The Haugs in Mozambique

There are times in life when the storms rise up and shake your little boat so much that you wonder which way is up.  The Haug family has felt a bit like that in the last while.  Today we’ve been reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples on that wind-tossed lake, “Don’t be afraid…  Take courage! The ‘I AM’ is here.” (Mark 6:50)  The All Powerful Creator God, the I AM, is HERE with us.  We don’t need to worry or fret.  We choose to trust that God has provided and will provide for us as a family.

We have had to come to a difficult decision for the benefit of our family.  Boarding school has not worked out well for our children.  We do not have many options around here for high school education, and none that would satisfy what we feel is needed at this time.  With that in mind, we have decided that we need to move back to Toronto, Canada for 2 or 3 years to get our two teenagers through their high school years and settled into life in Canada.  Please pray for us as we go through this transition.  Although we are looking forward to getting back home again, it’s difficult especially for Mark.  Pray that the Lord would provide employment for him and a sense of God’s peace and purpose through the sacrifice he’s making for his family.

Our hearts are still definitely here on the mission field.  We hope and pray that the Lord will allow us to return again someday to serve him overseas.  In the meantime, we remain open to what the Lord opens up for us during this phase in our lives.

Our leaving does shake things up a bit over here in Mozambique.  We have the Santana’s, a Brazilian couple, on route to come and assist with the work here in Nicoadala.  They are currently in Maputo doing their paperwork and getting a vehicle.  They were to be replacing Rex and Rita Stuckless who have just retired in December.  Now that the Haugs are leaving, another Brazilian couple, Izirlei and Lenilda Guimarães, who have been working with our team in Maputo for over a decade, have graciously agreed to move up to Nicoadala to take over the running of the Bible School.  We know that the hand of the Lord has been in all of this.  These two couples are more than capable, and I’m convinced they will do an excellent job.  The one big concern we have is that neither of these couples comes with the full funding necessary to keep the Bible School functioning.  We would like you to prayerfully consider that any support you have been sending to us or have thought of sending be transferred to EBZ Bible School, Zambezia, Mozambique so that things can keep running smoothly in our absence.  Simply make a note of that name on your donation envelope or on your cheque. 

Pray also for the staff and students of our Bible School.  This will be another big adjustment for them.  Pray for stability and peace through all of the changes in the coming months.  Mark will be returning to Nicoadala from mid-June to mid-July to assist with the transition of the work.

Our planned travel schedule is as follows:

May 7 – 9 = Travel from Nicoadala to Maputo

May 10 - 11 =  visit, say our good-byes, Missionary Meeting with the PAOC team

May 12 – 13 =  travel to Pretoria/Johannesburg

May 14 = Mark and Jonathan fly to Nairobi, Kenya to spend a couple of days at RVA collecting Jonathan’s things, saying good-bye and getting his braces off.  J

May 16 = Donna, Esther and Jesse fly Johannesburg to London while Mark and Jonathan fly Nairobi to London, hopefully arriving within an hour of each other.  We will make the last leg of the journey to Toronto together.

May 17 = Arrival in Toronto at 14:40.

In spite of all of this, life still has a way of going on.  Some of you have asked about how Jesse’s surgery went.  Well, praise the Lord, he didn’t have to have it!  We went to Malawi to see the surgeon.  He inspected the toe and found that it has been healing itself.  Since our first contact with him, having sent him photos and descriptions, until the time of the visit, there had been a marked improvement.  It is not drooping nearly as much, and he is able to lift it somewhat.  His gait is normal.  So, the surgeon said we should leave it and allow it to heal on its own.  Thank you for those of you who prayed for Jesse.  He was very relieved to not have to go through with that.

This past week has been particularly challenging in that we’ve had to take two thieves to jail in a space of two days.  The first day, a guy in Quelimane smashed our truck window to steal something, but someone yelled.  Mark and Jonathan gave chase and actually caught the guy!  The mob that surrounded them wanted to beat the guy up.  Some yelled out to break his arm.  Others said, “Kill him!”  Mark and Jonathan protected the guy and took him to the police station and spent a few hours there doing all the paperwork.  The very next day, a guy who had claimed to be an air conditioner repairman tried a scam on us – switching our compressor with the compressor from a man down the road and charged us BOTH for new ones!  He got taken in to the police station too.  It’s been a costly few days – both financially and time-wise.  Please continue to pray for God’s protection and for peace of mind as we try to do what needs to be done before we leave.

Meanwhile, the work continues.  Mark taught a one-week intense course on Homiletics last week.  He loves teaching about the power of the Word of God.  It’s encouraging when you “see the lights coming on” in your students and feel that they’re ‘getting it’.  This week we have a Mozambican pastor teaching on the Christian family.  This is an area where the enemy has been having a field day in this country, just as he likes to try in Canada.  Our families are under attack.  Pray that the students would catch God’s vision of what a Christian family should be and stand up in its defense.

We are in the process of setting up the teaching schedule for the coming term and making other preparations to hand the work over to others.  There is much to be done in the next few weeks.  We would appreciate your prayers over the next while.  A month from today we’ll be back home with one challenge behind us and huge one still ahead.  But we are listening to the words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid… Take courage!  The ‘I AM’ is here.”

Serving faithfully wherever He sends,

Mark, Donna, Esther, Jonathan and Jesse Haug

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

Another year of ministry at the Zambezia Bible School has come to an end.  As I watched the proud smiles on the faces of the graduates just before they began their march out of the back room robed in their black gowns and with their hats and tassels perched on their already glistening foreheads, I was reminded once again of why we invest in this work.  Let me go back just a couple of weeks.

As you know, Rex and Rita will be retiring at the end of this year after completing 31 ½ years of overseas missionary ministry.  Before they started this particular Bible School in Zambezia they had started two other Bible Schools in the country of Brazil.  But going back even further, Rex and Rita were pioneers in remote fishing villages on the south shore of Newfoundland in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  It was in those years that a connection happened which would have an impact on the final graduation ceremony of their missionary career.

A young lady named Inez Regular, together with another lady friend, felt the call of God on their lives for full time ministry.  They also were placed in one of these isolated communities under the supervision and care of Rex and Rita Stuckless.  Who knew that so many years later, Inez and her husband Melvin Power, pastors of a PAOC church in North Bay, Ontario, would come to the village of Nicoadala, Mozambique to share in the final days of Rex and Rita’s missionary service.  Isn’t our God an awesome God? 

Pastor Melvin and Inez came to Mozambique in mid-October with Garry and Norma Brown, a couple from their church.  On the Friday after they arrived, we had a special meeting with the 9 graduates.  Both the Mozambican and Canadian contingents all shared their personal testimonies.  How inspiring to hear how God is at work transforming lives on both sides of the ocean.

The next day we took them on an adventure.  We drove to a village not too far away, but we planned to stay overnight.  As we waited for nightfall, we played games with the children. We blew up balloons and tossed them in the air, while the children had great fun chasing them down.  Mark taught them how to play with hacky-sacks which our visitors had brought along.  As it got dark, we showed the Jesus film in the Chwabo language.  People kept joining the group even up till the crucifixion scene.  After the film, many people prayed the sinner’s prayer.  They were encouraged to look for a Christian church to learn more about this Jesus the next morning.  That night we slept in our tents – well, we all lay down.  I’m not sure how much sleep we all got.  However, we were all up with the chickens and the sunshine at 4:30 the next morning.  By 8:30 when the morning church service began, we had “showered” in the straw enclosure which just happened to double as the “pee toilet”, and we had eaten our breakfast of sweet potato and cassava root.  The little church was packed with people singing and dancing.  We celebrated the Lord together, each in our own language.  Pastor Melvin preached on divine healing, and many people throughout the church raised their hands asking for prayer following the message.  Our prayer is that many long lasting results will linger from this weekend of ministry.

On Monday night, we started a week of spiritual emphasis at the Bible School.  Pastor Melvin and Inez both ministered throughout the week on the person, ministry and power of the Holy Spirit.  We had wonderful times of prayer and seeking God at the altar each night.  Many were baptized in the Holy Spirit, renewed with power and even called into ministry.  It was a wonderful and much needed time of refreshing for all of us.  On the Friday night we had an open-air service on a soccer field in town.  We invited all Christ-believing churches to participate with their choirs.  It was beautiful to see different denominations coming together to lift up the name of Jesus.  We showed a clip from the Jesus film in the local tribal dialect and then Pastor Melvin preached a salvation message based on what was shown.  Again, many people prayed asking God to save them and change their lives.

On Saturday, the widowed pastor of our church just across the laneway from our home got re-married.  It was yet another interesting cross-cultural experience for our Canadian friends.  The church members sang and sang as they waited for the bride and groom to arrive, which they finally did only an hour late.  Rex Stuckless officiated the ceremony, and Pastor Melvin preached the sermon. The seating arrangement at the front of the church was confusing for our visitors. The bride wore a green lacy dress and typically was very serious all the way through the ceremony.  The bride and groom were surrounded by their witnesses, a couple from town.    Our visitors were not sure who the actual bride and groom were.  As Pastor Melvin preached, he wasn’t sure who to look at when addressing the couple!  However, the wedding was performed and Christ was honored.

Sunday morning was our graduation ceremony.  Our Bible School chapel was filled as the graduates milled around in the office getting their robes on and nervously making sure their hats were on straight.  Soon they were marching up the aisle as Rex played on the organ.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  The class speaker did a good job although he was a little bit nervous. The class chose the name “Sowers” for their theme.  Pastor Melvin spoke on the importance of sowing the seed and that God would bring the increase.  He held a bag over his shoulder and flung seeds around the front of the chapel as an illustration of how we aught to share the gospel.  I’m sure those present will not soon forget it.  The passing of the torch, the handing out of the diplomas and the moving of the tassels signifying their official graduation was all well done.  The subsequent banquet was wonderful.  But the real work has now begun for these men in particular. Many of them are already in ministry, some full-time and some part-time.  But each of them has had much invested in their lives over the past three years.  Please pray that they will put into practice what they have learned and share the truths of God’s Word with their people.

Our goal is to see God’s church grow both in numbers and in spiritual maturity.  There is much to be done, but God is doing a great work.  Our Canadian friends have returned to Canada.  I’m sure they will never be quite the same again.  Meanwhile, tomorrow morning we will be starting the two-day drive down to Maputo for our national conference, the Maputo Bible School graduation, and some missionary meetings.  We hope to go into South Africa to do some medical and dental work and maybe just a little bit of shopping.  We hope to be back home by November 14^th.  Please keep us in your prayers over the next few weeks.  Our little family is under quite a bit of stress these days from many different areas.  We would appreciate a special prayer covering over each member of our family.  Pray for:

Mark – Wisdom and insight as he takes over the financial role on top of the administration end of the Bible School work.  He also wants to start up a new level of teaching at the school in this next year, hoping to train more teachers to help us at the Bible School.

Donna – Strength in the adjustment as having Mom and Dad leave is a BIG one for me.  I will also be taking over the Academic Administration of the school and the running of the Child Care Plus program.

Esther and Jonathan – Protection and peace as they continue their studies at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya.  Pray for health and strength physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Jesse – Patience and peace as he’s finding some aspects of life as an MK (missionary kid) a bit hard to handle.

Pray also that God would send a Portuguese-speaking couple to work beside us in this ministry. God knows what we need.  He knows who would best fill that role.  Pray for God’s leading in these decisions.

Pray also that God would provide the short-fall needed to cover our budget for this year as well as for the coming years.  We need you.

Thank you for your love and support.  We couldn’t be here doing what we’re doing if you did not send us and cover us with your prayers.  God bless you richly for your part in the Mission to Mozambique.

Sincerely,

Mark, Donna, Esther, Jonathan and Jesse Haug

It’s a good thing, “God knows.”  These two words were heard to be said many times in the last few days.  This was the one assurance we all had, regardless of our level of faith or spiritual experience.

From a logical, human, reasonable perspective I was wondering things like: Why did I end up planning to travel alone from Nicuadala (home) to Pemba (capital of the Province of Cabo Delgado from where I’d be based for almost two weeks - visiting 15 of our satellite schools)? Why did I plan the Tuesday as a day free of any meetings during such a busy schedule? Why get sick so far away from home? The list goes on…

God IS sovereign!  Of that I have NO doubt.  I am SO limited.  Of THAT I have no doubt.  And this truth is “ok” with me because I know that HE loves me and works all things together for my good.  He is my father, after-all.

Here’s the story:

Friday morning (Sept 5^th - my mommy’s birthday) had me driving alone from our town, Nicuadala, to the town of Cuamba up in Nampula Province.  I stopped on the way to visit one of our national Pastors who I am hoping will soon be one of our professors at the Bible College.  The roads were good, the trip went well. I found enough fuel along the way to keep the truck going without pulling out the jerry cans.  Thanks for praying.  I arrived in Cuamba ahead of my expected time.

Having greeted everyone I knew in Cuamba and having confirmed plans for Saturday’s graduation service, it was time to relax.

Saturday was a busy day with final plans, graduation service, lunch, and then visiting some of the other missionaries in the area.

Sunday was another travel day.  One of the Brazilian missionary families were planning on going to Pemba and so they came along with me to Nampula on Sunday and then on to Pemba on Monday.  This saved them from an 11 hour hot steamy and crowded train ride and then a crazy 7 hour cross country bus ride and, I was glad to have some company.

On Sunday evening I attended the Nampula Missionary Fellowship and found it very encouraging to see a little bit of what God is doing in this part of the country.

We arrived ahead of schedule into Pemba on Monday afternoon.  I had planned to meet with the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) provincial leaders on Tuesday morning but, with the early arrival, we met on Monday instead.  Tuesday morning I did the administrative work that I needed to get done for the rest of the trip and then… I started my relationship with the bathroom. 

Between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday the 8^th I had seven visits to this little room.  The other people in the house had horrified looks on their faces every time I walked out of one of these very personal meetings.  The fact that my choice of meeting room had no door - just a curtain, might have helped them to hear better the content of my meetings.  By early afternoon, the one lady (who has nursing experience) began to suggest I head to a hospital… Please understand that the morgues in this country are always built on the same properties as hospitals and with good reason.  I was not interested in going to any Mozambican hospital/morgue.  By 5 p.m. I started enquiring about the availability of reliable medical personnel in town. 

Shortly after this I drove myself to the Clinica Cabo Delgado which is a relatively new (two years old) private clinic built in a remolded hotel.  Within minutes of arriving, the Italian doctor had me on an IV drip and was running a host of blood work.  He seemed excited about it all.  I was just glad he seemed to know what he was doing, I sure didn’t.  Remember, “God knows.”

Since leaving the house on Friday morning I had dropped about 9 kg (19 pounds) by the time I checked into the clinic on Monday evening.  Most of that was from fluids lost during those 7 noisy meetings.

After noting the dehydration (pasty skin, racing heart, poor blood circulation, sticky mouth) and getting the blood work report the doctor started me on a very strong antibiotic treatment.  These syringes were administered through the IV needle in my right arm.  With every shot my arm swelled up, apparently the IV hadn’t found a good vein.  During the night the nurse came in to change the 500 ml IV bottle whenever he remembered.  At one point I woke up suddenly, from my fitfully uncomfortable dozing, to find the bottle almost empty.  As I waited for the nurse to come in I realized that I had less IV than nurse.  So, in order to avoid “sucking air” I closed off the drip hose and laid there waiting for a new one.  More than half an hour later, a new bottle showed up and I tried to get back to my resting.  At one point, in the early morning hours, the bottle dried up but the pharmacy staff weren’t around, so they pulled the hose out of my arm, capped the needle, and I was able to get about an hour of sleep, without the hose restricting my position.  When the staff showed up, so did another bottle along with the leash, and there went my comfort again.

Being that my room in the clinic had an ensuite “meeting room”, my body decided to continue the relationship started back at the other house in this new place.  During one of these middle-of-the-night emergency meetings I jumped up out of bed so fast that I pulled the IV hose out of the needle which was buried in and taped to my forearm.  I looked down and saw blood slowly dripping out of the “port” in arm and saw the IV hose slowly dripping onto the floor.  All I could think of was, “Hey, that hose belongs in here.”  So, I grabbed the hose and pushed it back into the needle… My immediate thought was, “Ow” as I had to push hard enough to get the hose back into the needle but couldn’t secure the needle in place - I could only reach it with the one hand. 

In the moments which followed, while I was in my next meeting, I wondered if I had done the right thing by putting the hose back in again.  Should I have tried to walk downstairs and find a nurse to do it?  Had I not done it right and would now have an air bubble in my vein which would cause heart failure when it circulated that far?  Would anybody ever know what would have been my “cause of death” if that happened?  When would they finally come by and check on me and find my body here?  By then, I couldn’t concentrate too much on these thoughts as I was being called to another meeting was and had to respond… When would this all end?  “God knows.”

By Tuesday evening the doctor said I was re-hydrated and although the diarrhea and a slight fever still continued I could leave the clinic.  The antibiotic treatment would have to continue on Wednesday and Thursday.  These four visits (every 12 hours) had me exposing my backside to four different nurses and going for four little walks before getting into the truck to drive out.  Sitting down was not a popular option for good little while after these penetrating visits.  Friday afternoon the doctor ran some more tests and figured out that he had dealt with the bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal system but now had to face the parasites.  Nine pills at a time, for three days.  His advise with this treatment was, “Take them just before you lay down for the night otherwise you’ll have a rough time.”  I obeyed.

By Saturday evening my strength was slowly returning and I had an opportunity to visit with a group of the missionary family in Pemba.  Again it was very encouraging to see what God is doing in this country.

On Sunday morning, I attended a new church building dedication.  As we drove there, we had the church secretary meet us on the main road and show us the “way” in.  Apparently a vehicle couldn’t get the church, and if it did get down to the area it would not be able to make it back up and out again.  This all sounded like a challenge to me.  When I got to the first obstacle I engaged my lowest gear and crawled safely down the steep slope.  The coil spring suspension got me through the trenches further on without ever losing traction.  On the way up and out, the center diff lock had the truck going up the hill, in first gear at about 1,200 RPM with not a bit of wheel spin.  Thank God for such an appropriate vehicle.

Monday I travelled back to Nampula while enjoying the fellowship of the Brazilian couple from Cuamba. After a relaxing night at a missionary’s house I’d be driving on to Nicuadala alone. 

As I pulled out of town, I saw a Land Rover which I recognized.  There was a missionary couple doing the same drive, same day, same time.  We agreed to drive together.  I found it very relaxing to be driving with them instead of alone.  I enjoyed their company every time we stopped, even when it was to help them change a tire which blew out along the way.

By mid afternoon I was safe and sound back home in the arms of my loving wife and my excited son. 

I never did visit any of the TEE centers in Cabo Delgado but that’s ok, God knows.

Thanks for your prayers to God and your notes to us.  You have encouraged us much during these days, and God knows that too.