A is for Africa- the third continent of the Race, where we lived, worked and played from November 1st to February 1st.
B is for Beira- the city in Mozambique where we lived with Mamarita, 20 kids and some rats. We also ate lots of rice
Christmas was a different experience for all of us this year. I personally enjoyed having a pool that day. And Christmas crackers. And using our socks as stocking because Malawians aren’t familiar with stockings.
Discipleship, which sadly in my experience is lacking in each place we visited. Ok, so you have received Christ, but do you have a clue who Jesus is? Or what he said? Have you read the bible? Or do you have access to a bible? Can you afford it? Can you even read?
Elephants. Beautiful, large and majestic. Except the babies…they were so cute! I saw about 100 that day when we visited Kruger National Park.
Friendly. Africans are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. They welcome you with open arms, eager to know you and serve you in any way they can. “feel free” they’d tell us.
Gathering together – doing life together is very African… You can’t really do anything alone…the idea of doing things as an individual is foreign .
Hungry. I saw some physical hunger but I saw much more spiritual hunger. They just want to hear from God! They want to hear about who Jesus is…they will come out of nowhere to have you pray for them..they want you to share your favorite bible stories and what God is doing in your life.
Infant. I held a 5 day old infant in Beira…it was so little and so cute. Usually I’m not mesmerized by babies but this nameless babe had me captivated.
Jesus- the one we came to exalt. Visited so many people who were ready to receive and believe him. We were also forced to rely on him for strength, energy, wisdom, patience, perseverance and teaching.
Kids – everywhere. many children were just about everywhere we went. They would follow us, play with us, and I can’t really explain to you why but they are by far the most endearing children on the race.
Lilongwe, Malawi where I lived in a tent for three weeks including Christmas and New Years. This is the capital of Malawi and we spent most of days visiting homes and telling people about Jesus.
Mosquitoes and Malaria- I think getting eaten by Mosquitoes is inevitable even with repellant…therefore we’re all susceptible to Malaria…so far three people on the squad have had malaria.
Naps…many Africans will take naps in the middle of the day because it is so hot and really there’s nothing better to do especially when you get up at 5am with the sun.
Old Combies…combies were our primary form of local transport in each country. It was seldom that we’d get in a combie ( like a van) that was made in this millennium. We even made a song about combies “Oh combie, oh combie…how I love thee..”
Pap- mealie pap to be exact. Its cornmeal that can be eaten at all 3 meals! It’s a nice starchy food…my favorite form is for breakfast with sugar and milk. Or just ball it in your hand and eat with something tasty like tomatoes and dried fish.
Questions and questions emerged in my mind…of why we are here, what are we doing…why are we waiting for 3 hours, what are we going to eat, to do…? Learning its ok to question…just don’t always expect to get answers.
Rain seemed to follow us as we drove from South Africa to Mozambique…it was most frequent in Malawi where it seldom went 3 days without rain. However the second time we were in Mozambique it didn’t rain at all…it was humid. But the rain storms in Swaziland were some of the most incredible I’ve ever seen.
Swaziland- a small country between South Africa and Mozambique…one of the few monarchies left on the planet. Our 2 week sojourn here was our introduction to Africa.
Time. The concept of time is very different from America. Its even more laid back than the Latino concept of time. Perhaps one of the most challenging things was being told to be ready at 8 and literally not knowing if someone would show up at 7, 8, 9 or 10. We had it all.
Underwear eaten by rats. Yip. Rats ate through a pair of my dirty underwear.
Vilankulos, Mozambique is where spent 3 weeks including Thanksgiving and the beginning of December. Visited houses, hospitals and prisons where we shared the good news and people early accepted left and right.
Water was sometimes rare…because of shortage of rain, or just lack of plumbing…learned how to take bucket showers…and just got used to using less water in general
X treme living… staying in a tent for most of the time here…sweating ….sleeping on a concrete floor…going to the bathroom just about anywhere you can think of…
Youth. Swaziland, Mozambique and Malawi are filled with youth. The youth outnumber the rest of the population by far…in part I think it is due to AIDS with several people dying off…in part due to differences in culture and importance of having children and few contraceptives. In part due to limited healthcare for older patients. I’ve never seen so many kids in my life. Seeing people in their 50s and older was rare.
Zip, zip, zip…the sound of me leaving/entering my tent (where I lived for 6 weeks)
