Hope and a future

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future. 12 

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity.

Jer 29:11-14 (ANIV)

This little boy just turned 8 years old - and what a joy it was to celebrate with him and his friends! 6 1/2 years ago this is how Joao arrived on our doorstep and we spent the next year battling for his life. What a joy and privilege it is to see him grow up into a strong boy who loves Jesus; who always wants to help and is always compassionate especially to those who are unwell.

               Here are a few snapshots of us celebrating his birthday. Your continued prayers and support help us make a difference in these children's lives. Thank you!

(below is our update continued)

We have been well since we last wrote. Busy as usual - there is always someone to care for, a wound to clean, a fever to treat, a computer to fix, a baby to comfort ;-D Chicken pox went through our babyhouse and nursery again - and then we had an outbreak of rotavirus which was very unpleasant (a very contagious diarrhea and vomiting virus)! We are relieved to say that all is calm now and we hope it will stay quiet for the next bit of time so we can all catch up! In the midst we did tons of problem solving, education with the workers on hygiene and health, and more infection control steps were put in place – so we have all moved forward even through the difficult time.And most importantly, through it all, the babies are healthy and strong, gorgeous, and growing well.

The chains were taken off and the doors were opened!!! News on the clinic is that TODAY we received a letter from the Ministry of Health authorizing us to reopen the clinic to make improvements. We will be given 30 days and then we need to request an inspection team to come evaluate the changes made. Same issues from the very beginning - many questions that have not been answered and many vague requests - but we can only do what we know -please pray for wisdom for us in this next 30 days. We have made some necessary changes (for instance, built an incinerator). Some of the changes that the MoH are requesting have made us question very hard whether reopening will any longer serve this population effectively  (for instance, they say we cannot have an isolation room - but what happens if rotavirus, chicken pox, measles...pick any one... hits again and we have nowhere to put the children so the illness does not spread - we have a centre of 270 children. They say we cannot have a Mozambican nurse stay on base 24hours, but realistically we need 24hour care available for our children especially for when they are unwell or just in case of an emergency.) 

So as you can see, there are quite a few things that we both have to agree to in order to move forward, so please pray for favor that the reopening of the clinic will be in our favour and for our favour. We march onward believing that God has better plans! Plans to give Mozambique a hope and a future!

Currently, I (Sheri) am working on getting my nursing registration here in Mozambique. Easier said than done when I don't have easy access to all my documents which are in some box in who knows whose home!! Please pray it will be simple and not complicated. 

Matthew is really well and is excelling in his area of technology – teaching computer classes and raising older boys up to walk in his footsteps. He has also helped to set up a biometric scanning system (a fingerprint scanner) that is now being used as a clock in/clock out for the workers and helps us monitor their work trends (some less consistent than others). He’s done such a  great job setting up this program on our base that the Pemba base (way north in the country, where Heidi and Rolland are currently based) are considering having Matthew come to set up the system there.  In order to make it work in Pemba on a large-scale basis he will have to put in many more hours of work on the programming side. This is fantastic though, because anybody who knows Matthew knows he needs a challenge (and a project). It’s a great opportunity for him and a great encouragement for all the hard work and hours he’s poured into perfecting the system here.

Please pray for Igor who has been struggling with ?? an asthma exacerbation/chest infection for the last 3 weeks. He's such a happy little bug, though, through it all, smiling and loving - Just gorgeous!! Come and cuddle and love on these precious ones -What a privilege it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus here in Mozambique!

Also, a most amazing privilege for Mozambique this month was that they were host of the All African Games (basically the African Olympics) hosted in Maputo and amazingly much of it was held at the huge new 45,000 seater stadium less than 2 kilometers from our centre (and the new Olympic sized swimming pool just behind it?!!!). Well done for one of the poorest countries in the world!! And although they didn't win any golds, they did a fantastic job hosting such an event. We pray it is a sign for the progress to come for Mozambique

We love you and miss you all - please write us and tell us what has been going on in your worlds.

sheristeer@gmail.com; matthewjsteer@gmail.com

Matthew and Sheri Steer