Dear Friends and Family,

Let's personalize the greeting Paul and Timothy to the church in Philippi a little(Philippians 1:1-6):

"Rodger, Lynne, Andrew and Stephen, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus in America, together with all of our supporting churches:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank our God every time we remember you. In all our prayers for all of you, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day we were appointed as Worldventure missionaries until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

God is doing a great work in Mozambique through all of us!

Here are a few highlights:

Incarnational friendships are being formed in 25 de Junho and Agostinho Neto. Our friendships have grown to the point that seekers are asking questions about scriptures they are reading on their own. Others are asking "How can I know that God is real?"

This past Sunday, 35 people attended church at our house in 25 de Junho.

Our interns are growing in their understanding and ability to apply what they are learning in the Gospel of Mark to their daily lives. Each week, one of our interns speaks in church after working through the passage of scripture all week with each other and with us.

We are learning together what it means to live in community: "... being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose, doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than yourselves. Looking not only to our own interests, but also the the interests of others."
Philippians 2:2-4. In this context of living together, this is not always easy!

Ken and Arlene Flurry have joined us for three months and are reaching out to their neighbors. They are a constant source of encouragement to us.

On the flip side of things, we are in serious need of your prayers and help. Here are a few of the needs:

We are taking Andrew to boarding school in Kenya in one month. We REALLY need your prayers for the family on this matter. He is SUCH a fine young man and a vital part of our ministry here. Pray for him as he adjusts to the rigors of high school AND his deep desire is to make the basketball team.

Stephen, also a fine young man, will begin home school with his teacher Mrs. Estes around August 18. Please pray for a good adjustment for him and that the one to one attention he will receive will help him overcome some of his educational hurdles.

One of the biggest challenges we face right now is in the area of our finances. Here are the current issues:

The egg business, "MozOvos", MUST be up and functioning in August! The original figure we received for doing this project was way under the actual need for doing the project. The reason for this is the rapid rise in the cost of just about everything in South Africa and Mozambique. We made many, many cuts and did all of the non-skilled construction and labor ourselves, and with the help of our interns, rather than hiring it done. Still, WE CURRENTLY HAVE A SHORTFALL OF ABOUT $10,000 for the initial start up. Our ability to keep the internship ministry going beyond this year depends on the business functioning and sustaining our interns. We received scholarship money for the first year, but that will end in December. We do not want them to become dependent on money coming in from the West, but rather have the joy of working to support themselves for a lifetime in missional ministry.

We are feeling "the crunch" in our personal finances as well. We are trying our best to be good stewards, but when we don't have enough money to cover our work funds, children's education funds and housing funds, our salary is the first to be cut in the adjustment process. We need to raise and additional $300 a month for our rising education costs, $300 a month in Work Funds to cover the cost of fuel and maintaining our vehicles, and $300 a month in our housing which covers rent and the cost of paying our night guards. (FYI, the night guards are SUCH a necessity. A few weeks of go, thieves came over the wall surrounding our house, and a shout from him sent them scrambling).  We don't want to belabor this point, but we DO want to ask for your prayers on our behalf.

If you are able to make a ONE TIME to the completion and start up of the MozOvos project, please contact us at  rodgerschmidt99@gmail.com  for instructions on which Worldventure account the money should be sent to.

If you a current financial partner in our ministry, would you consider raising your support to us? No amount is too small to make a difference. Please contact Worldventure with any changes to your current support at 720-283-2000. They will notify us of the change.

If you are not a financial partner, would you prayerfully consider becoming a "co-laborer" with us in Mozambique? Please contact Worldventure at 720-283-2000. They will notify us of your support pledge.

In all these things, we are SO incredibly grateful! Our hearts are rejoicing in God's goodness and love for us and for the work He is doing in Mozambique.

Blessings,

The Schmidts

STAY IN TOUCH!
Caixa Postal 1822 • 0100 Maputo • Mozambique
http://schmidtsinmozambique.blogspot.com 

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