GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS …..

 In His own time.  As you know, if you have been reading my earlier reports, I left Chimala pretty abruptly in November of 2018.  The over-sight of the mission changed hands and I was requested to leave.  I never truly understood the whys, but always knew without a doubt that God was in control.  We may not always understand things that happen and don’t agree with them, but God is with us and uses all things for good for those who trust in Him.  At the time, I did not see the good…but now I do.

I would never had left Chimala on my own.  It was where I felt strongly I belonged.  Yes I missed back home, but I was so happy doing what I felt God wanted from me.  I was sad to leave but the last 3 years were a gift.  I was able to spend 18 months with my mother before she went to her eternal home and 3 years with my dad.  I continually prayed during the last 3 years for God to show me where He wanted me. I hoped I would be able to return to Chimala and discussed this with Him frequently.  It took 3 years, but He is sending me back!!

I have known since the first of last November that I was welcome back to Chimala.  There have also been two articles written in the Chimala Newsletters announcing my return (www.chimalamission.com).  I continue to pray and listen to God for guidance.  So far, everything has just fallen into place which leads me to believe His hand is in this plan for me.  I sold my house in 3 days without any complications.  I retired from Nursing here in the states and have applied for all my licenses in Tanzania.  I am scheduled to leave on February 15th and I could not be more happy and grateful for the chance to serve.

The most difficult thing for me when working as a missionary is raising financial support.  I am so committed to this work, that I am pledging $1,000/mo to my personal support.  The work-fund, which is used to help others, is my main concern.  Minimally, I will need $1,500/mo.  This amount will be used to restart the mobile clinics to rural villages, fuel, medicines and helpers.  Anything above that amount will be used for more works.  Below is the budget for my minimal expenses.

  •  Worker salaries            $   600.00
  •   Fuel                                  150.00
  •   Bibles                                 50.00
  •   Phone/internet                  150.00
  •   Medications                      550.00

Other works are hard to estimate.  One example is the 3 albino children we found in a couple of the villages where we performed mobile clinics.  Albino children and families have many challenges.  Their skin burns so easily in the sun and they have vision problems.  There are specialists who can help them, but getting to this areas is costly and then there is the cost of treatment.  With work-funds, we were able to take these children and their parents to the eye specialist and purchase glasses for them.  I am sure that they will be in need of new exams and glasses when I arrive.  This will come to about $250.  There are times when we find a person in one of our clinics who needs additional care at the hospital.  Many times we will pay for their hospital costs if funds are available.  We also find many children who are malnourished.  We work with another group to provide special dietary needs.  If the child is so malnourished as to need hospitalization, the minimal stay will be 7 days.  This is an expense they cannot cover and so the mobile clinic covers the costs.  So as you can see, there will never be too much money.  

At this point, I almost have commitments which will cover the minimum need per month.  So far donations of $900/mo have been promised.  If you can help us, please do so and you will be able to help with special needs of many people.  I will do my best to give frequent reports on where your funds are used.  If 30 people will donate $50/month, this will double our funds.  It would be amazing to see what God will do with this amount!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 405-640-2015 or by email at Cheryl.bode@yahoo.com.  I look forward to working with you as we help those in need together.  Much more to come!!  God bless.

Below are the ways you can donate to my work-fund

Send a check to: Chimala Mission, c/o Dalraida church of Christ, 3740 Atlantis Highway, Montgomery, AL 36109.  Please put a note in with your check stating it is for Cheryl Bode work-fund

OR

Go to www.Chimalamission.com, click on donate and use PayPal.  Please remember to designate that your donation is for Cheryl Bode

                            


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OC Students leave their "mark".....

Image
On May 4th, nine students from Oklahoma Christain University (OC) in Oklahoma City, OK arrived here in Chimala.  Three of these students have been here before, but the rest were newbies.  It was very exciting for me to see the returning students and to meet and get to know the new comers. The students always bring a sense of excitement and adventure with them when they come.  The goals were for the students to get to know a little about the culture, become familiar with all the works of the mission, hold VBS at several of the small village churches and complete a project which would help one of the works at the mission.  The bus ride from Dar Es Salaam to Chimala Mission is a hard 12-14 hour drive by bus.  We left Dar at 5am and arrived at the mission around 7:30pm.  During the trip, the students were able to see miles of plains, mountains and small villages.  They also had a small glimpse of some of the animals of Tanzania as we drove thr...
Read more

From Tanzania to Oregon

Image
The support for the work I do at Chimala Mission comes from many people and many places in the United States.  Most of those who send financial support do not know me personally and neither do I know them.  There is one person who sends support from Oregon.  Just before I left to come visit the states, this lady contacted me to see if I would be interested in visiting her in Oregon.  She told me that she would like to help me raise support by setting me up with places to speak. At first, I didn't think I could make the time to go all the way to Oregon...I have family to spend time with, I am already making two trip to Texas to meet people and speak, I have several presentations to do in Oklahoma City/Edmond.  There just wouldn't be time.....or would there? God puts people in our lives for different reasons.  Could this be a door He is opening for me and the Chimala work?  I spend 11 months away from my family, but my dad sat down with me and told m...
Read more

The Coffee Plantation and Lodge

Image
On both Thursday and Friday mornings, I attended morning devo at CBI (Chimala Bible Institute), aka the "preachers' training school".  On Thursday, we had a great lesson over Matt. 21-24.  This was Part 1 of a 3 part lesson.  I sure hope I am able to attend the next two lessons. On Friday, CBI has a praise devo where they sing songs of praise in both English and Swahili.  The majority of those present are men and I am telling you what....the singing is something wonderful to hear, esp. when they are singing in Swahili.  I could listen all day  .It really lifts you up and starts your day off right. This is one of the largest classes of students at CBI for many years with 30 students, I believe.   This morning, all of the missionaries here at Chimala got together for a day of relaxation.  We took a trip to a Coffee Plantation and Lodge about 90 minutes from Chimala.  I had planned to take pictures of the entire team to introduce to ...
Read more