Happy Easter

Hello all,

A little note to say Happy Easter and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. As we remember just what He has done for us. Jesus won. It is finished.

As I made the video below I remember how He has won so many battles in Pemba. As our kids come into the children's centre and their lives are totally turned around as they discover our good God. Then also on the streets as the ladies faces light up when they hear the good news of a Heavenly Father that loves them as the precious daughters that they are.

Thank you so much for all prayers for our children, ladies, workers, the ministry and myself.

You are all wonderful!
Blessings,
Ruth

January and February. from ruth Alexander on Vimeo.

In His hope...

As most of you are from England I would guess you watched or heard of the TV show Mary and Martha by Richard Curtis. This show expressed the pain of losing a child from Malaria and how two ladies stood up for the case, changing lives in ways they could never have imagined. It is true that due to lack of education, funds, mosquito nets, medical staff and medicines too many people are dying from malaria. Most of these are from Africa.

During the show I both laughed and cried, as the emotions shown were all too real. As the character Martha is playing football with the children and adds an ‘O’ to an English word to try and make it Portuguese. Then in another scene both Mary and Martha are watching, as a child has a convulsion in his hospital bed in a crowed room with dead bodies and crying family members. As I have said, these scenes where all too real.

The big thing that struck me after watching the show was the reality of hope. With my walk with God I have learnt to have more hope in God then doubt in the world. Sometimes I try and fight a point even when it is impossible. A characteristic I have that others and myself find often laugh at in the moment. I am determined to compete for the best to the very end. In Romans 15 it says ‘May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’

It is this peace and joy that keeps you going as you run in His hope. You never know if a child will pull through or if one of our ladies will decide for herself to stop working on the street. All I can do is Hope in our God who is forever good. The way I see it is there is no other choice. I gave my life to Him, so now I live in His arms knowing that He is a good God and may all go according to His will.

Here is a link to the BBC show if you would like to watch. It is very much recommended. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01r1cnt/Mary_and_Martha/

In His calling...

To all who read this,

I am now back in England and enjoying the comfort of life. Foods being easily available, not sweating 24 hours a day, hot baths and the quiet. Although it is very cold! (So cold the doctor couldn’t pick up a pulse from my cold hands!).

Coming from a place where a zip or a button on your clothes shows wealth and many are getting ill from Malaria and cholera daily during the rainy season. I am taking in what England has with a totally different perspective. God is reminding me that things that perish do not matter, but that which lives for eternity is what you must hold on to. Yes I do appreciate the comforts of England. Good food, pushing one button and on comes the television or music speakers for instant entertainment. However nothing will compare to what God has called me to. God has placed that so clearly on my heart. This small city of Pemba with lost women who are being told they are worthless and little children who are being abandoned and orphaned.

The day I was leaving happened to be the day I told most of my Mozambican friends I was going back to England to get some tests done. This was due to me only deciding to come back three days before. Everyone seemed so happy for me and generally cared. They told me to send their love to my family and were anxious to find out exactly when I will be coming back. With this I couldn’t help but thank God for all He has done. I am so blessed to be doing what I am doing. Each night that I have to stay up late and talk to one of my girls who needs help as she has a new pimp that may kick her out, which will leave her with nothing. I thank God for the honour of doing this. Yes I have the normal human feelings of being overwhelmed and very tired. I have those days where I dream of working a ‘normal’ 9-5 job. Then I am once again reminded, if I didn’t do this…what would I do? I wouldn’t be happy doing anything but what He has called me to.

Right now God has called me to rest and I feel very released in that. In this time please can you pray for Him to fill me up with His presence, healing and peace? As mentioned before I don’t know how many of you in England I will be able to see face to face. However please know that I think of you all often and even if we end up just having a conversation over the phone, that would be a big blessing!

Lots of love and prayers,

Ruth

I would like to use this month’s update to ask you all to pray for our precious little one Madelena. Madelena came to our children’s centre here in Pemba two years ago as a small, malnourished 3 year old. She looked like a small baby and was dressed in clothes to fit a three month old. After lots of care and attention she has fattened up and is thriving. She does however have some neurological developmental problems. We have never been able to have her diagnosed so we are still to this day unsure if she was born with a disability or if this came from severe starvation. 

We have just celebrated her 5th birthday and it saddens my heart to know that she will not be starting school with her fellow 5-year-old brothers and sisters at the children’s centre. We all feel a promise that she will be healed and would love for you to join in with this prayer and fasting to contend for her healing. She is a kind hearted wonderful little girl and I know God does nothing but smile down on her. During prayer for her please do ask for words for her and we can write this down in her book. May we join together to watch this promise turn into a testimony! 

A little personal update - I receive more and more of an education into this culture every day. The more I learn the more I am in love. In love with the smells, tastes and sounds. Sure there are frustrations in the learning and times where I 'just don't get it'. However the grace takes over in those needed times. Please continue to pray for street ministry. This last week we had one girl return after rejecting all help a few months ago. She has got herself in a bad way and needs lots of care. We know she could do amazing things with her life and she too is slowly seeing that as she learns who she is. 

Please do update me with how you are all doing and any prayer requests you may have!

Love and prayers,

Ruth

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

christmas 2012 from ruth Alexander on Vimeo.

Thankfulness...

It is that time again where I have placed together a little video…Here you will see things like birthday parties to general every day life. I even put in there the first time our toddlers ever played with Lego! Was so funny to watch. There is a clip of Madelena who was sick with high fevers one day and then playing feeling very healthy the next J Our God is so good! Once again sorry for the lack of footage with street ministry. I am not able to take pictures during the evening while out on the street.

These last two weeks my mum has been visiting, which has been wonderful! She brought some little gifts to make a Thanksgiving meal so we had a few people over, decorated for Christmas and ate very well! I live with an American so Thanksgiving has become a ‘must do’ in our household! Although lots of the traditional foods have to be substituted. It was great having my mum here to see some of what I do and meet the people I work with and live with.

I pray you are all well and getting excited as we come into this festive season. Please remember to continue to pray for street ministry and our baby and toddler houses. There are daily problems that come up but also daily joys as Jesus wins every time!

Love to you all in His name,
Ruth

Words can't describe this place...so a video may help. from ruth Alexander on Vimeo.

Keeping my eyes fixed on Him...

Well hello all,

I am sorry once again for my lack of communication recently. There is so much to catch up in lots of different areas of my life here. So here is a little snippet. 

Street ministry:

I am so excited about street ministry. We have a great team of students that are just wonderful with showing humility with the local ladies, men and each other. We have had a challenging few weeks but funny enough, it shows signs of God doing so much! God showed me a picture of the barraca being like a sitting room. A safe place and in most family households it is the centre part of the house. That’s where naps are taken, hosting, conversations, eating, playing etc. We bought some wicker sofas and mats to make it much more cosy. Since this I have noticed that we are all becoming a little family that gather each week to have a girly time of eating chocolate and painting our nails. We cry together and laugh together. The little ones sit on the floor playing games, teenagers can’t stop talking and the mamas are just putting their feet up and enjoying being pampered. In this family we have little girls with scabies, girls who sell themselves to pay for food for their family, teenagers who have mothers that beat them and those that work every single day, all day to be able to eat. We are all learning to accept each other as we all walk through the door with different stories. God is doing so much! All He wants is for us to love. That is all He has called us to do. Love the Lord your God and to Love your neighbour.

How am I to do this? How am I to love the pimp waiting at the door threatening to beat the 14 year old up if she doesn’t hurry up with getting her nails painted. And the husband that is sleeping with his child’s schoolteacher who is also a prostitute, which leads to him giving his wife HIV? I keep my eyes focused on Him and remember…He loves me. ME?! I am as filthy with sin as the drunk witchdoctor that comes past and curses us. I am just as bad. But He came and washed us all clean. He came and called us pure. Praise Jesus for His goodness!

Baby/toddler house:

You may not have noticed yet but Christmas is just around the corner! J Well for us it is! When you have 180 kids to prepare for, the preparations can’t begin early enough! We are starting to get the bags together for each child, which I love! Christmas has always been my favourite time of year but when I put together the gift bags for these children it make it that more special! I love knowing the children and finding the right toy just for them! I always remember the testimony our friend H told us. One Christmas they just had a bag with teddies in it, one for each child. God then tells her to ask one girl what she wanted for Christmas and she says beads. H and all other visitors knew there weren’t beads to be found. All they had was a teddy. However that little girl put her hand in the bag to get her gift and pulled out beads. Our God loves us so much! Nothing is too hard for Him!

Please pray for us during this time, that we manage to sort everything we need to do so for the festive season!

Please continue to pray for street ministry, that we stay focused on Him and don’t step a foot forward without knowing that He is leading us there.

Please continue to pray for my health. Although I am so much better I still have a lot of fatigue and other small symptoms. Would love to be 100% healed!

Hope you are all well! Please do keep me updated with recent news or prayer requests. Remember you are all welcome to come visit any time you wish!

Blessings and joy,

Ruth