3-16
The guys are working every day on the orphan home, the girls working at the school doing a skit of a bible story, then a craft and a game that matches the story. The home is 4 x 3 meters –about 12’x16’ with 2 rooms – one for sleeping and one for living space. They cook outside over a little fire with sticks the kids pick up around, so they don’t need a kitchen. You can see in the picture the granny and her little reed house – about 12’x12 or so. She is caring for 2 grandkids – a little boy of 8 and a girl of 11. The mother died of AIDS a while ago, and the kids never knew their dads. The other day a man came and took the girl saying that he was the dad. No one could confirm it, so he left with the girl. Supposedly she is coming back soon. This is the way life is here in the poor places – they almost don’t care because it is so costly to care. The granny has AIDS too but has a card that puts her in line to receive ARV’s (Anti-Retroviral drugs) – she calls it “the card of death”. I think she has TB as well, but if a person is faithful with their medicines it can be totally cured.
Work on the house is interesting, and a bit boring. I paid $300 for the main house blocks, all the sand and gravel. Then I bought the blocks for the foundation, the cement and the rebar for another $450. We spent a long time measuring out, putting stakes and strings just like we would on a foundation at home (there was an engineer there who knew “a squared + b squared = c squared” and laid it out precisely. The problem was, he laid it out and left, so when the mason began to lay the brick he did not even try to follow the string. I was in and out so did not notice it till there was lots done, and then I did not want to come and tell him to do it all over again! But it was WAY out of square. I groaned and prayed about it all 
evening. The next morning the pastor came out to inspect the work and he saw it too and immediately told him to tear out 2 walls and correct them! Thank you Jesus – he is so good to know how to do that delicate kind of thing.) We dug out about 2 blocks deep and 2’ wide around the perimeter and under the middle wall. Then as the masons would carefully lay the blocks just right we would mix the cement on the ground and hand them blocks. There was not much for us to do – mostly sit under a tree and drink water. We had to fetch the water in 5 gal containers and one 40 gal barrel from the church every day. We did this for 4 days – 
each day blistering hot – I saw the temp gauge several times read 43 degrees Celsius – whatever that is! We are leaving without it complete, so I gave another $400 so the work would not lag when we are gone. They guys doing the work on it are all from the church and are doing it with no talk about wages. I said we should pay them, so the pastor is going to give the mason about $60 and the helpers $20 each for the complete job. I think it will cost around $1500 all told. They will pour a cement floor and a tin roof with 2 windows and 2 doors. There may be enough block left over to dig a good septic pit for her toilet.
3-18
It is sooo hot it is hard to keep going. Some of us have been a bit sick by it – just lazing around in the shade of a tree reading. We are at Iris Ministries now. Iris is a large compound in Maputo, Mozambique, with 500 orphans and a bunch of Bible students and a large staff of radical Christians moving around and doing ministry here, and all over Mozambique. People from all over the world come here and stay at the nice comfortable visitors compound here while they play and love the orphans here and go out to various outreaches that are planned. There is not much to do during the days unless you are one of the lucky ones to be able to go on an outreach. Titus, Evan, Lenna and Katie went with a few others from other teams overnight into the bush of Mozambique. We will see what adventures they have to share
tomorrow night when they return. Lenna and Katie and Brandon also went to the dump where many people live. They can write about that adventure. I (Dan) signed up for an outreach that got canceled. There is a mobilizing of forces from Iris to travel up into northern Moz to help with the flood relief – Liana was curious and may look into doing some of that when the team leaves. I am just now believing that money has just come in for Donna for her trip to Africa. Db.
3-19
The team is back from the bush – had a great time. Liana and Jordan went to pray at a hospital this afternoon – quite a few accepted Christ after each one preached in a different ward. It is so nice and cool all day, and down-right cold this evening! I have on a sweatshirt! Amazing. It is threatening to rain the last couple nights. This team is doing wonderful. We had an opportunity to go to Kruger Park to see African wildlife, but most of them prefer to go back to Joburg instead so they can go to a church meeting at Petra. Brandon and Titus are so popular with the orphans here at Iris orphanage. They call Brandon Mr. Bean, and Titus it Tito. Most of the girls have their hair in little braids. Regina is spending her time at the baby house – we recognize some of the babies who were barely surviving 3 years ago
when we were here – now they are thriving. One of the Iris Ministry leaders told us their vision of turning Africa from the prevalent spirit of an orphan (begging, depressed, unloved, thieving, violent, self-serving, promiscuous, etc) to the spirit of adoption – knowing that they are adopted into the Family of God : heirs, children of the King of Kings, victorious, privileged, able to do all things, secure, selfless, self-controlled, etc. The kids here at Iris reflect this – with 500 kids in one compound you are asking for trouble – especially when so many had terrible lives. But it is awesome to see these kids worship, pray, minister to one another, play and share things with each other, have good social skills and good self image, and looking fairly happy and secure. They are doing something right here. I wonder what happens to those who turn 18 and must be released into the community. Lord, watch them and care for them.
Does anyone want to go help with refugees from the floods in central Moz? We will be looking into this more in the coming weeks and send info if we do in fact go. Or maybe some of us will go and others stay. Look on the internet news about flooding in Moz and about relief work. Then look at Iris Ministries website to see what is required to come and help. We are here, but finding it hard to get info from onsite here. But rumor has it that there is no formal application process, and anyone who shows up at the Maputo Iris base (that we are at now) will be transported to the emergency zone and put to work. Db.
3-21
Iris has regular outreaches into the city to minister to various elements. I went on one tonight not knowing what I was going to. The Iris team was about 6 15-18 year olds and there were 3 whites. First we went to the city jail. The police took one cell of 12 men and hauled them from their urine stinking cell to a nearby corridor and commanded them to squat while the young folks shared that we wanted to sing and pray and share the word with them. Most were very respectful – desperate might be the right word. All but two of them prayed with us and seemed to be receiving what was being imparted. It was glorious! Why don’t we do that more? Are there desperate people in our society that would be eager for someone to come and share with them? Then we handed out bread – about 2 loves per person.
Next we went to a little meeting hall. No one was there so we went on the street and tried to round up people. It was dark, and the streets are full of litter, poor people digging in garbage, prostitutes, desperate people. By the time we got back to the hall there were about 20 so we were ready to start when suddenly a whole troop of rowdy young people came crashing in, laughing, making a scene, etc. It was ok while we were singing – we could stay as loud as they. But when we tried to pray or preach it was impossible. Unfortunately the young ones came and asked me to preach! Jesus, take over! And he did. He inspired me to wash their feet, which I did randomly thru the crowd, speaking to them personally thru and interpreter as I went. I told them how much Jesus loves them, created them for his glory and family, and wants them to be his kids. There was not a lot I could say. I tried to impress on them that soon some of them will be sick with AIDS, and could meet Jesus sooner than expected – the time is now to find him. Probably about 15-20 came and knelt down at the front and said a prayer to invite Jesus as Lord. Then they brought out the bread and there was about a riot as they were all crowding and hogging as much as they could get. What a pity. There are so few opportunities to make a living here – most will be beggers and live from hand to mouth. A free loaf of bread is a real bonus. Pray for these homeless youth of Maputo. My heart, and our Lord’s, go out to them. Db.
The guys are working every day on the orphan home, the girls working at the school doing a skit of a bible story, then a craft and a game that matches the story. The home is 4 x 3 meters –about 12’x16’ with 2 rooms – one for sleeping and one for living space. They cook outside over a little fire with sticks the kids pick up around, so they don’t need a kitchen. You can see in the picture the granny and her little reed house – about 12’x12 or so. She is caring for 2 grandkids – a little boy of 8 and a girl of 11. The mother died of AIDS a while ago, and the kids never knew their dads. The other day a man came and took the girl saying that he was the dad. No one could confirm it, so he left with the girl. Supposedly she is coming back soon. This is the way life is here in the poor places – they almost don’t care because it is so costly to care. The granny has AIDS too but has a card that puts her in line to receive ARV’s (Anti-Retroviral drugs) – she calls it “the card of death”. I think she has TB as well, but if a person is faithful with their medicines it can be totally cured.
Work on the house is interesting, and a bit boring. I paid $300 for the main house blocks, all the sand and gravel. Then I bought the blocks for the foundation, the cement and the rebar for another $450. We spent a long time measuring out, putting stakes and strings just like we would on a foundation at home (there was an engineer there who knew “a squared + b squared = c squared” and laid it out precisely. The problem was, he laid it out and left, so when the mason began to lay the brick he did not even try to follow the string. I was in and out so did not notice it till there was lots done, and then I did not want to come and tell him to do it all over again! But it was WAY out of square. I groaned and prayed about it all 
evening. The next morning the pastor came out to inspect the work and he saw it too and immediately told him to tear out 2 walls and correct them! Thank you Jesus – he is so good to know how to do that delicate kind of thing.) We dug out about 2 blocks deep and 2’ wide around the perimeter and under the middle wall. Then as the masons would carefully lay the blocks just right we would mix the cement on the ground and hand them blocks. There was not much for us to do – mostly sit under a tree and drink water. We had to fetch the water in 5 gal containers and one 40 gal barrel from the church every day. We did this for 4 days – 
each day blistering hot – I saw the temp gauge several times read 43 degrees Celsius – whatever that is! We are leaving without it complete, so I gave another $400 so the work would not lag when we are gone. They guys doing the work on it are all from the church and are doing it with no talk about wages. I said we should pay them, so the pastor is going to give the mason about $60 and the helpers $20 each for the complete job. I think it will cost around $1500 all told. They will pour a cement floor and a tin roof with 2 windows and 2 doors. There may be enough block left over to dig a good septic pit for her toilet.3-18
It is sooo hot it is hard to keep going. Some of us have been a bit sick by it – just lazing around in the shade of a tree reading. We are at Iris Ministries now. Iris is a large compound in Maputo, Mozambique, with 500 orphans and a bunch of Bible students and a large staff of radical Christians moving around and doing ministry here, and all over Mozambique. People from all over the world come here and stay at the nice comfortable visitors compound here while they play and love the orphans here and go out to various outreaches that are planned. There is not much to do during the days unless you are one of the lucky ones to be able to go on an outreach. Titus, Evan, Lenna and Katie went with a few others from other teams overnight into the bush of Mozambique. We will see what adventures they have to share
tomorrow night when they return. Lenna and Katie and Brandon also went to the dump where many people live. They can write about that adventure. I (Dan) signed up for an outreach that got canceled. There is a mobilizing of forces from Iris to travel up into northern Moz to help with the flood relief – Liana was curious and may look into doing some of that when the team leaves. I am just now believing that money has just come in for Donna for her trip to Africa. Db.3-19
The team is back from the bush – had a great time. Liana and Jordan went to pray at a hospital this afternoon – quite a few accepted Christ after each one preached in a different ward. It is so nice and cool all day, and down-right cold this evening! I have on a sweatshirt! Amazing. It is threatening to rain the last couple nights. This team is doing wonderful. We had an opportunity to go to Kruger Park to see African wildlife, but most of them prefer to go back to Joburg instead so they can go to a church meeting at Petra. Brandon and Titus are so popular with the orphans here at Iris orphanage. They call Brandon Mr. Bean, and Titus it Tito. Most of the girls have their hair in little braids. Regina is spending her time at the baby house – we recognize some of the babies who were barely surviving 3 years ago
when we were here – now they are thriving. One of the Iris Ministry leaders told us their vision of turning Africa from the prevalent spirit of an orphan (begging, depressed, unloved, thieving, violent, self-serving, promiscuous, etc) to the spirit of adoption – knowing that they are adopted into the Family of God : heirs, children of the King of Kings, victorious, privileged, able to do all things, secure, selfless, self-controlled, etc. The kids here at Iris reflect this – with 500 kids in one compound you are asking for trouble – especially when so many had terrible lives. But it is awesome to see these kids worship, pray, minister to one another, play and share things with each other, have good social skills and good self image, and looking fairly happy and secure. They are doing something right here. I wonder what happens to those who turn 18 and must be released into the community. Lord, watch them and care for them.Does anyone want to go help with refugees from the floods in central Moz? We will be looking into this more in the coming weeks and send info if we do in fact go. Or maybe some of us will go and others stay. Look on the internet news about flooding in Moz and about relief work. Then look at Iris Ministries website to see what is required to come and help. We are here, but finding it hard to get info from onsite here. But rumor has it that there is no formal application process, and anyone who shows up at the Maputo Iris base (that we are at now) will be transported to the emergency zone and put to work. Db.
3-21
Iris has regular outreaches into the city to minister to various elements. I went on one tonight not knowing what I was going to. The Iris team was about 6 15-18 year olds and there were 3 whites. First we went to the city jail. The police took one cell of 12 men and hauled them from their urine stinking cell to a nearby corridor and commanded them to squat while the young folks shared that we wanted to sing and pray and share the word with them. Most were very respectful – desperate might be the right word. All but two of them prayed with us and seemed to be receiving what was being imparted. It was glorious! Why don’t we do that more? Are there desperate people in our society that would be eager for someone to come and share with them? Then we handed out bread – about 2 loves per person.
Next we went to a little meeting hall. No one was there so we went on the street and tried to round up people. It was dark, and the streets are full of litter, poor people digging in garbage, prostitutes, desperate people. By the time we got back to the hall there were about 20 so we were ready to start when suddenly a whole troop of rowdy young people came crashing in, laughing, making a scene, etc. It was ok while we were singing – we could stay as loud as they. But when we tried to pray or preach it was impossible. Unfortunately the young ones came and asked me to preach! Jesus, take over! And he did. He inspired me to wash their feet, which I did randomly thru the crowd, speaking to them personally thru and interpreter as I went. I told them how much Jesus loves them, created them for his glory and family, and wants them to be his kids. There was not a lot I could say. I tried to impress on them that soon some of them will be sick with AIDS, and could meet Jesus sooner than expected – the time is now to find him. Probably about 15-20 came and knelt down at the front and said a prayer to invite Jesus as Lord. Then they brought out the bread and there was about a riot as they were all crowding and hogging as much as they could get. What a pity. There are so few opportunities to make a living here – most will be beggers and live from hand to mouth. A free loaf of bread is a real bonus. Pray for these homeless youth of Maputo. My heart, and our Lord’s, go out to them. Db.
posted by ORPHAN HOPE @ 3:16 PM
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