Mozambique was a really great experience. We went to Masacca—only about two hours from the South African border—to work with Don Foster. He has an Irish Ministry base there with a program called “The Benjamin Project.” There are eleven guys about nineteen to twenty-five years old that have come out of the Iris orphanages. Unfortunately, they have not learned how to support themselves, and most of them are still finishing high school due to not going when they were younger. So Don is helping them through that process as they are too old to stay in the orphanages. He is alone out there with these guys, an unfinished base (including dorms, kitchen, and church), with only some electricity, and no running water. He also does film outreaches weekly—using the “Jesus” film.
We wanted to be able to bless and encourage him so that he can continue his work in a healthy state of mind. I became a chef—Don mentioned that he hadn’t been eating well because he can’t be bothered with cooking for himself, and the boys cook for themselves in their own kitchen. Each night I fed the nine of us, with some help from my soux chefs. One afternoon Don and some of my team brought back a live duck that they wanted me to cook. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked duck, but I was willing to try. It actually turned out really great. One other night we invited all of the guys to eat with us. More then five pounds of pasta, two bags of potatoes, twelve loaves of French bread, and a quadrupled brownie recipe later (plus much more), we were ready to feed all twenty of us. It was a ton of fun for me to cook every day, and Don said it was a huge blessing to him.
While I was busy being the next Emeril, the rest of my team was hard at work, too. Molly painted a mural map of the area on a huge wall in the main room, Traday painted an accent wall in the living room, the boys did tons of hard labor outside (moving dirt and cinder blocks, among other things),
Jeanette, Krystle, and Meg cleared out and painted an office for Don and the boys helped put in a built-in desk. I took on the bathroom that was in much need of some TLC, and all kinds of other things went on.
Don was really happy for all of the work we put in and it helped rejuvenate him for the weeks and months to come. We are hoping some future racers will find their way out to help him, too.
Painting the map:
Living room BEFORE:
AFTER:
