A beautiful hot day in Mpyupyu today. To say that the “roads” were a challenge would be putting it mildly! There were ruts, trenches, soft mud, water, holes……enough to cause us to stop with discussion on how to navigate and still have a vehicle that worked on 2 occasions. We did make it and brought lots of mud on the car with us! 

Mpyupyu……this village has a different feel than others, it is remote without much around. There is almost an empty feeling, a barren feeling. There is a weightiness you can feel when you get there. A darkness to it. It is a hard place to visit because of the spiritual warfare…….I might even say it can feel uncomfortable. But, isn’t that where the light needs to go? Isn’t that where we can be the hands and feet…..

Today was a busy time in Mpyupyu………Mark Hale shared “2 ways to live”, Leah Goodrich taught the song with arm movements “Our God is so big” and the guys lead games in the field next to the church while we women helped the women from the village cook lunch for the orphans….they feed the orphans 2 times a day. I was plucking a chicken and stirring nsima …….totally in my element.

We had time with Misozi too. She is a gift to us all…….she helps interpret for us and is always there for us. She, my sister in Christ, holds a special place in my heart. We have had many transparent conversations, sharing our hearts and laughing together. I asked how she was doing…..and at first she hesitated. (I have come to understanding that the local people here can tend to want to say what they think you want to hear). But today was different…..Misozi answered “I am stressful”. I wasn’t prepared for that answer so I asked her if she wanted to share. She shared a very hard struggle she is going through with me and Leah. A life changing struggle she was not prepared for………pray for her. May she seek Gods wisdom as she navigates the path she is on. My heart breaks for her…….

We had the opportunities to travel paths and visit where some of the orphans sleep at night….these huts were damaged by the recent cyclone. Not only were the huts damaged, but any crops that may have been planted were also impacted by the cyclone. There is no food. 

I encourage you to read that again…..there is no food. THERE IS NO FOOD. 

Stanley explained it all to us as we stood in the hot sun….. you could tell this affects him too. I know we hear about “no food” or “starvation” or we read about it…..it looks too “cleaned up” on a page or in words compared to reality. Standing there listening and looking around….hard doesn’t even begin describe it. Looking into little eyes looking back at me or mommas with babies……that will not eat. Where will they be next month? In August? In December? How will they survive until the next harvest NEXT APRIL?  

My heart knows they need the bread of life, Jesus, more than anything. But they also need physical food or they won’t be able to hear the Good News. I felt a heaviness and energy shift during the realization of this all. My heart aches tonight over what the Lord showed us today. He showed me hard, He showed me real, BUT He also in the midst showed me His grace and mercy. He’s just like that…….always loving me forward. He showed me little hearts smiling in the midst, He showed me little girls playing in the dirt with me, He showed me 8-10 youths give their lives to Christ (even after Ed tried to talk them out of it, to ensure their sincerity). He showed me little hearts singing about Jesus and we clapped together…….He gave me the gift of a little girl walking behind me down the path and taking my hand as we walked and He showed me the gift of a well continuing to give water to a village.

As my husband quoted tonight during our debrief ( we do this every night….we each talk about our “highs” and “lows”)……..

Matthew 9: 37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to  send out laborers into his harvest.”