Sunday at Sao Damaso

This morning we attended church in Sao Damasco, probably the closest OMS-related church from where we live - it's about a 10-minute drive through on sand roads. It is a strictly Shanghanna speaking church but when we come, they do some translation into Portuguese for us. When Pastor Alfredo speaks, like today, I (Dave) have to be right on top of the message because he loves to ask me questions in the middle of the sermon and then stop to wait for my response. Talk about a pregnant silence - I'm processing the question and thinking about where he might be going with the question while everyone turns and looks to see what the missionary is going to say. And, if I'm lucky, Ann is whispering next to me confirmation of what she thought the question was - two heads are better than one, or as I say to many here, with me you get 1/2 a mind, with Ann you get 1/2 a mind, but together, we equal one mind. It's a part of the marriage covenant, correct?

He did that today a couple of times, but at least I didn't give a goofy answer like I have in the past when I was doing good just to recognize he was asking me a question! Progress.... He asked if I wanted to preach as is what normally happens but we try to take a back-seat roll on Sunday's. He has prayed about and prepared for his message; he should give it. But, we try to always be flexible because there is no telling how God will move on Sunday mornings!

We were pleased to see that the church had combined resources and poured a small concrete 'stage' area in the front of the church as it shows they are taking responsibility for the church and not waiting for the mission to provide something. That speaks huge progress in this society of handouts and I praise God for this. You can see to the right of the picture of Pastor Thomas before the service that they were about one sack short of cement as there is a little bit of dirt left on the right side. During the service, they put a reed matt over the dirt and used it as the place to lay the sleeping children.

It was a birthday for two people and so they had cake and juice after the service with delicious chocolate frosting. It was a part on Sunday in the church, which something I always enjoy about church here - spontaneous and you never know what to expect. ALTHOUGH, somedays we cry for a little more routine, when we leave the church four or five hours after it started!

Today, one of the special older ladies of the church was sick and not attending, which is very unusual. After the cake and part, we were to walk to the house of the sick lady to pray. But, everyone wanted me to drive them. So, a ton of kids piled into the back of our vehicle and a bunch of ladies in the back-seat, and a couple of more kids and Ann in the front and we tried to back out but sinking with the weight into the deep sand. It took four-wheel low and we slowly backed out and headed down the road. The Pastor had walked on to the house with the rest of the church and one of the elder ladies who spoke no Portuguese was assigned to provide directions to the house. The directions consistent of a hand pointed in one direction or the other and a grunt. Finally the kids started translating 'go right' or "straight-ahead" and so one and soon we were at the house at what amounted to an alleyway.

I looked at the alleyway and at the front of the car, thinking there is no way this wide car will go through the narrow space or that tree-stump. But the grunting had gotten more emphatic and the pointing more direct and now the kids were cheering - go go go. So, back to four-wheel low and slowly through the space, sticker bushes slidding along the side of the car, chickens running for their lives, and branches from fruit trees banging the rack on top of the car. We emerged in a courtyard of two houses where everyone piled out (we could have parked on the road!).

We entered the house as we have done so many times in the past and prayed for this dear lady, singing songs for her, praying, and laying hands. Ann laid hands also, but I suspect there was a bit more diagnostic touching going on as well as afterwards she gave me the medical assessment that she thought this dear lady would be fine! We were all reminded that a short year ago, we had done the same thing for dear Pastor Alfredo's wife who we thought might not survive her bout with malaria - she was actually on death's door, but God answered our prayers and she has since had a lovely baby. God hears the prayers of his people.

We gave rides on the way home, with a few kids hanging on the back, but all in all a great day to worship and the extreme heat seeming to not bother us as much as in the past. And, it afforded some special time to talk to and encourage the church leadership. There are two leaders in this church, both who work and work as a team to lead this small village church. God is growing this church; there are always visitors when we visit. Changing Mozambique, one-life at a time.

This last photo is one the way back when we got behind a small truck moving a household. The guys in the back were taking pictures of us with their cell phones, waving, and hooting at us, so Ann whipped out her camera and took their picture. They all started laughing and waving from that point on until we turned off down another little sand road.

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. yo'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to is leel of immaturity. God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Romans 12:2 - The Message version

Seminary Preparations

We are a matter of days from the start of classes at our Maputo Biblical and Theological seminary. In this first photograph, you see seminary director, Don Hulsey with his staff, Xavier and Daniel. The white board shows the 30 students we are accepting into this first year of our bachelor-level program. The other photos are of some of the books and materials as we move closer and closer. We have enough desks in one classroom for the 30 students. It was exciting to watch the staff call the students who were accepted and say to them "see you on the 15th!" Everyone is so excited to see this happening, staff, students, all of us!

We pleaded with headquarters about our severe financial concerns but the answer is that we're basically on our own - so we are all taking a big leap of faith because it takes about 5000 US dollars a month to keep this seminary building open, protected, lights on, water running, staff paid, books bought, and the like and being a developing country, people are unable to pay any kind of tuition; in fact many need help with transportation costs to even get to classes. So, we will be operating in the red in a few short months and the way it works, our organization will take the money out of our support accounts if our deficit gets too large, assessing it a second time. So, we have all agreed to take the big step of faith to proceed (gulp) but the only way we can get scholarship money is to have students, so we must move forward. For someone used to a more structured business environment, it is incredibly unsettling and borders on fool-hardy.

So, we will run for a semester and see where it takes us. It is really important work - creating Christian leaders for tomorrow, but we have found it isn't as attractive a draw financially in today's world of short-term trips, short-term projects, and short-term deliverables. (Can't the most complex of problems be solved in a 30-minute sitcom??) But, through this seminary, we are building the foundations for the very future and growth of the church in Mozambique. It is so very important. This is an investment in the future, a long-term commitment that is like a pebble sending ripples through a pond as one life intersects with life after life.

Pray with us for this big leap of faith we have made; we are truly trusting God as we believe and are trusting that He will finish what He has started.

Exciting times. We'll be sure to take pictures of the first day of class! Pray for the wonderful men in the picture above and our dear 30 students.

Dave & Ann

"Being confident of this very thing, that he He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phillipians 1:6

Post Script - this verse speaks to God finish the work 'IN US' which speaks to the real priority God places on things. He is working on us, on our relationship to Him, to becoming the men and women He wants us to be in relationship with Him. The rest falls out of that as what we think is important and what God thinks is important are so often so very different - I'm not sure we can ever truly grasp this. He wants to know us; He wants to change us; He wants relationship with us. I want to be molded into who He wants me to be and it seems that one life-time just isn't enough as the raw material is so flawed! Thank you for loving me Lord.

Vehicle Inspections

Some of the most interesting comments we have received on our blogs come after we write something about our car adventures. This entry is for my guy friends!

For quite some time now there has been talk here about vehicle inspections. We've been pulled over and hassled about silly things by the police as I've written before, while cars without front windshields, fenders, and wheels tilted out so far you wonder how they are turning would pass by. There have been many accidents from vehicle failures, so the government decided to impose vehicle inspections. Somehow in a developing country, this just seems a bit strange, or an interesting priority, but many of us foreigners here have been really skeptical about how could this possibly be a good thing - for heaven's sake, I went through this in Pennslyvania where you would have to have to fix things that you knew were fine because that was the only way you could get an inspection sticker. So, translated to here with the corruption issues, oh my. And, they have a catch that if your car has enough problems, they will confisgate it on the spot (now that gives you a high level of confidence going in! - hey Joao, what kind of car would you like to confisgate today?).

They have two of these brand-new inspection stations in Maputo and one in each of the other provinces and we all have six months to get our inspections done. The openings have been delayed a number of times but Monday they opened for business. Ann and I decided to pass by one while we were out today and there were almost no cars there, so we stopped in to ask about the process. We ended up going through the inspection, and you know, it went well. Our vehicle is old - a 1998 with 250,000 km on it, but at the moment it is doing well other than a fluctuating oil pressure gage I can't figure out - (I brought one from the states as the old one absolutely died - shorted out when Toyota was fixing the starter - another story!).

Anyway, it was all machine done - some sort of emission test (on a diesel!), and then you park each axle on this shaker thing that shakes your entire car and test the shocks / suspension, then they take your car to speed one axel at a time on these rollers and they panic stop the car to make sure the brakes and emergency brake works. We're talking a serious jarring of the car - it jumps off the rollers when you do the panic stop. Then, an underneath inspection, lights, turn signals, tire tread. It took the lady at the check in longer to type the information into the system than the inspection itself. The guys who did the inspection were professional and nice, no bribes requested or hinted at - quite encouraging. We weren't there too long and I even had time to talk to the guys a little while who did the inspection. I would guess that 1/2 of the cars on the road will probably not pass the inspection if there really stick to it! Very good experience for us and since we passed, of course we're happy!

A number of us have been a bit fearful to even take our cars in because of all the corruption we face day-to-day with things like this, and this actually went pretty well. Of course, it will probably be crazy in a few months when the deadline is a bit closer! But, I was encouraged and called my friends to tell them not to be afraid - get it done early before the crowds! The Bible says fear involves torment (1jo4:18) and I was certainly expecting some torment - but not today!

So, my stickers are all up-to-date again. I'm thinking there is a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation guy or gal on retainer with the Mozambique government to even think up this! Or maybe the maker of the equipment is a really good salesperson!

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who hears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18

Puzzles

One of the traditions that sort of evolved in our house was working puzzles over the Christmas holidays. I don't remember when it started but as long as I can remember, we have set up a table during the holidays with a new 1000 piece minimum puzzle to work on. Everyone would work on it some and the harder it was, the more we liked it. It was a kind of mindless activity but at the same time a great thing for goal-oriented people!

So, when we returned to Mozambique and with the increasingly stringent luggage requirements, we brought back some children's puzzles to give as gifts to some of our 'grandchildren'. They are the 25 piece variety and didn't weigh much!

We have given away quite a few but it has been extremely interesting. The children have never seen anything like it and so it overwhelms them at first as we work together. The adults end up working the puzzles but because they have never seen them before, we have been extremely surprised at how hard they are for people to do; extremely surprised. Little things that just don't seem to connect - yes there is a picture on the box to help you, yes each piece can be placed four different ways, there are shape cues, there are color cues, straight edges, corner pieces. We went through this several times but it wasn't easy. I think about this and the difficulty we see with math and science here and some of the abstract thought required in those disciplines. It could be related to that lost generation I have talked about in the past not having the opportunities they needed when they were young because of war, hunger, displacement, and the like. Or, it could just be having not ever seen one before. Like the first time I saw one of those rubics cubes or whatever they are called.

So, as I have thought about this, we went to language class today and it was horrible. Our teacher got very fustrated with us, pounding his hands on the table a few times and speaking quite strongly about our not remembering things well, not spending enough time studying (which is true - we have been buried with administrivia and unplanned groups since we've returned) so we are right back where we were, not being able to continue language - extremely fustrating.

But, I digress, my point is that we come from a culture where you write things down, you use computers with spell check, day-timers, watches, calendars, alarm clocks, and reliable mail systems. Here, it is all oral - and everyone remembers everything - tell people once or twice and people remember. We want to look it up, make a list, check a dictionary. Our professor was very angry with us today, fustrated, and looking at us - WHY CAN'T THEY WORK THE PUZZLE?

It depends on they type of puzzle, doesn't it? Or maybe whether you are watching someone work a puzzle you are already familiar with or maybe trying to work one you've never seen. Isn't life like this and isn't it easy to make unfounded judgements?

I am so glad we serve a God who knows how all the pieces fit together. I certainly don't know how the pieces fit!

"For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things." 1 John 3:20

Youth and the Grace by which we stand

Sometimes I am just striken by certain events and photographs. I am especially touched and concerned about the youth of this country. They represent the future of Mozambique and they are being pulled so many directions. The family influence is so great and the vestiges of traditional religious practices (witchcraft, curses, and the like) is all around us. In addition, the corruption and general acceptance of stealing, whether it be from your employer, the government, or your neighbor, is just beyond understanding. Things change slowly but the youth remain the key and our churches continue to struggle with having viable youth programs, reaching young people for Christ; training them to understand God's plan for their lives. Today I am praying for the youth in our churches. We have a young fellow at Khongolote named Abel who is so precious and loves the Lord so much. They even call him little pastor. I must get a picture of him to share - he is an example of a bright future in a land that doesn't always seem to cherish or even hope for bright futures. Our hope must be in God.

Have a wonderful Sunday. We have started the CD series from our home church on Galatians and it is meshing so closely to what we have been reading and studying already; the message that God is affirming in our lives. The Gospel is simple and we must accept it deep in our hearts. We are saved by Grace and can add nothing to it; and what we do we do out of love for the God who has paid the price already for our sins; past, present, and future. These is no room to doubt so great a salavation; so great a gift. And whenever we try to add something to it, we get in trouble and as humans we fall into that trap so easily.

There is a great Keith Green song that speaks to this: "...but nothing lasts, except the Grace of God, by which I stand....." My soul sings it out whenever I hear about this marvelous Grace, this amazing gift of God...

Happy Sunday,

Dave & Ann

"....we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1-2