Always Enough: God's Miraculous Provision Among the Poorest Children on Earth by Heidi Baker & Rolland Baker

Author:Heidi Baker & Rolland Baker
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Social Issues, Missions, Christian Ministry, Christian Life, Christianity, Religion, Evangelism, Pentecostal & Charismatic
ISBN: 9780800793616
Publisher: Chosen Books
Published: 2003-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

Need and joy in the camps

What happened to Mozambique, this country where we lived, worked and came to know so well, was almost unbelievable to us. A three-day rainstorm turned into a natural disaster that required the largest humanitarian aid mobilization that Africa had ever seen. Southern Mozambique was one huge flood plain draining the highlands of South Africa and Zimbabwe, and there was no escape for whole towns and villages, many still beyond the range of rescue helicopters.

Mothers struggling in neck-deep currents drowned their own babies in their back slings. Stranded communities were reduced to eating the decayed flesh of dead cows, and children even roasted rats. Upper-story roofs in Xai-Xai collapsed under the weight of so many desperate survivors. Sewage and animal carcasses raised a terrible stench in the streets. Severe malnutrition set in among young children. Clean water was nearly impossible to find, even for rescue crews. Refugees were seen urinating in and drinking out of the same pools of water. Malaria victims lay motionless in the dirt with high fevers. Twenty-six camps with almost no facilities or provisions tried to care for 250,000 people.

Finally aid poured into Maputo’s tiny airport, creating a logistical nightmare. Air traffic controllers were flown in from England to handle the load. After weeks of delay, the government expedited customs, but still the fine details of every shipment took hours and days for officials to write out without computers. Organizing and delivering goods to the camps, and then by air to still-stranded populations, overtaxed the capabilities of the world’s largest disaster relief organizations. And still the cry was, “Too little, too late.” There weren’t enough helicopters in all of Africa to handle the need.

We assumed responsibility for a second camp of three thousand flood victims, this one north of Maputo near the severe floodwaters. To get there we had to wade through water waist-deep or deeper for an hour, take surface transport at exorbitant cost (fuel had to be carried in on heads), wade for another hour, take another “capa” ride and then wade again. Heidi kept falling into holes and mud, arriving totally drenched. Helicopters brought in survivors all through the day and landed them in three main areas south of Xai-Xai.

In the camps we found huge joy as thousands listened to the Gospel and devoured tracts even before they ate the bread we brought. These flood victims, many weak and sick, and all without possessions, loved to sit and learn about our Lord Jesus. They responded, they worshiped, they prayed and wept in repentance for themselves and the sins of their nation. They sang and danced. They were thrilled when we sent ministry teams. They needed more than pallets of beans and rice. As the president’s secretary-general told us, his people needed love. They needed comfort and warmth. They needed to be hugged. They needed assurance and faith. They needed the Lord and all that is in His heart.

Mozambique was still a land of paganism, witchcraft and ancestor worship for many.

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