 WHAT CAME IN NOW GOES OUT Distribution of corn, beans, salt, and soap began on July 27th with over 455 orphans and widows being served. It will be completed next week as we serve the last 2 areas of Kwe Kwe and Tauane. Orphaned children living in these 2 areas number 469.  Devotions with the widows and orphans before we distribute food.  This little girl is so cute as she tries to pick up her little bag of salt and the pieces of soap for her siblings. We began early as the Mavala area (Mango Tree Church) as well as 2 other churches in that area reported severe crop failures for the widows who care for the orphans. Put simply, the kids were hungry. We didn’t hesitate to load up and bring relief to them thanks to all of you who have our backs !  Don’t spill the beans! Precious is the food you assist us in giving so these children won’t go hungry.  Most families bring small pans for receiving their salt.  Boys working hard in the bright sun to manage a sack of corn weighing 60kg/132 lbs. Bicycle is the easiest way to transport it. It is a blessing to us to be able to serve the Lord by caring for his little ones. Enjoy the photos as they are worth a thousand words. THANK YOU FOR PUTTING A SMILE ON MANY CHILDREN’S FACES IN 20 VILLAGES. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Author Archives: Kim
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, July 18, 2026
| JOJO OUT OF HOSPITAL! JOJO, 7 months old, has now beat the malaria and the pneumonia, PTL! Thank you so much for your prayers for Jojo, as he was truly in a bad way for the first few days. Even though he is eating and drinking formula well, he still lost weight while in hospital. He’s down from 5.45kg/12 lbs. the day he entered the hospital to 4.75kg/10,5 lbs. as of his dismissal on Friday at noon. Good care in the Leopard House (#7 for critical babies) will have that weight put back on him in a few weeks. He was asleep during his dismissal, so the look on his face was one of pure shock when he woke up as I took his photo. I’m sure his little mind was saying, “Where am I”? |
 Jojo awoke just as I was taking the photo. Total surprise on his little face. |
| On a side note, baby Dino is still doing well without supplemental oxygen. His weight gain is slow, but that is normal for children with his type of heart problem. The amazing thing is that he is doing well WITHOUT Oxygen! The medical staff are amazed! RICE IS IN THE BARN After a lot of early hours (4:30 a.m. start time), and much hard work by our team of men, the 3,000 bags of rice have filled our barn to capacity. (Proves an Aggie can count after all!) Some thought that 3,000 was too much for the space we had, but it all fit!Taken with the help of my headlights, the photo shows what 1000 bags looks like at 4:30 a.m. The men made short work of weighing, sewing the bags for added strength, and stacking the rice, as we were finished in 3 hours each day. |
 Men having prayer, worship, and a short Bible lesson before we weigh 1,000 bags of rice. Each bag is 50kg or 110 lbs. |
| In our case, the early bird won the race! We were all able to do our regular work after getting this task out of the way for the day. MUCH THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE GIFTS THAT MAKES US THE BEST REHAB CENTER FOR SICK INFANTS IN THIS PART OF OUR STATE. BOTH JOJO AND DINO ARE LIVING PROOF THAT OUR GOD IS THE ONLY TRUE HEALER! BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, July 11, 2026
| DINO IS HOME! Nothing but a God miracle, as Dino has been at LEOPARD HOUSE for critical children, OFF OXYGEN, since last Saturday, and is doing as well as can be expected. The Dr. told us that his breathing is different from other children, so we have to judge him by what is normal for him. |
 Dino after 7 days with out supplemental oxygen. Breathing without distress and eating well. |
| He is eating and drinking well, so now it is a “wait and see” time for us. So far everyone is AMAZED at his progress. KEEP YOUR PRAYERS COMING FOR THIS LITTLE ONE! BABY JOJO JOINS OUR FAMILY At Thursday’s weigh in for infant orphans in our INFANT FORMULA PROGRAM, baby boy JOJO was brought in very sick by his father and maternal grandmother. |
 Baby Jojo in hospital. Much improved after 24 hours of IV medication. |
| It is unusual for a father to be concerned over his orphaned baby after the infant is in the care of the grandmother. However, the grandmother was struggling to cope with a very sick Jojo, so his father eagerly turned him over to us. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia plus malaria! A double whammy, as this little boy is only 5.5 kg/12 lbs. at 7 months of age. |
 BABY JOJO as we were admitting him to hospital on Thursday. Not a happy boy, and with reason! |
| His breathing is better on Friday morning, and he is finally eating after 2 IV malaria treatments. When we admitted him, he refused any nourishment by mouth. Malaria can really destroy your appetite. Please keep him in your prayers, as we need him to overcome both these diseases in the next 7 days. STATE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES VISITS OUR CHILDREN Our Provential/State Director of Social Services came out from Pemba to visit our children, and check that their documents were in order. And they found all in order, as our office team does an excellent job of keeping the children’s records up to date. She interacted with our mothers and the children, leaving the mothers with sincere words of encouragement to continue their great work.As you can see in the photo, the children took advantage of her talking to the mothers, and grabbed their toys which are very important to them. |
 Provential Director visiting Lion House staff and children. |
| THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS FOR ALL OF US! It has been a busy week, but the corn was in the barn by Tuesday. The Inspectors came on Wednesday, and then we had the new baby arrive on Thursday.Needless to say, we look forward to a restful weekend, as on MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY next week, 3000 sacks of rice will arrive at our barns for weighing and storage. With El Nino on the way, we are storing 2 years of rice in its hull to curb the possibility of a low rice harvest next year.Rain levels are expected to be reduced by 50% in our area. So, this is of a great concern as to how it will affect the harvest. WE SERVE A GOD OF MIRACLES, SO WE ARE EXPECTING A MIRACLE as corn and beans will only keep for 1 year in storage. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, July 4, 2026
| HAPPY 250TH INDEPENDENCE DAY TO THE USA! Hoping it’s a grand day for all of you. Cherish and protect your freedoms, as they don’t exist in many places in this world. DINO CONTINUES HIS BATTLE TO LIVE Dino has been tested off the oxygen twice this week. The first attempted lasted 24 hours before he became short of breath, and had to restart the oxygen. |
 Dino continues to need a Jesus miracle for his recovery. |
| The 2nd attempt was even shorter. His little body can’t manage without the extra help at this time.He continues to eat heartily, and we continue to thank the Lord for a miracle. Please continue praying for him. SWEATSHIRTS GIVEN TO 9 ORPHANS IN VERY REMOTE VILLAGE Our BBC Team makes a once-a-month food drop to these 3 Aunts who care for these 9 orphans. The oldest is the 15 year old boy sitting on the ground in the red sweat shirt. He was born with twisted legs, and cannot walk. He gets around well on his knee pads, and is very independent around his home. |
 9 orphans with their Pastor at 7th of April village. |
| LITTLE DISCIPLES SHOW OFF THEIR RACING SKILLS With our babies growing up fast, our Little Disciples program blossomed this year to 20 children, ages 3 to 5 years. Playing games is one way to reduce their energy before they go into the classroom to learn their numbers and ABC’s. Next year it will grow even more as many of our little ones will turn 3 during this school year. Fun times ahead, as this will become the largest program we have for the children. |
| Our Little Disciples relay race. |
| Monday, July 6th, kicks off the massive July corn and rice buying. THANK YOU for your prayers for strength, endurance, and safety as we wrangle in the many sacks of food it takes to feed our large family of orphans in the villages. Blessings, Bush Bunny Brenda Lange And the Balama staff |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, June 27, 2026
| INFANT DINO STILL IN HOSPITAL This tiny boy developed a cough, possibly from fluid in his lungs, and he seems a bit weaker as compared to last week. He has gained about 1 lb./500 gms, and completed his malaria treatment, but the doctors decided to watch him a few more days as he still needs his oxygen. Their concern is that he may have a genetic heart anomaly. |
Dino this week is hanging on against tremendous odds. |
| Only time will tell, so please continue praying for Little Dino, as he truly needs a miracle from Jesus in order to regain his health. EMPLOYEES FROM LOCAL GRAPHITE MINE AND CIS REHABILITATED OUR BASKETBALL COURT! Over the last 3 months our old basketball court with its 16-year-old cement court received a facelift! The old surface was destroyed, and a new concrete surface was laid, making it super smooth. Our old basketball goals were serving well, but these generous men decided we needed really nice ones. They organized the cement for the new court, AND had new 5mm thick glass goals (very professional) made in Maputo. |
 Four of the men who donated much time and funds to make this happen. Those goals are amazing! |
| A transport company donated the space to have them brought up to Balama. After the new iron posts were solid in the cement, and able to handle the heavy goals, (btw, it took 3 men on a scaffolding to lift them into place), they were mounted, making it ready for use. |
 Planting the goals posts in a 4 foot cube of rock and cement. |
| So now our children have the first professional-looking court in the whole state. Our school age children will begin practicing on it this coming week, as these men even brought us a real basketball, as none were available in our state. |
 Hanging the very heavy basketball goals. |
| WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL TO ALL THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED THEIR FUNDS AND TIME TO MAKE THIS DREAM A REALITY! NOTE: I personally am overwhelmed by the generosity of all of you who send us your Love Gifts. It takes a village! Our team does the work locally, but that would not be possible if it were not for YOUR HELP in providing the food, clothes, medicines, and school materials needed by the 1,500 orphans and widows whom we assist. It’s not just the 66 children living with us who benefit, but the more than 1,300 children who live remotely with village families in 2 Districts/Counties. Because of YOUR LOVE GIFTS these children have a future BECAUSE YOU HAVE JESUS HEARTS. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR JESUS HEARTS FOR BEING PART OF OUR RESCUE PROGRAM. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, June 19, 2026
| DINO GIVES US A BIG SCARE Dino is still in hospital, as Sunday night he began to cry off and on during the night. On Monday night he did the same, but by Tuesday morning he was SEMI-COMATOSE! Oxygen and IV fluids were needed to keep him breathing. It looked like he was losing the battle against the pneumonia. The head nurse said don’t give up, and she ran a blood test on him that showed he had developed MALARIA! He was tested upon admission, but the test was negative. Four days later, it is positive. |
 Dino after 2nd malaria treatment. |
| Malaira explains the crying and loss of energy and mental alertness. Dino was immediately given Anti-malaria IV treatment. After the 2nd dose Dino was alert and taking a bottle again, and again, and again. THAT BOY CAN DRINK! The mothers tell us that as soon as he finishes one bottle, he is ready for the next one in less than 30 minutes. He is eating more baby food per day than most kids twice his size. This excessive hunger is due to his severe malnourished state. Without that hunger drive and willingness to eat, he would not stand a chance against his illnesses. Dino will remain in hospital for the next 7 days to complete the IV anti-malarial course that is needed to eliminate the disease. PLEASE KEEP HIM IN PRAYER AS ONLY THE LORD CAN PULL HIM OUT AGAINST THESE GREAT ODDS OF PNEUMONIA AND MALARIA. FOOD BUYING IS ONGOING This week we managed to fill our quota of Juko Beans and 30 sacks of the much loved Montega Beans. The Montega bean (a member of the Pinto Bean family) is hard to find in our area, and very expensive as it must be trucked in from 250 miles/about 500 km away. The children receive a portion each week to increase their protein levels. |
 Moving the corn in Meluco. |
| The JUKO BEAN is also much loved, but it is less expensive as it grows locally. Juko is very delicious as it has a nice nutty flavor.July, our busiest food buying month will bring in corn, rice, and peanuts. MELUCO WAREHOUSE HAS A NEW ROOF That warehouse is now filled to the brim with 800 sacks of corn as well as 120 sacks of beans. |
 Meluco warehouse gets new roof. |
 Our carpenters in Meluco took off the old, now putting on the new. Note our homemade wood scaffolding they use to get onto the roof. |
PLEASE KEEP DINO AND OUR STAFF IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WE CONTINUE MARCHING FORWARD TO FILL OUR 3 BARNS WITH THE FOOD THE ORPHANS DEPEND ON. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, June 13, 2026
| URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR BABY DINO Baby Dino, a newly orphaned baby, was admitted to our milk program 2 weeks ago with severe malnutrition and a weight of only 3kg/6.6lb at 5 months of age. His Aunt was caring for him. We knew it would be a long haul to get him back to a normal weight, but the family has first say in the child’s care. |
 Baby Dino on Thursday at the hospital. |
| Thanks to the cold weather, he developed pneumonia in his weakened condition. He was in severe respiratory distress when his family brought him in for his weekly check-up and weigh-in on Thursday. We rushed him to the hospital, where he was admitted. The family agreed they could not care for him properly at their home, so he will go home with us. PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS LITTLE ONE, AS HIS MALNUTRITION IS BEYOND SEVERE, AND THE PNEUMONIA HAS HIM IN CRITICAL CONDITION. NOTE: He is doing slightly better after 24 hours of medications, but we have a long way to go to get him healthy. I will keep you updated. CHILDREN’S PARLIAMENT LEADERS VISIT AGUAS VIVAS The whole month of June holds many programs for children to learn how to become good leaders as they grow up.The 10 children who were chosen as Group Leaders in the Parliament this year came to our classroom to share ideas with our 10 to 14 year old children. Three adult leaders from both Social Services and other Children’s Safety Departments came on Wednesday as well to teach child safety in the home, and many other child related items. It was an hour well spent, as our children and mothers seemed to have absorbed many new ideas that probably never crossed their minds. |
 Children’s Parliament visit. Those in School Uniforms are the Parliament leaders |
| Our children are growing up, and learning how to be a good leader is an important part of their education. We are grateful that Social Services organized this program so our children could open their eyes to new information. CORN PROCESSING TEAM DOING DOUBLE DUTY IN MELUCO Manuel, our head truck driver, took 4 carpenters with him on Tuesday to Meluco. While at our Meluco base, they will first spend 3 days organizing and storing 800 sacks of corn into the Meluco orphan’s warehouse that feeds 513 widows and orphans. Weather permitting, the carpenter team will then remove the old tin roof on that same warehouse, and quickly place the new roofing sheets onto the roof before any bad weather hits. Not ideal, but it has to be done. |
 Our Meluco Team preparing the truck and all equipment for a 3:30a.m. departure on Tuesday. |
| The 4x4 beams are strong, but the old tin sheets have rusted in many areas, making for a leaky time this last rainy season. June and July are known for freak rain storms. Balama had a 90-minute storm last Sunday that left water standing in puddles on our dirt roads. These weather fronts move in quickly without warning.Thankfully, Meluco doesn’t have as much rainfall as Balama, so we are praying for a DRY WEEKEND so they can get the job done. The corn will be completed on Thursday afternoon, and the carpenters will waste no time in getting the new roof in place by Saturday. THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO PRAY FOR ALL OF US, AS THE COLD WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE THIS YEAR. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, June 6, 2026
| NATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY WAS GREAT FUN! June 1st is National Children’s Day in Mozambique. There is no school for 1st to 7th graders, as they are all free to join in local games, and have good food at each of their homes. Our children truly enjoyed the games as you will see in the videos and photos. |
 Our young ones showing off their goodies. |
| PLUS, a group of 32 visitors came from our local Agronomy School to play games and teach them lessons on honesty, as well as how everyone is different using oranges and bananas. I thought this a great object lesson as it showed the children that they can be one group, yet different, as are oranges and bananas. Both are a member of the fruit group, yet unique. Afterwards the Agronomy Students donated 2 large sacks of oranges and bananas to our pre-school and school aged children. |
 3 of our boys showing their bananas during the lesson on being unique in a group. |
| All in all, it was a fun time with our visitors who could only stay an hour. We followed their departure with more games, with the 4‑way tug-o-war being the big hit of the day. |
| The 2nd and 3rd graders competing in 4 way tug-o-war. See video at https://youtube.com/shorts/AwOiwBBPM1w |
| Junior high and high school kids fight it out in tug-o-war game. See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y59mRxp518M?si=YrqWOmaRDOn_0eDH |
| When everyone was tired, we lined up the children for their big yogurt suckers and bag of cookies. It was fun watching the little ones, as they were first timers at receiving gifts on Children’s Day. Some of them almost didn’t take the candy, as they weren’t sure what it was! I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story. Everyone left with smiles on their faces as they took their sweet treats and marched homes for the great chicken lunch that awaited them! |
| Singing their celebration song for June 1 as we close the game phase of our day. See video at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jUD69q0EFvc |
THANK YOU, FOR IT IS THE LOVE GIFTS FROM EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO MADE THIS FUN DAY POSSIBLE FOR THE CHILDREN. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, May 30, 2026
| BEANS, BEANS, AND MORE BEANS! On Monday, we received and weighed the final 700 sacks of beans for 2026. With the fuel shortage, our innovative Village Churches, Employees, and Growing Associations used every means to get the beans to us. No joke, the beans came in via wheelbarrow, bicycle, with only a few by motorbike or small truck. The amazing thing was that they met their quotas so the orphans would not go hungry! After a quick day of preparation on Tuesday, we completed the storage of the beans by Thursday noon. It was a grueling week to say the least, but our team of 77 men made it look easy. Those bags weigh 60kg/132 lbs. EACH! |
 Bean barn filling up. That bag is heavy, but these powerful men make it look easy. |
| It’s always brings a big smile to my face, knowing that once again, we have the beans needed to feed the 1,500+ orphans and widows in 2 counties/districts. THANKS YOU FOR HELPING US THROUGH PRAYER AND LOVE GIFTS TO MAKE THIS FEEDING PROGRAM A REALITY FOR 2026–27.COOL SEASON CLOTHES SHOPPING FOR OUR CHILDREN Our “cool” season started early this year as the temperatures continue to stay around 59F/17C at night. That is VERY COLD for our children, as our houses have no temperature control except shutting the windows to keep the heat in. Each May, we eagerly wait for the sweatsuits to arrive in a store called PEP, which is the only one that carries sweatsuits for children. This year the suits arrived just before bean buying was to start. Simba, our mechanic and long distance driver, had to go to Pemba for other reasons on May 22nd, so he offered to help by buying what he could find. |
 Anna and Fred sorting the sweatsuits by size. It’s a massive job. |
| The pile of sweatsuits in the photo are the result of his shopping. He managed hooded sweatshirts for all the small children, and sweatpants for most.Our Children’s Director, Anna, and her assistant, Fred, (shown in the photo), made a list and are presently searching for warm sweatsuit type pants at our local market for those who need them. It’s a challenge shopping for 66 children, but they seem to enjoy it. |
 Our 2- and 3‑year-olds showing off their new clothes, thanks to your love gifts. |
| THANKS TO YOUR LOVE GIFTS, OUR CHILDREN WILL BE WARM THROUGHOUT THIS COOL SEASON WHICH IS EXPECTED TO LAST INTO AUGUST. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
Bush Bunny Brenda Blog, May 23, 2026
| BEAN BUYING HAS BEGUN We received our buying license last Friday, then gave out sacks on Monday so our Pastors and their church members could begin filling them. Weighing started on Friday and will complete on Monday for the beans. It’s already cool here with the early mornings at 60 F/19C which greatly helps our workers to stay cool. I can hear you all laughing about the temperatures, but since we are REALLY HOT 9 months of the year, that’s a big drop for us. |
 My 4:30 a.m. view of the day’s work on Friday. 736 sacks at 60kg/ 132lbs. Each. |
| Friday, our 40-man team moved, weighed, and stacked 736 sacks of beans weighing 132lbs./60kg each. Since we started at 4:30 a.m., I have only a car headlight photo of what it looked like when we started. This team is very strong and really good, as we completed the program by 7 a.m. and had a nice breakfast of freshly baked bread rolls and a large fried bean patty called a “bagia”. (Bah-gee-ah) Thanks to your love gifts, we will have enough beans in the barn to keep over 1,800 orphans and the widows who raise them, from suffering protein malnutrition this year. TWO- AND 3‑YEAR-OLDS LEARNING TUG-O-WAR It is a joy to see our little ones growing up, and having so much fun doing it! Last Saturday, all the children were on the soccer field playing games, when I managed to catch the 2- to 3‑year-olds at their first tug-o-war game. Hilarious hardly describes it, so enjoy the video I made of their first attempt at grabbing the bean bag for their team. (Winner is the first to pull the others to their side where one of the children can grab the bean bag.) |
 Our 3‑year-olds having their first 4 way tug-of-war! |
| Nothing like seeing them in action! |
NOTE: From now until food buying is over in late July, the blogs will be short but sweet. Your prayers for all of us will be greatly appreciated, as it is no easy task to move 500 TONS of beans, corn, rice, and peanuts by hand. The group of men who do this are very strong, but the job is still exhausting for all of us. Blessings, Bush Bunny Brenda Lange And the Balama Staff |