Posts from Around the World

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted 13 May 2012
By Laura

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Joyce, in little Barnegat, New Jersey! I’m so thankful you’re my mom! Thanks for all your love for me and being my biggest cheerleader!

Happy Mother’s Day as well this year to all the special moms who have joined me in Momz for Moz, praying for my boys this month with your mother’s hearts! I am so blessed by your joining me in this journey!

Brothers!

Posted 12 May 2012
By Laura

One of my funnest ideas that God has given me in my work with the boys has been to match them up in “brothers” while they are living in the dorm. It started a few years ago when I had a broader age range of boys, some up to eleven years old. As they were getting bigger, we were getting bigger problems, including a lot of hitting for no real reason.

While driving alone in the car one day, I felt God literally drop this idea in my head – “put them in brothers.” I was like, “brothers? what do you mean brothers? is this you God?” In praying and thinking if through, the beginnings of a plan took shape on that drive.

I could see all kinds of value for the littler guys – they could get hand me down clothes, the older ones could help them learn to tie their shoes, and look out for them, etc. But I couldn’t think of a selling point for the older ones. I needn’t have worried – they loved they idea and jumped right on it. And the hitting decreased by about 80% overnight.

We’ve done brothers ever since and the boys love it. It helps the older kids feel responsible for someone else, and sometimes respected. It helps the little ones feel cared for and sometimes spoiled. I don’t have to invest a lot more work into the program they naturally sort themselves out in all kinds of brotherly situations.

I’m very behind (this should have been done in January) but I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it this year because I had changed the rooms this year for the first time to be mixed ages so I thought maybe it wasn’t necessary. But I kept thinking about it, asked my Tias if they thought it would still be good and they said it really would be helpful.

So, the oldest three of each room got to choose two “little brothers” from within their room. They are so excited. I wish I had had my camera ready but I’m still not sure it would have captured Felix’s proud smile when he was selected as the older brother (the Mano) to choose little brothers. He was thrilled! They all were but he was especially delightful.

For me, it’s also a step toward remembering basic family structures and trying to bring some of that into play in our very different setting.

Please keep our little groups of “brothers” in prayer, that God will work in them the natural family connections that are often lacking in a setting as large as ours.

This idea really came to me straight from God – a divine inspiration as I call it – so it must be valuable! And look how excited they all look!

President’s Announcement an “Obamanation” (Sorry – couldn’t resist the pun!)

Posted 11 May 2012
By Jennie Joy

Yesterday, I wanted to write a blog about the President’s announcement regarding his “evolution” of opinion about homosexual marriage, but as I sat in front of the computer screen trying to organize the volcano of thoughts into an essay, cursor blinking away and precious seconds of my day ticking by,
I asked the Lord, “Should I take time for this now?”

“No need,” was the peaceful sense I received. So, I closed the computer and set off about my day.

Today, when a family member pointed me to this article by Ken Ham, I resonated with what he said because, as usual, he stands on the authority of Scripture. I’ve often wanted to blog about the importance of submitting ourselves to the Word of God rather than making the Word of God submit to us. I had to submit to the Word of God when I struggled with homosexuality – and as I cried out to God to help me live the life He wanted for me, His grace was sufficient and His power was made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Anyway, you can read the Ken Ham response HERE. It’s good.

(My series of posts on homosexuality and healing)

It’s All Worth It . . .

Posted 9 May 2012
By Laura

This precious boy is two years old. He weighs about 6 kilos – about 13 pounds. Six months ago, he was a healthy, chubby, happy little boy of normal weight and health.

He had been living with his mom but in November, his father came and took him and went away to the north with him. The mom went to the police and got documents that she could take to the police in Gaza where the father was living with a new wife. All of this takes a long time.

The mom came to our ministry to help with finances for the bus ride to Gaza where she went to the police and they went to the father’s home with her, where she discovered her son in this condition. Can you imagine her mother’s heart? Why? Who knows? Did the father not know how to care for him? Was he too poor to feed him? Why go to the trouble of stealing him away only to neglect him so horribly? All questions to which we’ll never have an answer, satisfactory or otherwise.

The mom went and got her son last week and then came here to see if our clinic could help him. Our reintegration team took one look at him and suggested he stay with us for a couple months while we help him recover. As they sat in our dining area, one by one my Tias entered and each one gasped in shock when they saw him, as they remembered a happy, pudgy little boy.

This little one will not live in my dorm, he’ll be in the Baby House being lovingly cared for. And, this little one will shortly return to live with his mom who obviously wants her son.

But many other children whom we’ve received in these conditions do not go home to loving families. They stay with us and grow up with us and I have the privilege of loving and caring for them.

These are the situations that remind me that what I am doing here in Mozambique is one of the most rewarding and wonderful jobs in the world! Any sacrifices I might make to be here pale in comparison to the joy of loving these little ones as they were created to be loved.

Certainly my days are often filled with frustration and overwhelming moments – there are simply so many precious ones wanting my time and energy and attention. But I am reminded that anything I do on behalf of the “least of these” is as if I’ve done it to the Lord Jesus himself – what a privilege! Thank you for partnering with me in this work my friends and loved ones!

Momz for Moz–Week One Already Over!

Posted 7 May 2012
By Laura

It has been such a blessing this past week to know that over 50 women and their children have been praying for my boys this past week, daily, by name! What a privilege to have people from so many parts of the world partnering with me in this adventure!

If you know anyone who wanted to join, it’s not too late, they are welcome to contact me and I’ll still send them a photo and bio – all of my boys have at least two women praying for them but we can always have more!

The photo above is of a family who was reunited earlier this year. The twins and the youngest al lived in my dorm. I don’t know the details of their story, why they were with us, but their father AND mother and grandmother came to get them and they’ve become a united family again. This is one of my hopes and prayers for all of my boys – for God to do a work in the families so that they can provide a loving, healthy home for their children (grandchildren, nephews, cousins – any family connection is wonderful!). Even if you aren’t participating in Momz for Moz, please join me in this prayer!

Going home!

Asleep in the Light

Posted 6 May 2012
By Jennie Joy

A prophetic call to the church – echoing here on youtube so many years after Keith Green recorded it – yet still relevant.

Don’t Abort

Posted 5 May 2012
By Jennie Joy

Today, I am reminded that God places promises inside of us to grow and mature and to be birthed. But, as Heidi Baker teaches in the video below, after the power of God overshadows us, we will have many opportunities to abort the process by choosing to give up on His promise. Sometimes I need to be reminded of this, because I carry inside a promise that I will not see fulfilled unless I yield to the Spirit of God.

If God’s given you a promise, you will need tenacity to hold onto it in face of challenges, people misunderstanding, and all sorts of other trials. Aborting the promise may seem like a good option at times… at least giving up would be easier…

In the middle of the waiting – or the contending – or the nearly-giving-up, may we all hear the Lord whisper, “You just hold your course. Stay in My presence.”

Let’s hold the course by fixing our eyes on Jesus, and we will see God fulfill through our lives the fulness of what He dreams. His Kingdom come – His will be done!

“You can’t fulfill your destiny with your own strength, but you can yield yourself to the destiny of God all the days of your life.” -Heidi Baker

Summertime–and the reading is easy!

Posted 3 May 2012
By Laura

I’m taking a master’s course, semi-distance, in Organizational Leadership. The classes are fantastic and the books are fascinating – usually – but it is nice to be able to read something different without required reading hanging over your head, about 1000 pages per class!

I just finished writing my last paper for the Spring semester. That means I am 2/3 done with my master’s, only one year to go! (Already dreaming of a second master’s – Holocaust Studies. It’s just a dream though. I know I can just read the books but the discipline and structure of classes sure helps me cement what I learn in the books.)

Sooo, free time for me until my next classes in August! Wahoo! It sounds like forever but it’s more like 12 weeks. So, after the last eight months of staring at my bookshelf, wishing I had time to read all the books I collect (it’s a little bit of an obsession), I have chosen 24 books to read over the next 12 weeks!

Yep, two a week, one fiction and one non-fiction. Almost like that, actually, I chose a few more non-fiction than fiction. We’ll see if I get that many read but it’s my game, I can make – or break – the rules if I want to!

Here’s the fiction pile – not shown is The Bourne Supremacy. I read the first one, Bourne Identity. As my friend Carolyn told me, they’re different enough from the movies to practically be different stories. But still very good. This is my third try for Cutting for Stone – if I can’t get into it this time, that’s it. It has one of my favorite quotes toward the beginning: “life is like that, you live it forward but understand it backward.” and yet I still can get past a certain point before I lose interest.

The non-fiction pile, above, is a mixture of Christian books about drawing closer to God, and a 31 day Bible study; a couple books about African countries; a couple books about food and a couple random books.

Here are the first two, I started the top one tonight, Home Cooking – it’s a series of essays on food and cooking and I adore it! I already read More Home Cooking, found in a thrift shop for $1, one of the best dollars I’ve ever spent. My friend Becky bought me this one as a gift. The green book on the bottom, Clover Cottage, was bought at a second hand bookshop in South Africa, more for the color than anything! I sometimes enjoy these short, old books – this one seems to be about the 60s or so, can you believe it, there’s no publishing date!

(By the way, I have read a few books here and there for pleasure in the last eight months, just not many.)

(Second by the way – it’s winter here! It just made for a nice title for most of my readers who will understand summer holidays from school. Winter reading is even better – curled up on the couch with a blanket – lovely!)

What are you folks reading these days, besides my blog? Please share!

My Pedro Would Have Been 16 Today

Posted 1 May 2012
By Laura

My sweet Pedro was born on May 1, 1996. (This photo was on his 14th birthday.) He would have been 16 today. It’s my director’s birthday today too – they were always so lovely to invite Pedro to celebrate with them. It’s been bittersweet these last two Ma Mozambique 123 y 1sts to wish Steve a happy birthday and hear about their celebrations without being able to celebrate it with Pedro as well.

I miss my precious boy terribly today. And every day. And today, his birthday, I wonder. How tall would he be at 16? What would his voice sound like now that it’s changed? Would we still be getting along so well or would teenager-hood have brought us some challenges?

(Pedro on his 13th birthday)

Would we be living together in a small home off the center by now? You see, a few months before he died, I met with my directors to share with them how bad things were in his home with his mom. We prayed together and they were very encouraging and supportive of me trying to find him another place to live (several of my friends locally have smaller homes for children) or my moving off base and him living with me. That would likely have led to having a few other boys living with me in my own home as well, our own little family.

Just after that conversation, I went home to the US for an extended visit with my mom. I had begun dreaming, praying, and talking with people about options to pursue our own home together. I don’t know if his mom would have agreed.

I never got to find out because on September 20, 2010, my sweet, precious Pedro died by drowning in the pond near his home.

Oh Pedro – I miss you. I miss your laugh and your great big smile. I miss how easily you smiled and laughed in spite of difficulties and challenges. I miss our conversations about anything and everything. I miss October 2009 017 singing to James Blount’s song at the top of our lungs, even though we didn’t know who he was. I miss playing Yahtzee and telling you if you beat me you’ll get no breakfast! I miss making you your second breakfast, lunch and dinner to make sure you got lots of good food to eat while you were here with me. I miss knowing you could fix anything – my phone, the dvd player, the car stereo. I miss how much your friends loved you – how the house got full of adolescents for a change when you were with me. I miss watching you sleep. I miss your tender heart and compassion for others. I miss telling you you can’t make babies til you’re 25 and have a job and a home and a wife! I miss buying clothes for you and marveling as you’ve grown. I miss having English language workbooks for you – I’ve given them all away now. I miss banging our heads to Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting in the car. I miss finding new places to go and discover together. I miss you playing mahjong on my computer. I miss praying with you, on the phone every day and when I would drop you back home. I miss hugging you and kissing you, amazed you still let me do that in front of your friends at 14! I miss introducing you to new things: food, places, ideas – you loved knowing everything you could. I miss your love for me. I miss being able to pour out my love for you.

Pedro you were my most favorite person in the whole world. There’s no one I’d rather be with than you. I miss you honey lovey. April 2010 086

(For new readers, Pedro was my “special boy” here at the center from almost the moment I arrived in 2003. I felt God’s blessing to pursue the possibility of adopting him, even though all things natural were against me in that endeavor. In the process, we found his mother and family so it was no longer possible for me to adopt him and he moved to live with them six months after we found them, in November of 2007. We became closer than ever in those three years, even though we didn’t live together. He was not my son by adoption but he was the son of my heart. You can read more about him on this blog by doing a search for Pedro in the upper left hand search box.)

Momz for Moz Begins Today! Happy Month of Mother’s Day!

Posted 1 May 2012
By Laura

Thank you to all of those, friends and soon-to-be friends alike, who have chosen to pray for one of my boys by name, daily, with their children for the month of May, in honor of Mother’s Day! I am so blessed by the number of people who are praying – 51 and counting so far! Almost half of those are moms I’ve never met before – what an unexpected blessing! If you are not a mom or are not able to pray with your kids, but would still like to participate, please contact me and jump on in! Or, you can pray for my whole dorm in general during this month of May, for God to do mighty things in my boys as so many people are praying for them at one time. I am expecting for great things!

Once again, in danger of becoming a broken record, you can read more about it below!

There is no one like a Mom! And May is the month of Mother’s Day in many parts of the world, a wonderful thing to set aside a day to honor the most important person in many people’s lives, their mother. Although no mom is perfect, most people love their moms with a love that they don’t share with anyone else. And, most moms love their children with a passionate love that is unmatched in any other relationship.

But there are many children who, for one reason or another, find it difficult to share that special bond with their mothers. I happen to live with 28 of them in our children’s center in Zimpeto, Mozambique. Some of these precious boys in my dorm do have mothers who love them and whom they adore but they are currently not able to live with them. However, although they long to, the majority do not have a close relationship with their moms, through abandonment or death or circumstances.

I felt God drop a little idea in my heart recently on behalf of my sweet boys who don’t have their moms to tuck them in at night, wipe away their tears and dream with them for their future.

I’d like to invite all the Moms I know – and even those I don’t! – to set aside the month of May, in honor of Mother’s Day, to pray with their children once a day for one of my boys in my dorm.

If you choose to participate, I will send you a photo and a brief bio of one of my boys. You and your children can then pray once a day for the month of May for this special boy. You can pray however you like, but my thought was just with the heart of a mom for a child, the same types of prayers you might pray for your children. You may also pray that God would fill that role of a mom in their life in his creative ways! Even that the children with moms might be able to be reunited with them in a healthy environment!

(*If you would like, please feel free to share with me your child(rens) ages or birth month and if possible, I will try and make a match to make it special for your kids!)

My hope is that at least 28 moms will choose a child to pray for so that each one of my boys is being prayed for specifically in this month of May. If you would like to pray for one of my boys, please contact me via email atLauraleighanderson@hotmail.com, via Facebook comment or private message or via a comment on this blog. Please include your email address and I will email you a photo and bio of a darling boy! (and please feel free to share this invitation with people you know via your Facebook or blog if you like, no pressure!)

Frequently Asked Questions (or at least what I think might be asked since no one has asked any questions yet!):

1. Is there a financial commitment? No, this is a prayer commitment. If you would like to make a financial donation you are welcome and it would be a blessing but it is not necessary, just jot me a quick note and I can provide the information.

2. Can I pray if I’m not a mom or my kids can’t/won’t join me to pray? Absolutely! All prayer changes lives! The focus is for moms with their kids but I welcome anyone who wants to pray for my boys!

3. Can I pray if I’m a dad? Absolutely! Wow, maybe I need to do this in June! This nation of Mozambique struggles greatly with fatherlessness so these boys need men of God influencing their lives, even via prayer!

4. Can I join in even if I hear about this after May has started? Please do! Whenever you hear about this, if you feel led to pray, please contact me!

5. This isn’t a question, just a comment: please feel free to share the contents of this post on your blog or facebook (and let me know if you think of it!) but if I send you a boys’ story and photo, please do not share that publically (electronically). It’s no problem to tell your family or friends, perhaps they’d like to pray with you, but please don’t post the boys’ photos and private details in any public manner – thanks!

I can’t wait to see how this unfolds! May God bless all you Moms out there!

Just a couple photos to give you a glimpse of the cutie pies!!!

PS: I’m touched that so many people are sharing this on their facebook pages! I love that’s getting the word out to so many other people.

Momz for Moz - Name Change Alert!

Posted 30 April 2012
By Laura

Hi friends! Moms for Mozambique has now changed to . . .

“Momz for Moz!”

Has a nice ring to it, don’t ya think? Praying for one of my boys (who can’t be with their moms) by name in the month of May in honor of Mother’s Day officially begins tomorrow, May 1 – please let me know if you’d still like a boy to be praying for! You can read more about it below.