Dear Grace Family,
Life certainly has been crazy for you all in America this last few months and it has been no different here. The chaos and concerns caused by this pandemic will be felt for a very long time to come.
In February we returned to Mozambique after a nice visit from Marijane’s parents and her Aunt & Uncle in South Africa. We were able to show them a bit of our lives in South Africa and visit a few new places as well. We had a few plans for the next few months, but a lot of questions about how it would all come together. Slowly all plans outside of Mozambique started to fall apart. Aidan & Jon had planned a trip to Thailand for some media training, but that was the first thing to be canceled.
Our main project was again in Nampula, Mozambique on the MAF property, where we have spent a fair amount of time in the past. We had begun a major remodel of a house in November 2019 by replacing the roof and needed to complete the interior work. As we worked on this, the COVID restrictions became a reality and we realized we probably wouldn’t be leaving Nampula for a while. We began seeking what God would have us do after we completed this task.
We were contacted by another long time missionary here in Nampula. He is a doctor and has built a hospital in Nampula that he had been struggling to get open because of red tape. He asked us if we would be interested in helping prepare the hospital to be the COVID isolation unit for our city by looking for materials to make person protection equipment (PPE) for those that would work in the hospital. Through the contacts I have in town we were able to get much of what he wanted to have on hand in case a large wave of patients flooded the hospital. Fortunately, that has not yet happened and it looks unlikely that it ever will. We helped find and install a large generator to run the entire hospital and the rest of the facilities there. We have prepared a tent that would allow an overflow of patients out of the hospital while still providing piped oxygen to each bed. Soon we will be receiving an oxygen generator for suppling the oxygen to the patients eliminating the need to buy bottled oxygen.
God has also provided the finances for us to do a mask-making and distribution project and to provide weekly food for 250 impoverished families in our neighborhood for several months and we are now shifting the food distribution project to include refugees who are pouring into Nampula from the province in the north that has been experiencing a terrifying and brutal conflict for the last few years. We are hoping to expand the ministry to the refugees. Please pray for God’s direction on that.
Meanwhile while these thing have been happening we have also been able to bless friends with meals and fellowship as they have been required to relocate to the city for various reasons. I have also been advising YWAM as they look to develop a second property just down the road from where we are currently parked. It has been a blessing to see how God has provided meaningful work during this crazy time and we have really been able to serve in some unexpected ways. Also COVID has closed the borders and thus removed the normal paperwork struggles we have when we try to stay in Mozambique for extended periods of time. All vehicle documents have been extended until September 30. This has been so nice! Because of the Pandemic, we have now been in one location longer than we have been anywhere since April 2016. We have many things to be thankful for and we couldn’t do any of this without your constant prayers and financial support. Thank you for partnering with us!
As with all of you we do not know what our Post-COVID world is going to look like. A multi-country ministry like ours has never been easy, but feels like it could be even more complicated in the future. We covet your prayers as we look forward. We have received multiple requests from organizations to work longer term helping them with various projects, but this would mean a major shift in the way we do things. Please pray for clarity and Gods direction as we seek what he has in store for us in this next chapter.
Blessings,
Jon, Marijane, Aidan, Isaac & Ethan Beutler