…working with an incredible ministry– www.beaconofhope-africa.org
…playing barefoot football (aka soccer) almost every day
…7 new brothers: Isaias, Jose, Jocque, David, Alfredo, Armando, and Felex! Seriously some of the coolest boys EVER.
…lots of rice
…my favorite month so far
…homemade chicken pot pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, tacos, chocolate chip cookies, enchiladas and sweet tea!
…church under a mango tree
…lice picking and lots of it (rolled over from last month)
…sleeping on my sleeping mat under a mosquito net
…learning the local language
…laying in a hammock way up in the branches of a mango tree
…listening to the wild dogs cry out in the night (play: "Africa" by Toto right about now)
…craft market shopping
…wading into the Indian ocean
…meeting some of our boy's families
…sporadic electricity
…conversations despite language barriers
…humbly singing a song whose lyrics say "when the youth pray, demons flee" … Wow.
…dance parties with the boys
…barefoot gardening– and lots of it
…seeing the President
…long conversations and gleaning wisdom from Angie, our host here (so thankful for a kindred, Africa-loving heart)
…improving my football skills
…no running water after about 1PM (especially fun when 4 people are sick to their stomachs at the same time and we run out of water to flush the toilet with)
…painting a clinic in a village that two of our boys are from
…a possible parasite (still trying to get over that one)
…having our chapa (taxi bus) driver pull over, jump out, and run from the cops
…being cornered by the police and asked for our passports (that only 3/10 had with them) and then being followed back to the house to prove that we were here legally
…receiving a Mozambican name– Tsakani. The boys named me after a prominent woman in the government who fought to end racism here, insisting that there is no true difference between white and black.
…seeing Mozambicans more through the eyes of Christ.
