Dream Project

Julie’s ministry is to create small homes for children that model family for them. Mozambique had a civil war that ended in 1994 in which many people died and many children were recruited (abducted) into the army. This, together with the AIDS epidemic here, have left families severely fragmented. Julie’s vision, instead of a large orphanage, was to create families for the children where beyond just getting their physical needs met, they could also go to school, be discipled, and be shown attention, affection and love by adults. Julie has trained three Mozambican staff over the past few years to run the home in her absence. Maria is a beautiful woman who cooks for the kids and takes care of their school uniforms. Maria’s granddaughter is also cared for at the house. Raymond and Domingos are in their twenties and often teach the kids English, do devotionals with them, and take care of their day to day needs. There are 12 boys, aged about 10-17, and a few other boys who are older brothers, that come about two days a week.
Julie is flying standby and hasn’t been able to get a flight yet, so we are waiting for her to arrive. We have met Kylee here, a friend of Julie’s sister who is only here for a week. So today, after a breakfast of mango, banana and cereal, the three of us set out for our walk to the boys home. This takes about an hour, and is a beautiful walk along a sandy road right along the Indian Ocean. By sun-up it is already in the 70s or 80s, but there is always a cool breeze off of the water. We have been having lunch at the home, a heaping plate of rice and beans eaten with our hands. After this today, we went along with Raymond and Domingo, the Mozambican staff, to the market, to help with the shopping and to see how it is done. We bought potatoes and beans, and a few small green bananas as a treat for the boys. Dinner is usually rice and a bit of either egg or meat, usually goat. Right now the boys are on a three week holiday from school, so we’ve been teaching a bit of English, learning a bit of Portuguese, and hanging out, getting to know them a little, and getting used to the culture and our surroundings.