Two weeks ago I went to Beira to visit and to encourage my
friend Elias (or Elijah in English). In
September he was in a terrible car accident in which he fell off his motorbike
and then was run over by a car and shortly thereafter became unconscious. When he woke up in hospital, both he and the
doctors were amazed that he had survived especially considering the amount of
blood he had lost and the damage to his head.
He couldn't breathe through his nose for two weeks which made eating complicated,
and now, more than 6 weeks later, he still has limited circulation on the right
side of his face and various physical limitations-mostly affecting his face. Additionally, since the accident he and his
family have also experienced difficulty; his brother was in a motorbike
accident on his way to visit Elias in hospital, his niece recently died, he was
robbed and therefore short on finances needed for food and missing a phone. Despite
all this Elias continually thanks God that he is alive and trusts God, as he
knows God alone spared his life.
Watching his faith through suffering has spoken volumes to me. Truly he embodies Psalm 34:1, “I will extol the
LORD at all times, his praise will always be on my lips.”
Elias is a Mozambican man with a vision to build an
orphanage to take care of widows and orphans. I first met him in 2009, when I
was on the World Race and he was our translator. That’s when my teammates and I heard his
vision and wanted to help him reach that goal. Since then, there has been correspondence
and the first house was built in June this year. He wants to build small houses
in which one widow and about six children will live. Currently no one lives in
the house though, as it lacks furniture and there are still a handful of needs
that must be met in order to be up and running. Due to his accident and unfortunate
events as well as his very active church involvement, he hasn't been able to
focus on the orphanage.
When I was in Beira with Elias he stressed to
me that funding was major obstacle that kept
him from getting things off the ground and running. He has talked to the
local government who is willing to assist with food for the orphanage once
there is evidence of consistent finances required to take care of kids. He also wants to get sowing machines for the
widows thereby allowing them to make their own money and financially contribute
to the homes as well.
Unfortunately there
are several widows and orphans throughout Mozambique who lack the ability to
adequately provide for themselves and are reliant on others. As a result, there is a big need for orphanages
here in Mozambique. I know of a handful
of orphanages in various parts of Mozambique, but Elias is the only Mozambican
I know of who wants to build an orphanage; every other orphanage I know of was
established and is run by Westerners.
There is definitely nothing wrong with foreigners helping, but I think
it is special to have a Mozambican who wants to help his own people in this
way. It excites me to see a Mozambican
with a passion to help his country and people, as opposed to the victim
mentality of we’re suffering and you, rich, foreigner should help.
Elias standing outside the Children's home.
If you would like to encourage or help Elias, you can email
him: eliasdomingosbene@yahoo.com.br
Or if you would like to give go
to: http://www.razoo.com/story/Beloveinc?referral_code=share and make sure to indicate it is for
Elias.
In closing, this was one of my most memorable moments in
Beira:
“It’s not much further”,
Elias assured me as I followed him in the unfamiliar path in the dark of night.
After perhaps 5 minutes of walking I was
already out of breath but told myself “Don’t
stop again, just keep going…the sooner we arrive the better, and then I can drop
this awkward, heavy thing.” By
leaning back I held the 25 kg (over 50 lb.) bag on my stomach and hips, which
was a better option than carrying it on the head, like locals or over the
shoulder, like Elias was doing. It was
uncomfortable: my lower back was starting to hurt, the bag was beginning to
slip through my grip and there was a carpet burn-like sensation on the inside
of my elbows. A challenging 10 minute (~
1/4 mile) walk, but I eagerly did it because I knew Elisa and her grandchildren
would now have something to eat, something to eat for the next few months. Even though I couldn't clearly see her face
because it was dark, there was no disguising the excitement and thankfulness
upon receiving the food. We were immediately thanked with a new and strange
fruit called coração do boi (heart of
a bull, somehow the name seemed fitting for the accomplished task). You see,
buying the food was easy; carrying it was not.
I learned about sacrificial love by carrying the 25 kg bag of rice: my
momentary inconvenience and discomfort brought nourishment to the hungry. I couldn't help but to reflect on Jesus’
sacrifice: how much greater was his pain and suffering to bring a much greater
gift of eternal life.
You haven't seen a pothole until you've seen and experienced a Mozambican pothole. This is the main road that leads to/from Beira..believe it or not there have been substantial improvements in road conditions since I was in Beira in February...so potholes like these were far less frequent than before.
