Our first night at Boa Nova

17 March 2011

Enjoying lunch in the guest house


We had another work day at the new school campus, but this time it was over Friday afternoon and Saturday. We had seven students that helped out and we actually had a “sleep over” at the new property. The four boys, Larry and I stayed in the guest house and the two girls stayed with Aimee, our team member. We ate our meals together as a group and accomplished lots of work. We were painting again. The primer coat is on the “quad” rooms and now we have to choose colors for the final coat. 

Caris painting more of himself than the walls?



The little guest house is a part of a duplex and has been used for housing various guests and visiting teams. We have been fixing it up little by little, making it a really cute place for guests. It has three bedrooms (beds for seven singles), one bathroom, a small kitchen and a dining/living area. The kitchen has been remodeled and the bathroom and kitchen have been tiled. It looks very cozy. 



Canan painting the High School area

In the next few months it will be in use with teams from the U.K. and the U.S. The work crew has started work on the other duplex. We need additional housing on the campus for missionaries in the near future. We hope to move on the compound as well to be closer to the school.

The tedious job of painting trusses

We have been praying for the “Topographical Drawings” for the property for the last few weeks. Without these, we cannot apply for a permit for any new buildings. Praise the Lord, Melvin was able to get them yesterday. The next step is to finalize the plans we have and to apply for a building permit. We have already been building, but everything is inside existing buildings. We need to build a bathroom block and for this we need a building permit. Pray that this next step will go smoothly and we will get the necessary permit.

 

Pouring the footers for the classroom walls inside the old auditorium

 











CAM Secondary Field Trip Feb 24-26, 2011

2 March 2011

Thursday, the 24th was here before we knew it and we were packing our “soft-sided bag, as small as possible” to take on the secondary school trip. There is not that much room inside the bus and the luggage either has to be inside the bus or packed into the back of Larry’s vehicle. We got everything in and we were on the road by 6 a.m.

This trip was totally different from the elementary trip. The secondary kids went to Eagle Adventures in South Africa. It is a camp that challenges the kids with all kinds of physical activities. It is run by an amazing Christian couple, Roelf (Trompie) and Susan, who physically challenge the kids and spiritually nurture them as well. They have a beautiful mansion-type house that can house 60 people that is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery.

The kids were divided into three teams and completed for points by physical games, archery, javelin, ninja-type weapon throws, canoeing, zip lining, repelling and lots of hiking. They also had to come up with a cheer and team song as well as an advertisement and Bible skit.

All in all, we had an amazing time and delicious food in a beautiful place that was so fresh and cool.

Trompie and Susan have such a great ministry with students and adults as they challenge them to go beyond what they think they can do. Trompie speaks deep words of Truth and the kids listen. We are so blessed when we leave.

We did have an interesting event on our way there. We were just a few miles from the border when we came upon a terrible accident that had just occurred probably a minute or so before we got there. A car was completely crushed on one side and there were people still inside the smoking car. Don, our bus driver hopped out of the bus with the fire extinguisher in hand and Larry soon followed. They were able to pull out two survivors and get them to a safe place on the side of the road. The other two in the car did not make it.

I stayed in the bus with the students and we said a prayer for the people involved and thanked the Lord that we had not been at the site earlier. God is good.

We are glad to be back and have an incredibly busy week ahead of us. I believe we will be busy now until the end of the school year. We appreciate your prayers and emails of encouragement.

in Him,

Susan and Larry

The recipe for a successful elementary school trip.

21 February 2011

Take 21 excited children
Add one bus driver and three chaperones
Mix together in a bus and a vehicle
Add candy, chips, cookies and soft drinks
Take away hours of sleep
See wild animals and reptiles

And there you have it – a successful school trip.

learning about the Chetah Reserve

We had amazing time on the elementary school trip this past Friday and Saturday. Larry and I along with Don, the bus driver, and Monique, one of the parents braved the trip with 21 fourth through sixth grade students. We left early Friday morning and got to the border in good time. While the agent was processing our passports, he was especially careful with the ones from Mozambique. Fortunately, we always have the parents sign permission slips and I bring them with me on the trip. They wanted to make sure that the Mozambican children had permission to be on the trip. It happened to be Child Trafficking Awareness Week and the customs guys were making sure that we were not kidnapping the kids. That was an interesting start to our trip.



Our first stop was to the Cheetah Rehabilitation Center. They served us delicious hamburgers and showed us a DVD about the center. Then we got our own personal tour and met many different cheetahs, a lioness and beautiful lion. The lion’s mane was so perfect it reminded me of the lion in the movie Madagascar. He also gave us quite a show when he started growling making us aware that we were close to his “woman” and his territory.

The next stop was to the reptile park. We were introduced to many different reptiles by a DVD and then we got to experience them first hand. The brave ones were able to hold a python (just a young one) and have their photo taken for a key chain. The rest of the group observed at a safe distance. There were cages and glass display cases that held a nice variety of snakes and lizards.

We were able to see the demonstration of some of the behaviors of snakes and why we should not be afraid of them. Right!!! We were able to touch a spitting cobra, on the back part of the tail, of course. Our guide was entertaining and very informative. The gift store at this place benefitted from quite a bit of the kids’ spending money.

From there we drove to a resort that had two huge swimming pools. What a treat to swim in a huge heated pool surrounded by gigantic mountains. It was just breath-taking. We all enjoyed our time there.

The final stop for the day was to a game reserve that has lodging and meals for groups like ours. After rice and delicious stew, we dressed warmly for our night drive in an open-air safari vehicle. We were able to see several types of antelope, quite a few giraffe and a baby giraffe, only four weeks old. We saw several wild hares hopping through the grass and a spotted eagle owl. We saw wildebeest and zebra. This game reserve does not have any of the big cats. We were hoping to see the rhinos, but they weren’t around that night.

After the night drive we went back to our rooms, but not to sleep. I guess that’s part of a school trip. I think the kids did get some sleep, but not very much.

We were up and ready for breakfast before 7:30 a.m. and after packing and inspection to see if everything was put in the bus, we were off to the Maholoholo Rehabilitation Center. This is another center where injured animals are taken in and cared for. They have quite a few birds which have damaged wings or have been caught in snares. We were able to get in the giant cage with three varieties of vultures. Several people had the opportunity to put on a leather glove and hold a piece of meat and let the vultures land on their arm and grab the meat. That sounds simple enough, but it was quite exciting to say the least. The birds had not had meat in awhile and they were all trying to get a bite, not only of the meat, but anything that looked like meat. One vulture started eating one of the student’s fleecy, another actually took a couple of pecks of Larry’s leg. It was too much for us and the birds and so we had to exit the cage quickly. We didn’t want to be part of the next meal for these birds. It was exhilarating!

At this center we saw two more lions and a beautiful leopard and two honey badgers. There have some other animals, but they were not a part of our tour.

After a group photo, we boarded the bus and the other vehicle to make our way back down the hill. We stopped off for a delicious pizza lunch. Normally this place has a two for one deal, but that day it was buy two, get two free and an extra one on top of that. It was like the fish and loaves. After all of us had our fill of the pizza, we discovered that we still had over four full pizzas left. We saved them for a snack at the end of the trip.

We really had a wonderful time and the kids were sad to return back to Maputo. They so enjoyed the beautiful clean air in the mountains of South Africa and the great adventures.

Larry and I were thankful that the Lord had given us a safe trip with good traveling, no bus troubles and no injuries. We now look forward to the 7th – 12th grade student’s trip this Thursday. Pray that it will be as successful and fun.

OMS Mozambique Team Retreat

7 February 2011

Last Thursday, February 3rd was a holiday for the Mozambicans and CAM has to close the school for country holidays. Because the holiday was on a Thursday, we decided to take off Friday as well. It was perfect for a long weekend team retreat. Larry made reservations months ago and what a challenge that turned out to be. The team decided to go to Bad Plaas, which means “bath place” in South Africa. It is a wonderful resort built on a hot springs. No matter what time of year, it is a lovely place to visit. 



Our "home" at the retreat



South Africa is an English speaking country, but for some reason, they don’t seem to understand our “American” English. Larry spent several hours (at different times) shouting on the phone to try and get them to reserve three chalets for our group. They ended up with reservations for YWEIL. When everyone checked in they had to misspell our last name. What a riot.



Speakers: Louie & Craig

The team invited two pastors, Louis and Craig, from a church in Nelspruit, South Africa, that most of us attend when we are there. We had a wonderful time of singing, praying and listening to God’s Word.

The afternoons were left free for relaxing and enjoying the pools and other activities at the resort. It was just lovely. 



Larry "Braai-ing"





Badplaas resort




We were reminded of God’s great love for us and that He had chosen us to be where we are, not because we are the only ones who can do the ministry here, but the fact that God wants us here so that He can work in our lives.  



We ate lunch together at the restaurant there and for the evening meal we barbequed or had a “braai” as they say in South Africa. All in all, we had a very good time.  



 We ended our time at Bad Plaas on Saturday morning and then traveled to Nelspruit to do our normal shopping for ourselves and the school. Larry and I traveled back to Maputo Sunday morning to get ready for a busy week ahead.



Melvin & Sharon Kelly & twins, Larry & Susan Weil, Louie, Craig, Aimee Howarth, Don & Aleta Hulsey, Zac & Coleson

















Retreat session at the resort

Boa Nova Work Day



29 January 2011

What an amazing amount of work we were able to complete today! Saturday was our first work day at the new CAM campus. We recruited a group of eight students from CAM and arrived at the work site before 9 a.m. These students gave up their Saturday to work the entire day to earn money to go on the school trip which is scheduled for February 24th – 26th



Cleaning the book room



First on the agenda was to tidy up an old book room on the campus. Then we moved a room full of things in storage to the book room. It took six loads in the pick-up truck. There was lots of muscle and cleaning involved.



Salisa & Canan



Joash with the amazing hair





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Future Classrooms being cleaned up



After a short break for lunch, the group went to one of the “pods.” This is a group of four rooms with a covered area in the middle that will be used for either elementary or high school classrooms.



Joash & Ude mopping up



The rooms were very dirty (thus the need for masks) and three of the four had bunk beds and wicker shelves in them. While some of the students were sweeping and mopping the rooms, the others were dismantling the beds and moving them to another storage area. It doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but it was and we got all four rooms emptied and cleaned up. The students were amazing. They worked so hard. I think our bodies will be sore tomorrow.



Our Mighy Crew: front: Joash & Ude, top left: Larry, Charlene, Salisa, Canan, Oko, Domingos & Zac.

We are going to continue to have these work days involving the students to give them the opportunity to earn money for their trip. The next project in a couple of weeks will be painting the rooms and cleaning up another set of classrooms. There is going to be a lot of work for a long time. We are so proud of the kids and it is a blessing to see them willing to work so hard for their future school.











Purchase of missionary compound and future CAM School location

26 January 2011


Larry signing the contract to purchase Boa Nova



Dear friends and family,

Today is a very monumentous day for our OMS Mozambique team.  I haven't been able to share about this until now as we didn't know if or when it would actually occur.  But today during our weekly prayer meeting held at the home of Melvin and Sharon Kelly on the Boa Nova property, we officially signed the contract to purchase a 10-acre parcel of land about 7 miles from Maputo.  The Boa Nova Para Africa mission compound was founded about 1991 and over the first 10 years their mission built several homes as well as a large church building, men's housing for Bible School and other classrooms.  Over the years the missionaries have either left or relocated into Northern Mozambique, leaving just one couple, Don and Aleta Hulsey, on the compound.  It is a huge responsibility to maintain and manage such a large property by just them. 

About seven or more months ago several circumstances happened that began to confirm that now might be the right time to pursue the purchase of this property.  1, missionary housing rental costs continue to escalate in and around Maputo making it more difficult to find affordable and safe housing for our missionaries. 2, CAM School's current building is now too small to meet the need and demand.  It has a capacity of about 70 students and we are exactly at 70 students.  Our current site has very little playground space, and what we do have is all cement.  For the first time in our 15 year history as a school, we have had to turn down students or put them on waiting lists due to not having enough space.  3, until about seven months ago, the roads to Boa Nova were primative (sand) and the property couldn't be justified as adequate for a school location.  The government has begun paving the 2.2 km road that was all sand, and is currently over 50% finished.  The unfinished portion was covered with hard packed clay and is very adequate for vehicles. 4, Don Hulsey is our OMS Seminary Director, and his wife, Aleta, teaches at CAM school.  We already have a partnership with Boa Nova and the Hulseys and they are all dear friends. 5, We currently have three OMS missionaries living in housing on the Boa Nova property.  ....and the list continues.  

L2R: Melvin & Sharon Kelly, Susan Weil. seated Don and Larry



For the past many months, we have been praying, researching, praying some more, negotiating costs, possibilities, etc. to make this a reality.  One of the last steps in this process was to sort out how to pay for the property and have One Mission Society (OMS) give their stamp of approval.  That was granted last week.

Now the "real" work begins.  The existing classrooms have not been used for the past 10 years so major renovations will need to be done, as well as construct bathrooms and add administration offices, computer lab and library.  We hope and pray it can be accomplished by August 2011 to move CAM School to this new location. 

Specifically pray for the legal processes that need to be done: 1, transferring the title to OMS and registering the property.  This is a multi-step process here, and will probably take months to complete.  2, pray we can sort out the building licenses so we can begin construction on the new additions.  We do have a current building license to remodel the existing buildings which will keep us busy for a while, but we do need the new license soon enough to allow time to build the bathrooms and administration wing and have them done by July to make the move.  As you can see, we are dreaming big and trusting the Lord to help us through.  Your prayers will be much appreciated. 

Ultimately, to make the complete school remodeling and additions needed over the next few years we will need to sell our current CAM School building.  It is a valuable asset and we pray the right buyer will come with a good offer. 

These are exciting days for our team.  If all goes well and we are able to move the school by August, we will most likely move ourselves to one of the apartments at Boa Nova  in June for the few remaining months we would have until our furlough would begin in late September. 

We'll keep you posted as things progress. 

God Bless,

Larry & Susan

CAM Christmas Program 2010

20 December 2010

Dear family and friends,

The Dead Shepherds band

Mary, Joseph and the youth

The musical was chosen in September, practices started the first part of October and the final production was last Friday, December 17th. There is always so much work and energy put into getting the Christmas program ready for the performance. The musical was one that we had presented five years ago. It was called “A Band of Shepherds” and it was about a group of shepherds who were a rock band and had been hired to entertain the people in Bethlehem during the census. While they were out in the fields they encountered an angel band that rapped and danced and told them the message of a Messiah born in Bethlehem. It changed their lives. They now had hope and something to live for. It was great.

We had a full house in the seminary chapel and the students did an incredible job of the musical. The fourth through sixth grade students were the angel band while the seventh through twelfth grade students were the choir and cast.

Silvio doing a rap with the angel band

a happy angel

The Kindergarten and first grade class presented a number and the second and third grade classes presented two numbers and a short skit. I don’t think that we have any shy kids at CAM, and if they come shy, they don’t stay shy for long.

 
The most rewarding part of being a part of CAM is hearing the parents say how much they appreciate having a Christian school for their kids and that they like the family atmosphere.

The program is over and now we have two more days of school, exams for the high school students, and then school will be out until January 17th. Larry and I look forward to having some R & R at a friend’s guest apartment near the beach. We look forward to sleeping in (if that is possible for us), reading, watching DVDs and getting some sun on the beach.