A Jon Post

“What is the best memory you have of 2009?” I ask in halting Portuguese.
S, the quiet yet confident one responds and tells me, “No, I have been here. I don’t have any good memories.”
“But you haven’t been here all year!” I reply, “What is the best memory you have from the WHOLE year?”
“Ah,” S responds, “Well, I got a job (a missionary from Northern Mozambique hired him as a guard outside his house) with a good salary and I was able to provide for my family. That happened in March!”
“And you T? What is your favorite memory?”
“None Jon, I have been here since January. I have no good memories from 2009.”
“Nothing, T? Come on there must be some good memory from this year!” I respond, trying to sound positive.
“No Jon… nothing beautiful happened to me this year. I have been here.”
Try as I might, I can not get T to tell me a good memory from last year.
“Ok,” I say, trying a new tactic and to sound positive, “When you guys are better what are your plans for 2010?”

Suddenly the smiles are set free and we talk about going home to family, getting jobs, moving to better places, providing for sick and dying uncles or other family members. J tells me about his children back home waiting for him to return. T tells me about getting a good job, buying some good land and farming on it. S tells me about his 6 children who he is so proud of who all passed the school year (a very rare thing here) and the two oldest who he hopes to send to university this year.

And all of us smile and laugh and enjoy the hope that has crept back into our conversation. And all of us try to ignore the black truth that looms over the entire oncology ward. These men will probably be dead before these plans come to pass. They will probably be dead before the end of this year.
“What are you thankful for this new year?” I ask.
“That we saw 2010! And we just pray that we see 2011” J responds with a large smile.

This is life here in the oncology ward at the Maputo General Hospital.
This is life… a nearly infertile soil where roots of hope occasionally writhe their way out to see the sun.
This is death… a black mass of poison growing deadly hideous… worms of cancerous cells tracing their fatal path across skin, bone, flesh, eyes.
This is life… and death… in the oncology ward at the Maputo General Hospital.
What part do I play in it? Not much I think. Enough, I hope, to see Jesus lying on dirty, sweaty, uncomfortable sheets on a thin mattress. Just enough to show the love of Christ with a smile, a prayer, a kiss, a cool cloth on a sweaty forehead.
And to hope. To hope in this mystery… that the sting and victory that death has now will be swallowed up.

A Jon Post

What an amazing God we serve.
In light of the recent “extended text” versions of these blogs I’m going to keep this one short. I just want to say a few things since this is good ol’ Christmas Week. A role model of mine often makes lists of things he’s thankful and it is always pretty moving so I think I’ll model that today.

Thing’s I’m Thankful For This Christmas

• Singing and laughing with 75 orphans and vulnerable children at a children’s ministry yesterday
• Being back in Africa after a year away
• Fans (when the air is so hot, moving it around the room REALLY makes a difference)
• The way people here in Mozambique smile and say “Bom Dia” with such a welcoming voice
• When my wife looks at me with her smiling eyes. It melts my heart every time. I could not have chosen a more lovely or loving woman to join with me in living the epic
• Finding the family of Christ all over the world
• Banana bread
• That my wife can make some INCREDIBLE food with really really basic ingredients
• The love of Christ that Africans (Angolans, Namibians, Batswana, South Africans, Mozambicans) seem to be so good at showing
• My Chaco sandals (I’ve had these for 5 years and there’s no reason to think they won’t last another 5)
• My family back in Arizona and Texas
• Supporters who pray so hard for us

We have a quick year end letter to all of our supporters. If you have time you can download and read it. For those of you who like to paste Christmas cards up on your mantle we have one here as well

Christmas Letter

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas from Mozambique

A Layne Post

Through some divine appointments and blessings along the way (full story here), we have made it to Maputo, Mozambique. Just by driving to our guesthouse we realized we were in for new experiences. Maputo happens to be a very large, busy city, which is something Jon and I are not terribly familiar with here in Africa. We usually prefer to stick with the small towns.

It is very hot and very humid here, though if and when the clouds are out, it is bearable. Not having air-conditioners can make the afternoons interesting. We are very close the water, and hope to get over the visit the beach/waterfront soon.

Jon fixing the fan in our little room

It all reminds me of Corpus Christi.

Also upon arrival we have been thrown back into Portuguese. While it still can take a bit to warm up in conversation, we remember most of what we learned, and I believe we will continue to gain skills with practice. We were very thankful when we realized the accent is not too bad, and we can understand just fine, though like in Portugal, sometimes we need people to slow down.

We have been welcomed to the community of missionaries with open arms, and our hearts and spirits are so refreshed. I have been able to visit a women’s Bible study and will join next month for their start of a Beth Moore book! We have also acquired Christmas plans, which is exciting! We don’t have to be alone. =)

Through this network of missionaries, the Lord has blessed us with somewhere to live for the next couple of months. A missionary family is currently on furlough, and we are going to be able to rent their apartment until they come back. This is a blessing on so many levels, but one in particular is that it is fully furnished. Jon and I own very little, and eventually we will have to buy things, but this allows us to delay a bit.

The highlight of our first week here would probably be the opportunity we had to join a friend in her ministry at a local hospital in the oncology ward. She has a weekly ministry with the children there, and we were invited to join their annual Christmas party. They asked if Jon could bring his violin and play some Christmas songs, which ended up being such a blessing to all those around. Many of them had never seen a violin before, so to hear someone play such fun songs was a treat.

Layne showing Miquel how to blow bubbles

Jon Playing "Feliz Natal"

Not only were we able to bless them in a small manner, we found ourselves being filled with joy and praising God for the lives of the individuals we met. To see people in such pain with physical ailments rarely even encountered in the States… to see them laugh and smile is simply amazing. They loved on us and eagerly helped us practice our Portuguese. We look forward to developing these relationships more and more.

Thank you for your prayers thus far. They have definitely been felt and much appreciated. Please continue to pray for the following:

• Open doors to ministry
• Favor with immigration (We have 30 days for now, and probably no trouble for 90)
• Safety for us and the vehicle (Big city = more crime)
• Health, health, health (I have been quite sick since we arrived… probably a parasite.)

[flashvideo file=/blogpictures/Joy_To_The_World.flv /]

Jon played “Joy to the World”. Sorry about the constant dudding in the sound.
Apparently clapping right next to the camera creates that effect.