Friends of Root of Hope, 

 “ Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love- but the greatest is love.” I Cor 13:1 (CSB) 

          The church is in ruins! Please don’t rush to the wrong conclusion until you read the whole article. This was the title of one of the videos brought by a church that saw its building fall apart because of hurricane Idaí, a powerful category 4 cyclone that destroyed about 90 percent of the city of Beira, the forth largest city in Mozambique, in the middle of the country, and situated about 700 miles north of where our organization works. We thank the Lord for sparing us. Beira was not the only city devastated; other towns and villages had tremendous damage and some villages disappeared. As if this flagellation was not harsh enough, the waters released by damns in Zimbabwe and also in Mozambique scarred the souls of the people on some of the affected areas again. I cannot feel the hurt of the people but I am aware that this dire situation only brings grief. Among the many fake videos I took notice of some churches that focused on their buildings instead of on the people. It is sad if we do not prioritize people above possessions. I pray that every person mistake becomes a building block on my own life. I also unveiled a few tricksters that appeared out of nowhere seeking help. That’s all fine. What for? What is the biggest demand? People or cinder blocks?  Roof shingle or a crying soul? A broken door or a hungry body? Please Lord, help me to keep priorities straight! Love transcends everything and anything. In the podium of life, eternal and the present, love takes first place. No ties. No sharing space. At the same time, not looking down on the others below. Love conquers all and the place of love is the heart and not a man-made location. It’s appropriate for me to applaud those that were there in Beira and are still there doing their best to help mankind. May the Lord bless them. Do not misunderstand me and build a wrong conclusion to what I’m trying to say. We do need homes, hospital, temples but on times of need people are first. The best of all God’s creation is people. People above sand and stone. People above animals and cars. People. You and I before anything else. Some people wanted to donate thru Root of Hope but we recommended that they helped those organizations on the devastated areas. It made sense to me. May the Lord help them to rebuild: their souls, their families, their houses, their farms, their hospitals and schools. You must understand that Elsa and I have a special connection with the people. They, really, are not ‘them”. They are us! Help them if  you can.

          In three months Elsa, Paloma and I will be traveling back to XaiXai. For Paloma it will be her second trip. The Lord is doing something great in her life and not because she is going to Mozambique again but because her heart is opened to listen to Him. When we least expect the Lord opens up our ears, and by doing so we open up our hearts to Him. His way is the best! It is perfection being carried by flawed bodies like you and I. The little children are doing well. You are the ones blessing them. The Lord is also in control of both congregations. We already know that some brothers and sisters will be baptized. We also were pleased to be informed that a young lady that we helped to become a teacher is already assigned to a school. Her sister, a second year Biology student, is also being helped by people that care, people like you.

          Please pray for our Mozambican brothers. Please intercede for Elsa and I and Paloma regarding this upcoming trip. We need all prayers. Do not ignore this request, please. We thank you for your faithfulness regarding your donations. In a way,when you help our brothers it’s like you are helping us. You make our soul weep with joy. If you wish you may donate online by visiting rootofhope.net. May the Lord keep our priorities in line with His will and may He keep on doing on you what He knows you require the most.

Kanimambo!

Friends of Root of Hope,

“No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” Jo 8:11 (CSB)

We are all familiarized with this narrative. Based on the context one of the themes that can be extracted from it is the one about forgiveness. There are some curiosities about this passage being one of them that this sentenced woman never asked for forgiveness. It’s not inferred in the text so let’s not to thrown in there what may not be there. The most noticeable aspect of the whole enactment is the stepping in of Jesus. I can envisage the accusers salivating by the thought that not even the Messiah could save her from their bloody hands. But she was a woman of “luck”. On that day, on an hour of being defamed, and so close to be thrown in a deep hole and stoned to death, a special man stepped in. Out of respect, and so assured of their skills, they interject Jesus so he would become of witness of their own righteousness. So they thought. You know the story. Stones thrown away, only the unbreakable Rock, stayed visible, not to condemn but to love. He is an expert of it. He is IT! No need to call a priest for confession. No! Dear friends, we don’t want anyone one to unwrap out failures. No! We know who they are and, also, how to keep them neatly wrapped. Oh! How good is Jesus! Evil left and goodness stood ground. Jesus is unmovable.

          I am someone that loves to read into the Scriptures but never with the intent of trying to fish birds out of the deep waters. You know what I mean. I’m not that crazy. But I love to take a dive and swim in the current of the spirit looking for possibilities that will enlighten my soul. I don’t survive on old sermons, old teachings or many things I learned throughout the years. My joy, above anything else, is to find the hand of the Master on someone’s life when every human being does not give them any hope. I love to go beyond human thinking and any resource available and dive into the living waters of the Word. There I find things that many may not see. My discoveries have a personal effect, and in no way they become someone else’s doctrine. You probably heard it, or said it yourself, that one day, when you go to heaven you would like to ask certain people certain questions. Perhaps, most of them are not about good things that they did. I am going to raise one person up: Eve. What would you ask her? Would you be screaming at her “Why did you eat that?” “Do you know what you did?” “Were you crazy, Eve?” Right? Would we throw her questions like this? But this crazy guy writing this, after learning to ponder and not to come to rash conclusions would say to her “Thanks, Eve?” I can envisage you think: Eddie has problems. Right? Do I? Breath in and listen to this: How did we became people loved by Jesus? The answer is: thru Eve’s disobedience. Could it be that the Lord was provoking her into going behind the veil so later she could distinguish the difference between good and evil? As the Lord’s people we have this same knowledge today. We know of the Lord’s goodness and of his power because we also know the dark side of things, but we choose the ways of the Master. How can you pick apart a bald person from a hairy one? From knowledge. It’s so extraordinary when we know both sides and then pick whom to follow or what to do, isn’t it? Our life decisions are made because we know the contrasts that life brings to all of us. As Eve found out about the power of darkness and could observe the guilt that brought her, we can only take a step back and be grateful that the LORD uses people that many times behave in wicked ways, but, at the same time, understand that His love and mercy are always present. In our darkest times His light shines the strongest. He stills uses us when we feel at odds with Him. 

          From Mozambique, and you may go to rootofhope.net to see it, we received the news, this week, that the mothers of the 50 children that are being helped got together and built a large room for the kids that you help. They recognized what we are doing and they know that no organization on local churches do any of the work we are doing for free. We must build a church and classrooms as soon as the Lord provides. We thank the Lord for them and we can never ignore your kindness towards them. If we are sowing there is because you provide the seed. May the Lord richly bless you. Please pray for our trip that will start on the last days of June.

Kanimambo.

Friends of Root of Hope,

          “ Now without faith it is impossible to please the LORD,..”- Heb 13:6

You may or may not agree that often enough we agree with religious statements without having assurance if those are truthful or not. Faith is one of the words mentioned a lot in the religious community and we may have a false sense of what it really means. It’s not a “it”. Tracing back to it’s origins, the word faith has the meaning of a rock. Its is solid. It’s not a simple word, a mere statement, but instead requires action. Are you praying for a job? For higher income? What do you do? Pray harder and do nothing? Are you looking for a source of income or are you confident that your words will act by themselves without any input in your part? Can you work a bit harder and perhaps get a little raise? Let me say this and it applies in this case, and I’m in it: Someone is in need, we pray about it, we could fulfill that need but do you know what we do must of the time? We pray about it and by this I’m saying “Lord, I’m not going to do it. Let someone else do it for me.” Don’t some of us do this? This type of prayer has nothing to do with faith but selfishness and not wanting to help the person in lack. Of  course, I hear you, we cant help everyone but everyone can help.

I believe that even the Lord, after creating a beautiful world did not sit around but made sure that what he conceived was working properly. No one in his right mind would build something and then let it go downhill. Would you? Would the Lord just relax on the seventh day and do nothing? The LORD GOD had plans and so must we. We are not living in a fantasy world. As the Lord planned he worked for it to be accomplished. He knew how to masterfully bring to reality an idea. “ For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first calculate the cost? (Luke 14:28) “ is a verse that we read many times but we don’t practice it. Since the Scriptures are inspired by the Lord I can have the assurance that since he made us, and we know him, he has all the resources I need to do his work. If there is faith, there are plans. If there are plans, the Lord will establish them ( Prov 16:9). We must have our confidence in Him and not to rely so much in our own understanding. If we have him guiding us in everything, he will correct us when we do wrong ( Prov 3:5,6).

This is how the Lord works. The Lord loves those that love him and he will be sure that what we do ends up the way he wants it ( Ps 16:9) To build anything preparation is a requirement ( Prov. 24: 27) and so this is the procedure to follow when we want to do the “Lord’s work”. It’s my desire to know the way I must follow, and for me to be successful I just appeal to him ( Ps 143:8). This is what makes us do it!

With the Lord’s blessings in 4 months time we will be visiting our Mozambican brothers again. With us, a young lady, Paloma, will be back again. Somehow, he did something on her during the first time two years ago, that she wants to dive in and see what else does he have. It requires more than faith. Paloma and us need to work hard, save heavily and trust the Lord for this trip to become a reality. Our experiences are like sprinkles of water that make our faith grow. We speak with the Lord, we approach men and the Lord provides what’s needed. Its not effortless, sacrifices are real, tears and sometimes vibrant discussions. This is all about the Lord’s love for us and we must share it with others. There is a multitude that knew Jesus, knows Jesus and will know Jesus because we believe in what he called us and so many others to do : sow his love on fertile grounds.

The school year started. One hundred and ten children are being fed spiritually, physically and also learning how to read and write. We cannot just sit on the church pews or our own home and throw everything on the words we declare. Imagine if these kinds were dependent on some else? They would have no help. But they have you, my friends that pray and perhaps so many times  give sacrificially. With joy in my heart I can only say “Kanimambo”(Thank you) for what you do for them and by doing so we feel so blessed, too. May our Father keep on richly give you all that you need.

Root of Hope is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that is passionate about bringing the hope of Jesus to the name of Moçambique in Africa.

We are currently preparing for our 2019 annual trip. We will be sharing more information in the days to come.