Day 3 in Maputo, Mozambique

Sarah Olds is for real.  She doesn’t just go to Masana, the project where she works with street boys, but she opens her home to them and even will pick them up on the side of the road and give them rides when she sees them in the city.  Yesterday when we were back at the house waiting for time our dinner plans, 3 of the street boys came by and we enjoyed fellowshiping with them here in Sarah’s home.  One of the boys even got the chance to video chat with Nikki and Tennyson with me.  Here are some pictures from us playing on the computer together.

Day 2 in Maputo, Mozambique

Today we were at Masana again to Love on the boys who are living on the streets of Maputo. We have quickly become friends with them even though there is a language barrier for almost all of them. The thing you learn very quickly is Love doesn’t know color, social class or language. Enjoy this video of us worshipping with the boys before Gus taught them about David and Goliath.

Also today we visited with a boy who Morgan helped get off the streets and back home with his family. Emilton has been living with his Great Uncle and Great Aunt since April. We actually arrived at his house and found out he was still at school so Sarah asked for the school to allow him to leave school for a few min. to visit with the people who helped get him off the streets. He was able to come back to the house from school and visit with us for about 30 min and Morgan even got to teach him how to play go fish.

Day 1 in Maputo, Mozambique

We spent the first part of the day @ Masana which is the center for the homeless boys.  I will have pictures from there tomorrow.  Sarah asked us not to take pictures of the boys on the first day.

After we left Masana, we went to this village which is about 15 miles outside of Maputo.  During the drive, we passed many many villages that looked just like this.  We went to this particular village because we were visiting one of the boys that Sarah had been able to get back home with his family.  The hut they live in is roughly 8×10.  There are 2 adults and 5 kids that all live together.  As you can see, there is no trash pick up.  There is no power or running water.  There is a common spigot that the villagers all use.  They transport water back to their huts in whatever container they have available.  5 gallon buckets, gas cans, wash tubs you name it.  I will forward more pictures in a minute.

Morgan was telling them a version of the prodigal son.  The young man in the red shirt was translating.

The pictures below that are of a 5 year old that had his one year old sibling on his back the whole time.  His parents were not part of this group.  I don’t know which hut he came from but he had full responsibility for the smaller child and would comfort him when he got fussy.

Here is a video of the kids being lead in prayer . . . please pray for them as often as they come to your mind.

Immediate Need

We have been able to help out with many of the things the Tovar family needs for daily life.  Here is a twitter post from Pastor David from this past Sunday: “Proud of peeps @ TheVine:1 couple gaveup xtra wedding gifts, 1 couple gave dining room furn, 1 couple gave unborn baby’s crib 2 a flood fam!”  Katie Hayes twittered this message later in the week,” http://twitpic.com/lg6i3 – Entertainment center and futon to be donated to Tovar family! More items will be donated too!” Now these are not the only people who have given, but just examples of the selfless giving hearts being shown by the people of The Vine.  There is still need and even an IMMEDIATE NEED for us to meet!

IMMEDIATE NEED:

2 twin beds for the girls

Other Needs:

Things which will continue to make the place they are living a home.  Pictures for the walls, decorations, end tables, and many other things you can think of.  No, they are not necessities but exactly how much stuff in our house is necessary to life.  Most things we have simply make life more enjoyable.

At this point if you have something to give you will need to email or call Ken Westbrooks and request the Tovar’s contact information.  Then you can set up a time with them to drop off your gifts and help continue restoring hope to this family.

Ken Westbrooks:

kwestbrooks84@gmail.com or 678-758-1733

The Vine in Maputo, Mozambique

From Sunday, Oct. 18th through Wednesday, Oct. 28th four people from The Vine will be Loving God through Loving Others in Maputo, Mozambique. Please be in prayer for Pat Jarvis, Gus Bishop, Morgan Collins and Jason Sebren as they travel to this distant land to discover how the people of The Vine can collectively and individually make a difference in the lives of young boys who have become homeless for one reason or another. We will be working with Sarah Olds a missionary we support who has been serving there for the past couple of years to continue her work with these young boys in reconnecting them with their families.

Once we return there will be opportunities for others to begin connecting to this project on many different levels. Please pray for this work as we go and pray for our families as they are without us while we are serving. You can sign up for a prayer spot on the 24 hr pray coverage team at the Guest Services Desk on Sunday or you can pray at anytime.

Kidzu Fall Mission

On Saturday, October 17th from 1-4 PM, Kidzu will be hosting a Fall Festival for the children at The Garden and you’re not going to want to miss it! We hope you will join us for lots of Fall fun including pumpkin painting stations, a huge blow up slide, hayrides, face painting, a cupcake walk, cotton candy and popcorn, etc. Please come and help us show God’s love to these children through our love to them. Please bring a pumpkin to decorate and a pumpkin to share with a child from The Garden.

The Garden serves as a homeless shelter 7 nights a week for 50 women and their children to receive healthy meals, a warm bed but most of all, the Love of the Father. To learn more about just click on any of The Garden links.

The Address for The Garden is:

2840 Plant Atkinson Rd SE
Smyrna, GA 30080

Please be sure and mark your calendars! This is going to be a great experience for our children and are excited to see them experience mission hands-on.

Please let us know if you’re coming by Filling out this form!. We want to be sure and have enough fun for everyone. We would love to have you and your child serve with us as well! There are many levels that your family can choose to participate. We need people to help with each “fun station” as well as people to provide baked goods for the cupcake walk. If you are unable to serve for the entire time, we would love to have you help as much as you can. If you or your child are interested in serving, please let us know by Filling out this form!

Again, we are really excited for our children to experience the joy of serving Jesus by serving others. We hope all of you are able to come out and enjoy this fun day with us and the children of The Garden.

This event is not just for parents and kids, but for anyone who has a desire to serve God through serving others.  Please join us and experience the joy of Loving those who are often forgotten by the world.

NEXT step in responding to the flood

What a great response we had to the opportunity to serve the Tovar family who was flooded out.  Ken and I had the amazing pleasure of delivering the gifts to them and seeing hope begin to be restored in their face.  Dora shared with us that they will not be receiving any help from FEMA.  They will not receive a grant and they do not meet FEMA’s standard for receiving a loan.  After she had received this bad news from FEMA, she needed the restoration of hope we were able to bring when we showed up with the gifts from The Vine.

They have now found another trailer, although this is rent instead of own now it is time for us to fill the gap and fill this trailer with all the necessary goods for living.

NEXT step in serving the Tovar Family is for us to begin to gather used household items and begin to make their trailer a home.  Here is the plan and we must move FAST!

Gather everything you can and spread the word.  We will meet at The Vine’s Facility on Saturday morning, October 10th, at 10:30 a.m. to follow Ken over to the trailer (it’s in Buford) and deliver everything.  Once again please be at The Vine at 10:30 a.m. and we will drive together to deliver our gifts to the Tovar family.  This will give you an opportunity to meet the family and help continue the process of giving them hope and restoration.

NEEDS:
-Dinner table & chairs

-bed for mom and dad
-2 Beds for the girls
-Crib for Jerred
-Bed stuff-sheets, blankets, pillows, etc
-T.V.
-Dressers for all of them
-Dishes & stuff to eat & drink from
-Entertainment center/something to put the tv on
-they have a sofa, but could use a chair (might could use a sofa also)

– coffee table / end tables

. . . these are the things they listed, but remember they lost everything the night the water came in and they left with only their pj’s on.

Get in Sunday

This Sunday, Oct. 4th, we want to make sure no one misses the opportunity to show Franscyco, Dora and the kids just how much God Loves them through The Vine. If you haven’t been able to go shopping or you have been shopping but for some reason didn’t get your items dropped off at Classy Nail and Tan then get in Sunday. We are planning to connect with the family on Sunday afternoon for delivery. It’s not to late to make a difference in someone’s life who has be devistated.

Click here for details but know you can bring your gifts to The Vine on Sunday morning at 9:30 or 11 a.m. and join us in our current series, “the Vine Dare”.