I heard from Barbara Rainford a day ago – “It’s cold and parts of England is covered in snow!” And so it is in London too, David Phillips tell me via Skype. It must be the ideal Christmas in England then, I though by myself. It’s the season. On Christmas morning most of us (kids included) turn their eyes towards the Christmas tree packed with gifts we often would really rather give to someone else (well … most of the time!) I remember my mom once bought my dad a lawnmower for Christmas. Can you imagine that? I ended up using it most of the time when my dad stared at the lawnmower ….. and that was the hint! Well, the lawnmower became my gift!
WOMEN REACHES THE 2 000 MARK
I have said much in the past about our Womens Ministry here in the bush. And can you believe it – the ladies grew from a mere 90 to more than 2 047 in a short space of time. And lets face it – it is never about the numbers – it’s something much more. They all have one dream that binds them together. “We would love to have a gift for Christmas!” When you are in Africa a “gift” has a total different meaning altogether. Don’t need no camera – no batteries or pc’s around here (come to think of it …… we have no electricity at all), don’t need no XBOX (that electricity thing again!), don’t need no daimond ring (where shall we wear it to?) ….. but there is ONE gift we long after.
PHOTO: A lady showing her skills after being taught in the many Women schools accross Mozambique.
GIFT? Yes, the ability to read and to write before Christmas. 2 047 ladies united again in 2010 to fulfill their dream. And they have worked hard. They came from everywhere and gather weekly in all parts of the country (specially in central and Northern Mozambique) to learn how to read and to write. And the greatest miracle of all is that they are using the Bible to do this. It is truely one of the biggest reasons why men would allow their wives to participate in the program ….. The Bible!
PHOTO: Teaching women literacy through the Bible on the border of Malawi.
In the process there are so many stories, miracles and the lady that proclaimed:
- “I can read ….. for the first time I can get into a bus and know where it is going by reading the signs.”
- Another proclaims: “I can now do my own mathematics …. I can count … the market is not a nightmare anymore.”
- Another lady says: “I can now teach my grandchildren to write their own names because I can write my own thanks to this program!”
They can all read and write before Christmas! What a great gift! And in the process they learn about the Greatest Gift ever – JESUS CHRIST.
If you want to be part of this program feel free to leave a message or contact us at lovemoz@sg.org.za