Last March, OMS missionary Steve Davies visited our church to tell us about his family’s work in Ecuador and about their forthcoming work in the Bible college in Mozambique. (‘Being God’s Someone’, March 2012) They were hoping to fly out to Mozambique in July 2012, but a variety of issues, mainly to do with raising financial suppport, have kept them in the UK until this year. The good news is that they will be flying out on July 31st and so in preparation for that, they have been visiting family and supporters in England during this past week.
I was away in Derbyshire on a school trip when I got a text from Steve suggesting that they could drop in on their journey back to Glasgow sometime on Friday. Given that I wasn’t getting home till 5.30 p.m., this meant a little bit of re-arranging of schedules, but I’m glad we managed a brief visit to give them a journey break!
The last time Steve came to Goldthorpe, he was on his own, but here he is with his lovely wife, Katuska:
Their three boys Samuel, Benjamin and Joseph (who were all too young to remember their previous visit to our house) dived into playing games as if they’d never been away:
Please pray for the family. The boys start school in Mozambique just three days after arriving in the country and the family will have to make massive adjustments after living in Glasgow for two years and in Ecuador prior to that. Three continents in three years is quite a lot! They are aiming to teach at the Bible college for the next four years and will be separated from their extended family for this time.
Pray that:
1) all arrangements still to be made before flying out will go smoothly (visas are still required!)
2) they will all settle in quickly, adapting to the new country and culture
3) good working relationships will be established and strengthened with the other OMS missionaries in the country
4) language learning will go smoothly (Portuguese is the official language and is therefore not the native language for any of them)
5) the boys will settle into their new school (where they will be taught in English, with Portuguese studied as a foreign language) and will make new friends quickly
6) their ministry in the Bible college will know God’s blessing
7) health, strength and protection will be on the whole family