Life in Mozambique

The squad
left Nelspruit, South Africa and took a 20 hour van ride across the border and
then north through Mozambique to the town of Valinculos. In reality, we were outside the city at the
home of Jaco and Maria, our ministry contacts for the month. Three teams had to continue further north,
but my team and three others stayed here. We really roughed it out there – we tented with an amazing view over a
lake, had showers (sometimes even with hot water), and plenty of places to cook
the food we had purchased for the month in South Africa. Since I hadn’t expected to have any of the
above, I felt like we were living in luxury! It’s all relative, I suppose! =)

We were
instantly blessed by Jaco and Maria, they are awesome people! Jaco is like a bear that had been through a
lot in his life, but he is out serving God with all of his heart. Maria is just as strong in her faith and is a
joy to be around. Although it’s
impossible to tell from looking at them, they are some of the goofiest people
I’ve ever met. Maggie and Rudo complete
the family. It was not uncommon to find
us playing games or watching TV with them. Did I mention there was a TV? =)

Jaco’s
house was the launching point for the ministry we would be doing in the heart
of Mozambique. After a few days of
preparation and working around their house, we set out for the village of
Machanga and what awaited us there. The
trip took us on pothole covered streets to a bridge across the river, which
turned out to be closed. We had to
backtrack and take boats carved from logs over instead. We then hiked some 4kkm to our campsite.

Since
it’s winter here, the sun sets by 5:30 each evening. Nights, mornings, and evenings are quite cold
(at least to us), but days can get quite hot. We’re now in real Africa, with
simple huts, holes in the ground for toilets, and definitely no
electricity. We cook over a fire every
meal, boiling water for oatmeal in the morning, bread for lunch, and rice or
pasta at dinnertime. On a rare night, we
cook up some fish that we were able to afford, or the goat that we killed and
ate yesterday. We are truly living with
the locals.

I can’t
forget to mention the people here…what would Africa be without them? Everywhere we go, children come out of the
woodwork to see us, as if we were something special. They are reluctant at first, but will quickly
join us in games and song, even though they do not know the english words they
are reciting. Their torn and ragged
clothes move in the wind as they dance around. The toys they play with are discarded cans or plastic bags. Yesterday, I even saw a soccer ball that was
made from plastic bags. Even so, there
is a happiness in their eyes that I feel most people back home do not
have. For them, life is just fine.

The women
are the ones that seem to make Africa come alive. They are right out of a magazine, with babies
strapped to their backs and jogs of water almost too heavy to carry balanced
perfectly on their heads. The strong
hand shakes they give with smiles show their happiness even with all the
burdens that they must carry daily. Their voices make the heart leap with the incredible harmonies they sing
– music I have never heard anywhere else. Their love of dance completes the picture, moving intriquately with
their words.

I was
anxious about coming here…but I have no idea why now. Why was I worried about being clean or
getting sick from one of the kids here? I can see that is foolish. I have
given God this year of my life, and He is in control of all that happens here.
He is the God of this continent and it’s people, just as He is anywhere else in
the world. Right now, this is where He
wants me to be. As I look out at all the
faces staring back at me, I think about all the possibilities God has for us
here. This is Africa…and I love it!