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Gregory's Turn
to write
God has blessed me with an excellent
wife and our children with a wonderful mother. I couldn't do half of
what I accomplish without Sharon's support and counsel. Moreover the
past few months have seen Sharon taking the initiative in several
projects, with my stepping back to offer her the encouragement and
help that she needs. My lovely wife celebrates a major birthday at
the end of February. I won't provide any further information on
this, but I cross the same milestone in another three months.
Accordingly I thought it appropriate to focus on some of Sharon's
recent activities as the basis for this newsletter.
Malaria
Sharon wrote last month about her plans to distribute mosquito nets
in some of our remoter communities and of the numerous set-backs and
obstacles she had to overcome. February saw the first of these
distributions in the villages of Thondwe and Matambazolo. Although
we have churches in these villages, we were careful to distribute
nets to everyone in need regardless of whether or not they were
members of Elim. Sharon decided to target those households with
children under the age of five, as well as those with widows and the
chronically sick. A list was compiled, a date fixed, and the
relevant families invited to a meeting. But then it rained.
In fact it rained for three days solid. Then on the morning of the
distribution it stopped raining. Sharon packed several hundred
mosquito nets into the back of our car and set off for Thondwe. The
journey went well at first and the car made good time along the tar
road even though it was heavily laden. But then Sharon turned on to
the dirt road leading to the village. Actually, dirt is a misnomer.
Mud would be more accurate. Our car is equipped with four-wheel
drive but even this didn't make much of a difference. Sharon
slipped, slithered and skidded down three to four kilometres of
muddy road, with the wheels at times spinning helplessly out of
control. At one point the car decided that it had had enough, taking
itself off across the narrow road where it stopped for a rest in a
shallow ditch!
Sharon finally made it to Thondwe (fortunately there was only one
river to cross!) and she found that a large crowd was waiting for
her. The car was unpacked and the meeting called to order. Sharon
then presented a talk on malaria and how mosquito nets could greatly
reduce the incidence of this often fatal disease. Thereafter the
names on the list were called out and each family was presented with
a brand new mosquito net that has been treated with long-lasting
insecticide. We asked the people to pay a token charge of 10
meticais (approx 20 pence) and Sharon made a point of cutting open
each plastic bag so as to discourage anyone from trying to sell
their nets in the market. In all 210 vulnerable families received a
mosquito net and further distributions will take place in other
villages during March and April.
At one level it would have made sense to postpone this distribution
until the dry season. (Sharon had to navigate that same muddy road
to get home!) But we were reluctant to delay as malaria is at its
worst during the wet season. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant
water, so they breed most enthusiastically during the annual rains.
It is comforting to know that, because of Sharon's initiative and
hard work, hundreds of families now have the wherewithal to avoid
contracting malaria. In a few months time we will conduct a survey
to assess how many of those households have actually put their nets
to regular use.
Cholera
We have lost count of how many people have died of cholera in the
past month. The hospital in Moatize is now only accepting cholera
patients. Every day ambulances rush down the main road, sirens
blaring, a constant reminder that once the disease has taken grip
the patient has only a few hours left in which to start treatment.
Cholera is a particularly potent form of diarrhoea, caused by
drinking contaminated water and exacerbated by poor sanitation.
People in the UK don't have to worry about cholera as local
authorities ensure that mains water is properly treated and
household waste is carried safely away through a network of sewers.
Here in Mozambique the people drink water from anywhere and
everywhere, and it's all too easy for one infected person to
trigger an outbreak.
Sharon talks about cholera wherever she goes. She patiently explains
about the need to purify drinking water, either by boiling it or by
adding a small amount of bleach. The local council is sending out
the same message. Sharon also sent out letters to every one of our
churches, instructing the people on how to avoid infection. Just
last weekend we held another of our monthly leadership seminars. I
had invited Sharon to do a follow-up talk on the importance of
digging latrines, so as to encourage more of our churches to sign up
for our sponsored latrines project. She also talked about cholera
and took a number of questions from the 60 or so leaders present. In
the feedback session at the end, one of the pastors made a point of
thanking Sharon for her practical advice. He expressed delight that
our ministry was both spiritual and practical, saying that the
Mozambican churches have lost far too many good pastors over the
years to avoidable disease.
But the underlying problem remains that it can be so very hard for
people to change their day-to-day practices. At that very seminar I
knew that water would be served to the delegates in 25 litre drums.
So when I arrived, I asked the local leaders if the water had been
treated, to which they replied that it had not. Anticipating this, I
had brought a bottle of bleach with me and proceeded to purify the
water in the drum. A little later on, I referred to this as an
illustration of how easy it is to hear practical advice and yet fail
to put it into practice. However, despite my saying all this, later
on that same day another drum of water was brought into the hall and
no one had the sense to ask to use my bleach. Neither did any of the
church leaders think to cycle down to the local shops and buy a
bottle of bleach. Instead sixty men and women drank from the same
untreated water and I can only pray that we have not contributed to
the spread of cholera!
HIV
In August last year, Sharon ran a very successful AIDS education
programme for all of the church leaders in Moatize. They spent three
days together looking at various aspects of the illness and
discussing how the church can best respond at a community level.
Then in the middle of February she called these same people together
for another day of training to look at what progress they had made.
I believe passionately in the importance of training. But I believe
that training must be put into practice, otherwise it's just a load
of hot air. We first came to Africa in 1992 and have seen so many
pastors and church leaders attend HIV seminars. But all too often it
seems that this knowledge is not then passed on to their
congregations. Some people find the whole area of human sexuality
too embarrassing to talk about, others feel that the church should
only discuss spiritual matters. And some leaders, sadly, are
themselves sexually promiscuous and as such they feel unable to
chastise others.
When Sharon ran her HIV conference back in August she made an offer
to the delegates present. If any church were to arrange a day
seminar on HIV for their own members, she would give a free HIV book
in Portuguese to everyone who attended (up to a maximum of 50
books). All the churches had to do was let her know in advance.
Sadly, in the months between August and February, only one church
took her up on this offer!
Hence the purpose of this most recent training day was to give the
church leaders in Moatize fresh vision and to allow them an
opportunity to share their own fears and concerns. The seminar also
looked at how drama can be used to great effect in HIV awareness.
Afterwards Sharon offered to write out some sample programmes that
the leaders can use in specific meetings for youth, women, marred
couples etc. It is our hope and prayer that the churches in this
part of Mozambique will finally begin to take HIV seriously.
Women's ministry
Thank God for Zimbabwe. In the middle of March this year, a group of
women's leaders from our Elim churches in Zimbabwe will be visiting
Tete to speak at our first ever women's conference. I can guarantee
that this will be very different from any women's meeting that you
have ever attended in the UK! The majority of women in Tete province
are illiterate and largely uneducated. Most don't own a Bible
because they couldn't even read it if they did. But our Zimbabwean
visitors understand this. They will know at what level to pitch
their Bible teaching. They will be able to speak with authority on
social and family issues. And they hope also to teach our women
practical skills that they can use to help generate a little extra
income.
In the meantime Sharon has an awful lot to organise. We have
sponsored this trip, covering the cost of fuel for the Zimbabwean
women. But there's still food to arrange, interpreters to be found,
and outlying churches to be informed. And of course, as with any
large gathering these days, there's the ever present worry about
cholera.
Home school
As I write, Sharon is next door teaching Daniel and Nathanael. She
tries to do this every morning, leaving them work to get on with
when she has to travel. I am responsible for teaching Josiah, our
eldest. Right now he's reading a text book in preparation for an
essay that he's ever so reluctant to write. The need to provide for
our children's education is a constant pressure, but one that's
unavoidable. We thank God for our sons and take seriously our
responsibility to provide for their education. But sometimes we wish
there were more hours in the day. Or that there was a suitable
school nearby that we could send them to. Or that we had another
family in Tete with whom we could share this burden. But there
isn't. As you pray for us, remember to pray also for our children.
Trips and Visits
Here's some good news: there is a trip planned for June for people
who would like to come out for two weeks and get a taste of life in
Mozambique. For further information contact Pastor Cotter, the Irish
missions director, on
director@elimmissionsireland.wanadoo.co.uk But don't hang
around - this is your only chance this year .
Speaking of trips, we will be heading back to the UK in August of
this year for a short furlough. August will be spent in England and
Wales, visiting friends and a number of churches. We plan to be
based in Ireland come September, and to put our boys into school for
a term, returning to Africa after Christmas. Grace to you
Gregory and Sharon Kane
Elim International Missions
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Prayer Requests |
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- Thank God for further
successful distribution of mosquito nets in three new
villages. Pray for the final distribution in Mauthithi
on 7 April. Pray that people would use their nets on a
regular basis so as to reduce the incidence of malaria
in these areas.
- Thank God the cholera
epidemic has ended
- Pray for Sharon as she
plans to teach about AIDS to the youth of all our
churches on 19 April. Pray they will pledge themselves
to live in God's way
- The head of the city
hospital blood bank, seeing us give blood to Jane, has
asked us to consider holding blood donation sessions in
our churches. Pray that we will have wisdom to introduce
this very new idea without causing offence or alienating
people.
- Thank God for the blessing
that the women's conference brought to so many
- Remember our children in
your prayers, that they would thrive socially and
educationally
- Praise God for the impact
the Passion Play made, and pray that people will be
saved as the Holy Spirit works in their lives
- Pray that Ray will have a
good visit
- Pray for Mel in the next
stage of her adventure of faith
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Sharon's Joke of
the Month |
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*
Tea Service *
One day my mother was out and my dad was in
charge of me and my brother who is four years older than I am.
I was maybe one and a half years old and had just recovered from an
accident in which my arm had been broken. Someone had given me
a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favourite
toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening
news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I
brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water.
After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my
Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me
bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!!'
My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup
of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, 'Did it
ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get
water is the toilet??'
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Gregory's Quote of
the Month |
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*
Ronald Reagan on Ageing
*
Responding to the charge in a live
television debate that he was too old to run for a second term as
President
"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to
exploit
for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." |
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