We are now back in South Africa resting for a few days before heading out to Thailand.
Mozambique was absolutely gorgeous!
I fell in love with the culture and hope to go back one day.
We didn’t end up meeting up with our original contacts right away, but through that God gave us an awesome opportunity to build friendships with two amazing men of God, Peter and Leon.
Let me try to paint a picture for you of my first experience in Mozambique.
J
Eight white people loaded on a crowded bus at 4:30am.
After 12 exhausting hours with a five-minute bathroom stop, our driver says, “Ok, this is it!”
We walk off the bus while our bags are being thrown in the middle of the road.
As we scramble to get our bags out of the road, the bus pulls off with two of our bags still on the bus (which were eventually recovered). Here we are eight Americans in the middle of nowhere with children pointing and laughing.
Red dirt, bushes, and a road sign-that was it.
A few moments later, a white pick up truck pulls over.
My thought was, “I guess this is it.
Let’s load up!
J
”
We threw our bags in the back of the truck, jumped in, and we were off.
This was the start of a beautiful adventure.
We spent the next few weeks working at the Temane orphanage, building relationships with Peter and Leon, enjoying the culture and surrounding area, and doing street evangelism through the Jesus and Passion videos.
Leon and Peter ministered to us HUGE time by welcoming us into their home and treating us like family from the beginning.
They demonstrated brotherly love and hospitality at such a large capacity.
We spent many nights sharing life stories, our faith, and how God had proved Himself faithful in our lives.
I admire their faith so much and was greatly encouraged to hear how God was continually working in their lives.
One weekend we were privileged to take a sailboat out to a white sand beach island and go snorkeling off an outstretched reef.
I wish I was gifted better with words in describing the beauty that was revealed that day.
First of all, let me just say that God is incredible!
I’ve seen pictures and video of places like this, but to experience it first hand was such a great experience.
The water was crystal clear with many shades of blues and teal greens.
You can see the bottom several feet down with huge starfish and sand dollars lying on the ocean floor.
We walked for what seemed like miles before we were even knee deep.
The palm trees are bold and stand tall and strong.
I was in complete awe as I dove down and saw the array of bright and neon colors.
I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium at times with schools of fish swimming all around.
There is no other explanation for such a beautiful piece of work except that God had some fun with his paint brush the day He created this place.
Our boatmen cooked lunch on the boat, which consisted of calamari, crab, and salad.
It was delicious!
On the way home our motor died, so we sailed home.
We thought it might be a problem since it was getting dark and the tied was coming in, but hey, anything can happen when a World Racer is near!
J
Yet another unforgettable moment in the life Cristie Reiter.
