I was disappointed this month that we did not actually live fully in the culture. We were staying at an orphanage base and had our American comforts like a real toilet and shower and a kitchen to cook in. I did, however, still get the opportunity to see some of the real culture of Mozambique.
We got the opportunity to go on an overnight evangelism trip to a village named Buzi. The plan was to show the “Jesus” Film and do a little preaching to encourage the local church. The church actually lost its pastor and church building to another organization and now meets under a tree at the new pastor’s house.
When we got there the women were separated from the men. Women were sitting on mats on the ground and the men were sitting on chairs on the other side of the house. This was the only time I really saw the division of men and women that I was told about at training camp.
We got to eat lunch and dinner cooked by the local women. This meant we ate shema and chicken for lunch, and then rice and beans for dinner. Both times we ate with our hands, the cultural norm. Rice and beans with your hands can get quite messy!
The evening service started with lots of music and dancing. I enjoyed watching the Africans dance and was impressed with how they had the energy to keep going. Even after all the preaching they got back up to dance late into the night!
We ended up not being able to show the “Jesus” Film, but Holli and I both gave a little testimony and a pastor gave a message to the congregation.
The next morning we had another service that took nearly 6 hours because they had a lot of traditional things to do and several different groups had prepared dance numbers to perform for everyone. We were all ready to be done (especially Emily so she could get out of her skirt) but I for one was glad we had the opportunity to experience the adventure.
