Category Archive for "Hospital Ministry"

Missionary? Friend? Mommy?

A Layne Post

Since returning to Mozambique with my precious little 11 month old, who now walks, I have been faced with a bit of a dilemma. Everyone still loves seeing her at the hospital, and they marvel with us at how quickly she has grown; they would be upset if she did not come with us… she is afterall, the “Bebê de Oncologia.”

On the other hand, this Mommy, who would like to sit and hold hands and pray with sick ladies, needs to be chasing her ever curious little one, who prefers to go up and down the step to the veranda or roam the hall with the fun pictures up on the wall. It has been difficult to have even a single meaningful conversation. Driving home on Friday I found myself in tears. I honestly feel as though we are between stages with Anaya, and soon she will understand when I tell her she has to sit in Mommy’s lap and read for a bit and then we’ll play outside. But, we’re not there yet.

Jon and I have agreed that on the two days Anaya comes with us, he can take over for a portion of our time, allowing me to connect purposefully. I have to remember, that Anaya’s face and presence in and of itself is a ministry and a blessing to patients. And, as I knew and committed to from the day Anaya was conceived, she is my priority and #1 ministry.

Pray for me, for us, to have wisdom in our decisions and in our ministry, as we desire the patients to feel most loved.

February 5, 2012

Layne

Hospital Ministry

8 comments

Home

A Jon Post

Another inter-continental voyage, many hours in airplanes, airports, and airtrains later… and we’re home. I apologize for three weeks of blog silence. While we were in the USA it was, honestly, a little tough to know what to share with you and how to use this blog to help people know and feel involved in what is going on in our ministry.

We did our best to sit down with as many of you as possible while we were in town. To those of you who took time out to see us we are so grateful and we are so blessed by your friendship and partnership. To those of you who we missed, we’re sorry and we don’t take for granted that you are there.

Since leaving back in November much has changed at the hospital. Though we expected it and tried to prepare our hearts for it, many dear friends died while we were gone. It’s hard to be able to tell someone “goodbye, I’ll see you soon”.

But, it is good to visit again and hug necks, kiss cheeks and shake hands of friends still there. I sat with three old friends and laughed, hugged, and talked together on Wednesday. It was so familiar and so missed to sit in that hospital room and smile with each other. Praying over a sick boy with his father was moving and honoring. When a young body is stricken with cancer and malaria at the same time there is much pain.

Our hearts are full and our lips smile often.

We are home.

My Favorite Girls

January 30, 2012

Jon

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique, Travel

3 comments

That God would be Relentless

A Layne Post

We thought they wouldn’t have to; they said there would be 6 more months of treatment instead of amputation. Our hopes rose. I stopped praying so hard, so consistently with Anaya. We rejoiced there would be no new trauma while we were out of the country, unable to help in any way. It seemed as though the Lord had chosen mercy. Perhaps this was the one for healing, the one we’d see. This 13 year old boy would potentially have years of soccer ahead of him.

But then the email arrived… the news. Amputated. So permanent. His leg is gone.

I laid in bed crying, for what would not be the last time. It still comes in waves. If only we could get there. Jon would play chess with him. Maybe I’d bake something special. Anaya would do something to bring about his smile. I’d hug his Mama, and beg to help, though there would be little to actually do.

They are fine without us. His Mama is strong and loving. Our dear friend Alice is helping, likely better than we could imagine for ourselves. They may not feel our absence as much as we feel theirs. I think that is a little miracle the Lord does in us; He puts His heart in us, His heart of longing.

The other night we sat around with Jon’s family worshiping the Lord by the fire. We sang about the relentless love of God that pursues us. I wondered if we could ever communicate that love to this boy, if ever he would know how deeply the Father desires and loves him. I wondered if he would struggle to forgive, or be able to understand a love from a Father who has allowed cancer to take all it has. He’s only 13.

Pray with me. Pray the Lord would be relentless in His love, relentless in His pursuit for this boy.

And physically, pray that the boy’s body would be strong and healthy to recover, something we rarely see.

December 11, 2011

Layne

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique

3 comments

Casa Ahava

A Jon Post

So we’re still here in Arizona. Sorry I’m a week late on this post. It feels like we’ve been busy but we’ve had an amazing time catching up with so many Godly men and women.

In sitting down with many of you, we’ve spoken about our future plans and what we would like to do in our ministry. We’ve tried to answer your many questions about what we do and what we hope to do.

As I listened to the questions that have been asked, I realized that I’ve not done a good job in communicating our heart and plans for Casa Ahava, what that means, where we are in the idea and what it holds. I hope this post makes that clear to those of you we haven’t had the chance to sit down with yet.

In our work in the hospital in Maputo, we focus on spending extended one-on-one time with people who have no one else. We try to give hope, life, a smile, and Christ in a place where pain, loneliness and death so often have victory. Our home has an extension behind it where there are two humble bedrooms joined by a bathroom in the middle with a storage/laundry area behind them. When we moved in to this home in June of this year we dreamed of renovating them, painting and furnishing them and offering them to friends at the hospital who would otherwise live in a single bed in a cold crowded room. The rooms began as water-damaged, surrounded by peeling paint, and covered in dirt. Just before we moved in a small team came to visit us. They caught the vision we had to create something beautiful. They worked tirelessly and where they left off I continued the job. At the end of October, two days before we left for America, we finished the renovations/painting/furnishing. I was even able to convert the small laundry/storage area into a kitchenette where guests can make their favorite food.

We are ready.

When we arrive back in Maputo in January we are eager to begin offering the space we have to people who need it much more than we do, pending hospital approval.

Below are some pictures of the work that was done. Just click on the pictures to advance inside the gallery. If you have any questions about this project, it’s funding, or really anything we do or hope to do I’d love it if you would leave that question in the comments. I will answer them the next time I post.

Before

TCF Team Working

Jon Working

Casa Ahava

November 27, 2011

Jon

Casa Ahava, Hospital Ministry

6 comments

Maputo, My Home

A Layne Post

I remember like it was yesterday…

We loaded up our new Land Cruiser with all of our possessions, said ‘good-bye’ to Botswana, a land we new knew well and loved well, and headed into the unknown. We were moving to Mozambique. For how long, we did not know. We had a temporary guest house lined up in the capital city of Maputo and a contact for a missionary couple we met once over lunch while in Portugal, but other than that, only the Lord knew.

Right after buying 'The Bison'

I knew Maputo was a large city, at least in comparison to what we knew in Botswana, and I had heard rumors of high crime rates. I found myself afraid. Driving into the city didn’t calm my fears. In fact, when we got to what I thought was ‘downtown’, I settled in my mind we wouldn’t be here long, that I could not possibly like this place. The traffic was crazy, it was dirty, hectic, and not for me. I kept telling myself it was temporary, and we’d head to Angola soon enough, back to the village life.

Traffic jam that took hours to get out of

Shortly after arriving we were invited by Alice to join her at her hospital ministry for their Christmas party; she asked if Jon would play a few Christmas carols on the violin, which he was happy to do. We enjoyed ourselves so much, we continued our visits, pushing through the uneasiness with Portuguese. Soon the majority of our friends in Mozambique were patients at the hospital.

Jon with men at the hospital '09

Layne with Mommies at hospital '09

Suddenly, however, we were provided the opportunity to go to Angola, and feeling a peace from the Lord, we decided to go. With a few days notice, we packed up. We left some of our possessions with friends here in Mozambique, assuring our return, if only to get our things and say proper goodbyes.

All loaded up and ready to go

It was on our way to Angola that the Lord began exposing the passion that had grown inside of us for continuing in the ministry of visitation, especially to the sick and the lonely. During our time in Angola we sought opportunities, however, we quickly realized that Maputo (that hectic, dirty city I was determined to dislike) was uniquely set up the type of ministry we were doing. A couple months later we found ourselves trekking back across the continent, but this time a little more sure of our future.

Our Home

Over the next year and a half we rented a house, made it a home, bought a dog, got pregnant, had Anaya, rented another house, made that one a home… we have made countless friends around the city, found all of our favorite little ‘spots’, visited nearby beaches, gotten used to police stops, learned to drive as aggressively, if not more so, than the other crazy city drivers… we have made some of the dearest friends at the hospital, loved them deeply, and lost too many… we’ve praised the Lord with shouts, wept bitterly, sang deeply, questioned endlessly, prayed earnestly, and we have found Him good.

And now, well, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Maputo, my home.

October 30, 2011

Layne

Hospital Ministry, Mozambique

2 comments