st, Deolinda gave birth to a healthy baby, but fell victim to a serious case of malaria which affected her legs, leaving her bedridden. She was taken to a hospital in the next District (county) since it was closer than the Balama hospital. Baby Daniel was left with an uncle and Deolinda’s 14 year old son.
When these 2 young men walked in on Thursday, Sept. 4th, I knew something was drastically wrong. The baby bottle was completely coated in rotten milk, and Baby Daniel was not a happy camper. I don’t think those 2 had washed the bottle or the baby in over a week. I was AMAZED that little Daniel was healthy, with no signs of dysentery from drinking formula for 7 days from that filthy bottle. The boy just said he cried a lot when he fed him from the bottle. I guess so, as that must have tasted horrible, and given him a terrible tummy ache!
The Uncle agreed to give us Daniel since there was no one else in the family who could care for him. Social Services agreed, wrote out the proper guardianship papers, and 2 hours later, Daniel was presented to his new Foster Mother, Ernestina. He managed to finish a 1 lb. (400gm) can of formula in 48 hours! His new family are amazed at how much this little one can eat. He is happy and healthy, and gives us the occasional smile as proof. He won’t lack for love and attention, as he now has 2 foster Moms, plus 2 sisters who are crazy about him. The 4 boys in Ernestina’s house just laugh at how everyone “coos” over the baby. Boys will be boys and it is obvious that babies are not their thing.
Daniel is in need of TWO $30/month sponsors. At $6/can of formula, he will easily eat $50/month in formula and is only a month away from needing cereal to appease his hearty appetite!
A FIGHT IN CHURCH ENDS IN A SALVATION
Geraldo, 9 years old, was a new face in the Rovuma Church last Sunday. He was sitting among the 80+ boys in attendance, when one of the boys said something to him that made him mad. So Geraldo did what seemed natural to him, and jumped on top of the boy while everyone else was singing. I was nearby, so grabbed his collar, and hauled him off the other boy. The ushers came to my aid, hauling him outside for counseling. He had a “sling shot” hanging around his neck, so I removed that for everyone’s safety. After counseling, he was allowed to sit alone in the back of the church till Sunday School time, as I promised to return his slingshot after the Sunday School lesson.
When we completed praising JESUS (I noticed Geraldo was enjoying the singing), and teaching the Sunday school lesson, I called Geraldo to come up front before the all the children. We asked him about the fight and he told us his story. He had never been in a church before, and was just visiting family as it was school holidays. He asked us if he Jesus could love him, even though he had done a bad thing.
It was all I could do to keep the tears from flowing.
Geraldo asked forgiveness for his sins, and told Jesus he loved him. His entire countenance changed, so we knew this was for real.
We have a church in his home village, and he says he will start going there.
NEVER DOUBT THE POWER OF JESUS’ LOVE. Children are very sensitive to the spiritual realm. Even unsaved children know the real thing when they see it.
AWANA TEAMS SAW OVER 300 CHILDREN COME TO CHRIST LAST WEEK
ROVUMA AWANA CLUB broke the attendance record today with 316 children in attendance!!!!
Old Record was from Nacala Village last Saturday with 240 present.
Most of our teams report 150 to 200 children in attendance in 10 locations each week.
Needless to say, our Candy Bill (each child gets 1 piece for attendance), is out of sight!
It’s a great problem to have! I’m just thrilled that over 2,000 children/week are being impacted through the 10 AWANA TEAMS we have on the field right now.
This week, 6 more Pastors will be trained and equipped with all they need to start AWANA CLUBS in their villages.
Our goal is to reach all 80,000 children in Balama by December if we can.
Our Pastors in Meluco and Namuno Districts are also in the process of organizing AWANA Clubs for their churches.
The goal for these 3 Districts is to reach the estimated 200,000 children living there with the Story of Jesus by Sept. 2015.
HOUSE SPONSORED FOR THE ROVUMA WOMAN WITH 11 CHILDREN (4 ORPHANS), NOW COMPLETED
Since most of the children are girls, we took them 5 beds, grass mats and blankets today so they could move into their new home. The littlest ones sleep with the older girls, so 5 beds was plenty.
The 2 boys are both older teenagers, and have taken over the house of the blind woman who died, leaving the 4 orphans with her sister who already had 7 of her own. The teenage girl in the photo, holding the baby, is the oldest, and helps her Mom care for all the children.
A BIG THANK YOU to our supporters who made this happen. One gave the house, while others gave the blankets, beds, plates, cups, and cooking pans that were essential to help this Mom cope with the added needs of the family.
TOGETHER WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!
ASHLYNN GRABILL RETURNS FROM RSA ON THURSDAY WITH RESIDENCY VISA
We will delay taking her to Immigration to complete her Residency process until Sept. 16th, as the Mozambique President is coming to Balama next Tuesday. With over 100,000 people flowing into our area, travel is not the wisest thing to do. Many government offices do not operate at all when famous people are in town.
So we will avoid the hassles, and just stay home till his tour is over. Elections are October 15th and this is his final campaign tour in our Province (State).
Blessings,
Bush Bunny Brenda Lange
Balama Blazers:
Katie Polcyn
Ashlynn Grabill
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