This has been a tumultuous week for our ministry partners in Africa. At 9 PM on Wednesday night our Africa Director, Johan Gous, received a heart stopping phone call. Two missionaries, well known to Hope Builders and serving with Evangelical Rural Mission (ERM) were savagely attacked on their mission station home by five men wielding machetes. Jimmy and Marlise Meyers, whom Lance and Christie met on their trip to Mozambique last year, were sleeping when attackers broke into their home in a quest to steal $3000 earmarked to buy materials for mission construction projects. Here's the story as reported to us and later featured in Assist News Service.
Jimmy (pictured right) jumped out of bed to protect (his wife) Marlise (shown below) when he was hit across the head and arm with a machete," reported Dewald van den Berg, leader of ERM. "He was also beaten badly in the face." There was reportedly so much blood on the floor from his wounds that the robbers slipped on it during the 2 A.M. attack.
Both husband and wife were tied up and left on their bed while the house was ransacked by the mob which numbered five. Nearby farmers received the distress call and rushed to the aid of the Meyers. By late afternoon the day after the attack, three suspects had been arrested but none of the stolen goods had been recovered.
The Meyers have dedicated themselves to uplifting the lives of Christian widows from the churches served by the ministry and orphans in central Mozambique. The Children Harvest program provides a house for a widow, who then takes up to six orphans into her care. This "substitute family" takes Marlize in the villagechildren off the streets and allows the ministry to break the downward spiral of poverty-induced violence and crime that street children commit simply to survive. The program is bearing much fruit for the kingdom. Widows and orphans who previously had no hope for the future, now have hope for eternity as new believers.
Jimmy and Marlise will return to South Africa in the next few days where Jimmy can receive further care. Despite the severity of his wounds, Jimmy has already made it plain that his heart is to return to the mission station and continue the important work being carried out there.
Great Possibilities
Within days of this sobering news, we also got the news that two foundations had come forward with large matching grants for projects Johan had submitted. One foundation has approved a grant of $90,000 towards the printing and delivery of Bibles in three languages: Chichewa, Bemba and Portuguese. That means that every dollar raised for the Bibles for Believers Project over the next 12 months will be doubled up to $90,000 for a potential total of $180,000. This will result in the provision of 30,000 Bibles to households of believers who are committed to following Christ and have never had a Bible. Since the average household has six people, 180,000 people will have access to the Word of God. This makes a tremendous difference in the ability to disciple them more fully to the truth of who God is and what He has done in Christ.
Just yesterday, another matching grant offer for another strategic project came in. This grant promises close to $20,000 for vehicles for pioneer church planters in Zambia. The provision of bicycles and small motorcycles to local pastors/missionaries (like the ERM worker in this photo) will allow these workers to reach out in much wider circles than they previously could and still have more time to see their families. This is a huge help in areas where church planters are often separated from their loved ones for days on end in their efforts to reach remote villages where no believers exist.
These are important days for the believers that we serve in Africa. Your prayers for Jimmy and Marlise are much appreciated as they seek healing of body and soul. Such a traumatic experience will take time and prayer to overcome. Gifts to help meet their medical costs and to replace that which was lost or for either of the matching grant possibilities are of great help and can be made directly here or contact us at info@hope-builders.org.
You can read the full story on the Meyers as reported on Assist News.
