Reports of recent Trips and Work by Godspeed Missionary Care

Mozambique, January 2000

A death occurred in January, in a far away land. A single death, on a day when statistics tell us that more than 25,000 people worldwide would die from lack of food alone. This singular death, seemingly insignificant numerically, occurred in a small country which itself has had precious little impact on world events. Mozambique, declared by the United Nations at one time in the past ten years to be Africa's poorest country, lies along the lower southeastern coast of Africa, between South Africa and Tanzania. A former Portuguese colony, its independence came in 1975 after a bloody rebellion, only to be followed by years of civil war, and a communistic government that only gave way to a democracy after a truce was reached in 1992. Residue of the effects of communism is everywhere. As one drives through the capital city of Maputo, on streets with names such as Kim Il Sung Avenue, and Karl Marx Boulevard, deteriorating buildings compete for space with honeycombs of mud and thatch wall huts that extend maze-like further than the eye can follow. Petty crime is rampant, driven by pervasive poverty. Property may be lost, but intentional violence is not common, at least until this past January.

Into this country ravaged by political and economic mismanagement, missionaries have come to bring the good news of hope, of life. There seems to be so much poverty, so much illiteracy, and such a tendency for the nationals to seek a handout, that the labor is often frustrating. Missionaries labor, nevertheless, one contact at a time. One strategy has been to develop bible schools, where nationals can come and receive training, then return to their villages to develop and lead churches. A small group of dedicated missionaries have been developing such a school, on the outskirts of Maputo. A missionary compound, several small homes, other buildings where students are taught, accessible by one dirt road. One evening, four armed intruders come into the compound, shooting a watchman and forcing their way into the home of a senior missionary. As his family listens from an adjacent room, and as his fellow missionaries in nearby houses huddle in fear, he is shot and killed.

The missionary community mobilizes to surround the family and others immediately involved, providing shelter, food, and companionship. The family returns to the states to reunite with three older children, while those remaining have to deal not only with the loss of a colleague and friend, but must evaluate how they should now approach their work and life. Should they take greater security measures, and therefore distance themselves even further from those they have come to serve? Do families who have lived on the mission compound on the outskirts of town, far removed from quick access to help, move back into the city? What is the proper balance between trusting God for protection and taking sensible security measures? One mission agency whose members are part of this situation asked that I accompany a member of their staff into Mozambique and meet with all of those involved, to help them process what they have seen, and heard, and felt.

The seven-day trip in retrospect is somewhat of a blur. Snow and ice storms in the U.S. prevent my being able to obtain the requisite visa for entry into Mozambique, so I have to leave earlier to go first to South Africa, where I will be able to obtain a visa with less wait, "quick and easy". Easy and quick are not words that necessarily apply to the process of getting from Texas, where we were involved in the training of still another group of missionaries, some going to Mozambique, some to the far East. Weather-dictated rerouting, a fourteen hour flight to Johannesburg, travel culminates eventually in Maputo after the appropriate visa was obtained. We immediately met with thirteen members of one mission team, all affected in some way by the death, and one of whom was at the compound when the attack took place. Later, we go to the compound ourselves, and meet with the others who were there the night of the shooting. Deeply painful memories are shared, along with expressions of profound faith and trust in God. Individual meetings with couples allow time to talk in greater detail about issues of security, trust, communication, and hopes for the future. As many of the missionaries leave to go to the northern part of South Africa for a needed long weekend, I return home (the flight back from Johannesburg is longer, against the prevailing winds, One nine hour flight ends on a tiny island off the coast of west Africa. After a one- hour wait for refueling, another nine-hour flight will get me back to the U.S.). After I left Mozambique, rains began the next day and continued for ten days, resulting in the worst flooding in the country's recent history. Many roads, previously negotiable only by four-wheel drive vehicle, are now totally impassable. The danger of cholera complicates the increased danger of already-endemic malaria. The difficult labor of the missionary in Mozambique, recently challenged by the violent loss of a fellow worker, is now further complicated by the results of flooding. Supplying food, shelter, and medical services to those in critical need is now of greater priority than church planting.

In a place where damage done by godless ideology and corrupt bureaucracy is exceeded only by the destruction of flooding, is it possible to see positive change from any one person's effort? Certainly, I saw how the death of a committed missionary brought so many people together, how opening of doors and healing of conflicts emerged out of tragedy and loss. I came away, again humbled by the powerful faith exhibited by missionary families who entrust their very lives to the God they serve, and again convinced that each one of them is making a difference. One of the younger single missionaries voiced how the events of January served to remind him that none of us has any guarantee of a tomorrow, on this earth, and that each day should be lived in surrender as if it were our last. And this became the lesson for me from this trip to Mozambique: on any day, even this day, when security may be in question, when our very survival is not guaranteed, when the significance of a single act may be unclear, that our task is to surrender. Surrender, to be available, for service or sacrifice, as He wills.

Within the next three weeks, Godspeed Missionary Care will again return to Mozambique, this time on a planned trip to meet with the team we worked with in Texas. I had also expected to meet again with those missionaries I saw on this emergency trip, to see how God was working in their lives to bring answers to the questions that arose out of the death of their friend. Now, today, I received an e-mail from one of the missionaries in Mozambique, reporting that the Red Cross is looking for medication as they are out of supplies to combat the illnesses and social chaos that have erupted since the floods. Godspeed's focus and plans will now change, as we seek the funding for medical supplies to take with us, and pray that we will be able to transport them to where they can be best used, without undue interference from customs bureaucracy and washed out roads. We ask your prayers, for the family of the missionary who gave his life, and for all his friends and associates who continue the work. We ask for God's grace to be given especially to the people of Mozambique, and for God to provide funds and supplies He will direct to meet their needs. And, we ask for His protection over us as we return to serve Him in a small, far away land.

Godspeed,
Barney M. Davis, Jr., M.D.
Executive Director, Godspeed Missionary Care