MOZAMBIQUE IN A WEEK
Part I
Though our location for the first month was to be just outside of Nelspruit, South Africa (just east of Swaziland), we had the opportunity to do a week long trip to Mozambique. The trip was amazing, and deepened my walk with the Lord in newer ways. In these blogs I am attempting to pen my thoughts and experiences and use this to process the transformation I went through. Because I have no clue who reads my sparse blogs, I assume you will find yourself intrigued, challenged, amazed, and possibly bored. In all honesty, I hope in someway Jesus reveals Himself in newer and more profound ways as you read. So if you are a concerned citizen, potential supporter, or curious reader, I hope you can join with me as I recount how Africa is changing my life.
GETTING THERE…
It all started on a Wednesday. May 7th to be exact. We were supposed to catch the bus at a local mall at 3:30 pm. So we decided to go to the internet and grab a last few minute items before taking off. We arrived to the mall at about noon. This was after I woke up at 6am and talked in front of 400 elementary children about Jesus before school (which was a whole other story), and hung out with some other preschool kids (and they tried to wipe off my white skin. Nope, still white…dang it). So needless to say, I was a little exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in the bus. Well, 3:30 came and went. By 5:30 we were a little tired of waiting. After a few more hours of finding a new ride (the bus we made reservations with never told us they had no room, small mistake). We were told that a van would pick us up at a local gas station by 11:30. We hailed some taxis and headed off. I was sick of the mall (needless to say we were the mall’s eyesore with 5 people and all their backpackers stuff in carts hanging around for hours- true sign of a World Racer) and was anxious to hit the road. Around 12:30 the bus picked us up. I was exhausted. It was a little over an hour to the border. The driver decided he needed a wake-up music session. And the music was so loud- I kid you not- to talk to someone next to you, I had to yell. Later, I found out he would use this little wake-up music till we got off the bus. We got to the boarder a little after 1:30am. Only to find out that the boarder closes from midnight till 6. So, we would sleep in the van. Fun, fun. Well, at least we weren’t paying for a hostel. At the boarder (which is notorious for theft), there were tons of young men with beanies on, walking close to our stuff, talking, smoking, all those comforting features. Our entire luggage was on an open trailer. I eventually just gave it to the Lord, and fell asleep. Morning came, and as the border finally opened, we were told to go stand in line and cross the boarder by foot. (Later on we found out the patrol man was on a power trip and we were never to leave the vehicle). All of us felt like refugees. The air was foggy, we all had puffy and red-shot eyes, walking in a long line of people between two tall barbed wire fences in no man’s land. Our driver spotted us, and ran over and told us to hand over our passports (this through very broken English). Clearly not thinking, we slid our passports through the razor wire. After he ran off (literally) we all reflected on what we just did. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I found myself saying, “Hey, come back here!!” Note to readers, keep you passport on you at all times. We later found out that he really was a big help, and in the 2½ hour wait for our visas, he was helping move the process along. Finally, 15½ hours later, we had successfully moved one hour away from our starting point. Besides, the migraine music, and letting our bladders stretch to new limits, the ride was fairly uneventful from that point on. Praise the Lord. We arrived in Massinga, Mozambique in the evening and waited for our contact (a South African missionary) to pick us up for the 2½ ride to Vilanculos, our ending point. We finally got there, only after driving through pot hole after pot hole. These should be renamed body holes, because you could lay 6 people side by side in a hole and there would still be room. Okay, so traveling was a bit rough (the top of my head got whacked several times as I unknowingly suggested I sit in the back of the Land Cruiser), but the coastal drive was breathtaking. Our team leader Mark, promised we would all do whatever it took to go for a swim in the Indian Ocean (which as you will read later was…). Arriving at our contacts house, Rusty, our squad leader was there along with another South African missionary), and because he was leaving in the morning, we wanted to talk till we all had no more stories to share. So with eyes crossed delirium, I decided to set up tent and go to bed. Tomorrow we would head off into the bush for our project.
That’s our travel day, or two days, I don’t know I get confused. Just let it happen, is what I tell myself. I know, not to spiritually deep, but hopefully you get the drift. It was an adventure. Keep reading as I promise, better things are to come. 
P.S. please read my other part series. I have posted several blogs today. Sorry for the lack of pictures, it takes so long to upload, and my internet connections have not been a success lately.
