Answers to Prayer

At the risk of trivalizing prayer a bit - we have been fighting a problem with our air conditioner for a very long time. It worked great our first year here but then started to lose gas every 3 months until now every 7 days. (Allison - 7 days; 7 days! (inside joke to my youngest daughter)).

We have replaced parts, been to garages in South Africa, Mozambique, dealers, privates, backyard mechanics - you name it. Even this week, I went to Toyota here trying to see what air conditioner parts they had in stock thinking about how to start replacing things. Of course, they looked at me and said, you can't get any of those parts here - you will have to go to South Africa. Sigh.....You may think we're soft - but at 110 degrees, driving around in a metal box in the blazing sun with a big windshield - it gets to 130 or more in the car and we have both suffered from symptoms of heat exhaustion / heat stress going about our business here - coming home flushed, dehydrated, ill at the end of the day plus all the security issues of driving around with the windows down. I have begged everyone that PLEASE, put some dye in so we can find the leak. (You can buy it at any auto-parts store in the states!) They all smile and say 'we can't do that here - it's not available'. Well - NOT TRUE!

Wednesday at our team prayer meeting, I offered this up for prayer - I was at the end of my rope and didn't know what to do. I had personally spent hours trying to find the leak, plus all the repairs, fixes and we have a trip north ahead of us and I honestly didn't know what to do. So, I asked the group to pray for 'the air conditioner' feeling a bit guilty of the triviality - but I was truly at the end of my rope.

The next day, I passed by the last place that has been helping me to see if I could buy a gage assembly somewhere in Maputo and where to fill the freon tank I have (that's another story related to a refridgerator), and I figured I'd just take a tank with me and fill it from time to time on the side of the road until the leak got big enough to detect. My mechanic friend (Christos) didn't like that idea and said that he had a friend who might be able to help me. So, Christos sets up a time for me and we go to this new place - a little hole in the wall near Immigration but he has all the equipment. A nice German fellow who has been here since the late 1980's working on cars, and specializing in Land Cruisers and Land Rovers.

We start talking and he looks over the car and says "oh, you have one of those fake Land Cruisers - the ones the United Nations made a deal with Toyota to make a whole bunch of them and Toyota cut all sorts of corners to make them cheaper to meet the UN specification. Arggggg.....I didn't need to hear that! I know it's old as the hills, with lots of miles, but now I learn that it is a fake!

Well, he says that the first problem is that during a repair somewhere along the line, someone removed the air dryer from the system - that is problem one. I am confident this would have had to have happened before we owned it as early on I wondered why it didn't have a dryer - figured it was just a foreign car deal! That is a common risk here with less reputable (and even reputable garages). You take your car in and it comes back with missing parts removed to fix other cars.

Problem two is that the car was designed for non-tropical climates and the compressor is too small but we can compensate with an additional electric fan on the front. Problem 3 is that I have a leak BUT he has the dye. So, together we look up the specifications for the system, remove and clean the system, and install new freon with flourescent dye. FINALLY!! I take it back Monday or Tuesday so he can find the leak and begin the necessary repairs.

I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama where there were many Germans who worked on the Space Program. I even worked for a German man who had a body shop and I learned to appreciate their attention to specifications and exactness. We had a saying in Huntsville that if you could find you a German mechanic, you would be set for life with your cars. I am thrilled to find what appears to be a competent mechanic in Maputo! After talking with him, I was reminded of another person I knew here (who has since gone back to the States) who chased a 4-wheel drive problem for ever and he said this guy was able to fix it. I had forgot about that until I got there and began speaking with the guy. And, like so many here, he speaks Portuguese, German, French, English, Italian....how I wish!

AND, there was another man there who has been in Mozambique for many many years who used to be working on a big agricultural project in Mocuba, right across the road from where our training center will be built. He gave me some pointers on water wells and things in Mocuba, which was an amazing contact as well. Thank you Lord!

So, it is an answer to prayer - one I made somewhat reluctantly because I felt it was so trival as compared to our seminary financial shortfalls, ministry issues, our pending trip, the unplanned team that is coming today, the mountain of work we are facing between now and leaving in July - I didn't know I could offer up an air conditioner! Why do we do that? He is a God of details who loves us. Just as I would want to try and help my own children with any problem they might bring to me...why would I think God is any different? How easy it is to drift off-target...

And, once more confirming, that you can get anything you need right here in Maputo, if you can just figure out "where!"

Blessings,

Dave & Ann

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." Matthew 6:7-8

Amando

Friday morning, we had an interesting new visitor! Where we live there is a pre-school that takes students from all over the area. Early Friday morning, the director of the preschool was at our door to see the nurse. One of the students had fallen playing soccer with others and gashed his head above his eye. He was a cute fellow but was scared to death of us, even though I remember him waving bravely at us when we would pass by the school on our way in and out. Maybe he has heard the saying said here by mothers to their kids, "if you aren't good, the crazy white people will come and take you away." It's kind of like the saying we had in the states - "good night, don't let the bed bugs bite." Crazy things we say to our children!

Here I am getting off track again. So, we're trying to assure him that we mean no harm and we won't be taking him anywhere! So, Ann cleans the wound, applies anti-biotic ointment and the band-aid and all is well. This young fellow was so brave - it had to hurt to get all the dirt cleaned out of the gash. Ann sent them back with medicine, ointment, and bandages for the next few days. He waved at us quite a bit more bravely when we headed out for our meetings!

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

Class of 2013

This photo is of our Class of 2013! Great picture of our first baccalaureate-level class! Pray for these future and current church leaders!

We met with the Department of Religious Affairs today to give them a letter explaining the OMS name change to OMS (One Mission Society). It was an interesting meeting. In this culture, when you sign your name on a letter, for it to be official, you have to stamp over your name with the official stamp of the organization. This is very important here. So, they asked us to update our stamp and then I have to go back and personally stamp something in their presence so they have our new stamp on-file. I didn't expect that but we can certainly do that. It was a great meeting and the Minister of Religious Affairs practiced English while I practiced Portuguese, so we had some fun communicating.

We are busy preparing for our trip north - I bought a spare rim so we can carry two ready spares this time. I have always carried extra tires (and used them!) but had only one extra rim. We've always had blow-outs on these trips and want to be ready. We will be carrying a lot of weight in books/bibles this trip and need to be sure we are able to handle everything. I will need to get a more heavier duty jack also to replace the one that was stolen - the one I have is fine for an empty vehicle, but fully loaded, we need something beefier. It doesn't match any of the others, but it fits, which is what is important! We are also debating a trip to Milange, over a road with a mighty reputation for being extremely bad - so we need to be ready.

We are starting to get the calls now where everyone wants to ride north with us; take cargo, send family members, and the like. We laughed with Aimee (who is going with us) and told her to start practicing the word "no" because with the three of us and all the books, car parts, and supplies for the north, we will be more weight limited than space and here, if there is a cubic inch of space, you cram something in it even if the axles are sagging. We must be reasonable in what we can do and not damage our vehicle.

The local photocopy shop make us 200 copies of a training manual we use with our church planting work - it figures out to about six dollars a copy. I was a bit short of the cash, but we've done so much business there, the lady (Sarah) said "I know you - no problem to me if you bring the rest of the money tomorrow!" That is very unusual here and we have found that people often trust us because we are American and we are missionaries - that is something that is taken for granted in the States - that people are expected to be honest. It is not the norm in many cultures (like here) where you expect dishonesty. At the tire store today, the manager of the store who we have gotten to know well (I was consulting with him about my punctured tires and the long trip ahead of us) - he told me how last night a friend of his had his car broken into last night - they broke a window to enter, took the windshield, entire dashboard, including the radio and the like, and the seats. Now that would be a shock in the morning!

Belarmino and his family head north in the morning on the bus to start preparing for the construction of the training center. He will be there three to four months and we will see him in a few weeks. His plan is to get some basic things laid out before we arrive there.

Blessings this day.

Dave & Ann

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

Intaca

Today we met with the Government official over the part of Intaca where our church is located. They have recently ran a power line near the road the church is on and we are told they are re-routing the road to follow the power line. Today we learned for sure that the road runs on "the other side" of the power line, so it won't run a few feet from our well. In addition, the government is surveying and preparing a map of all the land in this rapidly growing area to help with the land ownership questions. We provided the two letters we have (and that is all!) regarding our land ownership for the church land. They were pleased with the letters and asked that we put in small corner walls to mark the edges of the property. The Secretary of the area said he would walk with church leadership to agree on where the boundaries are and that would be the final place. So, we coughed up some money for concrete and blocks to identify the land. These sit-down sessions with local government people are very important and we were very encouraged by today's session. They did ask that we consider putting a pre-school on the property as soon as possible as there is great need in the community.

While we were there, we agreed to help the church pastor get a used sewing machine he had bought in a nearby area. We went back sand roads and came in right behind the huge new stadium they are building near the National Highway. I have to look at Google-maps to figure out what we did today - I believe that God has placed this church property in what will soon be a very strategic place. They are going to open this road all the way to the main north-south highway and we will be on quite a major road eventually. I'm so glad God takes care of those kinds of details!

Well, the sewing machine ended up being a sewing machine, a table, two couches, and a large chair - we stacked up as much as we could on top of the car and somehow managed to get back. We learned a lot of new roads today and met a lot of interesting people. To me the old and rusty peddle-type singer sewing machine looked like it was un-repairable and he paid an awfully high price for such a machine. However, I've learned that the Mozambicans are very clever and he will dismantle that machine, clean it, oil it, and probably fabricate a few parts for it, and have it working in no time. It will be interesting to see what comes of it. It is also encouraging, because Francisco's wife learned to sew at our sewing center at Intaka and now is off to start her business with her own machine!

Some sad news for me is that on one of the sand roads, I had to back up so someone could pass and in the process, running two big thorns through one of my new tires. I try to be so careful of those things! I've lost count on how many flats I've had from these thorns! So, tomorrow I will try to find an open shop to get them plugged. For my mechanic friends, the holes are on the side walls and they will plug them anyway. Our old set of tires had all sorts of plugs from these thorns in our sidewalls.

We are heading north in a couple of weeks - sure wish I'd hit those thorns after that trip!

Our visa's are in and should be ready in about 10 days. The process took two of us, but we understand the chaos now so the entire thing isn't near as daunting as it once was!

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

Well

Last Sunday we attended the church at Intaka. This was the first opportunity for us to check out the well that had been repaired and we were surprised that the church had also poured a new concrete floor in the church. There is also some contraversy about the land the church is on. Someone had swatted on one side of the land and a power line was put in over where they had squatted and so they have to move. Well, the municipality's position is that we need to give them the same amount of land on the other side of the property as we can farm under the power line but they can't live there. Heck of a deal. So, the church wants to put up a fence around the property. This is how it works here - you buy land but if someone decides to live on it and you didn't fence it in - it is your tough luck. You see lots of concrete walls (block skimmed with concrete) for this reason. One of the crazy things that you deal with here. So, the church has come to us to see if we'd provide the wire if they provide the posts. The first step is checking out the price - the property is nice - 54 paces by 160 paces - whatever that comes to....let's see, when I marched with the band on the football field, it was eight paces to 5 yards, which is 15 feet, which is......oh my - I need meters.....

Anyway, the property is a lovely peace and the road has been re-done and no their is a powerline along the road that goes to a rather remote clinic. So, in theory, we're positioned well for the future. I would love to build a more substantial structure in this rapidly growing community and it remains a little project I keep mulling about. The reed structure is getting pretty worn and fragile and the termites are doing their thing on the wooden posts. (That's why concrete works so well here! There aren't any concrete termites.....yet!).

We enjoyed the sermon given by one of young men the leader of this church is mentoring. It's a part of the process of training others to train others. He used the story of the owner of a vineyard who gathered workers throughout the day to work in his fields (Matthew 20). In this parable, Jesus starts it by saying 'the kingdom of God is like....' and it immediately follows the parable of the Rich Young ruler - it is a passage very rich to discuss. This young man took it in a very literal sense relative to wages - very interesting in light of the culture context we work in where work is difficult to find and wages are not very good. Afterwards, the leader of the church pulled us aside and indicated that they would need to revisit that passage in the future, which in itself was interesting, but also encouraging - our Saturday classes at the seminary are having a good impact (the leader attends there and is a very devoted man).

I thought you might like to see the updated pictures. It was so incredibly hot - and our air conditioner decided to stop working AGAIN! With the sun beating down on our metal box, and it is already 110 degrees in the shade, I don't want to even guess what it is inside the car! The air conditioning lasted two whole weeks since the last time we fixed it. I went over the system with a fine tooth comb myself Sunday afternoon and found where I think the leak is (two places) and we had it 'fixed' while we were at Language School today. We will see. The fellow who works on it is someone we've become quite fond of - and we're certainly there often enough! He agreed with my diagnosis and did not charge us today, which was a blessing. I'd really like to put some dye in it like they do in the States - but that is one of those 'no-no's' to take on an airplane (pressured freon dye). It's not available here.

It's time to submit our visa paperwork again - we have done the first step and were approved by the Department of Religious Affairs today and tomorrow we will turn in our passports (always a gulp!) and applications to the Immigration people. So that will be an item for prayer. We hope to get them back in about two weeks before we head north again. Don't like to be on longer trips without the passport in case we need to hop the border quickly for some reason. Things change here pretty quickly sometimes.

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few chosen." Mat 20:16

The Door is Open

Today was the first day of our new seminary class. It was certainly a day of firsts and there was great excitement in the air. It brought us great joy to see the front door open as if to say 'open for business!' We especially enjoyed hearing each student's testimony about what they hoped to gain from the seminary classes. The theme was common, to learn more about God's word so they can teach others, evangelize, and share their faith. Don Hulsey emphasized to them that all the head knowledge in the world is worthless absent a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He challenged each student strongly to be open to what God would do in their lives through this program but first and foremost, to develop their relationship with God.

Pastor Daniel handled alot of the administrative details and we so enjoyed watching him assume command of the class. He is a gifted teacher and I sense great things in his life as he follows God's call and teaches this new class. Xavier introduced himself as well and gave his own challenge to the students admonishing them to be family starting today. New Bibles were handed out, as that is the ultimate text-book, and after a short break, they dove into 'A Panoramic View of the Old Testament'.

Doug Miller, a dear friend who is with OC mission helped out today also. His mission is now renting out the top floor of the seminary building - providing a little income for us. We all work together and understand the importance of leadership training to the furthering of the work.

Tuesday and Thursday will be chapel and each student will have a roll to play. Other classes this term include Spiritual Formations and Hermeneutics.

So, each time something happened today, it was the first time! The front gate was opened and used instead of the normal rear gate, the first time the class prayed together, the first time everyone was introduced, the first time the study bibles were used as they were unpackaged, the first time many of us had met.....an exciting day with undeniable energy in the air; thank you Lord for what you are doing here in Mozambique. Bless this dear class, draw them together as family, guard them, be with each student and staff as we strive to train new leaders to spread the reality of what comes through relationship with you; of your power and majesty; of the peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank you for the call you place on each person's life. Thank you in advance for each of those you will call to help these dear students.

Amen.

Dave & Ann

"The heart of the righteous studies how to answer....." Proverbs 15:28

PS - we just got word of a Sunday School class sponsoring one student! Thank you Lord!!

Project: 302000 Maputo Seminary

Theology of Work

I’ve written quite a bit about our pending seminary class that begins on Monday; a walk of faith to be sure with our non-existent funding for such an endeavor. But we are so thankful to God for bringing the program thus far, for providing for every need, and why would we think He would bring it to this point to not complete the work?

It will be a grand day because it represents the culmination of a lot of work from a lot of different people. We have everything in place to start and are excited to see what God will do in the lives of the staff, students, and missionaries alike. Thirty new students wanting to impact their community and

country for Christ…Thank you Lord!

In the midst of all this, one of our Mozambican teaching staff is working on his doctorate and as a part of that endeavor, received a grant to do a special class on the Theology of Work. The class began on Saturday and was attended by 30 people from over 10 denominations and is the first of 12 classes he is having in the next three months on this appropriate topic. We rejoice with our dear friend and his desire to address this topic in a society where it is very important to receive a salary but not necessarily to have to do anything for it! We thank God for this

new avenue to teach Biblical truths; changing lives in the process. He had students from 10 denominations, including pastors, Bible School graduates, and Professional personnel. He is a gifted teacher and well recognized as such; we are thankful to have him working with us.

He has asked that we remember him in prayer as prepares for and gives the classes.

We are always thrilled when our seminary building is being used to further Gods word to a lost and dying world!

Blessings!

Dave & Ann

“…for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand ….for the world is Mine and all its fullness…..Offer to God Thanksgiving…Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me…..” Psalm 50: 10-15

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