A Time for Everything

“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven:

 A time to be born and a time to die….a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,4,11.

I get to see many births and many deaths in Mozambique and I would bet there’s a higher percentage birth rate and death rate in Mozambique than in the States.  Somehow, here death is less shocking as it is more common, but it is still difficult and painful.

This morning (August 7^th) I found out that Jeremias died, and I went to his funeral this afternoon.   He was one of my neighbors during the first 8 months that I lived here. I know his wife, mother, brother, in- laws, nieces, nephews, aunts, etc.  I sat and cried with his daughter (9 or 10 years old) at the funeral.

He died on Monday.  Cause of death?  Maybe I can figure that out later.   He was in his late 30s or 40s.  He was friendly, good guy and I distinctly remember my last conversation with him.  It was in July and he greeted me warmly as I had recently returned from the States…it made me glad to be back.

Also, Carlota- the woman I wrote the “tangerine” blog about died last Wednesday when I was in South Africa.  I saw her a few times since I wrote the blog and she was hopeless. She had no will to live.  I think she briefly wanted to be better and then it was back to the same old “better dead” mentality. I’m telling you, she was a different woman the day she ate the tangerine.  She had hope.  I gave her another tangerine…she ate maybe one third of it…and hid the rest.  She refused to eat other food as well. 

From the first time I entered her house, I wondered if there were other factors (not just physical) contributing to her illness. Something just didn’t seem right. Her neighbor (my friend Tina) told me that prior to getting sick, she would walk around paranoid and would frequently try to hide though no one was chasing her.   I agree with locals who conclude that she was harassed by a bad spirit.

So lately it hasn’t been happy go lucky around here.  But you know what’s interesting; the Lord has reminded me of this since I started writing.  I know that the Lord wants me to spread his love to nations, and just in the last week He re-iterated being a heart- mender…and death often brings broken hearts and it’s in times of sorrow like death where I can embody the compassion of the Lord.