We’ve been in Maputo, Mozambique for five days now and what a roller coaster they have been! Adjusting to the temperature (hello, NC heat and humidity that I thought I escaped), a new time zone, random power outages, and a new community is challenging. But the boys here make it so worth it.
We are currently with Beacon of Hope-Africa which is home to 10 incredible boys between the ages of 10 and 17. The purpose of Beacon of Hope is to equip them with the skills they need to become men of God, as well as to become productive members of their community.
Part of our ministry is to teach classes: math, geography, english, and bible. I’ve been part of the group helping to teach English and these boys are SO eager to learn! Even when we’re just hanging out with them, they still want to you to sit with them and teach them. We even overheard them practicing what they had learned earlier in class that day with each other, which was super cool.
I never thought that I could or wanted to minister to 10 teenage boys, let alone fall in love with them in only five days but the Lord works in cool ways.
Last night, we celebrated one of the boy’s 18th birthday! So much fun!! We decorated, the boys make chocolate cake for everyone, and then the dancing began… One of our teammates had his laptop out playing music for everyone to dance to. I guess it wasn’t loud enough for them though because the next thing we know the boys are bringing out their own music with this HUGE speaker! They played their own music and all of a sudden, these shy boys who hadn’t wanted to dance in front of all of us just came alive. It was such an honor to be able to celebrate Ghee’s birthday with him and the rest of Beacon of Hope. I couldn’t help but stand in awe, smiling the whole time, because if you hear some of their stories and then watch the complete joy and camaraderie they have with each other, you know that it can’t come from anywhere other than the Lord.
After our party had ended, Fernando, one of the boys here, prayed for Ghee. Side note- Fernando wants to become a pastor and come to America and plant churches! How cool is that?! Even though we couldn’t understand what he was praying exactly, Fernando prayed with such confidence and conviction, and has such a heart for the Lord and to learn, that I have absolutely no doubt that if that’s the Lord’s will for him, he’s 100% got it in the bag.
Tomorrow, our team travels to another ministry site for the rest of the month. I’m not sure what exactly we’ll be doing or what the wifi situation will be, but I will be posting more soon! Also, our squad has been struggling with random illnesses this past week, so please be in prayer for them and that whatever it is passes quickly!
Much love,
Cat
