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This past month team Bling spent our time in Mozambique. Our original plans for Mozambique were that we would be tenting and roughing it in a town called Gorongoza. However, plans fell through and God led us to work with a base of Iris Ministries (Heidi Baker ring a bell?) in a town called Chimoio. This blog is dedicated to the great memories of my first weekend in Chimoio, when Kara and I traveled to preach at Pastor Amos’ (pronounced Amosh) church  ….

 

Memories of my first weekend visit to Amatongas:

 

Kara and I arrive with Pastor Amos in the marketplace waiting for our choppa (pronounced shoppa), a public transportation van.  We head into the packed van filled with bodies, groceries, a baby crying, odor, and music blaring. We were crammed in the van in a way I cannot describe. Bodies are money, no matter how illegal the amount of people in the van would be in the U.S. As I bob my head to the beat, I see a Snoop Dogg look a like (truly wish I took a pic) standing outside our van. He was literally bobbing his head to the beat and swaying in the oh so cool and only way Snoop does… so  I waited patiently for him to drop it like its hott, but unfortunately our encounter never got that exciting.

 

The ride in the cramped van to Amatongas from Chimoio was about a 45 minute ride. Speaking to Pastor Amos during the ride was also an adventure within itself. Mind you our conversation consists of him speaking in Portuguese to me and then me responding in Spanish- with a few English words intermixed between the two of us when no matter how many synonyms we use to explain something, comprehension is beyond reach. As I sit here mid conversation, I think…wow this is my life. (And sidenote- while talking to Pastor Amos it dawns on me why he looks familiar…I’m talking to an Eddie Murphy look alike!…well only when he smiles, but still….

 

During my conversation with Pastor Amos he asks me about demons manifesting in people. He inquires…if that happens at church…you guys will pray for them? I stutter thinking, I never took “How to Cast out a Demon 101” class but all things are possible with Christ. I smile and say yes, but admit it’s not something I’ve done before…ready for whatever adventure was in store for the next day.

 

When we arrive to Pastor Amos’s village I see chickens, roosters, goats among the people of the village bustling around. As dusk falls, children surround Kara and I interested in the foreigners. One 14 year old girl that I met, Sophie, was so excited to introduce us to her mother that she literally runs away in laughter and excitement that then I can’t stop laughing either. Kara then proceeds to teach the children the “Gloria a Dios” (Glory to God song- that we taught the children in the Dominican Republic) and eventually the song turns into an all out jam session of beautiful young voices singing praises to God. And once again I think…wow this is my life.

 

The next morning we start the 5 minute trek to church from the Pastor’s house.  We walk the dusty trail and pass straw huts, curious faces and species of duck I’ve never seen before in my life, we then soon arrive to the small church building centrally located in the village. We wait 25 minutes and only about ten small children are present within the small church. As we wait, we watch a woman pour water on the dirt floor of the church. The pastor explains that it is to help keep the dust down when people start dancing. A smile spread across my face with anticipation of the dancing to come. Pastor Amos along with his accordion starts the service with 10 kids in the audience under the age of 5 and Kara, I, and Sebastian (our translator and friend from Iris Ministries). We are told more people will come but for now it’s us and the accordion. Soon, truth be told adults and more children start piling in until the small church is packed. This is when Kara leans over to me and whispers, “you notice how I’m the brightest and the whitest of the bunch?” With her bright green shirt, technicolor sarong and creamy complexion, I think to myself, dang gina you’re right! 🙂

 

As church continues the music is lively but I can tell that it is only the beginning. As I turn in my seat,  in walks a young man with a drum slung around his neck. He saunters down the middle aisle, walks up to the front, releases a war cry and starts beating on his drum. Then his twin walks in with drum in tow and they go at it. When the beat drops and everyone begins getting up from the benches and dancing and singing praises to the Lord, tears came to my eyes. I was so happy and I wish in that moment that so many people from back home as well as my other teammates who were visiting other churches could have been there with me to experience the joy I felt. And I thought once again…wow this is my life! Thank you Lord for Your blessings.
 
After our praise jam session, and a few sweaty foreheads and shirts as well as a blanketed atmosphere of body odor, it was time to bring the word. Kara preached a message on temptation and I piggy backed off of her message and spoke for a few moments about the promises of God and trusting the Lord. Mind you while we were preaching, Sebastian would translate our English into Portuguese, and then Pastor Amos would translate that into a dialect of Portuguese spoken in his village, so speaking was a fun time. After speaking we then had an opportunity to lay hands on people and pray for them. Granted there were no demon manifestations, but God was present in that place.
 
After church we had a wonderful lunch of goat, rice, and beans with Pastor Amos and his family. He then bode the three of us farewell as we began our journey back to Chimoio. We were able to catch a ride in the back of a pick up truck (still considered public transportation). As we are traveling we learn that most of the people jam packed in the back of the truck are Christians, which sparks a variety of conversations. Our driver, who oddly enough was an Ice Cube look a like (a rapper for those of you who do not know) turned off the car after dropping off a few people and strides towards the back of the truck and in a mix of Portuguese and English says I have a question for you…was Jesus was white or black? He then proceeds to say to us, “discuss it, figure it out, and I will come back for my answer after the next drop off. Laughter and chatter fills the back of the truck as the driver walks back towards the driver seat. The overall concensus of everyone in the truck was that Jesus was Jewish…however most people state they believe Jesus was only a little bit lighter in complexion than me.
 
As we get dropped off at our stop I think back over the weekend…the crammed travel style, yummy goat and rice meals, my first African church service and preaching session in Mozambique, the look-a-likes, and the infamous question that plagues so many..haha.  I think once again…wow this really is my life…and even with the good days and the hard ones…I thank the Lord God Almighty for it. 🙂