As I am writing these words to you I have an infection on my skin from where I squeezed a worm out yesterday. I have a popped blister on the bottom of my foot. My face is breaking out and I have itchy infected eyes. I don’t really feel like having a joyful spirit right now, and I don’t feel like a good missionary. I am continuously learning, however, that It’s not always about feelings, and as I press in deeper for the heart of my Father i realize I have a choice to make. I can either bask in the glories of what this day has held, or think of how I would rather be sleeping in air conditioning. I choose to bask in the glories!
5am: I am awoken by my roommate to go snorkeling in the indian ocean. I put on my classic Chacos and equipped with my snorkel gear I end up running for three miles through the city of Pemba. Although snorkeling never quite happened I had a wonderful opportunity to show case my goggles and snorkel through the streets. It definitely upped my cool points.
7:30am: Take a detour to cross the street around the construction workers. The entire road is closed as there seems to be a problem with the dirt 15 feet under the dirt road.
8am: Coffee with my good friends Jen and Jesus at the beach. Jesus is teaching me to breath back the breath to Him that He first breathed into me.
11am: Worship time to Jesus out under the Mozambican elephant tree with 300 other radical lovers of the Most High God!
11:30am: Heidi Baker taught us about the beatitudes. Jesus presented the good news looking like love. We are called to be poor in spirit. To be dependent on Jesus for our everything.
2pm: Went to do back-handsprings down the beach with my friend Anita. She had saved both of her bread rolls from breakfast and her rice and beans from lunch so that she could give them to two little village boys; Omar and marcello. That act of love is what good news looks like. Both Omar and Marcello came with us to tumble down the sand.
3:30pm: Small group time with Heidi in her office. We were greeted with an ice cold coke and an opportunity to share what Jesus was doing in each of us. She gave us all incredible encouragement and lots of momma hugs:-)
5pm: Making my way down to my housemates, I ran into three of my favorite Mozambicans. First I saw Brandon who is 17 and lives at Iris (meaning he has lost both of his natural parents and at one point in his life lived on the street). He can’t be missed from a mile a away! There is so much joy of the Lord in that kids it is like a literal explosion! We made plans to do handstands tomorrow. Next I saw Mirandi who is training to be a mozambican pastor. He is missing all of his front teeth and doesn’t speak one word of English. This hasn’t stopped him though from showing off his missing teeth and saying “a bom” (“is good) everywhere he goes. Just as i was entering the gate I saw smiling Rafael who is 21 and just about to graduate from Bible school (5 semesters). His parents died when he was younger and his four younger siblings live with an abusive uncle in the deep south of Mozambique. All these sad sad stories completely unapparent on the faces and attitudes of these joyful men. What on earth do I have to complain about?
5:30pm: Meet up with the 12 girls that I am privileged to live with while here in Mozambique. We ate dinner and gathered on the back porch for chai tea and cookies as we talked of the divine nature of God.
9pm: Where I was about to sit down and say “woe is me”, but then I realized what an incredible day this was!
