Chaveiro

Sign for business up the alley - The World of Keys
(50 km/hr speed limit sign)

I think one of my very first blogs when we first came to Mozambique was about all the keys.  So could it not be any more appropriate that I start this term talking also about keys?

Our life here can often revolve around keys.  Cars have to have alarm systems, often with a special key, tire lugs are keyed, there are multiple locks to get into your house, there are one or more gates, if you can pad-lock something you do, or it will “grow legs and run away”.  I have a bag of keys for the seminary and my colleagues have bags of keys for the school.  The problem is you have to keep up with all those keys!

When you need a key, you go to a Chaveiro, which is basically a locksmith, just a key cutter.  The problem is, they often cut them by hand with files or if they have electricity, they might have the equivalent of a Drimmel tool or just a grinder with a sharply pointed stone.   

But usually, you take a master key, and they cut you one from it, which I did the other day near our seminary.  But in reality, I had gone to a couple of other small shops outside the city first, none of who had a good blank for a Yale lock.  The Chaveiro near the seminary cut two keys for me and when I compared them to the original - I questioned him as I didn’t think they were good enough but he was sure they were.   When I got them home, they didn’t even begin to open the lock, which I suppose isn’t so unusual.  I only waited about 20 minutes for these first first two keys.  

Because the keys are for the common lock that controls the front gate to the property where we live, we needed the key for entry after dark, so I was beginning to feel a little pressure about getting a key.

The Office is on the left - see the key?

A couple of days later, I went back, with the lock this time, to see if he could get the copies to work, and if possible get a couple more keys.  The fellow took them to the back little room of the little shop and for an hour, I heard grinding, hammering, polishing, Portuguese words I didn't know (or want to know!) and more.  I chatted with the people coming and going from the little shop while Ann made calls from the car.  After a while Ann (who couldn’t see me from the car) began texting, ‘are you ok?’ as the time passed.  

Finally, he came out with one key, the original and the lock.  He had no more blanks, broke one of them trying to fix it, and refunded the money for the one key.   I thanked him for his efforts, thinking how much time it can take here to do the simplest thing - but it isn’t the thing as much as how we react to that thing!  

So, what is the point of this? - that I miss Lowes or the Ace-hardware where a local teenager can cut you a nice key in about three minutes on a beautiful grinder?  Not really; but how should we respond in these situations?  Who are the people around us when we find ourselves in these situations?  How is it that we respond when things don’t go exactly the way we think they should?  Can we move from frustration to joy in the moment?  I hope that we’ve made a bit more progress in this area as God grows us in our journey towards Him.  It was an hour to have relationship time with people who need to know there is more than this moment.

All the action is behind the board with the key!

Where we live, we lock down basically from dark to daylight.  We are changing the lock to our outer gate because we have lost a set of keys and for security reasons, we will put on a new lock, which will require 12 keys for those authorized to come and go here at night.  So, I think I’ll need to find a better Chaveiro rather than spend six hours waiting for keys that might, or might not work! (I know, you are saying come back later - but if you aren’t waiting, you must not need it….so you will wait regardless!)  

The lesson may simply be to take your lock with you!

My other purpose is to provide a small glimpse of how the simplest thing, can take quite a bit of time.  Our visa’s are another example but it is a story for another day.  They are to be ready on 9 September.

Blessings to you.  Thank you for standing with us.

Dave & Ann

“They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they had to guard it; and they had charge of the key for opening it each morning.” 1 Chronicles 9:27

Field Council

One of the things we do each year, required by both our home organization as well as our statutes on file with Mozambique, is to have an annual meeting of all the missionaries in the field to lay out the plans for the next year and beyond, elect new 'officers' for the coming year and jiggle around assignments as appropriate.  The main deliverable from this meeiting is our annual field plan, which is delivered to OMS each year.  I'll be putting that plan together this year based on input I get from my colleages as discussed in the meeting.  It's a tool that helps guide our work here in Mozambique.

(photo left to right, Larry, Phillip, Susan, Diane, Abigail, Gary, Sharon, Melvin, Ann, Joshua, David, Kyla, Aimee)

It also provides a good forum to problem solve.  A big part of this year's meetings were to give reports of what happened over the last 12 months.  That was very useful for us to hear and there has been an amazing amount of work happening here.   Our missionary children's school successfully moved and started classes at the new location, where we are living now, and the renovations needed to make a school here are finished for the most part.  We have some payments to make on this property in the coming months and years but we are confident that will all work out also.

The photograph is of our team as it exists now.  It's great to have such a tremendous group of dedicated people here.

Tomorrow we will turn in our immigration paperwork and hopefully the doctor's report and recommendation on my eye.  We will also be trying to get the requisite paperwork for an emergency exit from the country w/o a passport (which is included in our immigration paperwork), should we have to do that over this eye thing.  It seems to be settling down, so we're not too worried.

It's a privilege to be here.  As a team, we had our own church service together as a part of our team meetings and it was a special time.  We listened to one of the CDs we brought with us from the OMS 110th anniversary celebration we attended in Indiana a few short months ago.  I know it was my second time, but it was as if God had a different message this time around - I love how that can happen.  Very challenging - it was a message from Beth Coppedge (http://www.tituswomensministry.org) who is a very challenging speaker and one of those folks that is, well, for lack of other words - the real deal.

A number of things really spoke to me here from this message:  the importance of prayer, that our calling is first to love Jesus - He wants relationship with us - He is not impressed by what we do, but rather wants relationship with us so we can be transformed from the inside out.

We need to carry the presence of Jesus into a lost and dying world.  We need to divest of ourselves, spend time in His presence, so we can take that presence out.  Put another way, it isn't what we do, or who we are, our desire should be that when people see us, they see Jesus.  What a challenge - like the donkey who carried the eternal God-man Jesus into Jerusalem with triumph all those years ago.  The people came and worshipped because they were in His presence - it wasn't the donkey, it was Jesus.  I just love that analogy - perhaps because I've been accused of being so mule-headed?

Blessings this day.

Dave and Ann

"Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find."  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Transition Update

We continue to adjust to life here.   We have been in and out of various government offices and now have the package nearly together that has to be submitted to Immigration to get our visas squared away.  We are still praying about when to submit the paperwork as we may need to make a trip to South Africa first - we are praying about that.  Things that play into this:

1.  We met with our shipping agent on this end yesterday about the shipment headed this way.  The shipping people in Charleston, South Carolina put Durban, South Africa as the final destination for our things instead of Maputo so they are scrambling between here and the States to figure out how to get the shipment from Durban to here.  I was impressed by the agent here and think they will be able to work it out.  However, we need to have our resident visas in hand before the shipment arrives, so we really should submit the paperwork this week.

2.  Within a couple of days of arrival, at a distinct moment in time, I experienced what is called a vitreal detachment in my right eye, which in itself is not so uncommon in people over 50 years of age, but mine was accompanied by arcs of light in the periphery of my vision that continued for a few hours afterwards but have stopped.  It also resulted in a significant floater.   Through our embassy, I located one of the two Opthalmologist in Maputo and was able to see her last night.  That was an experience in and of itself but I received a very good examination although she felt a bit limited based upon what equipment she had to work with.

The concern is that my symptoms are consistent with a retinal tear although she could not see one and my vision is not impacted other than this floater, which is a large area of blurriness that floats around in my peripheral vision.  It's quite irritating actually but the doctors seem to think it will settle over time.  Kind of like a soft contact lens that doesn't fit quite right or that has something under it so you keep moving it around to try until it is better - except in this case it doesn't get better.

So, I'm to take it easy for a few days, she has me on Prednisone for a week with restricted duty - no lifting - resting, that kind of thing.  She is referring me to an Opthalmologist in South Africa for review in about six weeks.  She is writing a report for me to take with me, which will be ready tomorrow.  So our delimna is whether or not to go to South Africa sooner than later.  If I am understanding correctly, I am at risk of a retinal detachment in the coming weeks; which would require immediate surgery.

My eldest daughter works in eye research and so I got some expert ophthalmic opinions right away, for which I am thankful.  For the most part, they like the idea of getting another opinion in South Africa but normal protocol is another check in six weeks assuming I received a good exam here - which I think I did.  So, we're thinking that makes sense, although our visa's are a problem.  We can get an emergency exit visa, but here those things aren't necessarily 'quick'.  We have to give up our passports in order to get our visas.  Once we have submitted our paperwork to Immigration, there is a way to get an emergency exit visa, but it takes a day or so to get that - so we will probably wait until Monday to submit the paperwork, so we can have our 30-day emergency leave document in our hands by Tuesday.

If we leave with our existing passports, we would not be able to get back into the country without getting new entrance visas, with intent to obtain a resident visa, from the Mozambican Embassy in South Africa, and we would be starting all over again to get our 'package' together to submit, not an inconsequential amount of work.  We'd also be stuck in South Africa for a while, which we aren't wild about as we feel much much safer in Mozambique than in South Africa.  So, life can get a bit complicated!

So, we are praying about our next step.

Life is full of challenges but God remains in control.  Our trust remains in Him.

This weekend we are having an annual meeting with our team, called "Field Council".  It is a time to review the last year and set the plan for the coming year.   It's required by our Statutes on file with the Mozambican government and is when we elect officers and write our field plan for the next five years.  There have been so many changes in the year we have been gone, that we really plan to do more listening than talking.  I wish we had a few more weeks so we could sit with our national church leaders a bit first and understand their vision for the next five years.  We have already met with one of our OMS advisors and need to make those rounds as well and hear their perspective on things.

So, we continue to seek God's presence and to "listen" so we can follow His plan vice our own.

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he who keeps the law--blessed is he."   Proverbs 29:18   

Yes we are here

Tonight I figured out how to get our internet working on one computer.  It took several phone calls on a borrowed phone and I am not doing something exactly right with the wireless, but we'll figure it out.

We arrived without difficulty in Maputo and the Kelly's were there to receive us.  It was great to see them and their precious twins.  All our luggage made it and customs pulled the same container that homeland security did - but after an inspection, everything was ok.  We think Ann's four-year supply of hair spray (2 cans) may have been the culprit.

The jet lag has been a bit more of a challenge than we remembered - we still aren't in to the swing of things and our days and nights continue to be mixed up.

Things we noticed:

1.  The entire Mozambique field is completely consumed with getting the OMS school started by Monday.  They have done so very much and worked so hard and everyone is sprinting to the finish point.  The new school will be very nice and there will be much room to grow in this new location.
2.  There are a lot more cars on the roads, with the resultant traffic.
3.  There seems to have been a marked increase in crime while we've been away, just what we've put together hearing the various stories.

Our weekly prayer meeting was really nice - 11 people were present - we haven't had that many people on the field for many years now.  The lesson was wonderful, from 1 Kings 19, and tracked along exactly with what we feel God has been telling us all year, that we need to listen.

That said, we still don't have a working phone, our internet access just happened today, although there are details to work out on that still and we haven't quite figured out how to deal with money under the new banking rules.  We bought a new phone in the airport in Johannesburg, planning to put a mozambique chip in it (the phones are cheaper in South Africa), but haven't quite got to that step.  You'll understand in a minute.

The banking rules in Mozambique have also changed and we're not quite sure how we will deal with the resultant issues, but we'll figure something out.  Because of a purchase in South Africa, the bank froze our account, so we borrowed a friends skype connection to try and deal with that - wondering if things are going to be more difficult that way this term.  We haven't bought groceries yet - because we don't have confidence our credit card will work to get cash - so I guess we just haven't relaxed into the chaos and difficulty of life here.

Some missionary friends of ours here left for furlough in the states just before we came back - they are letting us use their car - which is a great blessing to us and a savings for us operationally also while we look for something.  The car had only sat for two months before we got here.

It wouldn't start and when I opened the door it smelled really bad - rats / mice - I know that smell well from the cabin!  I mean REALLY REALLY bad.  It wouldn't start, so I looked under the hood and the vacuum hoses and electrical wires had been eaten by hungry mice - little holes everywhere, rat droppings everywhere and smell smell smell.  It was overwhelming, so I wrote a quick note to my friend who assured me there was no secret button or step to start the car.

The next day, used electrical tape and connectors, fixing the wires and temporarily patching the vacuum hoses - no problem.  Eventually, I got it started and it seemed to be running fine except for the smell.  SO I drove it over to our house to continue working on it - and tried the air conditioner - the fan caught and I immediately shut it off and dust and little black rice pellets shot our of the ducts.  Oooooh.  I could taste that smell for the next 24 hours.

So, I'm on day two - took out the air conditioner fan and uncovered the condenser and cleaned out the little nests in the fan and the condenser housing,  learning a lesson I had never thought about before - NEVER STORE YOUR CAR WITH THE AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL ON "OUTSIDE AIR".  That's how they came, in, dragging a sleeve from someone's shirt into the fan (I'm not making this up). I cleaned up all that mess  - end of day 1.  No trips to town yet....

Day 2 - the mice came back - lots of evidence in the engine compartment, but not in the car - their door was closed.  The smell is still overpowering, but I found the second nest, up under the hood liner - Took that down and began the second day of hard cleaning.  By the end of the day the smell was much reduced, the air conditioner working great, and the engine running like the well-oiled machine it is.

Do I sound like I'm complaining - no - I've actually enjoyed resolving the problem and I enjoy working on cars - so it has been a nice time to work and talk to my heavenly father about this term before us.  In between, I've been able to visit with some of the folks coming and going - re-engaging in Portuguese, and it has been good.  We're working to get our house in order - it was actually in very good shape, we just needed to open our storage closet and unpacked the suitcases.  Aimee did us quite a favor staying here while we were gone and everything was in wonderful shape.

So, tomorrow, we'll try our hand at driving back to town on the other side of the road, buying a chip for our phone, hopefully getting a little money,  and getting some groceries.   We also need to get our immigration paperwork started.  We are trying to re-enter slowly and deliberately - there is so much to be done just to prepare for life here.

I would appreciate prayer tonight - I have been immersed in rat dust / droppings and cleaners - but something funny is happening to my right eye.  Years ago, I worked for two ophthalmologists and I know just enough to be be concerned.  Our visa's don't allow us to exit the country until we receive our resident visas and I can't imagine finding an eye doctor here I would be comfortable with - but we can ask at the Embassy which is one of the stops we have to make in the next day or two.

Ann says it might be hysterical blindness; welcome to Africa!  It's more of a fog that comes and goes on the right eye - to me more like something floating in the vitreous that cross the field of vision from time to time. Peripheral vision is good, and the cloudiness seems to move a little bit.  So, I'm thinking it is something in the fluid - like a floater but more fuzzy.

Claude and Marilynn Meyers are staying at the house next to us for a few days - what a treat to be able to spend some time with them today.  What an example they are to us of consistent service for the Lord.  We are very fond of them.

We have enjoyed getting reacquainted with many of our national friends, from Berto, Alzira, Aaron, Luis, Alberto, the guards who watch over our compound, Belarmino, Adelino, and the list goes on.  There are so many we need to reconnect with, but first things first:  we need to get set up and our legal status squared away before we get too involved.  Our shipment is scheduled to arrive September 26 and we must have our resident visas in hand by then.

Oh, and our water heater is out (and it is winter here, 60 degree weather) - so that is on the list as well, as well as the leaky shut-off valve - no shortage of the things of life.

So, I leave you with this short update - thank you for standing with us.

Blessings

Dave and Ann

"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life....The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by,...but the Lord was not in the wind,....was not in the earthquake,....was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it (listening!!), he pulled his cloak over his face (humility!!) and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  THEN (my emphasis) the LORD said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (for he had run in fear away from what God had intended for him)"  1Kings 19 (a good read!)


And after Elijah listened, God gave his the instruction and assurance that he needed - in the gentle whisper....


God is so good to us....

Back in Africa

We have safely arrived in Joburg, South Africa and tomorrow we fly up to Maputo to begin our second term.  No significant issues so far for which we are thankful.  Very tearful goodbyes in Knoxville.  Continue to pray our luggage makes it through tomorrow.  

Blessings,

Dave and Ann