Meet Louisa, an albino widow who has 4 children. We found her living in very poor conditions. As she has 4 children, we could not place her in the widows’ house. Louisa lives in a spare house at the youth project at Maracuene. She has a small business. Last week her Mom was visiting (what a great family photo!!).

The story below is of an old woman who sits on a chair in the office regularly as she waits for food and milk.

"Everything is overshadowed by the death of one of our missionaries here at Iris. One of our missionaries, Daryl Martin, got too close to some elephants and paid with his life. Still, something amazing happened in the midst of elephants charging, autopsy, wake, service of memory, and burial. All 75 of our Iris children who live on site in 5 homes have lost both parents. They have suffered loss compounded by rejection and abandonment. The children suffered another loss, and yet this time they are older and able to process. There was great wailing and crying.

“We have had another awesome term with many Holy Spirit encounters as his presence falls upon us during regular class times. Unfortunately we don't take our camera to classes in order to be able to share those moments with you. We would however like to share a few of the highlights from our most recent graduation at the Zimpeto Bible School.   

"2011 has seen some significant changes in the reintegration team. We lost one of our team members when she left work, requiring us to find and train a new worker. Our driver of over five years has also recently moved on, and we have yet to appoint a new driver.

"The team works very well in uncovering the truth of the situations the children come from. Often times this requires that they make surprise visits to the house or that they interview neighbours or pastors of the church.

Our Mieze and Noviane children’s projects continue to evidence more and more of the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom of love. Some of the highlights from the first half of this year include the following:

    •providing a hot dinner of chicken, rice and salad to about 3,500 children on Christmas Day and Children’s Day (June 1)
    •providing a hot meal of beans and rice to about 500 village children in Mieze every Saturday following the kids’ Clube de Bandeira program of evangelism and fun
    •providing full daily nutrition to about 50 children in the Mieze “Village of Love” and another 20 in our Noviane Project

"Back in 2008 our first widow’s home was built and had a capacity to house 8 widows. At present (February 2011) we have just two women living in the house.

“While we all agree that breast milk is the best option for babies, there are numerous situations where mothers are unable to feed their own babies. These are the ones that the formula milk replacement program targets. The aim of the program is (wherever possible) for the babies to remain with their mother or another family member. In cases where the mother has died, the family often needs the support because they cannot afford the cost of formula. In cases of sickness, malnutrition or simply insufficient milk, our team assesses mothers for their eligibility to receive milk powder.

“It continues to be a great honour and privilege to minister to and help equip the many pastors who come to the Zimpeto Bible School. The hunger to pursue hard after God is the passion which we desire to stir up in each and every student, as well as within ourselves. The picture below, of one of our pastors lost in the glory of God at a recent graduation celebration, says so much more than words could ever do.