Today was our last day at our ministry site in Mofambise, Mozambique & I'll never forget the last words Peter told us. With a little chuckle, he said, "Leave in peace, not in pieces." We could do nothing but giggle alongside with him. As we finished with a prayer, all I could think about were those words — I felt like I was leaving in nothing but pieces. My heart had been broken (in a good way) for these men, women, & children we had formed relationships with over the last month. I was probably never going to see them again, & it began to sadden my heart. I loved them. They made me feel like family. The more & more I thought about it, the more I realized that is just one of the reasons why the Lord called me on the World Race: to love everyone like family.
For those of you who have not read previous blogs or facebook posts, I've been in Dondo, Mozambique with 47 of my squad mates based at Iris Ministries. Each week day, we split into our small teams, (mine being called team N'Pursuit), & all 7 of us venture out into Mozambique to our ministry contact's site, & minister Christ's love to those in need of it. We've been at Mofambise with our blind contact Peter, who started an orphanage in 2004. The orphanage is his own house where he feeds & pays for over 60 children to go to school everyday. It was started along side his wife who does all the cooking, as well as 30 men (young adults my age), that help guide him around to minister to others. Along with the orphans, Peter & his helpers also help provide food to widows, do door-to-door ministry to friends of their church, & pray over the sick at the local hospital.
As seen from other blogs, my experiences here have been amazing. I've learned a little Portuguese, some of the heart language Senai, & have been able to communicate a ton more than I expected. Probably the most common thing we say is "Bon dia! (Good morning) Como esta (How are you?) & Shtoben (I'm good). We usually finish a conversation with "Deusch abansoy" (God bless you) or "Ah o tay ya ma" (I love you). Keep in mind, I do not know how to spell these appropriately. We have learned to type everything out the way we need to pronounce them. Basically anywhere we are walking, whether it be the market place or in the bush, we say hello to everyone. It's amazing to see someone's face light up when they see us taking the time to learn some of their language. Not everyone has a pleasant look on their face, but the second we tell them good morning or afternoon, I cannot even begin to explain the smiles & laughs we get. Its been amazing to see the resemblance between us, being Americans, & these Mozambicans.
To sum it up, everyday life looked about like this: woke up at 6-7 a.m., made coffee, bucket shower (only if I didn't smell too bad), got ready, possibly worked on some videos, went to pick up our homemade bread from the market for breakfast, smothered it with peanut butter & jelly, filled our jugs with water for the day (& possibly crystal light for some flavoring every now & then), met up with my small group at the front gate & waited on Peter to come get us, then walked a mile to the market to catch our choppa (or taxi) for the 20 minute ride to Mofambise, where Peter's house was. After that we would arrive, & Peter would tell us what the day consisted of. Usually he caught us off guard, told us to lead worship, bible studies, art lessons, etc. when we weren't prepared. So far we've learned that happens a lot in Africa, & to just be led by the spirit! Matt & Andy had to do that quite a bit, & wow, did the Holy Spirit work through them. So cool! Read Andy's blog to know more. So mornings consisted with time with the children/orphans ministering to them alongside Peter's helpers, while afternoons we went to the hospital (a good 2-3 mile walk), or door-to-door ministry that would last a couple hours. Every day, I would say we walked a good 5-6 miles! Healthy living at its finest. I loved walking around the bush, or the deeper parts of Mofambise. Our leaders never took us down the same paths, which seemed endless. There are no streets in between houses, just paths. What a lifestyle!
At the end of ministry, we would walk to the Mofambise market where we would catch a choppa home to Iris Ministries, & either spend the rest of the day grabbing 10 cent muffins at a local bakery, or walking another mile to the internet cafe to try & talk to you guys! Night time at Iris consisted of dinner, which you saw my blog about food, worship service with the entire squad, team time where we work on feedback among my small squad, & then down time where I'd work on videos, sing songs with the girls, figure out how to hang hammocks to sleep in, kill tons of mosquitos, pray over the witchdoctors next door, or just even minister to each other & speak life into one another (this is a term we use when we get an image or words of knowledge from the Lord for someone. Its one more way for the Lord to communicate to us and through us.) At the end of the night, I usually slept in my hammock (with a bug net), & slept soundly every night!
I hope this gives you a little more insight as to my day to day life, what we did, who we worked with, & some funny experiences. This doesn't even begin to serve justice to the amount of things we've gone through, so don't hesitate to ask questions or feedback! Love you all.. we are heading to debrief now (or a time when we meet up with our team leaders for a week of relaxation, debriefing our time as a team, praying over the travels to the next country, and walking in the Lord's favor).
Going to post a video soon! Wifi sucks here, so please pray over it!
