Stories to Tell

From our recent trip north, there are so many stories to tell that I really don’t know where to begin. Some things are more frustrating experiences, others encouraging experiences, but often I think that they are oriented around pictures. So, let’s start that way tonight.

This first picture is of some young boys who live near a rural church in the Ilhe district of Mozambique. In October, I had visited with them and got to know them a little bit, but on our way back up, we stopped again and visited with them. Here, they are showing us their rather substantial garden that contains corn, beans, cassava, and a few fruit trees. I (Dave) felt a link to the boy in the red shirt and we were able to talk about a few things. He leads the singing in the small church that his dad (Raymundo) is currently leading. This is a very rural part of Mozambique with limited opportunities. His dad only has a third grade education, for example.
When we came back through with the Men for Missions International Team, I spoke at his church and was truly blessed by the singing at that church. This young man was a key leader of the church singing group, even at his very young age. The harmony and beat was something I had never heard before but it was absolutely beautiful. After the church, he grabbed by hand and wanted to walk back to his garden. We were on a tight schedule to get the group to the airport in Nampula, still a good four hours away on a good day and we were already cutting it close in a land where we are always moments away from another flat tire, detour, washed-out bridge or other opportunity. So, I had to excuse myself and load up and go, and he was clearly disappointed and it just dragged at my conscious for the next couple of days back in Nampula as we settled our bill with the conference center and visited with missionary friends in the Nampula area. As we headed back home, we stopped by to visit him and his family again, and this time stopped for a while to just sit and talk. But the high point was when I threw him a soccer ball we’d been using at the conference. There was an instant game going on and I wish you could have seen the boy’s faces when that soccer ball was headed their way. We left the ball in good hands (or should I say ‘feet’?)

He’s a bright young man with limited opportunities in rural Mozambique. He is a hard worker and helps his family with this tremendous garden he is tending with his brother. He is my brother in Christ, but I pray for opportunities for this young man with the big heart, the huge smile, a strong work ethic, and a desire to help others. We need to pray for this young man, Ricardo.

As we were talking the first time, a group of ladies who had been picking mushrooms nearby stopped and talked with us. We did some sharing with them and listened to their stories and encouraged them to come back in about a week when we would stop by again – they did. We had a great time laughing and talking about farming and rain.

Subsequently at the church service, one of the ladies brought a blind old man to us for prayer and healing and also asked for prayer for her 15-year old daughter at home who could not walk. In my Western mind, I looked at the man’s eyes to try and discern what might be the problem. Early in our married life, we worked for two ophthalmologists and so I am especially interested in eye problems. It looked like severe cataracts to me and from this bright sun, it is no surprise. We prayed earnestly for these two people, but healing was not to be but I pray that inner healing was begun in the heart. This is always a challenge; you hear the stories; there is a Biblical basis; but there is no magic formula or process for divine healing. God is sovereign and the healing may or may not come, but it is not to stop us from asking and praising God for who He is, regardless of outcome. We are here to serve Him; He is not there to serve us. But the command is clear – we are to ask in faith; and praise Him regardless.

Driving

Driving in Mozambique is always a tremendous challenge. Getting stopped and generally harassed by the police is fairly routine, but we’ve been fairly successful in dealing with them and this trip no exception except for one occasion I’ll mention in a bit.

The photos here are to give you a picture of how driving works here. There are lots of obstacles. You round a corner where people are walking on both sides of the road and then in your lane is a man with a hand cart – in this case carrying an old refrigerator. In other cases you have to stop for a bus that might have live animals stacked on top of it, cruising down the road at 70 mph. And just today, we saw where a woman had been hit by a bus on one of these crowded streets – a constant worry as we drive. But sometimes, it is just drop dead gorgeous as we see this beautiful rainbow, attesting to God’s promise in the book of Genesis. This rainbow was so beautiful – full from one end to the other, but we didn’t find the pot of gold!

With regard to the police – I always slow way down when the speed limit drops in the small towns as there are often policemen hanging around, looking for any excuse to pull you over and explore what you’re carrying, ask lots of questions as they figure out how much money they can pull out of you for whatever offense they can come up with. Our vehicle is a standard style used by many embassy personnel here, so sometimes that helps me out but on one stop, it was not to be.

I was pulled over at a radar stop. We chatted a little bit and then finally I asked what was the problem? The police said I’d been speeding. I said, ‘no, that couldn’t be because I knew the limit was low and had slowed way down’. He then took me over to a lady with the radar gun and showed me the ‘74’ in a ‘60’ km/hr zone. I seriously doubted this was true and argued some more but then the other police with the darthvader helmets, riot gear, and AK-47’s started to get interested, so I said ‘ok’ – what is the fine and I would want a receipt. It’s never a good idea to argue with mean looking guys with guns.

I was taken into a reed hut where two policemen did a ‘court’ kind of thing and then I paid my 1000 mtn fine (about $50 US dollars) and received my receipt, and even better yet, my license, passport, car forms, and other documents. (Sometimes it takes more money to get back your documents).

The whole time this is going on, Ann is watching the process. The lady with the radar gun was standing right next to her door - radaring the cars coming the other direction and then when she gets a high number (over 60), she holds the reading. If the car is driven by a Mozambican, they let them pass by, but if the car contains a foreigner (white), they are pulled over and shown the radar reading (from someone else’s car), and the foreigner pays the ticket. By the time I got back to the car, Ann was fit to be tied – corruption at its finest, and there isn’t much you can do.

Missionaries often use an expression “TIA” for “this is Africa” to help deal with things like this. I thought to myself, TIA, and was glad they didn’t do something worse. I gave the policemen some OMS trinkets (a flashlight key chain) for their trouble and tried to be nice, but they were playing the ‘tough role’ and there was no room to wiggle. With the darthvader guys hanging around with AK-47’s watching my every move, I really just wanted to put distance between us and them, so I said a prayer of thanksgiving that we got away with only $50 in fines. We’ve heard stories where people rent police uniforms for the weekend to hassle people and make a little money – but this was a little more blatant.

TIA.

Older men

The average life expectancy in Mozambique is something like 35 and dropping due to Malaria, HIV, and sanitation-driven diseases like Cholera. So, when we run into old people, it is especially a treat and we always enjoy talking with them. One of the men on the Men for Missions team that came with us into rural Mozambique was a little older than me and developed a ministry of sorts talking with these old men at each church we visited. I thought this was a precious picture and wanted to share it as Berry poses with some of his new friends. These men are respected in the community for there are not many older people, and they truly do have wisdom and experience that many lack. Often our age (Ann and I – not being young chickees any longer) allows us a bit more freedom and acceptance because of the cultural respect for older folks, which is really different than the culture where we come from. These older men knew very little Portuguese, which also is typical of the older folks in the rural setting. But there are normally enough bi-lingual people around that communication can be worked out. They listened intently to the messages we shared and I look forward to seeing them again in the future. They are tough old birds to survive into old age in such a tough environment. Often the older men and women in the villages are key to our evangelism teams gaining acceptance in the community. They can set the tone but they demand a certain level of respect and I have heard old men refer to the younger western people as ‘brash’ or ‘arrogant ’ because of this expectation with the society to be humble before the elders. This is a different cultural norm that typically seen in the West.

However, in some parts of Mozambique, we have learned that the society is very matriarchal. In those areas, it is the elderly women who are the power structure. We have been in some of those areas but the expectation is the same, humility before and respect before the elders.

Precious family

I just want to share this photograph of one of our church planter-trainers named Dinis with his lovely wife Matilde and son Jori. It’s a lovely photo and Dinis has been training others for several years now, having a big impact in the Zambezia province for Christ.

“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 4:14-16