Mozambique. It’s everything I expected the World Race to be, and then some.
So let me paint you a picture of our living situation: we’re staying with our hosts, Peter and Vizerna, as well as the 15 kids and teens under their care. I like to call our lodging “cabin camping” because that’s pretty much what it is – we have a roof and electricity but that’s as far as luxury goes (although at the same time, on the race I would consider that luxury). We all sleep on our sleeping pads in two concrete rooms, have no running water save for one spigot, and use a squatty potty outside. The toilet hole is also our shower drain, there’s no roof, and you can easily see over the walls, which makes for an interesting bathroom experience. It’s hot and muggy, and our modes of transportation have been walking, motorbikes, and one terrifying adventure in which 35 people were packed in the bed of a pickup truck. No one speaks English except for our hosts and we’ve done our best to learn a few words in Portuguese to communicate. It’s enough like Spanish for me to sort of get it, but not enough to really “speak” it.
So yeah, exactly how I imagined the Race. 100%
Our ministry looks a little different each day. We’ve been building a house for a local woman; teaching at various seminars, meetings, and church services; praying at hospitals; and even a little bit of street evangelism. Some of it I’ve really enjoyed, other elements have been a challenge for many reasons, but I know that my team had a purpose here in Mozambique, even if we don’t always see fruit right away.
A challenge I’ve faced this month is having faith even when I do not see. We’ve prayed fervently for healing over countless people only to see nothing come of it. All this time I’ve been on edge hoping to see something miraculous, perhaps a little selfishly. Do I believe God can heal? Absolutely. But do I always believe he will? Not so much. I am human, flawed, and finite, and my thoughts are not the thoughts of God. With no results to see, I have had to force myself to soldier on and remind myself that he is good and sovereign. These are truths I must hold onto in the midst of witnessing so much brokenness in the world. I’ll let God be God and resolve to simply be a vessel, to be used in whatever manner he chooses.
It was a short month – we were only here for two and a half weeks due to our delay getting here and the requirement of getting to India within a certain time frame. But I have to believe our time here, like anything else we do on the Race, was worthwhile.
