A Jon Post

It’s been a long day. Well, it’s been a long week… 2 weeks actually. Today, Layne and I got up at about 7 to continue working on this house. When we moved in there were a lot of problems and it needed a lot of work. Leaky/moldy sinks/showers, rusty screws in the walls, sticky/stained tile, peeling linoleum front porch… I could go on for a while here. Anyway, we did some more cleaning and repair work and at about 2 this afternoon I left to do a World Cup outreach. We partner with local churches and show World Cup games in the suburbs/slums of Maputo on a large screen with big speakers and the pastors of those churches get an opportunity to invite those at the games to church, encourage them with the gospel, and follow up when we leave. We set up a satellite dish to receive the games out in some pretty rural areas where TVs are rare and people have little or no chance to see a World Cup game and connect it to a projector. It’s pretty neat actually. Anyway, I left at about 2 and just got home at about midnight. We showed two games in two different locations tonight. It’s a long process. Layne’s been home all afternoon/evening painting a room in our house. We’re both exhausted. We’ve been exhausted for 2 weeks now.

One day last week we were planning to go to the hospital. We had even put our things in the car and were just about to get in and go. We make it a habit to sit down and pray together for some time before we go and so we sat together and just looked at each other. We both recognized quickly that neither one of us had much to offer at the hospital and we were both just struggling. Both wondered if we should just push through it and choose to serve anyway. We decided to stop, pray, worship and just draw close to Christ and to each other.

It was good.

Praying deeply for each other and for our ministry we felt a peace that we hadn’t felt since we moved in. We cried in each others arms and released all our emotional weariness to our Lord.

This house is big and needs a lot of work. In fact it is much bigger than Layne and I can use on our own. We both saw quickly when we moved in that it could be used as so much more than just our personal home. As we were praying and waiting on the Lord we felt the burning of God’s heart for what it could look like.

There are so many people in the oncology ward at the Central Hospital who have a need for a home for short periods of time. They may be dying and simply can’t get home to be with family because of the distance and cost. They may be waiting on the next round of chemotherapy and just sit in the hospital for weeks waiting for the hospital to re-supply. It may be a child… whose parent has left them alone in a hospital. The parent must return to the village he or she is from and the child must face the terrors of a growth inside the body that slowly… but surely… kills.

We want to offer a home for that child.

Two beautiful smiles

We want to offer a home for that man or woman who is facing death alone.

We want to look after the sick. (Matthew 25:36)

We want to care for the orphan and the widow in their distress. (James 1:27)

And we can.

So let’s get to work.

A Layne Post

Work, work, work… there is A LOT of work.

We are so thrilled to have our very own home; many times I even find it hard to believe. The Lord has blessed us immensely with the opportunity to rent this particular home. As we have seen other places for the same price monthly, this can only be from Him. How good is our God?

Our new home is quite old and quite dirty; however, we can see the potential and are ready to put in the work. Fixing it up will take some money, but we will just pace ourselves as it is available. We head to South Africa on Tuesday to reset our visas and to purchase some things, as things are cheaper across the border.

Later this week we hope to have a “Festa de Tinta” (Paint Party), as friends help us tackle the walls.

In other news, we have been to the hospital once and will return tomorrow. Our senses were overwhelmed with familiar sights and smells, and our hearts were filled with compassion and love all over again. Seeing Sandra from afar, hearing her shout, and feeling her arms around my neck… it is good to be back. We would like to get on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule soon.

The World Cup begins July 11th, and we will begin showing the games, teamed with local churches, as an opportunity for evangelism. It will be a busy month, but one we are looking forward to.