| |
Sharon's Turn to write
Congratulations if you noticed that we missed a newsletter
at the end of January. Consequently this letter is a summary
of the past two months.
Early in January we took Josiah back to boarding school and
then stayed on in Malawi to sort out some things that needed
doing, like visits to the dentist and getting the car
serviced. Thereafter we headed up to Lake Malawi where five
of us enjoyed a lovely week's holiday. The highlight of the
week was swimming among the swarms of beautiful cichlid fish
in the clear waters at Cape Maclear. We had been told it was
like swimming in a fish tank, and we would have to agree
with that description. The scariest moment of the week was
when I went for a morning swim in the Lake, got out onto the
rocks and saw there was a crocodile in the water just 20
metres away. We all gave thanks that I saw him before he saw
me. It didn't stop me swimming in the lake, but we were far
more vigilant in scanning the water before getting in after
that.
We timed our return so that we could pick up Oliver Heath
from Blantyre airport and bring him back to Tete for his
three-month placement with us. Unfortunately things did not
go according to plan. We're still not quite sure what went
wrong, but Oliver decided not to stay. He was with us just
five days before flying out. This was a big disappointment
as we had been looking forward to having him with us and had
lined up some exciting programs for him to kick start.
On a more positive note, Gregory was very pleased with the
hard work put in by his youth evangelists. Even while we
were away in Malawi they kept themselves busy with various
preaching activities, and were excited to see people
responding to their message. They are now back at school so
are no longer officially working on the programme. However,
they have 'caught the bug' and have not entirely stopped
their evangelistic activities. Their latest venture is
visiting various homes and screening Christian DVDs which
Gregory has given to them for this purpose. There is no
cinema in the city and not many people can afford their own
TV. A number of enterprising individuals capitalise on this
paucity of entertainment by setting up shelters where they
screen movies and charge people a small sum to come and
watch them. One of our young men has been so bold as to
approach one of the proprietors of these movie houses and
offer to screen his films.
On the evangelistic side we have also been delighted to
receive ten more Saber MP3 players and thousands of tracts
and John's gospels which were sent out from Northern Ireland
on the last container to Malawi. These will be well used in
open air and house-to-house evangelism over the coming
months.
Josiah was with us for a week over his half term break, and
we had a very good time with him. He passed all his mock
GCSE exams, mostly with excellent grades. He has joined some
clubs at the school now and seems to be more 'at home'
there. This month end he turned 16. It was his first
birthday away from home which was a very strange experience
for all of us. We understand that some family friends in
Blantyre invited him for dinner and made him a cake, so he
knew he wasn't forgotten.
Daniel also had a birthday this month. He turned 13 and has
reached that stage when we can't feed him enough, and a new
pair of trousers fits him for around three weeks. We had a
nice surprise in that the weekend before his birthday our
very good friends, the Kers, were in Tete. They joined us in
church and then came for lunch before heading home. We
declared it an early birthday party and cracked open a big
tub of ice cream. Daniel had expected his birthday to be a
quiet family affair, and was thrilled by this lovely
surprise. It was a shame that Josiah was not around, but the
noise levels didn't seem any lower with only seven children
than they are with all eight.
The month ended with a bang as we performed our third
wedding in under 12 months. In the previous two weddings it
was the groom who was our church member and he had met his
bride elsewhere. They were also both Zimbabwean couples.
This wedding was different in that the bride and groom were
both Mozambicans and it was the bride, Hilda, who was our
church member. In fact she was one of the first people to
join the church when we planted it in November 2006. Hilda
has proved herself very faithful, opening her home for
prayer meetings, frequently helping to lead worship, and
being very active in visiting and encouraging others. She
has become a very close friend to me, and it was a joy and
privilege to be involved in her wedding.
Since the couple are both Mozambicans, Gregory conducted the
ceremony in Portuguese. It was also a first in that the
bride and groom arrived at the church on time. Sadly
everyone else was very late, being accustomed to weddings
starting at least 90 minutes after the advertised time. We
used that time to take the photographs in a local park, and
by the time we got back to the church enough people had
arrived to enable us to start. The ceremony went very
smoothly and, although there was a huge amount of confusion
and long delays related to the reception, eventually
everyone was fed and went home satisfied. Hilda and Samuel
were in church the following morning looking absolutely
radiant. Sadly this will be her last Sunday with us as
Samuel lives in Maputo and she will be moving to live with
him. We will miss her very much.
Finally a comment about the weather which has been most
peculiar this year. The early rains were good, but ended far
too soon, causing much of the maize crop to wither in the
ground. We were crying to God for rain, but when January
ended with no rain we pretty much lost hope. However, this
month has been very wet. It has rained every day for the
past 10 days, except on Hilda's wedding day. There are big
muddy puddles everywhere, providing endless entertainment
for the small children who spend their days splashing in
them. For the first time in our years in Mozambique we have
to engage four-wheel drive to get from our house to the main
road. Whether this late rain can give the people a harvest
remains to be seen. The crops need not only the right amount
of rain but also at the right time in the growing cycle.
However, even if the harvest is poor, we give thanks to God
that the rivers will flow and there will be grazing for the
animals.
Grace to you
Sharon
and Gregory
Kane
Elim International Missions
|
|
| |
Prayer Requests |
|
| |
- Pray that there will be
enough of a harvest for people to live on, and that help
will be available to those who don't reap anything
- Thank God that Josiah's
mock exams went well. Pray for him as he gears up to his
GCSE exams later this year
- Give thanks for the
wedding of Hilda and Samuel. Pray for them as they set
up home as a new couple in Maputo. Hilda is leaving her
family, and will have to add another African language (Shangaan)
to the four languages she already speaks. Pray for her
to achieve this quickly and to make friends
- The crocodile incident
was just one of a number of scary incidents in the past
two months. Please continue to pray for our health and
safety
- Our international church
currently rents an old cinema, but we really need to buy
our own land and build a premises. It is proving
extremely difficult to find a plot in a suitable
location for a reasonable price, partly because buying
land always becomes a political issue. Pray that God
opens the door for us
- Pray that we keep our
eyes on Jesus during times of discouragement, and don't
lose heart
|
|
| |
Sharon's Joke of
the Month |
|
| |
Slips of the tongue are often made on
the stage, even by the most prominent actors and actresses.
Mrs. Langtry at one performance said to her stage lover, ‘Let us
retire and seek a nosey cook.’
An actor at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester, turned ‘Stand back, my
lord, and let the coffin pass’ into, ‘Stand back, my lord, and let
the parson cough.’
A well-known actor who has often been applauded by New York
theatre-goers, in one of his speeches intended to say, ‘Royal bold
Caesar,’ but forgot himself in his excitement and said, ‘Boiled
rolled Caesar, I present thee with my sword.’
|
|
| |
Gregory's Quote of
the Month |
|
| |
"A happy marriage is the union of two
forgivers."
- Ruth Bell Graham |
|
|
