From S.C. to Mozambique, with love
George and Sandra Chace in their home in Darlington
Photo by Jana E. Pye
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Shortly before Christmas, George and Sandra Chace invited me to their completely restored historic home in Darlington, all beautifully decorated for the holidays. You may be thinking…is this a story about how the couple lovingly restored their home? Or perhaps talk about holiday entertaining, or an upcoming tour of homes of Darlington County?
No, this delightful couple opened their hearts to me and shared many tales of living for a month to two months at time in African provinces, an area known as the “bush” far from towns and cities. With their ministry Sight for Mozambique, the couple partners with other missionaries, sharing the gift of sight, water, and women’s hygiene and sewing ministries.
George, a Gideon, also provides Bibles to all that ask; “And most do!” he said.
The couple has three children and six grandchildren in the area. When George first began going on mission trips years ago to Romania, he would come home to tell his wife about his experiences. Unbeknownst to him, Sandra began to feel the call to join her husband. She had gone along with him when they helped assist in disaster relief teams after Hurricane Katrina, but never internationally. “She is a treasure,” he said. “Not many women would endure those conditions and do what she does.”
Sandra said, “Most of our friends think we are crazy, but honestly, I love it.”
Romania, according to George, is a vacation spot compared to Mozambique. The life of a mission worker anywhere on the continent of Africa is not glamorous by any means. The heat can be unrelenting, often hitting 114 degrees; food can be scarce, and civil unrest in many countries can make the mission field a uncomfortable one, and potentially dangerous.
But the Chace’s say that they will continue to go as long as the Lord allows.
Through help from the Lions Club of Darlington, various churches in the area including their home church Darlington Presbyterian and private donors, the couple is able to provide many services to their ministry – and each year, the rest is donated to purchase food for the people of the area. The couple is certified to read prescriptions of the men, women and children they come across by using specialized equipment that reads it quickly, and accurately – as the language barrier is an issue. Sandra spends the year reading prescriptions from donated used eyeglasses, labeling and bagging them to be shipped overseas. The machine to read the individuals is stored at a mission partner’s facility. “To let people try on a few pairs of glasses can damage a person’s eyesight further, or cause headaches,” explained George. “We do it the right way. We don’t want to do harm. To see a person be led into a room and have their sight restored makes it all worthwhile. That, and watching a person get fitted for glasses and take a donated Bible and begin to read.”
Photo Contributed
George has developed a way to use hand augers and PVC pipes to dig wells in areas where women had to walk up to 4 miles with a five-gallon bucket to fill with water, returning on the long walk back to her family with the precious water to use. “When a village has their own water source, the lives of the women is greatly improved,” said Sandra. “It allows them to learn other things, such as sewing, giving them a way to provide for their families.” Through their ministry, donated sewing machines and sewing kits provide the women in the bush with the means to further provide for their family.
The hygiene issue is one that is deplorable in that part of the world, and particularly for women and young girls. Thanks to the funds provided to the mission, local churches grow and help the people from the surrounding area with the gift of fresh water, the Bibles, and the independence from the hygiene and sewing kits.
As George and Sandra shared their tales, it was hard to imagine their lives from the lovely home here in South Carolina compared to their primitive way of life on their trips. They recently spent May of last year in Mozambique, returning for another month from mid-October to November on their last trip. Instead of a home filled with comfortable beds and seating, central air and heating units, WiFi, kitchen with plenty of food in the refrigerator and bathrooms with bathtubs showers and, well, indoor modern toilets….this couple willingly leaves to live in the bush. They take long flights to get to the area, only to board jeeps to drive for hours on bone jarring jaunts to a province where some people have never seen a person from another country. sleep on air-mattresses and cots in tents with mosquito netting tucking them in, with going to bed when the sun goes down at 8:30 p.m. and waking to the rooster crow and village children clamoring to see them at 4:00 a.m.
They laughed til they cried recalling the time Sandra ate some particularly suspect food from a gas station, knowing that she had been known for being picky about her food here in the states. “God protects our gut, “ she said. “He knows I don’t have any better sense than eat something from a gas station in Africa, I won’t even eat from one over here!” George concurred: “Out of the six years in Africa, we have never gotten sick over the food. It’s the Lord. The sanitation is nonexistent, there is not a way to wash your hands. Yet we’ve never gotten sick.”
“The women are worth nothing there, they are a possession of their husband,” said Sandra. “They have a lot of gifts and talents, you just have to help bring it out of them.”
“The only thing that can change it is the Lord,” said George.
“With a Christian husband, he sees their worth because the Bible tells him to,” said Sandra.
They smiled recalling the friends they made, the funny stories about hopping on ferry boats that “putt-putted” along like the boat on the film “African Queen” (and sunk the next year!) and the miracle of sandy soil bubbling up with clean, fresh water from a newly dug well. The amazement of people being able to see from their new glasses, and the orphans fed from food donated from the contributions of people far away in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina.
When God called them, this couple answered.
To donate to the Sight for Mozambique, you may send a check to them under the umbrella of Southeastern Medical International, Inc., (SMI) a ministry led by Executive Director Randy Shell of Florence S.C.
Checks may be made out to: SMI; add “Sight for Mozambique” to the subject line, and mail to:
George and Sandra Chace, Sight for Mozambique, 379 West Broad St., Darlington SC 29532. You may find them on Facebook: Sight for Mozambique
Photo contributed
Photo Contributed
Photo Contributed
Photo Contributed