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BUSH BEAT: August/September 2006LIONS IN OUR WAREHOUSE? (Sort of over kill for the rat problem, don't you think?) SIX LIONS literally roared into the town of Meluco on Aug. 23rd at 3 a.m., with 2 of them prowling the area just 200 yards from Operation Rescue's mud hut headquarters. "Being terrified" was an understatement according to the Orphans Unlimited Project Manager, Sylvai, & our Pastor Albino. No one was mauled during their 2 day stay in the area, but then no one dared go outside their bamboo fence! Local trackers followed the lions till they crossed a nearby mountain. All seemed backed to normal, until Sept. 3rd, when 2 adult lions & their 2 cubs paid a midnight visit to our new mission site (1 mile out of town). They seemed to like the warehouse construction area best as they played in our sand piles. I arrived the next day & was shown their paw prints. MY HAND SPREAD FROM THUMB TO LITTLE FINGER BARELY COVERED THE ADULT PRINTS! Those were big lions! ANGELS ON DUTY: Our guard was sleeping with our building supplies in our newly constructed mud hut which didn't yet have a door. All 4 lions walked right past the hut without entering. Pastor Albino had led this man to Christ just 10 days before this incident, & he cannot praise Jesus enough for the protection he was given that night. Nothing like a hungry lion passing you by to make you an instant believer in the Lord's protection! BOUNCING BUNNY August & September were super busy months for me, as Eric had to go to South Africa for knee surgery. I truly felt like a bouncing bunny as I traveled between Meluco & Balama each week (5 hr. drive each way), to keep both programs moving. Thanks to my 2 Mozambican Program Directors, Ali & Sylvai, everything went smoothly. Without them it would have been impossible to get Operation Rescue off the ground so quickly. It was a great relief to me when Eric returned Sept. 7th, healed & ready to transport the food from Balama to Operation Rescue (7 hour drive each way). Wilber & Shirley Wilson from Portland, OR arrived at the same time. Shirley is teaching English & Bible to our teenage boys in Balama, & helping out at the pre-school. Wilber is helping Eric with the trucking & mechanical work. Thanks to Andy Gonzalez & his snake eating habit, my workers now think that all Americans want to eat snakes. They brought a gift of a dead adder (rattle snake family) to the Wilsons right after their arrival. Needless to say, it took them by surprise, but they managed to convey the message that they weren't hungry. OPERATION RESCUE FOOD DISTRIBUTION BEGINS WITHIN 7 WEEKS OF BREAKING GROUND On Sept. 21st, the large food warehouse was ready (despite the lions), & Eric used our newly donated 6 ton Nissan truck to haul in the first load of corn & beans for the orphans. This was no easy task as he had to maneuver over 2 difficult bridge crossings, & a dry river bed, where a bridge, 40 yards long, had collapsed in heavy rains last March. Thanks to a local logging firm, the river crossing was made easier as they constructed an alternative crossing area for their heavy logging trucks. Our truck went through it easily, as it could not climb up the steep embankment used by pick-up trucks. Over 90 children have been registered in the program in the 7 weeks we have been working in Meluco, & THANKS TO YOUR GENEROSITY, all are now receiving weekly food packets. Within the next 2 months, that number will increase to 500+ as we reach out to the 20+ remote villages in this county. There is an estimated 1,200 orphans in this county needing help & the children are wasting no time flowing in. TESTIMONIES FROM MELUCO (Meh-loo-koo, the county where Operation Rescue is working) Grandmothers or aunts are the caretakers for most of the 500+ orphans is this area. Many tell a similar story. Within the last 2 years, their daughters or sisters & husbands have died from either diarrhea due to dirty drinking water, AIDS, or malaria. A few have died of TB or heart problems. Some of these women are doing an EXTRAORDINARY JOB. Testimony #1: An AUNT, recently widowed, is caring for 10 children. The aunt's sister & her husband died of "unknown" reasons. AIDS is suspected. The aunt was widowed some time ago, so she is now the sole caretaker for her own 6 kids as well. When we visited her house, some of the older kids were in the family field helping the aunt to harvest her Mandioca root (a starvation food that fills the belly with carbohydrates, but has no nutritional value). We found home made silos of bamboo & mud holding other "starvation foods" such as monkey beans, & small seeds usually only eaten by birds. During my 16 years in Moz., I've never seen any widow with such a large variety of starvation foods. Most of these foods provide little nutrition, but they will keep you alive. She received YOUR GIFT of corn & beans with great joy. The children were fitted with clothing & they will receive food weekly. WITH YOUR CONTINUED HELP, all the children will be able to register in school as the new term begins in January, 2007. Testimony #2: A GRANDMOTHER with a deformed leg, who walks with difficulty, is raising her 3 orphaned grandchildren. The children's parents both died the same day from AIDS. Contaminated drinking water caused diarrhea which finished their weak bodies. The Grandmother & orphans live in a house belonging to a relative. It's in sad shape as the roof is almost gone. No pit toilet (outhouse) or bathing area exists. We offered to fix the grass roof & dig her a pit toilet as they use a nearby field for a bathroom. She was overjoyed. The village chief advised us to NOT FIX her house. He says if we repair her house that her relative will throw her out, & sell the house once we make it nice. The chief offered to give us land near the only hand pump water well in the area, IF WE WOULD BUILD HER A HOUSE. Our present funds are limited to food & clothing for these kids, but with your help, we hope to be able to do this before the rains come in November. Basically every widow's hut we visited needed roof repairs & most have no bathroom. $400 will build a new mud hut with outdoor kitchen & bathroom, made of local bamboo, & grass. $100 will put a new grass roof on a widow's hut. $30 will build a Bathing area with pit toilet. If you would like to build or repair a widow's mud hut, then please put A NOTE WITH YOUR GIFT SAYING "MUD HUT" as we have local men ready to do the work. BUSH BIKERS FOR CHRIST (BBC) As I talked with the orphans in each village, I found 1 in 50 who knew who God was & none had ever heard of Jesus. The only 2 pastors for the whole county were with me, & even they were shocked! Our newly birthed Living Waters Church only has 5 members, but the Assembly of God has 35. With your help, we would like to MOBILIZE LOCAL CHURCH MEMBERS ON BICYCLES to take the gospel to the kids in each village. These pastors & I would train them in children's ministry & hold a Kid's Bible Story Time each week in as many villages as we can reach. We have at least 10 church members willing to receive training & help us to educate the children. Single gear Mountain bikes cost $90 each. TOGETHER WE CAN SPREAD THE LOVE OF JESUS TO THE UNREACHED KIDS OF OPERATION RESCUE! Blessings & Love, Bush Bunny Brenda, President Eric Dry, Associate Director The Balama & Meluco Staff Or donate online now.
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