De Souza’s Prayer letter 09/10/18  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” Matt. 25:40 |
Here we are in front of the Serra da Leba Road near our new home of Lubango, Angola! While we were in the US, many of you heard us say that our departure was near, but our journey to this point has felt like this road! Now, thanks to our Faithful God and the prayers and support of so many of you, WE ARE HERE!!! THANK YOU for traveling this road with us, reaching out to the people of Angola with the love and hope of Jesus!   After a couple of weeks of unpacking, meeting new friends, and learning to maneuver in the city, Eduardo started working full-time at CEML Hospital with Dr. Stephen Foster as his mentor. He is so thankful to be able to learn from Dr. Foster, who grew up as a son of missionaries in Africa and has been a medical missionary in Angola for about 40 years. He describes Dr. Foster as a living library of knowledge and has been amazed at his ability to provide excellent, compassionate care, even while working long, exhausting hours. Dr. Foster recently wrote about a woman who had surgery at CEML last year. Don’t miss this awesome story! Sunday evening, after a talk on methods of contraception at our local church, one of our local leaders came up and shared the result of a trip to LOLA, about 160 km north of Lubango, several thousand feet below us, amongst a variant of the regional Nyaneka people group. He said they had been invited there by a lady, wife of the chief, who had come to CEML last year and had surgery. She had gone home well and had also become a follower of Jesus. She came back on foot to the leaders of our church and asked them to send a leader to teach them more about the “way of Jesus”. A Team of five went. It took 8 hrs to go the 160 km. The last 18 Km was a footpath through the bush led by the lady herself on foot in front of them. The lady then went on to share her year back in the village. She said after she got home and told how she had been cured of an illness that the local diviners had failed to cure her of, she was told she must go to the chief diviner in Chibia, a distance of almost 200 km, and take 4 oxen as a sacrifice. She went to Chibia, presented herself to the chief diviner, who went through the process of trying to find out how she had been cured. At the end of 4 days she said the chief diviner, after a long trance, said ,”It is impossible to overcome this woman as she is filled with Fire.” Every time he looked at her he said he had to shield his eyes from the fire. He sent her home. She was so overwhelmed by the vindication and said that now they have to build a temple to worship the God who had filled her with the fire that protected her from the diviner. Can you imagine what a reception the local folk gave to the team! Straight out of the days of the Apostles! Please pray that God will send a leader of His choosing to disciple these new followers.  Praise Report: Many of you saw our post on Facebook asking for prayers for this precious little boy. He had severe complications during surgery, was resuscitated from cardiac arrest, and urgently needed a large amount of blood, which was donated by several missionaries here, including Jocelyn. Thank you so much for your prayers! He is recovering very well, thanks to the Lord and the amazing work of several missionary doctors and nurses. What a team! God must have a big plan for this young life! |
Please Pray for Us! For continued grace and strength as we adjust to living and working in Angola. For Eduardo as he continues to work and learn at the hospital – that he would be able to absorb, retain and apply the immense amount of knowledge he is receiving daily and that He would be a light and share God’s love with patients and coworkers. For Jocelyn, that she would be guided by the Lord as to which ministry to become involved with and when. There is no lack of options. Currently she is home with the children, at least until the three oldest start school on Sept. 26th. For the children – that they would remain healthy and continue to adjust well. They have always been homeschooled, but now will attend English-speaking MK school here. Please pray that this will be a good experience for them. Also pray that they would quickly learn Portuguese! For safety on the roads – this seems like a strange prayer request, but driving here is one of the biggest challenges we have had to face. The streets are full of potholes, pedestrians, other vehicles, and crazy motorbikes. People are crossing and bikes are passing on all sides of the vehicle at all times. Especially for Jocelyn, driving anywhere is a white-knuckle experience. For continued financial provision – we still need more people who would want to reach out with God’s love to the people of Angola by becoming financial supporters. Our greatest need is for monthly or recurrent supporters. How Can We Pray for You? We would also like to keep you in our prayers. Please let us know how we can be praying for you! Click Here to Join Our Ministry Team! To Give Online without Using the Above Link: 1. Visit: simusa.org/give 2. Enter Eduardo or Jocelyn De Souza 3. Enter Missionary #044522 Can’t give online? Send checks to: SIM USA, PO Box 7900, Charlotte, NC 28241 Please write “De Souza #044522” in the memo line. Our New Home: Land of Beautiful People and Breathtaking Landscapes!   The people of Angola are beautiful, talented and strong. This is a very common site here – women with huge loads balanced on their heads (sometimes even a giant bucket full of over a dozen live chickens) and a baby strapped to their back. What talent! We have also been blown-away by the musical talent here. We have had the privilege of visiting 4 churches so far, and after each service, even in the small churches, we leave feeling like we have attended a professional choir concert. Our theory is that God spilled over Angola when He was handing out the musical talents.  We were also thrilled to discover that within a 45 minute drive from our new house, there are hiking trails with views that take your breath away! These views will always remind us of our awesome Creator and the reason we are here – to share His immense love and endless hope! De Little Delightful De Souza’s  the children do miss family and friends, especially grandparents, they are constantly playing with new friends, both in and out of the compound. They are discovering new foods, plants and bugs daily. They enjoyed participating in soccer camp and attending a birthday party of a new Angolan friend. They have gone on a couple wonderful hikes. Most days they are purple from head to toe from climbing our mulberry tree and eating the berries.  At the same time, the kids are seeing things in person that they had only heard about before. They see children their ages working very tough jobs, caring for little siblings, digging through dumps for recycling, etc. The other day, as we ate snacks from a food stand, there were two hungry boys watching us. Our kids ate only half of their food and gave the boys the rest. They were so happy to see the boys eat. It is a lot for them to process. THANK YOU, again, to all who are on this amazing journey with us through prayers, encouragement and support! We could not do this without you! May the Lord Bless you and Keep You! Let’s Keep Serving Him Together! With Love, The De Souza Family  Stay in Touch Our Mailing Address: 14512 Shoreline Ln. Lake Park, MN 56554 Facebook/Messenger: Eduardo De Souza Jocelyn Thompson de Souza WhatsApp: Eduardo: +244-932-572-740 Jocelyn: +244-932-572-741 E-mail: eduardo.desouza@sim.org jocelyn.desouza@sim.org Our Story Who are we? We are just regular people, saved by our awesome God! We would have been completely lost and broken if it were not for the saving love and grace of God. To see a film of our story please click on this link: https://youtu.be/tnKVrBFiHEw We have learned that no matter the depths of pain we have felt, no matter the mess we have made of our lives, we are never so lost that His grace can’t save us. There is always hope in Jesus! |
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