We made it!! After 80 hrs of travel we are here at our ministry location. We are at an Iris ministry compound in Dondo, Mozambique. We finally made it at 2:30 am today after our final and last excruciating 19 hour bus ride from Maputo where we stayed overnight at a contacts home. During this stay I really wanted to sleep outside. I had been crammed in a bus with about 25 people for the last 14 hours and I just wanted some space to relax and spend some time with God. After a nap in the tent where rain ensued I thought better of it and decided to sleep inside in the kitchen. I’m glad I did because one of the guys on my squad who did sleep outside was covered in bug bites in the morning and has had a day from Hades with all those spots. Dear Jesus please bring him healing and deliver him from the pain. All I can say about the campus we are at now is that it is beautiful; full of peace and love. The people here are so gracious and have blessed us so much already.
The morning began with bread and mangos. I came out of my room and half my team was walking around with juicy delicious mangos fresh from the tree. I was handed one immediately that wasn’t quite ripe but I am sure excited to dig in in a few days. After breakfast we had orientation with Sharon who gave us a rundown of the area and what we could expect from the site, the people, and ministry. I volunteered to help serve lunch and got to help Victorina (the campus cook) serve over 130 people beans and sheema out of the biggest pots I have ever seen. In addition to living corridors, a kitchen, a church, and a children’s center there is a school on campus where they teach the local men about the bible to be able to go and minister to people in the area. So in addition to my team I got to serve them as well; such a blessing. Though the population here is 60% Christian there is a huge need for scriptural knowledge. People here love God, but because of illiteracy and lack of access to bibles there is a lot of ideas floating around that are not biblical. Certain ones I have heard mentioned are witchcraft and spells, etc. I’m sure I will see more of that and learn more about it as the weeks go on.
The language here is Portuguese. Because I know a little bit of Spanish I am able to communicate to a certain degree and we are doing our best to learn new phrases and speak to the people in other ways as best as we can, but it is definitely a barrier. It will be interesting to see how God guides and directs us in our communication to speak to their hearts. There are 4 boys who live on campus. Ruel, David, R2, and i can't remember the last one. They are so fun and full of smiles and laughter. We had a blast knocking mangos off the trees with a long bamboo stick and just hanging out today.
It was so hot this afternoon. Somewhere between 90 and 100 degrees and more humid than I have ever experienced. During lunch as I was serving a boiling pot of beans to the masses the sweat was literally pouring off of me. Then, it happened. About 20 minutes after lunch in the blistering sun we saw dark rain clouds coming in the distance. Lighting struck, warning us, and we knew what was to come. We welcomed the rain with laughter and shrill cries, playing tag and ninja assassin in the rain like we were 5 years old. It was a downpour like I have never seen, a monsoon, and as it rained I couldn’t help but think that He was pouring down His love and blessings upon us. That He had perfectly timed and arranged everything for us and that big things are coming. Half of the squad ended up soaking wet and muddy, with big smiles on their faces simply enjoying God’s great and plentiful gifts, like a sweet mango rain.
So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
Matthew 6:31
