God Stories

I normally post on my blog on Tuesdays but today I had acute inspiration collapse so I asked the Lord to download a bit of creativity. When I checked my email, there was a letter from Dave and Michelle !!!!! It was a news update from them. They attend my church but are currently serving as missionaries in Kigoma, Tanzania, Africa.


A little background: Dave and Michelle are young marrieds. Dave is a music teacher and worship leader. Michelle is a nurse.

I thought - this is such good news - I want everybody to know about it. Here is the Kigoma Update:

Hi guys! How are you? We are grateful for all of you and hope you are
> doing well. We are in Mwanza for a few days with Tim and Gerald,
> because of PEFA meetings, but also for a chance to buy things we dont
> have in Kigoma (so far jello, maple syrup and balloons). There are
> really big storky- cranes here, about 4 ft tall. They are called
> "Grandpa Health" because they eat up all the garbage on the streets.
> God has been doing miracles often lately. My shoulder was out-
> you know vertigo-iy. At women's Bible study, we prayed and it was
> made whole. Praise God.
> We invited a couple teen guys from the Kellys kids program to
> join us in our village program since there was no school on Friday.
> One of those guys (Alex) preached, and 106 kids came to Christ. Some
> of these kids are from Muslim families. We do ask for wisdom about
> the program though. Many kids cary a baby on their back. That's fine
> and dandy until he starts crying- and with 200 kids, one or two are
> bound to be crying always. There is such an echo in the church that a
> baby's cry is the only thing that can be heard. We have asked for
> talkers and cryers to calm down outside, maybe I need to ask them to
> be 20 or 30 feet from the church so we can hear well.
> There is a sweet lady at the church whom I have been impressed
> with. Her name is Helena. She gets it. At most churches, if there
> are dirty kids outside of the church on the steps, the leasders shoo
> them away. However Helena invited them in. This is counter cultural,
> but maybe the culture of Simbo village is changing.
> Helena came to me with some serious health troubles that had
> plagued her for about 6 years (it appeared to be partial kidney
> failure). We prayed but no change. Dave and I prayed and decided
> that I should take her to the hospital and trust God to pay the costs
> for treating a chronic condition. At the hospital, the outpatient Dr.
> recognized me as missionary who is trying to get permission to work
> there. Therefore, he re-opened the closed down department, he saw her
> and treated her ffor free of charge!!! He said that we are servants
> of God, so we should help each other out! Helena and I were so happy
> that we jumped up and down thanking God and the Dr. for free and good
> medical care!
> While I am waiting for permission to nurse, I am teaching 7th
> grade English. This is such a need because from 8th grade on, all
> teaching is in English. Many students fail the exams because they do
> not understand the language of the test. We are starting with the
> basics, and it is fun!
>
> David is teaching a choir. some songs are translated from English to
> Swahili (including "Dancing Generation"). Others he composed in
> Swahili in the African style.
> Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. How can we pray for
> you? Michelle and Dave

To play a part in this ministry: Designate for - Dave and Michelle Heed - contributions@elimfellowship.org

Dress A Girl Around the World

This past Saturday, February 4th, the women's ministry at my church had an old fashioned "quilting bee". Only we didn't make quilts, we made dresses for girls in impoverished nations. We brought sewing machines, ironing boards, irons, scissors, all kinds of notions and trims, etc. and we brought ourselves.



There were specific stations set up. Two tables of sewing machines, 3 ironing stations, 2 cutting tables, a doll making station, assembling of dress kits station.

A dress kit contained the two pieces for the front and back of the dress, elastic for the front and back gathering, seam binding for the arm holes and to tie at the shoulders, a pocket, and an embellishment or two. This was all color co-ordinated.

These kits were packaged in plastic bags for women to take home to put together. Of course, we also put together as many as we could on Saturday. All together we made 40plus dresses in sizes 3 to 12 and an ecology doll to put in each dress pocket.
(doll completely made from fabric and yarn scraps)


The rationale for a girl having a pretty dress in a third world nation is: she is then perceived to be well taken care of by her family (even though she may have no family). There are many, many children orphaned by the aids epidemic who are street waifs. Often the girls are transcripted into the sex trade and forced into prostitution in exchange for food and lodging. Even children who do have parents may live in ghettos made of cardboard boxes. A dress may enable a child to attend school. At the very least, it will lend her a little self respect.

The dresses are always hand delivered to the villages by missionaries. Two families from my church will be delivering dresses - one to Tanzania, Africa and the other with a Young Life mission to S. America. Dresses will be delivered by both of these families to the girls in the villages where they will be ministering.

If you're interested in learning a bit more about this ministry, Here's the link:
http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com/