A year of my life…
Feature Footprints Story
Lyches, mangos, cashews, amazing sunsets, and prawns by the sea…these are merely small delights in comparison to the joy of getting to know and love the Mozambiquan people. By far our most treasured moments here are in the community.
Being nurses on the mission and in the community, where the need is so great, can be trying. Multiple times throughout a day people are knocking on our door: some asking for food to eat, some for clothes to wear, and some for money to catch the local taxi or to buy medicine. One day we sat on a rickety, wooden bench in the community, and people came one by one with their medical needs, and we remembered Jesus on earth, constantly approached by the masses, and his faithful retreats to the Father for strength and understanding.
Amid some of the hard reality, serving the Lord here has been a joy. On a recent community-nursing visit we met a woman named Amelia. She was dying of Aids, lacking even strength to walk to the bathroom, and was forced to do so at the end of her bed. In Jesus’ name we were able to clean this woman’s house, cook her food, bathe her and clothe her.
One Sunday afternoon we visited the prison in town, a very harsh place where prisoners receive no food and, without family or friends to care for them, certainly starve. Some of the men were wearing only rags and looked as though they hadn’t eaten in months; some looked dreadfully sick. We sang and played the guitar for them, and as we played it was amazing to see their hardened, suffering faces soften for just a little while.
Though God has called us to Mozambique to serve Him as nurses, we understand that we can serve here best as scaffolding: assisting with projects to streamline this ministry, such as building an orphan and patient database, helping establish a new RHBC central ministry site, and fostering international awareness and support for this incredible work. These things will build capacity to last long after we are gone.
We think back to the 3 months’ Footprints preparation in South Africa, so pivotal in preparing us for what was to come in Mozambique. We were blessed to be led there by men and women of deep integrity and passion in their love for the Lord, to be led through such a wide gamut of experiences—meeting with village chiefs, local Christian leaders, and even witch doctors—all helping us understand the wonderful African people.
Sometimes we can’t believe how far we’ve come. Recently, glancing into our rear view mirror, we saw a sea of Mozambiquan faces in our car and were filled with joy and felt so very grateful that God has called us to this, our promised land, to love these precious people a fraction of how much He loves them.
Love, Sarah and Ginna
Sarah and Ginna were part of the inaugural intake of Footprints volunteers in August 2006. View thier blog here.