Good parts and tough parts

Life has been full lately. Of writing and ministry. Of warm summer days that are slowly getting hotter. Of heartache over a number of difficult situations friends are facing. And of excitement over our new church plant and seeing God's hand at work around us.

Scott has been in the US the last month, sharing our ministry with churches and individuals. (You can watch our short 2014 video below if you missed it.) I've been holding down the fort here in Mozambique with Amber, our wonderful intern, and the support of the Christians here. Yes, I'm feeling a bit spread out at the moment and can't wait for our family to be back together! (Minus Gabe who will spending the holiday's with my mother which is bittersweet for me as a mama.)

The tough parts?

• Learning of the death of a young boy we'd tried to help in the past. He was an orphan battling with HIV and living with extended relatives. 

• Another young man, Fransisco, is thirteen and recently diagnosed with a genetic disease. He is going blind. The ECHO Project is planning on sponsoring him to go to the country's only blind school about twelve hours north of us.

• A young mother we've been working with is struggling with TB and because of that, her children can't live with her. Several of us visited her today to pray with her and encourage her, then went to visit her three month old baby and two other children. We were so thrilled to see the baby thriving, something that her mother is so grateful for. The ECHO Project is providing formula for the baby who is being cared for by relatives, and food baskets for the mother.

She smiled the the whole time we were there and told us she was
 still beautiful and was going to stay strong in her new faith!

The good parts?

• Many of you know that Amber English is working alongside us for the next few months. She has just posted a moving new post on her blog. It's definitely worth reading! You can find it on her blog here! I so appreciate her tender heart and love for the people here!

• A team from three of our churches went last weekend to the new church plant in Matimbine. (Amber shares more of this in her blog post) We are so excited to God moving among these beautiful people!

• On a more personal note, this morning I was thrilled to wake up to an email this week with an acceptance letter for Gabriel to one of the Universities top on his list! He's planning to major in Bible and Phycology. So proud of him and excited to see what God will do through him in the months and years to come.

As I scroll through my Facebook feed and watch the news, I'm reminded that there will always be good parts and tough parts of life. But I was also reminded this morning of this verse from the Psalms.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14 NLT

May He be our constant rock through this life.

Be a blessing today!

Lisa


PS Below is our short, 2014 video if you haven't seen it yet!


AOM 2014 from Lisa Harris on Vimeo.