Great News in Mozambique

Great news from the field! Reencontro, one of our ministry partners in Mozambique, recently sent us the story of 10-year-old Lidia Parruque. Orphaned by AIDS, Lidia found blessed refuge through Reencontro’s programs. It’s a story I simply must share with you!

Lidia’s parents died several years ago, leaving her and her older brother to fend for themselves. Until Reencontro discovered them, they survived on their own. Not even their extended family or neighbors helped them at first. “Since the death of our parents, we lived alone and our relatives never came to see us,” Lidia said.

The loving Reencontro volunteer in their neighborhood discovered the siblings struggling to feed themselves.  They lived in a flimsy shack and had difficulty attending school. Reencontro immediately provided school supplies, clothing and school fees so they could stay in school on a regular basis. The volunteer also provided food so they had enough to eat and counseled them as they wrestled with the trauma of their parents’ death.

Seeing how dangerous it was for the two young children to live alone, Reencontro volunteers sought out one of their aunts, who agreed to live with them and care for them as a foster mother. In this way, they helped reestablish a family for the children. “We love her very much because she has a mother’s heart,” Lidia said. “She is really a mother to us; she takes care of us as her own children, and no one could imagine that she is not our real mother.”