First of all, many thanks to those who prayed for us and contributed financially over the past few months as we worked to pick up the pieces of our lives and ministry following the cyclone/hurricane in March. Read on to see what has happened since then.
After the Storm - Travels and Relief Work
With our house destroyed and the threats of disease and crime greatly increased following the disaster, we decided the best course of action was to get me (Carla) and the kids out of the country for a while. Jon stayed back for the first month to help our workers recover, assist relief organizations like UNICEF, the Red Cross, and Samaritan's Purse and set up a new app called AIDai which connected the incoming aid with the people who needed it most. He was able to join us later, so we were together for a while. It was a good time of reconnecting with friends, family, and partners both old and new!
It was good to be able to speak at several of our partner churches and share what we were going through. Grace Church in Rolla MO recorded the Sunday that we were with them, and you can watch the video on YouTube.
New Home
Praise God for our new house! We are nearly settled and able to focus on helping everyone else recover as well. As a bonus, it even has a decent guest house in the back yard, so let us know if you want to come see us sometime!
Rebuilding Churches
One of the ways we have been assisting with the reconstruction process is through helping our partner churches with matching grants for putting on new roofs. It has been a blessing to be able to double the efforts of eleven churches who have raised funds within their own congregations, and they have been very grateful for the help. However, there are still many churches that are asking for similar help, but our funds for this project have run out.
A staggering 1.7 million acres of farmland were flooded and destroyed in the cyclone, and unfortunately it happened right before harvest time. Without quick help at rehabilitating the land and replanting, the whole region could face a major famine this year. A European mission organization called Word in Deed took initiative to raise funds to help in this endeavor, and they reached out to Equip Mozambique to establish a partnership so we can help them find the right communities to work in. They sent two delegates from the Netherlands to come see us and assess the situation firsthand, and they stayed with us for a week. We are excited to move forward with this project and help the farms start again.
Praise Reports:
For a safe and fruitful trip to the States
For a new house that meets all our needs
For the eleven churches that have been able to rebuild with their grant funds from Equip Mozambique
For the opportunity to help farms restart
Prayer Requests:
For funds to come in for many other churches that need help
For success in the farm rehabilitation process
For the continued reconstruction in the rest of Beira and the whole region that was effected by the cyclone.
Thanks for reading, please remember us in your prayers!
