Dear Friends and Family,
After 20 hours in the air plus two layovers, we are back again with you, our friends and family. We learned many things and as always had a life changing experience. One of our team members is now planning to become a pastor, and obtained a recommendation from our own Rev. Julio Vilanculos from Mozambique.
Kay and Jerry visited the Cambini Carolyn Belshe Orphanage, a project of the New Milford United Methodist Church of Connecticut. They were not happy with what they saw, and will prepare a report including recommendations for the Mozambique Connection Executive Board. They were excited about the role the new Bishop Nhanala will play in programs in Mozambique, were happy to meet her and encouraged that she will continue to work to improve conditions at the orphanage. We all thank the retiring Bishop Machado for his leadership in the orphanage and other projects throughout Mozambique and are pleased to hear that many of his visions will continue into the future. Kay plans to take a leading role in coordinating information between conferences in our country and other parts of the world on projects in Mozambique. This should help make sure enough funding is obtained to continue projects until they are self-sufficient.
The Mozambique Connection team continued to focus on projects in the north conference of Mozambique where there is much need and less emphasis is given by other conferences. We are a small group, but are pleased to be able to follow capable Mozambican leadership on how we can together build our church in Mozambique. Assistant Bishop Joao Damiao encouraged us to continue our focus in the north.
The computer internet center is up and running and will benefit church administration, church members and the community. There are three wireless computers networked to a high speed connection.
We met Nelson, a new person in the north conference office, who is coordinating projects in the north. We brought to him news of the Heifer International contribution to be made from the New York Annual Conference to Mozambique of a yet unknown amount. He contacted the Mozambique Heifer International coordinator so that they can work together on Heifer projects.
It was too far for our team to travel to the recommended site of a possible health project connected with General Board of Global Ministries, so we left the health surveys given to us by Drs. Cherian and Kalinda Thomas with Nelson so that Mozambicans can collect needed information and apply for funding.
Nelson had already received information about the Milton Plyler funding and will be contacting them about agricultural projects and how Clemson College can be a part of that effort.
The Conference Center building project is progressing and we hope that with God's help and additional funding from our conference churches and the Connecticut District that it will be completed next August. This center is important so that Mozambicans have needed space to administer the many health, agricultural, and evangelistic projects they are leading now and can expand to others in the future.
The choir robes donated by churches in our conference were received with singing, dancing and great enthusiasm. We will be submitting an article with pictures for a future Vision newspaper publication. We saw choir robes previously donated in use by youth in a Beira city choir competition. The United Methodist Church choir came in 8th in the event that included over 50 choirs. What wonderful excitement we saw that Sunday afternoon as choirs listened to and supported each other. Everyone won in that wonderful event.
As you heard from the previous VIM team messages, the English and recorder classes went well. A contribution for the English classes to help continue them throughout the year was given by two previous VIMs from the Warwick UMC. The recorder class was new this year and was unexpectedly led by Arlene with the help of Julio, who was a quick study, as Martha and Annette headed for Lichinga on Tuesday accompanied by Assistant Bishop Joao Damiao.
Our mission in Lichinga was to observe the farm project and we are pleased we made the trip. There were some problems with this project but we were all encouraged with the responsible way the church leadership stepped up to improve the system and will oversee the management of both the funds and the project. New leadership was selected in Lichinga, and the north conference administration will be informed of continued progress of the farm. It was very interesting to observe the quiet but firm way Mozambicans solve problems. Accountability and documentation were strong components of the system. One of the laptops we brought with us will be designated for Lichinga to facilitate report writing and so that we can stay in good communication.
Americans and the approximately 80 Mozambicans who attended the memorial service for Thomas Arendt were moved by the words of Thomas' mother as they celebrated the life of Thomas and his reverence for the people of Mozambique. Although they do not practice cremation in the UMC in Mozambique they were touched by the experience of leaving a part of Thomas with them in the Indian Ocean.
We had a chance to visit several homes of Mozambicans; an opportunity you rarely get when traveling on a non - VIM trip. We had dinner in the home of Judge Jone and later in the home of Assistant Bishop Damiao. We visited a mud hut in Gasse, the apartment of one of our scholarship students and the home of the uncle of Stella who shares his three bedroom apartment with 12 family members. None had granite countertops, and somehow my priority of redoing the kitchen took a step back in importance!
The next general meeting of the Mozambique Connection is on September 20 from 10:00 -noon at our conference center in White Plains where team members will be sharing photos and stories with all. We would love to see you there, and of course you could always decide to become a Volunteer in Mission yourself and come with us to Mozambique next year.
God's blessings be with us all as together we build our church,
Annette Griffith
New York Annual Conference
VIM Co-leader 2008
Mozambique, Africa
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Team Beira
Dear Friends and Family,
We are all doing fine. We went to services this morning at three different places. We were thinking of you during the morning services. I gave a cross to Pastor Jacob of Central Church.
We are looking forward to coming home Tuesday. We had a good team and got a lot accomplished.
God bless you all,
John
Cambine, August 13, 2008
Just a few developments to report,
Tuesday we bought the paint to do all main buildings inside and out, and that will commence tomorrow. Repair work on windows and screens were completed today. The clothesline poles we had the metal shop make were installed in the ground today. When the concrete dries we will install the lines and they won't have to use the fence anymore.
Today was Craft and Music day. Kay did crafts at the orphanage and the after school program "Estrela", and Jerry taught recorder to the older kids with instructions to pass down the learning to smaller children. There were 7 in the class, and they did great. In about 1 hour they had learned Hot Cross buns, Mary Had a Little lamb, God is Good, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Also we saw a very rewarding sight today as we watched the kids eating bread they had nade in their oven and the milk we bought them on Monday
A couple of amendments to previous reports:
We forgot to mention something very important. On our way to Cambine our VIM coord., Armindo reminded us that Bishop Machado now lives about 2/3rds of the way to Cambine on the main road. We asked if we could stop and say hello, so he called and found out Bishop Machado was on his way to Maputo and that we should pass soon. Well we did. He saw us first and flashed his lights. We both pulled off the road and we crossed over and had a great 10 minute chat where he thanked us and the NYAC for all we were doing in Mozambique. We reminded him that 6 of our group was in Beira, which he remembered and thanked us for that as well. We thanked him for all he has done and wished him well in his retirement. Like the meeting with the new Bishop it was another example of being in the right place at the right time.
There was a mistake in the previous report. Virginia has pledged to build a new (third) dorm and a new dining building, but not money for food. In addition Marilyn passed along Missouri's reply on there ongoing support ($1,796 in 2007, and $980 YTD 2008) so we will include that in our calculations. The orphanage will definitely be short based on current known contributions for FY2009.
Tomorrow we will be going to Chicuque Hospital to see Jeremais, Edourdo and Claudia and will be taking to them medical supplies we brought with us,
If you have not gone on VIM Mission you can't imagine what a life changing experience it is. This is Kay's 2nd trip to Mozambique, but Jerry's 1st, and it will be hard to leave here, and even harder to get back to our normal life. De-briefing and follow-up however, will be a pleasure.
God's Grace to us all,
Kay and Jerry
Tuesday we bought the paint to do all main buildings inside and out, and that will commence tomorrow. Repair work on windows and screens were completed today. The clothesline poles we had the metal shop make were installed in the ground today. When the concrete dries we will install the lines and they won't have to use the fence anymore.
Today was Craft and Music day. Kay did crafts at the orphanage and the after school program "Estrela", and Jerry taught recorder to the older kids with instructions to pass down the learning to smaller children. There were 7 in the class, and they did great. In about 1 hour they had learned Hot Cross buns, Mary Had a Little lamb, God is Good, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Also we saw a very rewarding sight today as we watched the kids eating bread they had nade in their oven and the milk we bought them on Monday
A couple of amendments to previous reports:
We forgot to mention something very important. On our way to Cambine our VIM coord., Armindo reminded us that Bishop Machado now lives about 2/3rds of the way to Cambine on the main road. We asked if we could stop and say hello, so he called and found out Bishop Machado was on his way to Maputo and that we should pass soon. Well we did. He saw us first and flashed his lights. We both pulled off the road and we crossed over and had a great 10 minute chat where he thanked us and the NYAC for all we were doing in Mozambique. We reminded him that 6 of our group was in Beira, which he remembered and thanked us for that as well. We thanked him for all he has done and wished him well in his retirement. Like the meeting with the new Bishop it was another example of being in the right place at the right time.
There was a mistake in the previous report. Virginia has pledged to build a new (third) dorm and a new dining building, but not money for food. In addition Marilyn passed along Missouri's reply on there ongoing support ($1,796 in 2007, and $980 YTD 2008) so we will include that in our calculations. The orphanage will definitely be short based on current known contributions for FY2009.
Tomorrow we will be going to Chicuque Hospital to see Jeremais, Edourdo and Claudia and will be taking to them medical supplies we brought with us,
If you have not gone on VIM Mission you can't imagine what a life changing experience it is. This is Kay's 2nd trip to Mozambique, but Jerry's 1st, and it will be hard to leave here, and even harder to get back to our normal life. De-briefing and follow-up however, will be a pleasure.
God's Grace to us all,
Kay and Jerry
Update from Cambine
Greetings again from Cambine. It is Monday evening here. Today was a day of assessing needs for food and repairs and buying food and supplies. First on the food front. As we thought the budget and donations are not adequate for the monthly needs for food for the Orphanage at todays prices. To put it in perspective, the budget for food for year ending June 2008 was $581/month, and the budget requested for year ending June 2009 is $1186/month (double). The problem is that the only outside donation is Sweden at $375/month. So as prices rose each month this year there was not enough money to buy all the food that is needed. The shortfall has been partially offset by the fruit program supported by New Milford UMC, the bread made on a self funding basis by the new bread oven and vegetables and eggs from Dieudonne's farm. Texas conference has pledge $333/month but that hasn't started yet, and Virginia has pledged support but hasn't identified the exact amount for food. They want to build a third dorm, which is needed, and provide some food support for 2009.
Today we purchased one months supply of food with part of the money raised by New Milford UMC for our mission here. This should keep them from running out of food for a few months until we can get a better handle on Virginia and can see what the ongoing gap will be. We believe however that NYAC may need to do more in the future. As for the repairs there are 12 broken windows, 5 torn or missing screens, and both dorms need painting on the inside and out. One child is the primary reason for almost all of the damage. Today, again with money raised by New Milford, we purchased the supplies needed to fix the windows and screens,and that work will be completed tomorrow. Tomorrow we will buy paint and that work will be commenced on Wednesday. On a brighter note, the kids are just great., and there are many new ones, but not so many babies as three years ago. They have grown so much. We brought clothes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, toys, and candy, donated by New Milford church members, and it has been like Christmas around here for the kids and the seminary students. We brought two soccer balls, and Jerry who loves to play soccer has been playing with the older kids. We still have craft class (Kay) and Recorder class (Jerry) to squeeze in and that will start Wednesday afternoon we hope.
We are going to Chicuque hospital on Thursday to take the supplies collected by NMUMC medical professionals, and to Inhambane on Friday to see our first three scholarship students, Florencia, Elias and Castigo. They begin computer class soon and with a small facilitation payment we were able to get three laptops brought by two people through customs. We forgot to report that Sunday we attended worship at the UMC here, and it was beautiful, but all in there native language (not portuguese). We had hymnals but some of the words are hard to pronounce. Sunday afternoon we saw Candido, who says hello, and Anuario the young man that we support in college in Maxixe. You may not hear from us for a few days because we are going to be busy, but we just want everyone to know how important everything you have done to support our mission here has been. God bless you all, and all glory to Him.
Kay and Jerry
Maputo and Cambine
It is Saturday evening in Cambine. We arrived this afternoon having spent most of two days in Maputo. The Maputo meeting with the president of the Women's society went very well and then we got a fantastic opportunity. We got to spend three hours with the new Bishop Joaoquina Nhtnala, the first woman Bishop in Mozambique. Is she ever great, and very down to earth. We talked about our scholarship program for the orphanage, Cambine Orphanage in general and what we will be doing while we are there to help Dieudonne, and we talked about the NYAC and the Mozambique Connection. She was not very familiar, so talked about a lot of things. We think we did a good job for newcomers, and she is very appreciative of what we have and are doing and has a lot of ideas for new projects. One concept she talked about was linking up individual churches in the two conferences. She also asked to give her a report of what we found at Cambine. We will do a more complete report on our meeting with her when we return. Maybe at the September Meeting we can give the whole board an update on our discussions with her and what we found in Cambine. Dieudonne has a full schedule planned for the upcoming week which we reviewed with him shortly after we arrived. We will give a further update in a couple of days.
Kay and Jerry
Kay and Jerry
Hello everyone!
We are enjoying our time here in Mozambique! The trip has been a very welcome experience for all of us. Kim, Annette, John and Martha preached at church on Sunday and did an excellent job! They are finding themselves welcomed by the Mozambique people and learning their culture. Today they started their English and recorder classes which were enjoyed by students of all ages. Hope you're all well and we will write again soon. The VIM team
The 2008 VIM team:
In Beira:
Annette Griffith, UMC Monroe, CT
Arlene Hoose, Kaaterskill UMC, NY
John Olszewski, Warwick UMC, NY
Kim Cole, Harvest Chapel Free Methodist, Freedonia NY
Kaitlin Locascio, Rayne UMC, New Orleans
Martha Nelson, St. Peter's in the Great Valley, Malvern PA
In Cambini:
Kay Jones, New Milford UMC, CT
Jerry Jones, New Milford UMC, CT
The 2008 VIM team:
In Beira:
Annette Griffith, UMC Monroe, CT
Arlene Hoose, Kaaterskill UMC, NY
John Olszewski, Warwick UMC, NY
Kim Cole, Harvest Chapel Free Methodist, Freedonia NY
Kaitlin Locascio, Rayne UMC, New Orleans
Martha Nelson, St. Peter's in the Great Valley, Malvern PA
In Cambini:
Kay Jones, New Milford UMC, CT
Jerry Jones, New Milford UMC, CT
Beira
Dear Friends and Family,
We are in our second full day in Beira, Mozambique and things are going well. That means we are all being flexible with whatever happens! At the welcome ceremony last night our Mozambican friends spoke of missing Henry, Enid, Cynthia and Thomas. There will be a memorial service for Thomas tonight with many present who met Thomas two years ago.
The 4 computers we brought are working well. Thank you Henry for locating the donations and Bob for working on their set up. Tomorrow we are going to four separate churches to speak. John, Kim, Martha and Annette will be speaking. Next Sunday will be Kaitlin and Arlene's turn.
Today the youth are meeting with Kaitlin and Kim, the women with Martha, Annette and Arlene, and the men with John. We hope to write more often now that the internet is connected to our network.
Annette Griffith
2008 VIM Co-team leader
Beira, Mozambique, Africa
We are in our second full day in Beira, Mozambique and things are going well. That means we are all being flexible with whatever happens! At the welcome ceremony last night our Mozambican friends spoke of missing Henry, Enid, Cynthia and Thomas. There will be a memorial service for Thomas tonight with many present who met Thomas two years ago.
The 4 computers we brought are working well. Thank you Henry for locating the donations and Bob for working on their set up. Tomorrow we are going to four separate churches to speak. John, Kim, Martha and Annette will be speaking. Next Sunday will be Kaitlin and Arlene's turn.
Today the youth are meeting with Kaitlin and Kim, the women with Martha, Annette and Arlene, and the men with John. We hope to write more often now that the internet is connected to our network.
Annette Griffith
2008 VIM Co-team leader
Beira, Mozambique, Africa
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