(This was written Tuesday Dec 4^th)

Here I am knowing I need to write but unsure of what I am to say. So much time has gone by since a real update. So much has happened in that time. Much of what I do here is truly a labor and if it were not for love I could not do it at all or at best it would be ineffective. The name “Labor of Love” continues to reveal itself as more appropriate and prophetic than I understood when given it 16 years ago.

As of 2 weeks ago I have stepped into a “hospitality” position. The lady who had been doing it felt God was leading her back home to South Africa. I am doing most of the face to face help with welcoming visitors giving tours and answering questions and I live in the compound where they stay. Another missionary oversees the room preparations, maintenance of the compound and airport and town runs. This has added much to my daily routine and at times has tested and stretched me to the extremes yet I know that I was to volunteer to help in this way. I would not have taken it on apart from much prayer for confirmation. In the midst of the testing it has been wonderful to connect with people from all over the world … so far… England, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canada and the US.

Art classes have been improving. It enables me to connect in special ways with the children. Last week we did a special project and Christmas cards for Papa Rolland and Mama Heidi that went into a scrapbook. Heidi arrived back on Saturday for a brief visit and we wanted to send it back with her. I finished a drawing just days before that which I was able to get copied and include in their book. It was from a photo I took on a previous visit and as I drew it the phrase “we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children” kept coming to mind. I looked it up and it is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:7. It seemed so “on target” when considering the many thousands of children’s lives that have been touched and changed by their mother’s and father’s heart. This week we will start with Christmas decorations but I must admit it “feels” nothing like Christmas as I have known it most of my life. The temperature has been climbing and mangos are in season! Heidi is throwing a Christmas party at the beach this afternoon for our children and the village children … totally fun … totally chaos … most likely some of both! After that we have our staff Christmas party. It is quite early to accommodate Heidi being here and the missionaries who begin what will seem a mass exodus in the coming days to go home or elsewhere for the holiday.

{It is now Dec 23^rd)

There never seems to be an end to the demands on my energy and attention and I must admit I am feeling very in need of an escape right now but want to get this out. Without a vehicle there is really only one place to escape to and it would be unsafe for me to walk there with my computer. So I am tucked into a little corner of the gazebo that houses my kitchen. It is very hot but there is a great breeze. Since I’ve updated last Holy Given School had its graduation. Some students left and others stayed and went on a 10 day outreach and returned this week. There have been many more people in and out of here. Hundreds of decorations have been made and get passed out tomorrow evening so that all the dorms and the dining area can get decked out for Christmas Eve candlelight service. We will then have popcorn and ice cream, thanks to a specific donation for this, a huge treat for kids and adults alike! J Christmas morning we (long term missionaries, students and visitors will bring presents to our kids dorms. I have the baby house. J We will stay and play with them for about 2 hours and then go for our Christmas meal for all Iris people. After that we will serve dinner to the community people, kids and adults, and hand out gifts to the children. We had a great plan to avoid riots and mass chaos but this morning there was something announced that ruined that plan! I have not yet heard if the announced situation has been reversed or rescheduled … greatly appreciate prayer coverage!!!

I still feel at a loss to explain day to day life here … and my day to day is much different from those who do the outreaches. On outreaches there have been so many miracles; salvations, blind seeing, deaf hearing, people being delivered and set free. Yea God! Yet day to day life as a whole is very difficult. There is such great darkness and need yet also those whose stories are based out of greed and deception. There is great need for discernment.

Just over a month ago I grieved in a way unlike ever before. I found out that Sabina, a little 5 yr old girl from the village that I am friends with was raped … or enticed into sex in exchange for some rice! To make matters worse many of the other village children were taunting her and telling her she was bad because of it! This has all been investigated and she has been checked out medically. She did contract a STD and was put on meds. The results for the HIV test will not be back until Jan 6th and I need to call for the results. The man was never identified. She and I had a “special day” yesterday. She was with me from about 7:30 am - 4 pm. We ate breakfast together, she played at my room and then we went out for lunch and a swim at the beach. I found a stuffed Dora doll at a Goodwill store this past summer and just knew I needed to buy it to bring with me to Africa. I know Dora is not African but it is still great to have a doll with brown skin, hair and eyes. Even before coming I prayed to know who I should give it to. I believe Sabina is my answer. I am giving it to her for Christmas.

Last Sunday at church as a young girl was transferring a baby to her back from the back of another girl I saw the baby had witchcraft cords and fetishes tied on in three places. This is very common here and also grieves me so.

Electricity and water are randomly non-functioning. Laundry is done by hand. I do have a precious Mozambican woman named Bertina who helps me 1 x a week but I still wash things in between. I am very grateful to have moved 2 weeks ago (third place in 3 months) because I now have a bathroom!!! (And very few ants) There are a couple of drawbacks - it is much hotter and also darker in this room. I have only 1 window in the front and a very small one in the back of the bathroom. There is a wall just a few feet behind it so really no air comes from that direction. A strong box fan would be great to draw air through the place but haven’t seen such a creature here as of yet!

We have goats and chickens on the property. In just the past few days I have had to chase the goats out of the visitor center because they were eating the banana trees which were just planted. I had to correct children for suddenly deciding they wanted to kill some chickens to eat - even though it was at the exact time that lunch was being served! This morning I was set to begin a tour for new group of visitors which included many young men. One of older girls came in and said that she needed to ask me something. As I approached where she was I saw she was wearing a very provocative skirt even for western standards but especially for this culture! I needed to excuse myself from the group for a moment to ensure she went back to her dorm to change. She shortly after apologized to me and I got to really pour into her about her true beauty and attraction and the dangers of soliciting the other kind of attention. Much of my days energies are spent doing things parents do … but there are so many more children! This afternoon after typing on this for a while I was much more peaceful and refreshed and took a walk. On my way saw about 10 of our little boys swimming in one of the cisterns … yes … this is not good! I was on my way to a little Mozambican gift shop. I am friends with one of the painters there. I was given an acrylic paint set and papers by a visitor from England who said that their artist friend sent it with them to give to an artist. He gave it to me but I knew it was just to pass through me and go to Johnny. Mission accomplished. Upon returning I went to the kitchen and got some rice and Matapa, put it in my kitchen and went in search of another little girl, Fatima, who lives right outside the top gate of the center. On my way I encounter a group of about 12 of our young to middle age girls. Two of them were drumming on an upside down plastic wash bucket and the rest were singing and dancing. I absolutely love it! I stayed briefly and then continued my search for Fatima. No one answered at her house so I enter the center again and am at the top of a big hill by our school. There is a full moon and I have an amazing view of the ocean. I take in this beautiful sight and again my spirit is refreshed. I head back down the hill and stop and enjoy the girl’s activity for longer. Then my name is being called by other girls sitting in a gazebo off in the distance. I go over there and they show me pictures that they made with supplies I gave them this morning. They are excited to decorate their rooms for Christmas. There were 4 girls there, one named Viaze, whom I had begun to connect with when I was here last. When I returned this time she was different … she seemed tougher. I found out recently that during the time I was away she went to spend some time in a village with some family members. She was apparently asked repeatedly for things and threatened with a curse for not giving what they demanded. Upon returning here there was a situation where she literally ended up with razor like cuts on her legs due to this curse. Witchcraft is not harmless childs-play. Even this morning as I saw her at church I prayed for her and prayed that God would allow me to connect with her again. Hours later I am with these 4 girls, Viaze one of them and they are full of laughter and play. Viaze then says that her head is hurting and I pray for her. She lays her head in my lap and asks me to come see her room tomorrow. Thank you Jesus! Ok, so now it is dark and I tell the girls I need to go back and eat. As I leave the place I immediately see one our visitors with Sabina. They had taken her to eat and swim with their 5 yr old daughter but then she wouldn’t walk home. She kept motioning to this visitor that she wanted to come to the center to eat. Dinner was over here. What she wanted was to get some food to take home. So I went and got the rice that I had put in my kitchen earlier, put it in a plastic bag for her and off she went. At home this would horrify us, a five yr old girl out on her own all day, pretty much every day, and walking home after dark. But this is Sabina’s world and to some extent a part of this culture. Her mother died in childbirth or shortly after. Dad lives in another city and grandma who she lives with is an extreme alcoholic since the passing of her husband.

Monday of last week I was able to listen to and pray for a South African woman and her 11 yr old daughter who came driving into the center in the midst of crisis. It’s a long story but they have lived here in Pemba for 8yrs and the marriage is very abusive, 3 children involved. It was a “God appointment”. It is always great to see something that was painful in my life be used to help another and to give God glory.

We received two new children at the center last week. One is a beautiful baby girl who was 6 days old when she arrived. Her mom died during a ceasarian delivery. She, Agira, looks to be in very good health. There was also a little boy, about 10 yrs old who walked in one day. (I just found this out today.) Both of his parents are dead and he was living with a grandparent. Somebody told him of us and he got on a bus and took about a 2 hr drive here! So we have had 2 Christmas arrivals.

There is one last thing I will share. Last Thursday I was trying to work on getting decorations organized in the art room which doubles as the Preschool in the mornings. The children were playing with homemade play dough compliments of a visitor. As they played they laughed and sang. I heard this amazing voice and thought that maybe one of the older children had come in. I looked around and didn’t see anybody extra. Later I was up getting more supplies and again heard that voice. I turned around to see whose mouth movement matched the song. It was Cassilma a little girl I have known since my second trip here and the one whose picture Meghan used at the top of my web page. The hair on my arms literally stood up. Here’s this little 6 year old girl with a voice that I thought was coming from not only somebody older but I was thinking a boy because it is so deep. Wow - I totally sensed the presence and anointing of the Lord in her song and it was a highlight of my day!

I know this is long but maybe this will explain both why I am not so good at writing and some of what my life consists of here. Most nights I am exhausted mentally and physically but I praise God that I have remained very healthy (with the exception of messing up my knee a month ago). There have been only 3 days since arriving where I have been able to totally get away to Murrebue, a remote beach. I have heard of a little family owned campground that I may try to go to for a couple of days after the New Year starts. So, life here is pretty demanding but at the same time I am so blessed and thankful to be here. As I was finishing this off, now the morning of the 24^th, Romans 8:18 came to mind. I looked it up and it says … “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. Amen!

God bless you all as you celebrate the birth of Jesus and all that is available because of His arrival!

With love,

Laura