When I was informed about World Race travel days I, along with the rest of my squad, had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Let me just give you a quick rundown of our first official “travel day.”
Arrive at Atlanta airport… FINALLY it’s GO TIME!
Sit there for 7 hours because you can’t show up any later traveling with 40+ newbies. Card games got started real early.
Fly 10 hours to Istanbul, Turkey. We did get to see a Turkish sunset so no complaining here.
Wait another 10 hours in Turkish airport because why not.
Fly 10 hours to Johannesburg, South Africa. Beautiful country.
Drive 9 hours on a bus to Mozambique and arrive to a nice rice/bean dinner, chocolate cake, and a house full of exited people who have been waiting on us for months.
So you see this was more like a travel weekend but I can attest for everyone that it was the best opening to what has been a beautiful month so far in Africa.
SIDE NOTE: Jetlag is real. That is all.
Month one begins at Beacon of Hope for Team Manna. While our expectations were to jump right into ministry the first day God had other plans in mind for us. Our gracious, hospitable host, Angie Wheeler, gave us the weekend to rest and recoup from the exhausting travels we just had. In that moment I knew that God was preparing us for an incredible month. Again, after the weekend our expectations were totally wrong. Due to it being the rainy season in Mozambique.. when I say rain I actually mean monsoon. Haha oh how we miss the rain now. (Week 2 & 3 has been hot, Hot, HOTT!). “Ministry” has been hard. We had originally planned to host a VBS for the kids (240+ kids) in our neighborhood but the rain from earlier has literally swamped us out of that. Beacon of Hope is home to eleven boys aged from 13 to 18 years old. When we first arrived the boys were obviously timid and shy. That should be expected because we’re “mzungu” in their minds. That would be “crazy white people” in Portuguese. As the days passed though we began to see that each kid had a unique personality and honestly they’re probably the funniest people I’ve ever hung around.
Each day we have the responsibility of teaching them four different classes; Bible, English, Art, and God’s Worldview. The boys are really smart but some struggle more than others in understanding what we say. As the days pass though it becomes more evident that they can pick up on things very quickly. A few of our guys have taught them a few basic chords on the guitar and now that’s all you hear when they get their hands on it. They also love to drum and dance so we’ve already experienced quite a few late night dance parties that I’ll remember for a long time. So yea, I could go on and on about all the crazy things we find ourselves doing inside the restrictions of our compound like worshipping with American songs then simultaneously switching to African worship, playing soccer until we’re drenched in sweat, and just breaking the language barrier that can so easily define us. BUT, I’m writing to you to say that our idea of ministry has looked a lot different than God’s. We haven’t thrown VBS’s or street evangelized or even ventured out of the compound due to safety concerns. That’s all okay though! Our time will come for some of that but right now God is teaching us a more profound message and that is community.
Community is being the church. Through this rainy season God has allowed to stretch out of our walls we put around ourselves and grow more intimately in love with Him. Some of us have been spiritually attacked in our first weeks here and it has allowed us to see a whole new side of God. Studying the Bible together, praying together, prayer walking, being extremely vulnerable with each other, and laughing with and loving on these boys has been our ministry here at Beacon of Hope. It’s not what we expected but man has Holy Spirit been evident here!!
Back to the title of this blog… So I’ve managed to get contract Malaria in my first week on the Race. Two strands to be exact. We’ve jokingly decided that if I were to become a rapper then my name would be, 2 Strands. Yes, I’m laughing as I write this because it couldn’t have happened at a better time. God has such a sense of humor that I honestly believe I got it because He wanted me to become a little more dependent on Him. I also laugh because out of all the things I didn’t expect to happen it would be getting Malaria. For all those wondering though I am doing better. I had it for a week and the only real symptoms I experienced were extreme fatigue and a little bit of nausea. I’m hitting the upside of things now and looking to be back to normal in a couple of days.
I just want to say that I appreciate all the prayers and support. I’m officially on the journey now and it’s still so surreal. I look up into the beautiful African sky every night and thank God for making this dream come true. Thanks to all who wrote me letters! Also, I want to thank my amazing family for supporting 110% in this! In a few short days we’ll be on our first debrief in South Africa! I’ll be looking to post a lot more pictures then.
With extreme thankfulness,
Tim aka 2 Strands
