One of the most amazing things about being in Mozambique is experiencing African hospitality. Our ministry here is primarily relational- building relationships with people here whether it is visiting them in their homes, playing soccer with them, visiting hospitals and prisons and also leading church services. It’s a much slower and more relaxed pace of life. But 2 specific encounters stand out.
The first was about a week ago when we paired up and went on prayer walks throughout Vilankulos-the city we’re staying in. Not 10 minutes after we were dropped off it started raining hard. So we ran to the nearest covering we could find-which just so happened to be a church. We stood under the shelter of the front of the church waiting for the rain to stop. A few minutes later a teenager greets us and offers us some coconut. We eagerly accept as we’ve been given no breakfast but told to wait for brunch which comes later. Jefferist- a 17 year old who is about to finish high school cuts up the coconut and manages to feed and entertain us for the next hour or so while we avoid the rain. We also ate mango and a peanut butter flavored cake he made the day before. Jefferist was our angel that morning. He is a promising individual and I trust that God will use him in big ways in the future.
On Thursday night we showed the Passion of the Christ in a rural area about 30 minutes outside of Vilankulos. I arrived and quickly met Fatima and her friends after asking to take their picture. She speaks Portuguese which is close enough to Spanish so we could make basic conversation. She let me go home with her where she promptly prepared a meal, bucket bathed her 2 children and self, all within about 40 minutes. She was just very friendly and hospitable and I really enjoyed the few minutes we had together. She even asked me for a bible…and I was sad that I didn’t have one for her. In the picture below she is wearing the pink shirt with the baby on her hip.
