Ok, when I have to reach back in my memory bank to Christmas in the tail end of February, I know I have waited far too long to keep in touch with you. We did have a bit of excitement way back when, so I must share it with you.

We had planned to have a big Christmas Day family get-together with the missionary family from Quelimane.  We were expecting to have about 28 people in our home for most of the day.  Excitement ran high as we cleaned, baked, and loaded soft drinks into the spare fridge at “Mom’s house”, keeping the kids involved as much as possible.  At one point Esther and Jesse went next door to “Grandma’s house” to get something from the fridge.  Suddenly, we hear an urgent call from Esther.  Jesse had hurt himself.  I walked into the house to find Jesse standing in the middle of a coke pond surrounded by islands of broken glass.  From the top of his foot, spurts of blood were pulsating with each beat of his heart.  I’m sorry, did that gross you out?  Well, you should have been there.  The long and the short of it is that after applying pressure and bandaging it as best we could, Mark drove Jesse into Quelimane to get stitches.  There was only one minor problem.  There was no anesthetic to be found anywhere in town – not even in the hospital!  So Mark and an American nurse launched upon Plan “B”.  Super Glue.  I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently it’s common practice (though the glue usually has a more sterile sounding name).  A few hours later my boy arrived back home glued back together and all bandaged up.

It was not until a few weeks later when the bandages were off that we noticed that Jesse seemed a bit more clumsy then usual.  He was tripping regularly.  Then one day Jesse says, “Hey Dad, look here.  I can’t lift my toe.”  Sure enough, his big toe is drooping slightly and he cannot lift it up.  I guess the coke bottle that nicked his artery must have also done some pretty severe damage to the tendon going down to his big toe.  This issue still needs to be dealt with.  We plan to take the first opportunity we get to take him to Malawi to see an orthopedic surgeon to see what can be done.  There is never a dull moment in the Haug home.  We are so thankful that our Lord carries us through the most “interesting” of times.  His peace is so very real.

In January, we were privileged to be able to participate in a PAOC Global Missionary Retreat.  After being part of the missionary family for 32 years, it was a wonderful experience to meet “icons” of our missionary fellowship and meet new families just starting out on this great adventure.  We worshipped the Lord together and were blessed by the messages shared.

We arrived back home just a day before the next big event of our lives – the start up of the new school year at EBZ.  Our Bible School is a bit unique in that we don’t do pre-registrations at this point.  We never know until after a week into school how many students we will have for the term.  So far, we have 15 students in this first 3 month term.  Mark and I have just finished teaching our first two-week courses at the school – The Gospels, and Bibliology.  I must say, I found teaching Bibliology for the first time to be quite the challenge.  The Lord has been faithful, however.  Monday a new class will be starting – the book of Acts.  Please pray for our teachers and students, that God’s Word would come alive in our hearts and that the name of the Lord would be lifted up in each class taught.

On the third day of school we had another bit of excitement.  Five men from the leadership of Mission Link and PAOC spent two days with us as part of their whirlwind tour through our mission works in Africa.  Though I must admit to initially being a tad nerve-wracked over the visit and particularly the timing of it, Mark and I were so encouraged by their time with us.  They were very uplifting in their words and actions.  At the end of a “short little meeting” with us on the last night they were here which ended at 1:40 a.m., they laid hands on us and prayed for us, our family and ministry.  We are blessed to have leadership who care so much about us and who have such vision for the future of the PAOC missions work around the world.

As we were well into the first stage of the long journey to attend our Global Retreat in late January, we received the devastating news that one of our pastor’s wives from our town of Nicoadala had just been killed in a traffic accident.  Albertina was such a jewel.  She was one of the few pastor’s wives to have graduated from our Bible School.  In times like these, we cannot pretend to understand the Lord’s ways.  The “why her” questions swirl in our heads.  Our hearts break for her husband, Pr. Luis Soares.  On our first opportunity after we returned, we joined him for a service at their church.  They are still reeling from the blow, but there was such a sense of God’s sustaining hand upon the pastor and congregation.  This church has always struggled.  My prayer is that somehow through this, God will show himself in a powerful way in that church.  Would you join me in praying for Pr. Luis and for his congregation as they work through this grief and pain?

As a family, we are doing well.  Jesse is glad that my Bible School class is over because that means I’m at home and available to him when he needs me for home school.  His schedule suffers quite a bit when I’m not home, although he does very well working independently.  Esther and Jonathan are finding these days at RVA to be stressfully busy.  Academics are challenging and there are so many extra-curricular activities available to them.  Tonight is the Jr/Sr Banquet – a day looked forward to with great anticipation and much hard work.  Pray that each of my ‘scholars’ will remember to keep their priorities right, and most of all, that each of them would be drawn closer to Jesus then ever before.

We appreciate and depend on your support and prayers.  You are a vital part of this Mission to Mozambique.  We are praying for you.  May God provide for you in miraculous ways as you remain faithful to Him.

Together in Christ,

Mark, Donna, Esther, Jonathan and Jesse