Coming Face to Face with Poverty
Never in a million years would I have imagined I would be planting a church in Africa! Mel and I never even talked about being missionaries. I mean, my idea of camping is a night at the Hyatt, not moving to a country full of snakes, spiders, and other creepy, crawly insects…. Not to mention we didn’t know one person and couldn’t even speak the language! But when God calls, you go.
We sold everything, our home, our cars, and my business. We said goodbye to family and friends and took our two small kids and headed out on our next seven year adventure.
I knew we would have rough days and we did, but it was so worth it. We got to meet an incredible community of people that we fell in love with. Angelica was just one of the many who made our hearts forever have a home in Africa.
Angelica was one of the first kids to attend our Celebration Sponsorship program through which our Church feeds over 500 kids every day. We tutor them, teach them the Bible and show them unconditional love. Angelica’s mother had passed away when she was a baby and to make matters worse, her father had been robbed and so brutally beaten that it left him disabled for life. With her dad now unable to work to provide for her and her brother, she was left with the responsibility to care for her family in this incredibly impoverished community.
Angelica was excited to receive a job offer as a house maid, however it was three hours away from our community in Xai Xai. Although it wouldn’t be much money, she was excited for the opportunity to be able to send funds to provide for her family. Six months had passed, and no one had heard from her. We broadcast her disappearance to the local radio station asking for people to help us locate her. We discovered that she had been confined to a house, not allowed to leave for any reason and was never paid for any of her labor. Through the church’s efforts to find her, she was returned home and we welcomed her with open arms and enough food to care for the whole family.
As I dropped off the food that day, I saw her father and it marked me. Although broken and disabled for life, he was still able to smile from ear to ear at the return of his daughter. The need is so great in Mozambique, that sometimes you just don’t know where to start.
Have you ever been there? Wanting to make a difference, but not knowing where to start? There are needs all around us, and when we are faithful with the small things, we can grow our faith to make a big difference in the lives of others. Thanksgiving is a season where we can truly be thankful for the blessings that we share in America. Bags of Celebration, complete Thanksgiving meals, will be given out to our surrounding Austin area community this month, allowing us to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people. You can make a difference for a family today.
By the way, all these years later, Angelica continues to serve in the sponsorship program, but now as a full-time employee of Celebration Church Sponsorship Program!
~ Diane Stauber