It has officially been over two weeks since I have left the US for the World Race. My life has changed rapidly and dramatically. There are aspects of life on the Race that are beautiful, life-giving, and encouraging. Equally, there are aspects that are hard, exhausting, and uncomfortable.
For my first blog month 1, I wanted to give a picture of what life is like in Mozambique. My Team’s ministry for the first month is in Chamba, Mozambique at an orphanage for boys ages 7 to 17 called ‘Kedesh’.
Kedesh is on a beautiful piece of property in a more rural area, about thirty minutes from Beira, a larger city in Mozambique. John, the missionary who runs Kedesh, practices living off the large property sustainably. He teaches and helps the boys maintain a garden, pick from a variety of fruit trees, gather drinking water from a well, build the dorms and other buildings, and pump pond water for bucket showers and cleaning. John also reads and teaches from the Bible daily.
Life here is much simpler and much slower.
Our ministry here is to join into what is already happening in the day to day tasks with the boys.
To give a picture of what that means, we help with chores- like picking greens from the garden, chopping vegetables, cleaning dishes, cooking, pumping water, moving bricks, and controlling the cows. Saturday is a rest day at Kedesh, so we help bake bread on Friday by rolling out 70+ pieces of bread to be cooked on a charcoal stove. We do projects to help improve the property. Our big project is tiling the boy’s dormitory floor. We also planted trees on the property.
When our team is not doing these things, we play and spend time with the boys. I have played endless games of Uno and Skip-Bo, and hours of volleyball every night. I love spending time playing and hanging out with these kids, despite the challenge of the language barrier.
Even though I have only been at Kedesh for two weeks, I already can see the relationships unfolding. Learning pieces of the boy’s stories, what they enjoy doing, what they dream about, and what is hard. With some of the boys we can only communicate so much with the few words I know in Portuguese and the few words they know in English. Despite this, connections are happening through playing games, telling them about the Lord, asking questions, and teaching English.
Another part of the work I have been able to join is with the widows in the community who visit Kedesh on Monday mornings. They come for tea, bread, and conversation. Before leaving we give them food for the week- as many of them cannot support themselves.
This past Monday I was able to share with the women about the story of Moses. That Moses felt inadequate in the face of what He stood against, being called to do the Lord’s work to free the Israelites from slavery. He needed to trust God to show up-when he appeared before Pharaoh, when Egypt’s army followed them, when he stood before the Red Sea. I shared my story with leaving for the Race and needing to trust the Lord with leaving my Mom to battle cancer, even when I didn’t feel like I was enough. Although like Moses, God does not abandon us in our battles, He fights for us.
Even though life moves at a slower pace, the work that is happening here is incredible. These boys are being equipped with skills they would not have had the opportunity to without Kedesh. They still get to play and be kids, despite all the hardships they have had in their past.
I have really connected with some of the younger kids and it will be hard to say goodbye to them.
There have been some moments in the past few weeks where I find myself caught up in the ‘what are we doing?’ question, because we truly are just living life with these boys.
I keep reminding myself of one of my favorite quotes by Mother Teresa, “Be committed to doing small things with great love.” That is exactly what this month is about- learning that your daily rhythms of life matter because they have the power to communicate the love of Christ.
I trust that in the ordinary things the Lord is doing extraordinary work because I have been faithful to step out into what Jesus has called me to.
Jesus was committed to doing small things with extraordinary love in His ministry. He stopped to talk to the Samaritan women at the well and share hope (John 6), as she was filled with so much shame that she went to the well at the 6th hour- the peak of the day- knowing no one would be there. Jesus welcomed tax collectors, shared meals at the table, and stopped to teach the crowds at the in-between places on the road and while traveling.
Part of His character was being committed to the tasks before Him and communicating the love and grace and truth of the Lord.
Every day on the World Race I want to be committed to what the Lord has called me to that day. Even if that means living life in the 100 degree heat of Africa (for real, it was 105 all day Monday), showering from a bucket with dirty pond water, eating more rice & beans than you though possible, and sleeping under a mosquito net. This life is not easy here, but it is so good and so fruitful.
It is in these places I am learning trust.
As we have one week left at Kedesh before moving onto Malawi, I’m excited to continue working, playing, and living life here with these boys. The Lord is working here and I’m blessed to be a part of it.
