Mozambique. An often overlooked country in southern Africa that speaks Portuguese, a place most Americans can’t find on a map.
Getting here was an adventure. After 7 hours on a bus in Malawi we were rejected by the Mozambique border even though we had all the visas and paperwork. We were stuck between borders in ‘no mans land’ for 5 hours because the borders had closed and Malawi wouldn’t let us back in. We finally got approval to enter back into Malawi and arrived at a preschool through a contact we knew…41 of us slept in a tiny building with 3 rooms.
We held a church service there and had over 100 adults and children come here the gospel. A couple days later we moved to a person’s yard and slept in our tents. I watched a Malawi national soccer team game where they qualified for the African Cup of Nations tournament for the first time in 20 years. I sadly had my I-phone stolen at the game…but what a memory that day was!
Finally we got additional paperwork and left at 7 AM for a different Mozambique border, five days after our original attempt. After getting through (PRAISE THE LORD!) we had a pastor who met us but didn’t know any English. Using a border employee as a translator we hired two minivans to take the 22 of us and our stuff to a city 2 hours away called Tete. We were told our transportation would be there waiting for us.
In Tete there was a man who spoke no English and had one minivan. We had to hire another van as well and cram all of us into the two vans. I spent 10 minutes trying to haggle down the price because they were charging us some absurd figure.
The van that was originally provided for us had engine problems and could only go 30 MPH, with occasional stops along the side of the road to try and fix it. We got stopped at 1 AM because the road was closed at night because it was through a national park and they didn’t want any accidents with the big game animals…so we slept in the vans and on the side of the road until 4 AM where we got approval to continue. (YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!)
We finally arrived at our ministry location about 25 hours after leaving our place in Malawi!
So where am I right now?
I’m on nearly 80 acres of property owned by a South African missionary couple. It’s accessible by a 45 minute dirt road drive. We sleep in tents, have killed snakes, chop down fire wood so we can cook all our meals over coals, everywhere we travel we ride in the back of a pickup truck. There is a shower system setup but because there are 17 people here I end up bathing in the river that runs through the property.
At night we can sometimes hear the drums from the witch doctors who live nearby. Nearly everyone in our vicinity lives in straw or mud huts. This is the African bush.
Tomorrow we pack up and head to Gorongosa National Park. Our host told us ‘That’s the real bush!’. We’ll be spending a week sharing the gospel with two villages of the park, living right alongside people who hardly ever travel more than a few kilometers from their homes.
At this point I should confess something.
The last week and half had worn me out. I was physically exhausted, aching every time I went to bed or woke up. Mentally and spiritually I was feeling drained. Squad leading has enough challenges, much less when you can’t get into countries and get stuck trying to figure everything out on the fly. I was feeling pretty close to ‘E’ on the gas tank.
Here, in my weakest moments is when God shows his true strength. I had a verse shared with me by one of our hosts as we sat around the campfire.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned.” – Isaiah 43:2
How incredible a reminder is that?! When I’m at a place that I physically and mentally can’t do it by myself there is no other place to turn than to God, my rock. The waters will not overwhelm me, I will not be burned.
The last few days I’ve woken up with strength and joy that can only come from the Lord. Joy to dance and sing with kids at church, strength to do manual labor around the property to bless our hosts and help with their irrigation and sanitation systems.
Here in the wilderness I’ve found my strength. Rejuvenated by my creator.
There is work to be done here in Mozambique. Souls to be saved, children to be held and people to be loved. So I turn each and every morning to my rock….
For they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
