We have the great pleasure of my (Carla’s) sister, Zhenya, visiting us until we return to the States! It has been so good having her and her friend, Janie, helping us out. We picked them up in South Africa, and there are some amazing ways God intervened in our time there so I’d like to share the testimonies! So we first went to the capital city of Maputo to visit our friends at the Iris base there. From there Jon took a bus to Johannesburg to meet the girls and another friend at the airport on one day and I took a bus the next day to Nelspruit, a town just across the border where we often get our visas renewed. We met up in Nelspruit at about 11:30, and from there tried to find the Mozambican embassy (since we had always been given a ride to it in the past we weren’t exactly sure how to get there). It took us a while to find it, which was a little nerve-racking because we knew that all visa applications have to be dropped off before 12:00 noon. We arrived at about 11:55 but they still let us come in and fill out the forms, and there was also a discrepancy between our applications and our letters of invitation, but they accepted us and gave us the kind of visa we asked for! If you knew how unreasonable that embassy has been toward us in the past, you would understand how big a miracle that was that we A) were able to apply even though we were late, B) got the right kind of visa, and C) were processed within the same day!
God’s provision didn’t stop there, on the next day we were trying to return to Mozambique and met a few roadblocks… Jon had rented a car in Jo’burg and thought that the rental place where he could drop it off was on the same block as the bus stop, so he dropped us off with just a few minutes before our bus was supposed to leave, was going to give the car back then walk down to meet back up with us. But… then he found out the car rental place moved all the way across town 2 years ago and they hadn’t updated their information on the website. It’s a pretty big town, and he figured by the time he found the place, turned the car back in and had it inspected, found a taxi, and got back to us our bus would have long ago come and gone. All of us at the stop were praying our bus would come late, so Jon took the car back, and a guy at the rental place felt bad about his situation so he offered to give Jon a ride back to the bus stop. Jon got back to us about an hour after our bus was *supposed* to have left, and just as we prayed, it was late! He got on with us and we all journeyed back to Mozambique together.
Things back in Dondo are going pretty well, the new preschool is running smoothly with about 50 children attending. It’s great fun having a younger set of kids on base, as most of the boys in our children’s center are 10-20.
The new church building construction is finally underway। The foundation is laid and the first few layers of cement blocks are already making their way up. The new structure is being built around the old one, which will still provide a roof over the church services while the new one is going up.
Jon is still giving his filming and computer classes, which are going well. The guys in the class are enjoying making DVDs of evangelism outreaches and selling them, then the people who buy them have been showing them to their neighbors, so the gospel goes out over and over in this new creative medium. One sad thing was we had 2 camcorders (our personal one and one for the base we planned on leaving behind), but both of them mysteriously broke a few weeks ago. They are still able to use a regular digital camera to take video, but the sound and picture qualities are considerably lower. We managed to send the camcorders back to the States to get them fixed, and we’re hoping the base one might make its way back before we leave.
Teaching in the Bible School has been a great experience for both of us, we have really enjoyed our class of students who are hungry to learn and eager to follow God. This week is the last week of the term, so we will be giving our final exams and then be done. We won’t be around long enough in the next term to teach again, and now I’m sad I didn’t get involved in the Bible School sooner in our time here.
Kyran turned 1 year old February 28th, and he is very active, walking and almost running now all over the place! He loves playing outside in the sand, swinging at the new playground, coloring with crayons, reading books, and getting into mischief whenever my back is turned :-). He is quite communicative with a few spoken words, a little bit of sign language, and a lot of pointing and yelling.
We’re very much enjoying Zhenya and Janie around, they have been a blessing in so many ways. They have been helping Jon redesign our website and taking pictures for it (coming soon!), and teaching photography skills to the film class. They help me with my hospitality duties, babysitting Kyran, helping around the house, and providing some great camaraderie :-). They have been able to spend some time in Beira, living with some Mozambican friends of ours, building relationships and really experiencing the culture in a more first-hand nature than even Jon and I have been able to do. They have participated in all of the usual outreaches we have here in Dondo, like praying for the sick in the hospital, preaching in the jail, and visiting the widows we care for, and they also got to visit two other children’s centers, one run by a blind Mozambican pastor and another by a dear friend of ours from Alaska. Overall it has been great having them here!
Our biggest prayer need for now would be that we be able to finish strong. We want to be able to do all God has for us to finish and accomplish before we head out. Most of our last month here I will be busy coordinating outreaches and work projects for the biggest short-term team we’ve ever had (29 people!) who arrive later this week. I’m really looking forward to working with them, I’m expecting them to be a big blessing to us and the base. For Jon, it will be a busy last month of trying to wrap up all of the classes he’s teaching and passing on all of his responsibilities to those who are staying. Speaking of which, that’s another prayer request, that more missionaries would join the work here in Dondo. Our leaders have been looking for replacements for us for some time now, but they haven’t found anyone qualified or willing to come here. So please pray for more workers!
God bless,
~Carla, Jon, and Kyran Reinagel
No comments:
Post a Comment