| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 27, 2021 VISITORS A HUGE SUCCESS! This week Jessica and Stephanie held art classes, taught the children new games, and held puppet classes! The Puppet classes excited everyone, as most of the younger children were too little to become Puppeteers when this was taught several years ago. So, this time, a bench full of little boys got their turn at making the puppets talk.  Making party hats in art class. Smiles and squeals of laughter were heard far and wide, as the children made up their own puppet skits. They practiced with both animal and children puppets.  Happy boys as they learn to work the mouth of a puppet. Our children made up their own puppet skit and presented it to the class. Click the photo or link below to see the video. https://youtu.be/Yn7lnwhX_GU Youth Leader Bertino gave the class a real scare when he slowly eased the huge leopard puppet under the curtain at floor level while all the children were looking up at the puppet show. The Leopard caused even more screams and laughter, but at least the kids stayed in the room! We learned our lesson long ago that the snake puppet used in the Adam and Eve story must stay in its box! All children, with good reason, are scared of the deadly Mambas and Adders (rattlesnakes) in our area. A visiting team used the snake in a Sunday School class about 10 years ago, and found out how fast 100 kids could jump through windows! The room was completely empty in 60 seconds! So sneaky snake, who normally stays hidden, is now being used to guard the front door of Jess and Steph’s house! These young ladies are quite resourceful. You open the door to walk into their house, and meet the snake hanging on a piece of furniture at eye level. It does give one a fright, if you don’t know it is a fake!  Jess with the snake puppet and Stephanie holding the leopard puppet. We have had a “thankful week” for all that God has provided for us. We prayed that all of you had a great week also. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
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BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 20, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 20, 2021 CHRISTMAS BEFORE THANKSGIVING? That’s a new one for me, but it’s exactly what happened when the MAF plane landed Friday, just 60 minutes from our mission station. Eric Dry connected with the plane in southern Mozambique to hand off lots of Christmas suckers and candy earlier this week as well as the essential supplies we can only get outside this country. The pilot, Dave, did a great job getting it here as severe headwinds made the trip like a 7‑hour rollercoaster ride. Not nice!  Thanking the MAF PILOT for a great job in getting our essential supplies to us.  MAF brings special supplies for us. THANK YOU TO OUR SPECIAL SPONSOR who makes this possible once a year. The children will be super surprised to get special goodies that don’t exist here! THANK YOU to those who contributed to the Christmas Party! Toy buying coming up December 1st! I am having a blast putting this party together. Should be the best we have ever had.  Treats brought in for Christmas party. SOUTH AFRICAN VISITORS ARRIVED WEDNESDAY! Jessica Christie and Stephanie Nolen begin art and games classes with the Children on Monday. They really look forward to opening those little eyes to new games as well as ways to make fun art tracing your hand in different shapes.  Stephanie on the left, and Jessica on the right. Thanks to your generous love gifts, we have the paper and crayons needed to give art lessons to all ages! School is out for the under 7th graders, so next week that whole gang of kids can join in. The high schoolers must take exams in 1 week, so many heads are still buried in the books. Keep your prayers coming for those in exams, for we have 3 graduating the 12th grade if they pass. Two of our young ladies will take exams after Christmas for nursing school, while Ali will challenge the Teachers College Math and Portuguese test for the 2nd time. He has studied hard in 12th grade, so I pray he makes it. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU THIS WEEK! PLEASE KEEP PRAYERS COMING FOR ALL OF US. BLESSINGS BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 13, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 13, 2021 LEARNING RESPONSIBILTY THE TOUGH WAY TAMACINA, age 14, is the young lady on the far right in the cooking pan photo. She has 4 siblings, a deceased mother, and a crippled father whom she cares for. All the children in this family work hard by fetching water, firewood, and keeping their mud hut area clean. Since there is no way this little girl and her siblings can go to school and farm for food, they receive a weekly food allocation from us.  Tomacina (far right), and 3 widows who received cooking pans this week. THANKS TO YOUR LOVE GIFTS, these 5 children just received new clothes made at our mission’s clothing maker, Master Seamstress, Atumany. MAKING DOLLS FOR CHRISTMAS!  Atumany, Master Seamtress, making 20 dolls for our younger girls as Christmas presents. Our little girls much prefer the durable, soft, rag dolls made by Atumany, over the fragile plastic ones available at stores. These dolls get to ride on the little girl’s backs, have tea, and play all sorts of games that are suitable for tough dolls only. YOUR LOVE GIFTS AT WORK FOR CHRISTMAS! NATIONAL INSPECTORS SPEAK ENCOURAGING WORDS TO OUR FOSTER MOTHERS On Tuesday this week, 2 National Inspectors from the Maputo Social Services Office visited our orphans. The first 90 minutes was spent in our office as we answered a 5‑page questionnaire concerning every aspect of our program.  National Visitors speaking with our mothers. 100°F/37°C temps made staying in the shade a necessity. Then off to the houses we went, where they inspected our homes. They complimented the mothers on their dedication to the children, and encouraged them to continue teaching these vulnerable little ones all that any mother would teach them. GILDA, our Head Mother for houses 6 and 7, assured the inspectors that these infants and children were loved and cared for as if they birthed them themselves. THANKS TO YOUR LOVING KINDNESS, all 57 children in our homes have what is needed to grow up healthy and strong. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 6, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2021 TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK Houses 6 (Zebras) and 7 (Leopards) work hand-in-hand together to ensure their 8 infants are well cared for whenever a Foster Mother needs to run to the market, or just take a break. Better known as a “Built-In Baby Sitter” service.  The famous 8 Foster Mothers of Houses 6 and 7 with their fast-growing crew of infants. Foster Mother Gilda, far right, front row, hosts the youngest infant in our family, 5 month old, Baby Susana. Gilda is also the Head Foster Mother for both these houses, a position she earned by studying basic medical care that help her discern if an infant is beginning an illness. She personally checks each infant daily, then gives me or Children’s Director, Anna, a “Heads Up” if a problem exists. This is a big help to both Anna and I, and provides the infants with faster medical care.  Baby Fatima with her Foster Mother, Cecelia.  Baby Chebane is Mr. Gigglesfor sure. He loves to laugh! Foster Mother, Ernista says he is a real joy to live with. YOUR LOVE GIFTS MAKE THIS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU FOR GIVING THESE HIGH-RISK INFANTS A CHANCE AT A HAPPY LIFE. WATER WELL REPAIRS MEANS A HEALTHIER LIFE FOR REMOTE VILLAGERS November is not only the hottest month (37°C/99°F), but the driest month when many hand pump water wells go dry. Our water well team is quick to repair any broken well in Balama District, for no water leaves the village prone to Dysentery or Cholera from drinking dirty water. Last week our Nacacca Pastor called, begging help. It meant going the extra mile as our team had to be called in to make this afternoon repair. The water well repair team leader, Manel, also drives our 7‑ton-truck to deliver food to the 500 orphans and widows in Meluco District. His truck was loaded and ready to pull out at 4 a.m. the next morning. The well couldn’t wait 3 days for Manel to return, so his team “went the extra mile” and got it repaired in 4 hours that afternoon. Since the pipe glue had to dry overnight, Manel’s assistant, Mario, went out to unlock and test the well the next morning. To prove to me that the well works, Mario, who has a new smartphone, sent me a video of our Pastor pumping the well. Lots of happy people were waiting in line behind Mario to receive this precious water. Repaired water well means life and health to this village. Click Here —> https://youtu.be/nCHPTxPplj0 YOUR LOVE GIFTS PROVIDE THE WATER WELL PARTS THAT KEEP THESE WELLS PUMPING. THANK YOU FOR HELPING US TO SAVE LIVES. Blessings BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 30, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 30, 2021 MIRACLE IN MANAPO! After 4 days of prayer, a 63-year-old woman who lost the strength in 1 leg after suffering a stroke 18 months ago, AROSE FROM HER BED AND BEGAN TO WALK! Manapo is so remote that only a motorbike can get there, but Pastor Jaime says this is now a super excited village after witnessing this healing, for everyone knows her! Our Monapo Pastor’s phone won’t take a photo, so I apologize that a photo/video of this wonderful healing is not available. Our Pastors are truly on fire for Jesus, as 63 refugees received Christ as Lord and Saviour this month! (26 adults, 11 teens, 26 children). PTL AND KEEP YOUR PRAYERS COMING! 3 RAINY DAYS HAVE EVERYONE SCRAMBLING TO CLEAN THEIR FIELDS! YEAP! Looks like the rainy season has begun 3 weeks early, with most of the area’s farmers unprepared for planting. Orphan Eva and her Grandmother, Elisa, were out on Friday, pulling the last of their ervila beans off their bushes. I am proud of Eva, for she has mild cerebral palsy, and is Grandma’s faithful helper both in their field, and around their home.  Eva, foreground, with Granny Elisa, harvesting last of ervilia beans. For those of you who are not familiar with Eva, she was given a miracle healing from Jesus as a 3‑year-old. She was having 6 seizures a day, leaving her bedridden and in a vegetative state until the Lord touched her, stopping her seizures. She now speaks Makua, Portuguese, and some English. She also runs, jumps, sings, and buys bread at the local market, all by herself. All this because the Master Healer touched her tormented body after she was prayed for in 2000. THANK YOU JESUS FOR SAVING THIS CHILD! COOKING PAN PROJECT OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF! Seven widows caring for 3 to 6 orphans each, were super blessed when gifted with several pans of various sizes last Thursday. Their smiles tell “the rest of the story”, for they can now cook a meal that will feed all the Grandchildren at 1 time, instead of in shifts.  Granny and Aunt with 4 orphans each received cooking pans.  2 Aunts with 5 orphans each, and Granny with 6, receive cooking pans.  Uncle of 3 orphans and another happy Granny, receive cooking pans. Thank you to all our New Jersey friends who made this possible! More widows will be assisted each week until all in our program have been served. Right now, we are organizing more pans as well as grass mats and blankets for these children who have suffered the loss of their parents. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU FOR HELPING US TO HELP THESE FAMILIES! BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 23, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 23, 2021 FINAL FOOD AND SEED GIVE OUT Our area had a freak rain storm on Tuesday night that left water standing in low spots. OCTOBER has always been hot and dry, so this Godly warning told us all that the rains are coming early, get your fields ready for planting! This week marked our final food give outs to the 1,144 orphans and widows we assist in Balama District. Corn and bean seeds were included in this give out so all can plant their fields.  Final 2021 give out provides corn and bean seeds as well as food.  Grannies and Aunts helping one another to transport food and seeds to their homes. Double balancing a load takes great talent which this 12-year-old seems to have. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE GIFTS THAT MAKE THIS ASSISTANCE POSSIBLE. COOKING PAN PROJECT BEGINS In October, 3 grannies with newly orphaned grandchildren have joined our weekly Balama food give out. All 3 came independently, but asked the same question. “How can I cook for so many with my small pans?” Each of these elderly women now have 4 or more grandchildren living with them, but lack the means to cook for all at the same time. The Grandmother with the 4 grandchildren in the photo is a prime example. This grandmother left her home in Pemba to come care for 1 of her daughters 2 orphaned children (not shown).  Newly orphaned children with Grandmother are 1st recipients of our cooking pan give out. Then her 2nd daughter died just last week leaving her with 4 MORE ORPHANED grandchildren, including a 9‑month-old infant! Now she is in crisis, but thanks to the Balama food assistance program AND a VERY GENEROUS Love Gift from friends in New Jersey, we were able to resolve her food and cooking pan problem immediately! JESUS provided these 3 women’s needs just as the problem arose. HE is our provider, and the care taker of the innocent. KEEP YOUR PRAYERS COMING, FOR THE TIME OF HUNGER IS UPON US AS WE ENTER THE RAINY SEASON. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 16, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2021 BABIES? NOT ANY MORE! I was shocked as I exited my King Cab pick-up to see 3 of our “now walking babies” come RUNNING to the fence to greet me. Little Fatima’s Foster Mother, Cecelia, was nearby so I asked her, “Did I just see Fatima RUN to the fence?” Cecelia shook her head yes, saying “It is her favorite speed now!”  L to R. Adelaide, Julho, Fatima, and Maezinha with “big Sister, Anna” standing behind them. Little Maezinha was another surprise, as it was the first time I had seen her move so quickly. Sorry I didn’t catch it on video, but these little tykes are FAST! I think I will set up a baby race to see who is the fastest in each age group! Will show you the fun when I am able to make it happen. A CHICKEN CHRISTMAS No goat feast this year as we had to make the difficult decision last month to sell the 20 breeding age females we had left due to a lack of good grass this year. We had no males that were eating size, so our “girls” and their young went to a breeding farm in the county south of us. We couldn’t get new breeding stock as goats are nonexistent in our county. The local market sells goat only 1 day a week now, and the price/kg is more costly than frozen chickens. FROZEN CHICKENS are the obvious menu this year, so we will need at least 16 of them to feed our ever-growing family of 160! A plump 2.2 lbs./1kg chicken sells for $8/R112.  Yeah! We need chickens for Christmas! With the chicken and fixings, our party will cost around $350. Deboned chicken with fancy rice will be this year’s menu. Toys are available, but have a $10 price tag on them. I’d love to give the 60 older children a shopping trip if enough toy donations are possible. We’ll organize the under 5‑year-olds with age appropriate gifts. Thank you for anything you can give towards our Christmas Party. DYNAMIC DUO FROM RSA Jessica and Stephanie are close friends who desire to give me a helping hand in November. Stephanie has a missionary heart, and has wanted to come play with our children ever since we met at an RSA BBQ in March.  Jessica Christie  Stephanie Nolen Jessica I have known since she was an infant in arms. Her mother, Shiona, became my best friend as she was my volunteer shopper for my groceries when I first went into Mozambique in 1991. Our supplies were flown in to our remote area, thus the need for someone to buy and box our grocery list each 6 weeks for the plane. It is a thrill to have both of them coming here, as they plan a real Thanksgiving Dinner for me since I haven’t had one in the 31 years I’ve been in this country. GOD IS GREAT, ALL THE TIME. BLESSINGS BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 9, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2021 REGINALDA COMES HOME! Tuesday, we were blessed to have BABY REGINALDA released from the hospital after a 12 day stay due to malaria which caused serious anemia. Seven months old, but weighing only 4.7kg/10.3 lbs., this infant was in serious danger. Malaria destroys red blood cells, so if an infant is borderline anemic, which she was, then malaria can wipe out her blood supply very quickly. A transfusion on her 2nd day in hospital, and lots of prayer, gave her the force she needed to fight back.  REGINALDA on Tuesday, happy to he home. She now has a sponsor, PTL! Our objective is to provide Reggie a high protein diet (Hypo high protein cereal), that will build her immune system and help her gain weight as she is far behind the “norm” for her age. Plz keep her covered in prayer as she continues to regain her health. BABY CHEBANE MAKING HIS MOVE! Two months ago, Chebane, now 9kg/19.8 lbs., was in the same fragile state with low body weight, just as REGINALDA is now. I wanted to show you what loving care, your prayers, and a high protein diet does for these infants. THIS LITTLE MAN IS A “JOSHUA GENERATION ” KID FOR SURE! Baby Chebane 60 days after starting a high protein diet. https://youtu.be/pxzlGFlsv8o OCTOBER MEANS HUNGER TO MANY Wednesday was especially busy as that is the time when we distribute food to our 7 foster homes. In addition, Social Services sent us 2 families of newly orphaned children who are badly malnourished. Ten people in all. September to November is hot and dry with little food able to grow. That is why we concentrate our county wide food distributions in those months. Malnourished children need up to a year of a constant high protein diet to fully recover. Malnourished children are placed in our year-round food program distributed every Thursday at our Balama Center to orphans living with their grandparents in local villages.  Granny Delfina with her 5 grandchildren ages 1 to 9 years. Granny Delfina in this photo just lost her “single mom” daughter in the Balama hospital, leaving 5 malnourished children behind. Thankfully, this grandmother lives only 6 km/3.6 miles into the Bush from our mission. Granny Delfina’s husband will be able to fetch their weekly food using a bicycle for transport. The 2nd family is not so fortunate as they live about 30km/18 miles into the Bush. A neighbor brought this granny into Social Services on his motorbike with only the youngest of the 3 orphans. This severely malnourished 2‑year-old received malaria treatment at the hospital that morning, so we fed them a nutritious lunch before they left for home. YOUR LOVE GIFTS AT WORK, for these are the hunger months that plague the innocent when they lose their parents. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THEIR RESCUE POSSIBLE. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 2, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 2, 2021 “ON FIRE” PASTORS REAPING A HARVEST At the end of each month, our 14 remote Village Pastors converge on our Balama mission station to report what has happened in the last 30 days. End of September completed the 3rd quarter of this year, meaning it was food distribution time for these men who receive a quarterly food allowance, thanks to a generous donor.  Half the Village Pastors with their food gifts behind them. The purpose? All these men are farmers, but raising enough food to feed your family throughout the year is a full-time job, leaving little time for the Lord’s work.  The other half of our Pastoral group. FYI: October is peak dry season when little grows due to a lack of water. This is why our food distribution to orphans from August to November is so vital to the orphaned and vulnerable children we assist. PASTORAL QUARTERLY REPORT Salvations: Children: 653 Teenagers: 252 Adults: 171 Healings: 5 Includes 1 blind man who began to see after prayer, and 1 Witch Doctor whose leg injury healed up after prayer. All medical help had failed. 1 Witch Hut was burned in Namara after a different Witch Doctor and her family came to the Lord. Yes, most Witch Doctors in our area are women. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US, SO OUR TEAM CAN CONTINUE SHARING THE LOVE OF JESUS WITH EVERYONE THEY MEET. FYI: Our churches are now open with a limit of 50 inside at a time. Outdoor meetings, which we prefer, can have up to 100 present. BUSH BUNNY TIDBITS: 1. BABY REGINALDA remains in hospital with an unknown infection after doing so well the first 2 days after being transfused. PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS, for she is a fighter who needs a miracle from our Lord.  Alferes (above) is now back at work after 5 days off from a grand mal seizure. 2. ALFERES is back to work, helping a friend build an auto mechanics shop. I am proud of both him and Elizio, a 20-year-old orphan who was raised by his grandmother while living in one of our upgraded mud brick homes. Elizio now totally cares for his grandmother, who is very feeble and unable to cope without assistance.  Elizio hard at work in his new job as assistant bricklayer. Both young men learned by “doing”. Our brick layers took them on as apprentices while building house #7. Now they work as bricklayers at an outside job, under the supervision of a master bricklayer. YOUR LOVE GIFTS ARE REAPING A HARVEST! THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE. Blessings, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: SEPTEMBER 25, 2021
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2021 BABIES LOVING PLAYTIME With 12 infants in our care, I have warned the mothers that the “fun” times are coming when all 12 start walking! I’ll call it chas’em and corral’em! Eight of the twelve are now officially “toddling” or crawling while the other 4 are “observing their siblings” and thinking about crawling. I want to share 2 impromptu photos I snapped this week. I caught these curious tykes playing while their Foster Mothers worked nearby to cook a meal.  L to R. Julio and Chebane love their sandbox at house #6.  L to R. Fatima, Gilda, and Juma having fun outdoors. FRIDAY EMERGENCIES KEEP US ALL HOPPING. Phone rings 6 a.m. with the Children’s Director, Anna, saying our newest infant, Reginalda, had suspected malaria. She needed me immediately, as this baby is still on the “severely malnourished” list weighing only 4.7 kgs/10.3 lbs. at 7.5 months of age. Five minutes later, I loaded them into my Kingcab, and off we went to the hospital for a malaria smear.  Baby REGINALDA last week before malaria hit her. While Anna and Angelina, the Foster Mother, waited for the lab results, I rushed back to our mission to find our construction trainee, Alferes, having a grand mal seizure!  Alferes hard at work yesterday, before becoming sick this a.m. Capena rushed to help me by bringing a Land Cruiser (single cab pickup) to the dorm, so we could load him into the open back in a laying down position. Capena and Pastor Jose rushed him to the emergency room, while I headed off to treat toddlers Julio and Salvador who are presently on malaria treatment at home. Once a baby is over 5 kg/11 lbs., he is old enough to take oral medication, PTL! It felt like I was coordinating a disaster scene instead of an orphanage this a.m.! We had to call in our “hospital helper mother”, Mariamo, to be with Foster Mother Angelina in the hospital. One mother watches the infant while the other takes a break. Since Angelina is the head mother of the Ostrich House, Assistant Children’s Director, Fatima, will “live in” temporarily at the Ostrich house until REGINALDA is released from the hospital. Thankfully, our staff is very good at “flexing” to whatever job needs doing. Outcomes: 1. BABY REGINALDA was admitted for 5 days of malaria treatment as she must have I V medicine (not oral) due to her low weight. The malaria larvae ate her red blood cells causing anemia. With her Hbg now down to a critical level of 7 she needed blood. Normal is 12 to 14. She is being transfused as I write this Friday evening. 2. ALFERES does not have malaria, PTL, and his seizures stopped with proper medication. He was sent home Friday afternoon on bed rest, and the dorm father, Armando, will keep a close watch on him. His seizures occurred because he forgot to take his Magnesium for the last few days. I don’t think he will forget again. 3. Julio and Salvador were out playing as if they weren’t sick, so no worries there. Amazing how fast little ones overcome this killer illness when the right treatment is given immediately after symptoms begin. NEVER A DULL MOMENT WHEN KIDS ARE INVOLVED. Plz continue your prayers for all of us. With food giveouts completed on Thursday, we all expected a simple day on Friday. Just Praising the Lord that it is all under control now, and the sick are on the mend. FYI: Two other infants with very low blood counts benefited from the pint of blood given to our Reginalda. PTL for Jesus’ healing power that spreads to others as He heals our little one. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE FANTASTIC STAFF IN BALAMA |