Keep America a God fearing nation!

Shoes donated from money raised in Iowa at a church in Colesburg.
Population 450 and they raised $1,400 at VBS this summer!  Courageous kids serving God by helping the poor!

All kinds of shoes for shoeless children.

People fighting for a box.
Something as simple as a cardboard box is a prized possession to own.
They will hold items that would otherwise lay on a dirt floor. 

One piece of clothing or a pair of shoes.  There just is not enough to give to everyone.
Consider sponsoring a Christmas program for 2012 with Children's Relief International.

 This little girl was so sweet and shy.  It took me quite a while to get her to smile with me.  I think it was more about the sweet sucker than it was about me trying to encourage her to smile.  At this church plant most of the children only speak the tribal language.  She probably thought I was crazy when I was trying to speak Portuguese to her!

Today was a hot day for this ole’ Iowa girl.  There was not a breath of air to be found and even in the shade the heat was pounding through the tree branches.  Today I realized no matter how much I love Mozambique and how much I want to be part of this land, I will always be a weaker one, an American, who lives here.  The heat was assaulting and at the end of the Christmas give away event I went home to a comfortable bed to nap with a fan blowing on me.  I’m not nearly as sturdy as I should be or would want to be if I had to live the life of a woman who was born and raised here.  Life is hard and the war has left a mark and an attitude of desperation.

I have seen this many times before at gatherings at different locations around the area and villages that I am familiar. There is a crowd mongering that happens when there is something that is distributed.  It’s like there is a war going on.  A war in their hearts and a war in their minds.  An indescribable madness that happens even to the children to reach, push and grab for something, just anything so they can be the one to hold the prize.  It must liken itself to what happens in America when WalMart has the deal of the year on Black Friday and everybody and their mother is out there trying to get that one special thing for that one special child.  With one exception.  In America, the children have asked for so many things, they can’t remember that they asked for this one object that drives their gift giver into insanity to insure they have it to give.

We drove to the mountains north of here to a village called Mt. Silovo.  The pastor told us there would be around 30 kids attending and there were more like 130.  And again the pastor’s number of 50 families, again was under estimated and we saw around 200 come to partake of the Christmas party.  I wasn’t saddened by the increase in numbers rather I became quite excited to see so many faces light up when they became the chosen child who was given either a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes or a toy and every child received a sweet sucker.

Each time I have the privilege to stand before the poor I think about the teaching of Jesus.  Over and over again I have learned that the last will be first and the first will be last.  That we will always have the poor with us.  I have learned that if someone asks for something and I have it, I need to give it.  God will so bless us when we are obedient.

Tonight as I prayed, I thanked God that He would have me be born in America. I am thankful that I have learned more in 5 years of living in Mozambique about myself and what really matters and pleases God, than I had learned in all of my life before coming here.

God has blessed America.  Let us remember to keep it a God-fearing nation.