“It is the rainy season here in Mozambique, but right now we are in
the middle of a drought. The first rains typically come in October, and the
latest they have ever come is December 22nd. We are still waiting on them to
come. Normally we are having water fights here all the time, but right now we
aren’t even bathing.”
This was an excerpt from the email I got from John, our contact this month
at Kadesh boys orphanage here in Chamba, Mozambique. We arrived with
expectations of 100 plus degree weather and lots of stinky bodies all month. It
immediately became obvious in my conversations with John and with the boys
after our arrival just how important rain is here. Normally the orphanage is
virtually self-sufficient, but most of the rice and corn crops have died
already because they rely on that first rain. The well that drinking water comes
from is almost dry, and is in desperate need of a rain to replenish its source.
The goats, cats, dogs, ducks, and chickens could all use rain as well to keep
the grass and their main source of food from dying out. We were cautioned to be
very careful with our water usage and to pray for rain!
My home for the month under this beautiful tree. Tent in front, hammock and clothesline in the back. Love it.
Currently, the boys bathe and get water for showers from the “lake.”
This lake is little more than an oversized puddle that looks like a small
swamp. It is muddy, murky, and leach filled. After being told this was where we
would get our water for the showers, most of us resigned not to take a shower
all month. No way we were getting in that water.
Our first day here was spent hanging out and getting to know the kids. I
played ultimate frisbee, disc golf, volleyball, climbed countless trees,
shuffled our way into an impromptu dance party, ate numerous mangos fresh
picked off a tree, and had countless conversations with the boys about their
lives, goals, and interests. We were stinky and sweaty and completely ok with it.
Towards the end of the day, we were finishing up disc golf (John came up
with a makeshift course using trees and other objects in the jungle as the
holes) and our course took us back to the “lake”. We had to get across it to
get to the next hole. It looked short enough to jump across… maybe. I jumped
and cleared it for the most part, getting only my leg up to my knee wet.
Perfect, safely across.
My thoughts exactly.
But then something happened that I can’t really explain. First, the dog
jumped in the water. Then a couple of the boys followed. All of a sudden all
reservations about what lurked beneath the surface of the lake were gone. It’s
like something in us just said, “What the heck, I don’t even care anymore!” We
stripped down to our shorts and all plunged in the water. What resulted was
nothing short of a wrestling and dunking match that left us all soaked and
covered in lake grime from head to toe. It was like one of those slow motion
movie scenes where water and mud are flying everywhere, bodies are getting
submerged and reappearing looking like madmen, and everything else around them
just doesn’t exist. It was the wonderful release we all needed. Yes, it was 100
degrees out and we were swimming in mud/water and probably wouldn’t be able to
clean ourselves properly for another week, but we wouldn’t have wanted to be
anywhere else.
This was the moment where I finally felt at home and knew I was going to
love this month. There is something about just letting go of ourselves and just
being joyful and excited and content with everything around us. Water is what
makes life go on or slow down; it is what sustains and refreshes us; and in
that moment with my squad mates and the boys in that muddy excuse for a lake,
it was what made me feel at home. I can tell I am going to love this month.
And just to make the story a little more fun… last night at about 3:45am I
felt a rumbling sensation on the outside of my tent. Could it be? Was it
really?… yes. It was raining! It was downpour for about twenty minutes; people
were outside running around and dancing or making sure their rain flies were on
– me, I just rolled over to the other side of my sleeping pad (anyone who knows
me knows I don’t wake up for anything, ever, in the middle of the night). This
was another moment where the rain just served to show that God was in control;
even if it wasn’t enough rain to erase the drought, He still intervened and
brought the rain that was so desperately needed.
In the words of Luke Bryan, rain is definitely a good thing. Now, maybe I
will take a shower or two this month.
