BUSH BEAT: August 2005

Brad was invited to supper where Dave Lepoidevin, MAF pilot, made the introductions. After a good bit of Texas talk, Brad left with me the next morning for the 7 hour drive to Balama. Due to his flight schedule, Brad had only 24 hours to see our work, so not a moment could be wasted. We talked for 7 hours on the drive to Balama. Brad & Jennifer have extensive training & mission's experience in several countries including Moz. They worked for 4 months at a mission in Central Moz. (living in a tiny mud hut with 2 small boys), so they are well broke in, & are truly "bush people" or they wouldn't have come back! Brad was essential in getting our heavy brick machine off the transport truck by using a come-a-long & some tow ropes. The mixer weighs 1,600 lbs, so this was no little task. Brad, an auto mechanic by trade, put his skills to work, & saved all of us a lot of grief.

To hook the come-a-long to the tree, he had to climb it first. I got a good look at a Texas monkey while he did it! The brick press is on it's own trailer, & rolled off the truck easily at our local "loading dock". (The same old housing foundation that helped us get the tractor off a truck in 2001.) Brad tells us that Jennifer is a gourmet cook, so that has our mouths watering as we eagerly await their arrival. 

Radhika Mittapalli & Stephen Lazar from Tulsa, with Brenda Dorrance from Denver, are scheduled to arrive in early Oct. to help us with Children's Ministry & Bible Training for 2-3 months. Rad has been here twice before, & we are grateful that she continues to find other well trained missionaries who are willing to come help! 

POSITION STILL OPEN FOR ORPHAN/NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR 

ORPHAN/NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM needs someone with a love for widows & children. I would train the applicant to oversee this program with the help of our Pastoral staff & a local nurse. If interested, please write me directly. 

YOUTH PASTOR STILL NEEDED Qualifications: Male or Female with Bible school & sports aptitude to help lead our childen's & teens sports evangelism program. Please contact me at my bushmail address below. 

ERIC & THE HYDRAFORM BRICK MACHINE 

Eric is always teasing me about my snake stories, so he has now started his own collection. He & 2 men were clearing land under a large mango tree for the brick production when they uncovered a 2 foot black mamba in the brush. The workers are experienced snake killers, & made short work of this one. It was a cool morning which made the snake sluggish, & the brush kept it from having a clear strike. God's angels never sleep, & we are eternally grateful for that! Not as heart stopping as finding one under your bed at night, but it still gives an adrenalin rush! 

Eric & a 6 man crew are now turning out concrete bricks at the rate of 100 plus/hour with our hydraulic brick press & mixer. In a matter of 6 days (vs. 4 weeks) this crew produced 2900 bricks to build Eric's tool room which is so badly needed. Most of the ministry tools are locked in my house at present, as it is the only secure place with any storage room! These interlocking bricks, which need no mortar, cost $0.16 each to make, compared to the $0.30 for the cinder blocks we made with our old hand pressed machine at the rate of 120/day. This machine will speed up our construction process as well as save many dollars in the building of the orphan houses & the industrial school. The bricks need NO MORTAR & NO CONCRETE for plastering as the walls are naturally beautiful. Once we have finished our building projects, we plan to train a team of men to run it as a fund raiser for our ministry's self sufficiency program. People are already inquiring if we they could buy bricks from us. 

MADELINA IS GROWING UP! 

Many of you have followed the story of Madelina, our orphan suspected of having AIDS. At 2.5 years she weighed only 10 lbs., was too weak to sit up by herself, & was failing to grow, even though she ate 6 high protein meals a day. Most AIDS babies die at 2.5 years, & I was preparing my heart for her departure. Last Sept. we started her on Hypo Plus, the new miracle working food supplement that builds the immune system, & puts AIDS into remission. She got stronger, but still did not gain weight. We then starting her on Hypo Plus' super powered "mealie pop" (creamy corn cereal), especially made for malnourished children. Within 8 weeks we saw a weight gain & it hasn't stopped. 

ORPHAN FALLS INTO AN OLD WATER WELL 

Franquina (Frances), a 12 year old orphan girl in our program, lives with her blind grandmother in one of our houses for widows. On Aug. 30th she was playing at a friend's house near a dry, hand dug water well about 25 ft. deep & 3 ft. in diameter. She slipped & fell head first into the well. Landing with hands extended (breaking her right wrist & injuring her shoulder), saved her from breaking her neck. 

We were hard at work with several projects at the mission, when the village President came running to beg a ladder in order to get her out. Our ladder is only 12 feet long, so a 2nd ladder of bamboo had to be constructed on site to place on top of our ladder in order to rescue her. It was no easy job, but our men soon had her out so we could take her to the hospital. Her wrist was obviously fractured & dislocated. Anesthesia is not available in Balama, so she had to suffer through the setting of her arm with only a simple pain killer. 

She is now out of the hospital, & is being well cared for by her blind grandmother & another family member. One of my "soap boxes" has been the danger of OPEN WATER WELLS in this community. With this incident, the local authorities are finally seeing what a great danger this is, even to the older kids. I'm pushing to have mandatory covers put on all the local wells before someone else's child suffers this or worse. 

YOUR FAITHFUL LOVE GIFTS ARE MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR OVER 550 KIDS IN MOZ. & ZAMBIA TO LIVE A BETTER LIFE & GET A GOOD EDUCATION. OUR KIDS & O.U STAFF SEND OUR HEART FELT THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR SENDING YOUR LOVE SO THEY CAN KNOW JESUS & HAVE A HEALTHY FUTURE. IT IS OUR VISION TO SAVE THE LIVES OF 1000'S OF ORPHANS & MALNOURISHED KIDS IN REMOTE AREAS OF MOZ. & ZAMBIA. 

Each year, I visit the USA to personally bring updates of our work by speaking to many in churches & interested groups. To save more lives, we must expand our partnership by getting more people to catch the Lord's vision for these kids. MULTIPLY YOUR GIVING BY GETTING OTHERS TO PARTNER WITH OUR VISION. TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE NATIONS THROUGH IT'S KIDS. SPEAK TO YOUR CHURCH OR MISSIONS DIRECTOR. If they are interested in talking to me about a visit, then send me their email address. If you know of interested Christian groups (home cells, Bible studies, breakfast groups, etc.), Missions Conferences, or Christian Schools, then please introduce me to their leaders. 

USA SPEAKING TOUR FOR 2006 

Those on e-mail know that I will begin my USA speaking tour on January 13, 2006 in Portland, Oregon. I am available for speaking invitations in the USA from January 23 to March 31. The schedule is filling up, so if you would like me to speak in your area: 

1. please send me a direct e-mail ASAP via my address below.