Miraculous Healing...Manuel 2!

Just look at the transition!

Manuel 2's head when he came in...end of June!

  

This is middle of July when he got out of the hospital!

Then comes the middle of August when he was looking like this...no more showing skull!!!  Praise God!

 And last comes TODAY!  He's all healed up with no more bandage and happy as a little clam!

 

Praise God for the miracles He has done for little Manuel 2!  What an amazing blessing he is to us all now!

Boys on the move!

The Bercario (Nursery) boys have started walking!  Both Alberto and Manuel 2 have learned to walk. There is still a lot of falling on their bums involved but they are so excited for themselves, and I have to say it is adorable!  Alberto was a happy chubby baby when he came to live with us in February.  Now he's a toddling 1 year old!
 He is still quite the chubster and hilarious to say the least.  We are still struggling through getting his asthma/reflux/allergies under control.  Please be praying for God's complete healing in this area for him!

 And as for Manuel 2 he is now a walking miracle!  He came to us the end of June a severely malnourished, close to death little one.  Here's a photo if you can't remember what he looked like at 16 months old and 5.71kg (about 12.5 pounds).  We worked daily to get him just a drink a bit of fortified milk and keep his temperature regulated.  Not to mention the fact that he couldn't sit or do much on his own.

 After we determined his hemoglobin was dangerously low and he had an overwhelming infection he spent 2 weeks in the hospital on the malnutrition ward.  Here he is after returning to us from the hospital, much stronger and able to crawl!


By August Manuel 2 had developed quite the personality and was becoming chubby finally!  He loved singing and dancing and never failed to get his point across!  Even when he was too weak to move he still knew what he wanted...after gaining strength he was just able to express it much more loudly!




Now Manuel 2 is WALKING!  He's singing and dancing all the time.  He still loves to whine but is too cute and lovable for his own good.  He has the best facial expressions and still never fails to be heard by everyone!  What a miracle his little life is.  Every time I see his grandfather (the person who brought in that first day), he thanks me, the tias, and God profusely for the life of his precious grandson!  Stay tuned for a post showing you the miraculous healing of his head wound...you won't believe your eyes!  For now praise our God for the miraculous work of healing He's done for Manuel 2!  May he one day be able to stand as a testimony to all of our God's healing power!

Tchau Nemias!

 Nemias went home yesterday!  He is the son of one of our pastors here, who is now remarried to one of the tias in the girls area.  Nemias was living with us because he was close to death when we took him in several years ago and every time we tried to reunite him with his father his health seemed to take a turn for the worse.  After this new marriage we agreed to keep Nemias for awhile so they could adjust and get their marriage stable before adding Nemias to the mix.  But now finally the time has come for him to be at home!
I am very happy for him to be back in a family setting and excited to see the adjustment he goes through over the next few months.  He really is a sweet and very intelligent boy who loves one on one attention.  He is very helpful and with a little encouragement will do anything he is asked.  I can just see him running around in the community helping out with all the little children around.  I also am going to miss his many hugs a day and constant presence in the Baby House.  I have grown to have a special place for him in my heart over the last few months as we watched him become a bit emotionally unstable because he so desperately wanted to be a home but couldn't express that any other way.
Please join us in prayer that he is able to cope with this transition well and comes to know and love his parents dearly.  Pray his health stays stable and his parents are able to manage the issues he does have.  And I also pray for a stable family unit.  May God bless this mother and father in their work, relationship, and family.

Biter!

This is Dionisio.  He is still working through extreme attachment issues and really is doing quite well...but still has the ocassional break down.  The other day I was out in the sand with the kids.  I only had a few minutes to play before I needed to run off to do something else.  I knew if I picked Dio up I would be leaving him a few moments later crying in the sand for the tias to deal with.  So he asked to be held and I nicely told him no I have to go Dio.  This was absolutely NOT acceptable.
He started crying, whimpering, gnashing his teeth and so on...  One of the tias asked him what was wrong and he quickly pointed to me and said...it was Mana Meghann.  The tia started laughing but said, why what did she do?  Dio didn't hesitated a beat...his answer was, "She bit me!"
The tias and I were laughing at him at this point...he couldn't understand why this was funny.  He just kept getting more worked up until finally I walked away and he calmed down a bit.  I know I have been exhausted and in not the best of moods recently but biting small children...I think not.  But according to Dionisio I'm a biter!

Medical Adventures...

Quite possibly sometimes you forget I'm a nurse.  I tell you all about the amazing kids, the friends I have, the faith we're sharing, the tough things I'm facing, and so on.  But really...I am a nurse and that's why I'm here.  As you can see in these photos, being a nurse in Africa specifically in the Baby House means I do A LOT of giving out syringes of this medicine or that.  I wash wounds and give inhalers.  Every once in awhile there is the medical emergency that has to be solved, but on a day to day basis listening to lungs, diagnosing a throat infection, and prescribing antibiotics are my daily chores.  I have a hard time remembering but in reality these are healthy kids...we are most days more like their moms than their 24 hour nurses!
But some days turn out differently...I'm going to tell you 4 stories that all happened within the span of about 2 days.

#1- I hear Mana Meghann said in a kind of nervous "oh my gosh we need Meghann" kind of way.  Next thing I know I'm looking into a 5 year old little girl's ear that has a very nice white bead shoved into it.  I lay her down in the clinic and by God's grace was able to spin the bead so the hole was facing me and extract it.  Yes...kids will be kids!

#2- I walk into the Baby House one morning to see a list of probably 5 or 6 kids who have had diarrhea that morning.  Not just once or twice, they each have about 3 or 4 times written next to their names...poor tias is all I could think.  Well then they come rushing through with Lena, who is being potty trained at the moment.  She is crying, the tias look miserable, and I just want to run away.  They barely get Lena to her little potty in time and I nicely say, let's put her in diapers at least for today.  This went on for DAYS...the likes of 2 whole rooms of kids (the youngest of course) each had days of diarrhea.  TERRIBLE.  I would go in each morning to the white board full of names and times.  The kids were thankfully still playing and happy...but the tias were far from entertained.  About a week in as it seemed to be going from one child to another we did a mass treating with cotrimoxazole.  No joke, I prepared 32 syringes of cotrimoxazole to treat 16 children just for one day of their 5 day treatment.  And counted out 100's of pills for the tias, who we also treated.  Took me over 2 hours but about 2 days later we were free of diarrhea...PRAISE God for modern medicine!

#3- About 6:30am the on call phone rang.  All the tias kept saying was...it's an emergency with Eugenio.  I kept asking, what's wrong with him...all they would say is you need to see him.  So annoyed and tired I got out of my bed and headed up to the Baby House.  What did I find??  Eugenio with a lovely pink bead shoved up his nose.  I laid him down, got out the light and tweezers and attempted to get it out.  All it did was slip further in.  At this point I thought...I could keep trying and possibly lodge it further in or he'll inhale it or....  So I decided...he probably put it in their yesterday afternoon, what are a few more hours going to do?  Nothing I decided.  So around 8am, a much more humane hour if you ask me I joined Sheri who was able to extract it.  Since we have of course had LONG toddler discussions about putting things in holes in your body.  2 beads in less than a week...deserves a stern talking to!

#4- Not sure if you remember but in maybe January Erin and I spent a day attempting to figure out what the "white stuff" in Chelsia's ear was.  At first we thought it was a maggot, then it became "nothing" according to one of our doctors, and then on extraction we discovered it was actually paper.  Well, she came to me crying and pulling on her ear again not too long ago.  I looked in to again see "white stuff".  I brought her to the doctor who promptly told me it was fungus.  Then I left our resident Western doctor take a look as well...she wasn't sure but thought it was probably some dried up pus or something.  Well we are on week 3 of ear drops at this point and I'm still able to extract unidentifiable "white stuff" from her ear a few times a week.  Seriously???  What is up with African children??

So all of that to say...if you had forgotten I'm a nurse...I AM!  Life is funny, busy, sweet, and full of silly little babies and their many medical adventures!

A New Friend!

Meet Sam, our newest missionary!  She is Australian but has lived in the States since she was 12.  This means she understands all of us.  She understands crazy words like duna and capsicum but also knows what I'm saying when I use comforter and green bell pepper (duna and capsicum respectively in Aussi speak).  She has been quite the blessing to all of us!
There are always hills and valleys here and sometimes it changes moment by moment where you are on the mountain.  I am excited to have a new friend to ride this ride with...one who can always make me laugh or give me the huge hug I needed.  Quite the blessing she is!

No Questions

 

Meet Shelton.  He lives in Laura's dorm and if we're allowed to have favorites he is certainly on my list!  He is adorable.  When he first arrived, about when I did last August, he didn't speak to anyone.  He just kept quiet, did what he was told, and stayed out of trouble.  Then one day he just decided talking was a great idea and his little adorable voice now fills the dorm quite regularly.  He melts my heart just saying my name...Mana Meghann.  If you've met him, I know you can remember just how fantastic his hugs are and how cute his little spirit is...he's unforgettable really!

So last Thursday I was already a bit emotional trying to cope with Pedro's death and all that stirred in me.  We were all at Thursday night church.  On Thursdays our church service is just for the kids, staff, and missionaries.  There is tons of praise and worship and then a message at the end.  Well at one point I carried a very sleepy little kid over to the side just to have a little time to myself to process and looked up to see...

Shelton with his eyes closed tight, hands outstretched to Lucas (a little boy in Laura's dorm as well who I wrote a lot about in December when he went through miraculous healing, now he isn't doing very well again and has been sick with a chest infection most recently).  Shelton was praying.  Not just a child's...thank you Lord for my friend prayer...he was really praying.  It was easy to see as he wiped tears from his eyes every few moments that God has done something in this little boy's life and is absolutely working through him.  When the music stopped he finally opened his eyes to join the rest of his peers who had played and danced their way through worship time.

The whole time I watched him and prayed for my own understanding and acceptance of circumstances, I couldn't help but feel peace.  Many many many many many days I question what we're doing here, what these kids are actually walking away with, will they grow up to know Jesus as their savior and God as their father, are we teaching them truth, will they make it in their culture after growing up with Westerners...these are all the questions you start to ask after you've seen a few kids fall on their faces after leaving here.  These are the things that keep you up at night as you think of those little souls you love and want the best for.

But as I stood their Thursday night I had NO QUESTIONS...when you watch a 6 year old pray fervently and honestly for a sick child what do you have left to question?

Love and Stitches

I spent my childhood answering our house phone...hello Glenn's residence and Love and Stitches.  My friends still laugh when I talk on the phone because I use a very distinct "phone voice".  You know the high pitched, polite one.  Anyway, Love and Stitches in my mom's amazing pattern line.  She teaches sewing classes around the country and now internationally.  She has traveled to Canada and now Mozambique!  When she was here to see me, she taught the girls here some new techniques and projects!  She also spent lots of time sewing up dresses for some of the baby house kids.  Now the girls here have copied her and are whipping up dresses for the girls!  So cute...just check them out!

Comic Relief

This happened quite some time ago but I just haven't gotten around to writing about it and decided after the sad, shocking news below I'd go ahead and share. It was a Friday night and many of us had just played a rousing game of Phase 10...let me just say I was on phase 2 for about 13 hands it felt like! Anyway, some yellow (ok not just yellow...basically caution yellow, might as well be run way lights colored) stones had just showed up on the path that leads to my house...wouldn't want anyone to loose their way. One missionary, who shall remain nameless, decided making a pattern with them in our grass would be entertaining. The rest of us walked up on this...and did everything in our power not to wet our pants we were laughing so hard! When you put about 35 people who live, work, church, and socialize together there is bound to be tough times but also many shenanigans! Hilarious I tell you!

Shocking...

Tuesday, Sept. 21st--
I would love your prayers for our base and another missionary, Laura. We have received sad news that her "son" Pedro died in a drowning accident. His body still has not been recovered. I say "son" because Laura and Pedro are not blood related, but he called her mom and she called him son. It may be a bit hard to believe but serving here our hearts break and fall for certain children. We take them under our wings as mothers would. This child was Laura's boy. He is now with His heavenly father who praise God he knew well before leaving this world at such an early age.
Laura is in the States with family right now and has been since June. I saw Pedro just last weekend when he spent a few days with us here visiting friends and hanging out. Please be praying for Laura, Pedro's family, and our children/center. Death is such a starke reality here in Mozambique and something we as missionaries have a really hard time coping with.

Today, Sept. 23rd--
Last night we had our normal weekly missionary home group. This is a time we gather together for worship time and some sort of teaching each week. As we all attempted to worship it was with heavy hearts. Many of us just wept. I keep thinking...Pedro and I weren't that close, why is this so difficult for me. But, honestly that doesn't change the tragedy. That doesn't change the questions a thing like this brings up. That doesn't change the anger I'm feeling. And, that doesn't change the fact that this is the 4th young life I've seen lost in less than a year. My mind goes directly back to Dino, Graca, and Naftal. While at the same time jumping to miraculous stories such as Fernanda and Manuel 2.
We were challenged last night to hold fast to the Lord, even if this doesn't change the circumstances. I'm trying...that's all I can say. I'm struggling to praise Him today. But, I also know each of these young one's who I loved so dearly are in a better place where they are whole, loved, and joyful. Today my heart is saying...where does that leave us, the one's who loved them here on Earth??

The All Clear!

So I just wanted to update everyone that things have been quiet here since Friday. There were rumors of rioting starting back up Monday and then again today...but all is quiet around the city and country. Last night the government announced they would subsidize the price of bread, water, and electricity...keeping it at previous prices. I'm not quite sure where this money is going to come from, but nonetheless all is peaceful and calm and for that I am thankful. Our tias and other Mozambican friends are still not sure how they are going to afford rice, vegetables, and oil but at least they will have bread! They may be walking hours to work because they can't afford chapas (public transportation), but at least they'll have electricity (something they don't have anyway).
I'm a bit sarcastic about it because its devastating. In a country where the average salary per month is $37 how are they meant to pay about $1 to get to and from work every day and instead of the normal $2 a jar for peanut butter now it's almost $3.50? Answer me that.
But the point is there is peace once again!

What am I doing?

Tonight the question "What am I doing?" keeps resounding in my head. It has been a bit of a traumatic week, although not really for the reason you all think. Not because I was worried about what could happen here in the midst of riots (although of course this was on my mind at all times) but instead because I have struggled through how to calm your fears. Many people have been clear in what they see me doing...some positive and some negative over the last few days. The e-mails have all said something a bit different...
~You have such faith in the face of danger.
~You are hurting your family and friends tremendously by staying there.
~Keep loving those precious children you call your own. You are one of the only things they have.
~You need to get on a plane and come home.
~Stay safe.
~You are an inspiration.
All true things, that I am doing. And please hear my thank you for all your prayers and encouragement this last week and always. But tonight I keep asking myself, who should be telling me "what I'm doing". Our Lord and Heavenly Father.
As much as it hurts me to know you are fearful for my safety and are having trouble understanding why I would stay in a place where riots break out on the streets over increased prices because people and their families are starving...not to mention the fact that I miss all of you and would love to hug your necks...I know beyond a shadow of a doubt this is where I'm meant to be for this moment. There is a peace that passes all understanding that comes from having faith in God. This is the peace I have experienced this week in the face of danger. This is why I know I am meant to be right here loving His children and tending to their medical needs. This is why I loved on, treated, and gave milk to about 30 mothers yesterday who walked for hours to get here.
So to answer the big question, "What am I doing?"...I'm hurting because you are. I'm loving because these children need love. I'm living in the midst of trial. I'm trusting and following Him because that's all I know to do...


And on a lighter note...I'm missing Clemson football opening weekend! :( But Congratulations Tigers on your first victory of the season...one of many to come! Go Tigers!!!

Riot Updates...

So today was MUCH quieter around here. There were cars on the roads and no craziness at least not here in Zimpeto. There are still police patrolling the roads...but that's a good thing! One of our Baby House tias walked over 3 hours to get here this morning. Amazing dedication. There were still some issues in the city (about a 30-45 minute drive from where I am), but nothing close by. Several people were able to leave the center (not me...don't worry) to run emergency errands and stock up on food for the children.
***Side note***Amazing story***Gracie (3 year old daughter of 2 of the missionaries) spoke up at dinner last night and said she wanted to break bread together as a family and pray for there to be enough bread for all our Zimpeto family in the morning. So they did...they stopped dinner, broke bread, and prayed! This morning she woke up and said...while I was laying in my bed Jesus told me not to worry that all of our family would have enough bread to eat this morning. The part of the story this sweet, innocent 3 year old did not know was that in the city there really is no bread to be found. Daniel (the Mozambican guy who does all of our kitchen buying for the center) went out early this morning and decided to go north to look for bread instead of south into the city where he usually goes. He was able to find sufficient bread for all of our Zimpeto family to have 1/4 of a loaf each. They usually get 1/2 if not a whole, but PRAISE GOD a child's prayers were answered and everyone ate this morning!
I had all expectation of a quiet day thinking none of my milk program moms would show up because there are still not many chapas (public transportation) on the road. This was NOT the case. They walked for hours and made it here to collect their milk (all but 5 moms). I was so pleased!
That's about all the excitement for today. Again we are safe and sound under God's protection and I just ask that you keep praying for a breakthrough in the government and in the peoples' hearts. May God reign outside our walls as well! And pray specifically for Sept. 6th (Monday) when rioters have called for 50,000 people to march the streets of Maputo.
Thank you for your continued prayers!

Making Decisions...

Let me start this section by saying I have NEVER been a good decision maker. I am capable of writing the pros and cons but actually making the choice has never been simple for me. If you ask mom and dad, all big life decisions have resulted in tears for me. So the one I made almost 2 months ago now was no different. I have decided to stay in Mozambique until the end of June 2011. I will be coming home for the holidays, Thanksgiving through the beginning of January. Then I will be back here serving through June.
After much prayer, I feel very strongly that my time here is not complete. I know I am not meant to be here forever and I long for nursing experience in the States and even the possibility of more schooling as well as the normalcy of life there. But, for now God is not finished with me in this place. I know this decision does not mean my time here will be simple or I won’t continue to struggle through cultural differences, language difficulties, or lack of organization/resources. These things will not change. What I do know is that God promises his children provision and protection as we walk along the path He has for us. I have seen and experienced this in the last year more than ever before in life, and I fully expect this to continue from the monetary funds I’ll need to raise to stay, to grace for the daily hardships and frustrations I’ll face.
I would love your prayers as I make plane reservations and begin to plan my time at home. If you would like me to speak to a group or church please e-mail me, but know my first priority in being home is rest and time with family and friends at the holidays. I will do my best to share my experiences and vision for the next season with as many as possible! May God bless you abundantly for your continued support and encouragement through this season of mission work in my life.

And for all of you following the riot situation...there is still a bit of violence going on. Again our children are not in school and rioters can be seen outside the center. There are no cars on the roads so our workers are stuck where they are (be that home or here). But everyone here on base is safe and sound! I have spent my morning finally writing a monthly update to everyone...if you don't receive my update and want to, e-mail me at meghann.s.glenn@gmail.com. Again no one will be leaving the center today, the medical outreach I was scheduled to go on is canceled for now. Just keep us held up in prayer please for continued protection...and keep praying for a breakthrough in the government!

Riots in the streets...

I'd love to ask for your prayers. Maputo, Mozambique has experienced riots today. Something quite similar happened in 2008. But this morning we awoke to mobs on the streets looting shops and burning tires. They overturned a bus in front of our center and burned it. These riots are in response to the increase in food, fuel, water, and electricity costs. Here is the information we received from the directors of our base...
Today is September 1 and we are in the midst of riots in Maputo. In July this year the price of passports rose 600%, visitor visas 500% and our annual permanent resident documents went from $80 to $700 each.
Today September 1 the price of a bus ride doubled, bread rose by 30% and the price of a 50kg bag of rice is more than half a months salary for an average Mozambican (if he is one of the 18% of people that has a job).
So today the people rioted -upturned buses and burned them right outside our base, looted shops, burnt tires, petrol stations and threw rocks and bricks. The city was closed down as were schools and the airport and the official figure is 6 dead. The police and army are controlling the rioters and streets with tear gas. It is now 4pm and it is quiet. We will wait and see what happens tonight and again in the morning. We are all safe and sound in our compound here -except for runny eyes from tear gas. No workers here today but the missionaries, educators and children prayed and played together.
This is Mozambique -still the 6th poorest country in the world and living in such difficult circumstances. Please pray with us for a miraculous breakthrough.
My experience today was one of peace. You would not have known there were riots going on was it not for the noise outside and the occasional person who would stop to tell you the latest story about what was going on outside our walls. All of our children, missionaries, and workers are safe (at least those we have gotten in contact with). The kids thought it was basically a snow day as they spent the day watching movies and playing soccer! We did have many affected by the tear gas the police are using to control the rioters but no lasting damage. Honestly, our center was a place of God's peace and protection today...a miracle in the midst of tragedy.
So I'm asking for your prayers. Please pray for a breakthrough in this country. Pray for all those who are injured or have family members missing (we have one little 4 year old from out school that didn't know school was canceled so she'll stay with us until things are safe). Pray for our workers who are having trouble contacting their families. Pray for God's protection to continue over us and His love and grace to begin to seep into the hearts of those in this country and especially the government. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and continue support of me and all I'm doing here. May God bless you abundantly as you pray for this devastated country. And may God reign sovereign in this land!

Here is my rendition of things when I wrote to Erin if you want to know any more...
All of the tots are ok tonight! We did have tear gas in the center earlier today and mainly the girls were affected. They spent most of the day hidden in one of the tiny rooms in the girls' area with wet t-shirts wrapped over their mouths and noses. Other than them, our guards, and a few missionaries getting affected by tear gas, it actually was a quiet day. I was blown away by God's peace here in the midst of the craziness outside. There was a bus overturned and set on fire outside the center walls,several people killed in the city, lots of noise and gun shots around,the Total station (gas station) down the road was burned down, NONE of our workers could get here...it is terrible out there but God's grace and peace covered us and the kids today. The kids were acting like it was a snow day...no school, movies, and playing ALL day. The affects of tear gas were quick and with no lasting affects. Seriously it was miraculous. Keep the prayers coming, especially for workers and the government. Aurora (our Mozambican BH nurse) got stranded on her way here this morning. She called in a panic because she couldn't get home and she couldn't get here...they were burning 2 cars in front of her and she was helpless. She eventually found a tia (one of our female Moz workers that cares for children) and is staying at her house until things settle down. Praise God for her safety and so many others.