As I've mentioned to several people, who have asked why I chose my particular route, over the 3 others that were leaving in July, my most common response is to point to the 3 countries in which I've served before. Somehow I felt a calling to re-visit these nations, as a way of seeing what has changed since I was there last, and hopefully serve as a guide to my teammates.
Ukraine was the first of said countries, and as month 6 will approach this coming December, we wll be arriving the second nation on my re-visiting tour: Mozambique.
I first served in Mozambique for roughly 10 days in 2010, in a small community where my home church in Cedar Falls partners with the local churches of Gorongosa, in helping them develop church leaders, while building up community members in their love of Christ.
Many questions will abound as we reach the first leg of 3 months in Africa: How many Ace Ventura 2 references can I make over the next 3 months? Will anybody else get said references? How am I going to find my way back to Western culture on December 13 to see the second installment of The Hobbit series?
Regardless, here's a little background info on our 6th stop on the World Race.
History
Mozambizue's name is derived from The Island of Mozambique, which was a major Arab port off the coast of Mozambique's northern shores. This Island was named after a major player in the Arab trading industry: Musa Al Big.
This portion of Africa was huge in the Arab trade, before being discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1498, which led to its eventual colonization by Portugal in 1505.
Over the next 470 years, Mozambique served as a major port in Portuguese trading, before a push for independence began in the 1960's.
After gaining independence in 1975, Mozambique endured a brutal civil war, which lasted until 1992. This struggle for power, between Marxist and anti-Communist groups resulted in mass human-rights violations on both sides of the conflict, while tens of thousands of people died in re-education camps, which were organized by the central government in an attempt to spread their control throughout the country.
The civil war finally ended in 1992, when President Joaquim Chissano implemented reforms to change from Marxism to capitalism; enacting a constitution that led to a multi-party system, and free elections.
Religion in Mozambique
Thankfully, Christianity has shown a strong presence in Mozambique over the years, mostly due to the country's geography, as well as its early colonization by the Portuguese.
In 2007, over 56% of Mozambique claimed Christianity as their religion, while the next highest number belonged to the Muslims, who comprise almost 18% of the count
What we plan on doing in Mozambique
Sadly, there is still a lot of work to be done within the church. One story we heard about while we were in Mozambique came from a church in a remote part of the country. This particular church had been working on building a new roof, with stronger materials, and one night, someone came and stole the material, as it was sitting outside of the church.
No one ever was able to track down the culprit, but after a couple of weeks, one of the members of the congregation came to one of the church leaders and told him that he had found out who stole the materials. When asked how he came about this information, he simply told the church elder that he had gone to the local witch doctor, who supposedly had been able to use his mysticism to figure out who had done it.
This is just a small example of some of the areas where the church in Mozambique needs help. They have a lot of the basics down; they just need help fostering their faith, and figuring out that they need to trust God whole-heartedly, with every aspect of their lives. This could potentially be a bit of what we will be a part of, whilst in Mozambique.
One other story I love came when we visited one of the leaders of Food for the Hungry, whom we were traveling with. He had moved into a new home within the village of Gorongosa, and on his property stood a tree that many locals believed held mystic powers. As soon as this pastor learned of this long-standing belief, he chopped that sucker down without even giving it a second thought. He knew that if he could show these people that it was possible to do away with old traditions, without dealing with any consequences from angry gods.
Why I'm excited
As I've mentioned; this is one of the countries, with which I've been blessed with a return trip. Granted, I'm almost certain we won't be anywhere near the part of the country that I visited before, but just getting a chance to see this beautiful country again will be an incredible blessing.
Also, one of the former Racers whom I've spoken with spent one of her months in Mozambique, and her team's work consisted of helping a local African choir… are you kidding me? Getting to work with an African choir for a whole month? Who wouldn't have their dreams fulfilled by an opportunity like that?
Also, we will be in Mozambique during December, so getting a chance to celebrate Christ's birth with my squad-mates will be a truly special occasion. Wait until the end of the blog for a look at a small sample of Mozambican music that I got to experience.
Fun Facts
It's bigger than you might think. The coast-line along the Indian Ocean is twice the size of California.
The unemployment rate is 21%, while 65% of the population live below the poverty line.
There are 147 airports in Mozambique… only 22 have tar runways.
The flag contains an image of an AK-47, and is the only national flag in the world to show a firearm.
Oh by the way, watch this video, and just try to convince me not to get excited about Mozambique.
