During May we celebrated two significant anniversaries. On the 17th I baked a chocolate cake to mark our first anniversary in Tete. It was not exactly a grandiose celebration. Nevertheless it was an important reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God. Though we wouldn't have voiced it, when we arrived here a year ago we really did not know whether we would make it through the first year. Linguistically we were surviving but not exactly comfortable in Portuguese. We were total strangers to the Elim church members whom we had come to serve. We knew exactly two other families in the city. We had no house to go to. And none of us knew what 45 degrees Celsius would feel like and whether we would be able to bear it! A year on we are still here and most of the time feeling pretty much 'at home'. The Lord gave us a lovely house with a godly landlord. We have come to love and appreciate a number of the church leaders and we are, for the most part, working well with them. Our Portuguese has improved beyond recognition and we are rarely at a loss these days in trying to hold or follow a conversation. And we got through the summer and are now enjoying the cooler months. I need a jersey in the mornings to cope with 20 degrees and can sit comfortably in the garden in the afternoon at a mere 30!

Ten days later, on the 27th May, Gregory celebrated his birthday. Since it was a Sunday we went public on that one, and invited our church members to bring snacks to the church so that we could have a little party. They responded very generously and we had a great time. We took the opportunity to invite a few people along. One was James, our night guard. He is a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Being fairly well educated, Gregory has used him to correct the Portuguese in most of the teaching documents that he has written, and through this James has been exposed to a good amount of sound doctrine. We also had an opportunity to talk to him a few months back when his daughter was anaemic and we discussed blood transfusion as well as other controversial areas. He is clearly open-minded and we believe the Holy Spirit is gently drawing him into the truth. We were absolutely delighted that he accepted the invitation and was in church along with his two young daughters. They thoroughly enjoyed the service. His older daughter was so enraptured with the children's Bible story that she spent the entire afternoon talking about it. The next time he was on duty he asked if we had any children's Bible story books he could keep at home. We offered him a children's Bible which he bought on the spot, and spent much of the following day reading to his girls.

We also invited to the service/party another family whom we have known almost since the day we arrived in Tete. The wife, Joanna, used to work for another missionary lady, Jeni. Two weeks after we got here she went into premature labour and delivered twin girls weighing less than 3 pounds each. (She did not know she was carrying twins.) The day after they were born, the hospital discharged them. Since Joanna's home was not a suitable environment for such tiny babies in the winter, Jeni let her stay in her guest flat for 2 months, and I did daily medical checks. To our utter amazement, and the glory of God, they thrived and she took them home in August. Jeni asked a Zimbabwean pastor and his wife who lived near Joanna and had planted a church there to look after her, which they did. Joanna kept saying she would go to their church but never quite got around to it. Then one Sunday in October, without any great fanfare, she got herself ready and turned up. Unknown to Joanna the pastor had asked Gregory to preach that Sunday, and through our ministry Joanna repented and received Jesus. It was a wonderful day for us. We knew very few local people at that time, and the chances were that if anyone was to be saved through our preaching they would be strangers. But that the first person to get to the front of the church should be Joanna in whom we had invested much time, and who had become dear to us was very precious indeed! However the Lord is not finished in that family yet for Joanna's husband is a Muslim. We have kept in touch with Joanna, and recently heard some disappointing stories about what is going on in her church, leading her to look elsewhere for fellowship. We invited her to the church service on Gregory's birthday, and she came along with her husband and twin girls. They also thoroughly enjoyed it. While it may not be the ideal church for her to attend in the long term as it is quite a distance from her home, it certainly went some way to restoring her husband's respect for the Church, and making the Christian faith attractive to him.

We have totally revamped our city church service. It became clear that no-one wanted to come to church at 11 a.m. We therefore scrapped the idea of holding two services and have opted to hold one service starting at 9 a.m. with translation from English to Portuguese (or vice versa). The songs and prayers are in a multitude of languages  reflecting the multi-racial, multi-cultural congregation that is coming together. Neither of us has ever seen another church run on this model, so we are feeling our way, trying to follow the Lord's leading and keeping in tune with what the church members prefer too. It is a great challenge, but so far is going well. Since I am now worship leader and sermon-translator I get home from church pretty exhausted! We are actively encouraging other members to have a go at translating so that I can drop that role at least some of the time.

May was an important month also for Josiah and Daniel as they had the chance to attend a soccer school. Although home school has definite advantages, the boys miss out on social interaction and sporting opportunities. We found out that a small private school for the children of managers at a multi-national factory was holding a two-week soccer school run by British coaches. The school's headmaster kindly allowed our boys to attend. So six afternoons per week for two weeks Josiah and Daniel honed their soccer skills and made some friends. We had worried that they might be bullied as 'outsiders'. Thankfully that did not happen, but unfortunately it is proving difficult to keep in touch with the friends they made now that the event is over. Nevertheless they had a wonderful time and are already asking if they can go again next year if the event is repeated.

Nathanael and Samuel are also thriving. Samuel was late to start talking and his speech has always been very indistinct. This is common in children who grow up exposed to more than one language and we have not been particularly worried about it. However, Chris Jones recently invited us to have a breakfast meeting with him in Malawi while he was visiting there. So we had an overnight stop in Blantyre. We stayed with a paediatrician friend, whom I asked, "Should I be worried about Samuel's indistinct speech?" I was a bit taken aback when he responded in the affirmative. Since then we have made more effort to correct Samuel's pronunciation, and he has made tremendous progress. A few times he has actually corrected his own pronunciation when he has realised that we hadn't understood him the first time! As for Nathanael, he has always struggled in school with creative writing, saying he has no imagination. Yesterday in school he was to 'write' about walking down a street in Ancient Rome, to reinforce what he is currently learning in history. (I say 'write' because he was to tell me what he wanted to say and I would write it for him.) His face was aglow with delight as he 'walked' the street telling me about all that was going on around him. Part way through he even said, "I'm really enjoying this!" We hope this will help boost his confidence and give him more pleasure in writing in the future.

As I write this we are gearing up for another team visit. Seven youth from three churches in Northern Ireland will be visiting us from 27 June to 7 July. We hope they will be able to help run a children's club in Moatize. This could kick start Sunday schools and other children's work in the churches, which is currently non-existent. We also plan to run some open airs, and they will preach at some churches on the Sunday and teach at the  monthly leaders' seminar on the Saturday. All of their work will be done through translators who can translate directly from English to the local language, Nyungwe.

We give thanks to God that we are usually in excellent health. This past week though I have been considerably disabled by my right knee which has become unstable and locks or gives way at inconvenient moments. I think it started misbehaving after a short cycle ride to the local market. At present I can do nothing more energetic than walk, and even that for only relatively short distances. It is infuriating since in this cool season we have more energy and I would like to be more active. I am hoping to see an orthopaedic surgeon in Blantyre when we go up to collect the team.

Please Pray

Praise God for his faithfulness in keeping us through this first year. Pray that we keep in step with the Holy Spirit in leading our congregation, and continue to see growth. Pray for the forthcoming visit from the youth from Northern Ireland, and for their translators Pray that we will see a significant impact in terms of evangelistic outreach and the launching of a children's work Continue to pray for our safety on the roads and our health Praise God for a lovely birthday celebration for Gregory and for our friends who came to church that day. Pray for James and his family and Joanna's husband to come to know Jesus. Pray that Joanna finds a church where she can grow Continue to pray for our boys to thrive, spiritually, physically, academically and socially Pray for two other local non-Christian women, Rosa and Lucia, who are currently in great need. I am trying to minister Jesus to them

Grace to you

Sharon and Gregory Kane

_______________________

Sharon's 'Joke of the Month'

* Eye witness *

A policeman arrived at the scene of an accident to find that
a car had struck a telephone pole. Searching for witnesses,
he discovered a pale, nervous young man in work clothes who
claimed he was an eyewitness.

"Exactly where were you at the time of the accident?"
inquired the officer.

"Sir," exclaimed the telephone lineman, "I was at the top of
the pole."


* Good Samaritan *

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of
the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed, and
left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail
so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the
class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all
wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"

A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think
I'd throw up."


* Fire Test *

Joey and his classmates had just finished a tour of the
local fire hall.

Before each student could leave, the fire chief quizzed him.

He asked little Joey, "What do you do if your clothes catch
on fire?"

Joey replied promptly, "I don't put them on."