Well we’re back
in “civilization” for the first time in nearly 4 weeks, and as I sit down to
try and relate the experiences of the last month the only thing going through
my mind is “did that really just happen?!” Our time in Mozambique was such a unique experience
in so many difference ways, and I was blessed to see and do so many things I’ve
never done before…some fun, some terrifying, but all in all it was an amazing
month!
Getting there was the first challenge. Squads A & B
traveled the first 13 hrs together from Johannesburg South Africa to Maputo in southern Mozambique. From there we switched
buses, and Squad A went to Vilanculos to help with disaster relief from the
cyclone that devastated the area in February. Squad B went farther north to
Dondo to work with Iris
Ministries and do flood
relief. Our van/bus ride from Maputo to Vilanculos was
probably one of the most memorable road trips of my life! We somehow managed to
cram 24 people PLUS all our luggage into a 22 passenger van and traveled 14 more
hrs through the night only stopping twice…pretty amazing! Some off the more
memorable moments were Tim’s huge chocolate bar melting and then exploding in
his lap, Becca accidentally peeing all over her own skirt as 7 girls tried to
pee behind the van while our driver changed a flat tire, and Jon getting a
horrible bloody nose. You just gotta love this crew!
Our first week in Vilanculos was spent camping near a church
that was destroyed by the cyclone. We spent our first week shucking reeds that
would be used to rebuild the church walls, playing countless games of Yatzee,
singing and dancing with 25 orphans around the campfire, and waiting. Lots and
lots of waiting, trying to figure out who our contact was, what the expectation
was for us, what work we were supposed to do, how we were getting
transportation, etc. Getting used to the African way of communication was a very
difficult adjustment. Time is irrelevant and commitments are always flexible.
Although it was a little frustrating to not really be “doing” anything, the
week of rest was good.
We eventually arranged plans to go out into the bush and
work with a smaller church that had been started by church we were staying
with. It was a 2 ½ hr drive out to a village called Mabime, and I believe we
officially found the middle of nowhere! The people were so friendly and
hospitable and totally welcomed us into their little community. It was so
amazing to see the way people in the African bush live. It was a 40 min walk to
the nearest water source. Everything these people had, ate, or used was
organic. They produced absolutely NO trash. We came in with our packaged
spaghetti, boxes of crackers, etc. and they didn’t know what to do with our
trash. It was pretty funny. They spent their days mashing corn or peanuts,
cooking, talking, sleeping, singing and dancing. They lived off the land which
provided everything they needed. They walked the 6 hrs into Vilanculos maybe
once a year, and other than that, they just stayed in their own little world. Some
of them had never even seen a white person before. There was a little church
there that had been destroyed by the cyclone, so we helped them rebuild a new
structure with materials they gathered from the surrounding area. Through our
translator we found out none of the Christians really had any knowledge of the
Bible. They knew some things about Jesus, but that’s about it. All their church
services consisted of was singing and dancing…little to no preaching, no
prayer, and no Bible study. Once we found that out, we spent the next 2 days
downloading as much information as we could to them just to give them some kind
of Biblical foundation. Ginger shared a compact version of the gospel and even
some of that was new to them. Jon talked about spiritual gifts, and we taught
them a few basic stories from the Old Testament. Our time was short, but I felt
really good about what we were able to accomplish. We made arrangements to get
a Bible out to them since all they had was a copy of the New Testament. We
prayed for a lot of people and saw God heal a little boy who was sick with
malaria. Glory to God!
Internet in Africa is extremely sporadic and unreliable, so I’m going to post this now and let you all know I’m ok. I’ll finish the story as soon as possible. God bless, much love!
