Missions in Mozambique

When going to college everyone has that one person who takes care of the group of friends that are far from home. Although I wasn't far from home, most of my close friends in college certainly were. For us, this person took great care of us and also invited us to her family's house, which was close to college, every Sunday for a family meal and a time of just hanging out. Her mom cooked us a great home cooked meal and her dad, being a pastor, would shepherd us and help us deal with things happening at school or with life in general.

This family has meant much to many people and they minister in ways that they probably will never know until they see their fruit revealed to them in heaven. This person for us was Christina. We all love her dearly and she is a cousin of one of my best friends. After college she ended up meeting a man named Victor from Mozambique. Victor started up an orphanage in Mozambique as he saw the need of his people to not only have a place to call home, but a place to learn a trade so that the people could live a life a part from great poverty. This past summer Christina came home with Victor and I had a chance to meet him and I was greatly impressed. At the time it was 90 degrees in Seattle and we had the AC on high and the misters were on in the backyard as we were all sweating like we just visited a sauna in Death Valley. He smiled at me, with his jeans on, looked at the misters and asked, "Is this to keep you cool in the heat?" All of us dumb white people laughed out loud because we could hear the confusion in his voice as he looked at the misters as some sort of joke in the "dead heat of a summer in Seattle."

What I found in Victor was a young man who loves his country and its people. He continually fights the government to try and keep the kids past their 18th birthday if they are not ready to go out into the world. His desire is to keep kids until they are ready to enter the world on their own, and not before. The government wants the kids to turn 18 and leave, even though Victor and Christina get absolutely zero help from the African government in support for their orphanage.

To listen to Victor tell us the tales of his orphanage it was like listening to a father telling the great falls and triumphs of his sons and daughters gone by. You could hear the excitement in his heart and the deep grievance as well. I would encourage all to please be praying for Victor and Christina, and I am also excited to report that they have a blog to give us a picture of their daily life in Mozambique. Here is a snippet from their blog on who they are:

Victor & Christina Carlos
Nampula, Mozambique, AFRICA

Welcome! We are Victor and Christina Carlos. Victor was born and raised in Nampula and Christina was born in Los Angeles and raised in Seattle. We were married on November 10th, 2007 and today we live in the middle of our orphanage in Nampula, Mozambique. We are having fun with our 54 kids and we thank God for the life he has given us! Now we are going to write about it!

I would highly encourage you to please visit their blog and pray for them as they are daily living in true poverty trying to show the hope in Christ and the glory of God.

Here is the link to their blog: Victor & Christina: Our Life and Work in Mozambique

Here is the link to their website: Evanjafrica Ministries