On most any given day here, I could write about any 10 items that happened. The last few days have been an unusual whirlwind of events - isn't that a laugh? I have probably said that a lot of times as that is truly our normal, which is similar to each of your normals, I'm sure. I think it is the human condition!
Our quick trip to South Africa to deliver the car for the Irish team to pick up was good and we were successful in picking up the Tsonga literature and hymnals we had ordered, as well as delivering the car. It rained part of the way and when we parked the car at the designated pick-up point (a friend of one of the team members), I noticed a screw embedded in the rear tire of the car and little bubbles coming out around it. Thank you Lord that it didn't blow on the way.
Ann and I call this particular car "the Demon car" because of all its peculuarities. It has an alarm system with a mind of its own, an engine imobilizer as a part of that system that also has a mind of its own, and a small electrical short somewhere that no one can find that drains the battery. It has broken down on us, stopped in the middle of intersections, gotten stuck, and other challenging things. The car belongs to our school, but we often will rent it out for teams and the like and we use it from time to time, such as when our vehicle is in the shop.
So at 'zero-dark-thirty' we're loaded up into the two cars for the run to South Africa and the demon car won't start - battery is dead. It won't jump off so we decide to try and push it off - eventually we get it going but an hour later. I noticed the tire seemed a wee-bit low at that point, but didn't see anything obvious! The rest of the trip is non-eventful and even the
border crossing, where my heart rate usually increases a bit because of the potential for chaos and delay. After dropping the car off, getting the mission mail, and picking up needed supplies, we return via Kruger Park where we have a time of reflection, devotion, and debriefing with the young couple who has been with us the last three weeks. This photo is of this precious couple in Kruger Park. God's hand is clearly on their lives and we fully expect to see them here again. Fran has quite a few dental patients to check up on!
We return to Maputo and basically take our new dear friends to the airport as we receive the team from Ireland. The next couple of days are spent preparing the Irish team although they are pretty much 'on auto' because they are lead by Melvin Kelly, a former missionary here. We had them over for dinner and orientation to Mozambique, also catching Melvin up with the status of the work in the north. Early the next morning, we picked up Juka and a translator, who will be accompanying the Kelly team as they go north to visit our churches in the Gurue/Ilhe/Macuba areas, and took them to the airport. When we picked up Juka, his daughter Milka (see photo of
Juka and family) was not happy with us as she has learned that when the suitcase goes into our car, her dad is going to be gone for a little bit - she was not happy with us although we did stop by the next day and make up with her a little bit!
We received confirmation that the Irish team arrived safely in the north and that they had nearly 200 people show up for their first training session, so we know they are off to a good start. We are excited to see what God will accomplish through them and to hear their stories when they return. We were quite jealous as we would like to have gone also, but that is something we will do in a couple of months as we plan to make a general trip through all of our works in the North in preparation of this year's ECC conference, which we hope to hold in the northern part of Mozambique.
One of the tasks Pastor Juka will be accomplishing in the North is the wedding of one of our trainers. So, we are sending the wedding dress north again, where it will be adjusted and used for probably about the 10th time. It still looks beautiful as the sewing skills here are quite extraordinary and although we aren't sure how the dress is cleaned each time, it always comes back spotless. On the way to the airport, we had to make a minor stop to pick up the wedding rings at the jewler. This photo is at the jeweler's house (if you look carefully you may see Ann waving from the car) where the two rings were picked up. A common symbol for marriage in many countries...
Saturday we spent in preparation getting ready for showing the Jesus Film at Intaka. We were especially excited for this showing, because we had some new equipment (DVD instead of very well-worn VCR tapes) that we'd purchased in the States and brought back with us. The DVD's were a little bit updated from the VCR tapes and the color and clarity clearly about 10 steps above what we used at Picoco just before we left. We followed the same model as before, a time of prayer in the afternoon, sending of evangelism teams out, music to attract attention, and then we showed the film followed by preaching. We were beyond the reaches of electricity again and the clear African sky was clearly a wonder as we could see the milky way cast through the sky and the Southern Cross was clearly visible. Breath-taking.
In the series of pictures below, we show the film set-up, the sunset as we waited for dark, and then the screen with Christian music videos (in Zulu!) we were playing prior to the movie. At first we had a small crowd, but it grew to several hundred by the time the movie started. We had the sound up to nearly maximum, which seemed mighty loud to me, but Pastor Ricardo said he was a bit dissappointed as the sound didn't cover near as much of the area as he had hoped. After it was all over and we were packing up our equipment, we had several people show up who had heard us and walked over - so I think the sound covered more area than he thought!
One young man, named Sergio, came up and talked with me for a very long time. He had a long story about working as a chef in a Chinese restaurant and how he had lost that job with a long explanation about what a 'good person' he was and how he needed work and the trouble his family was in. I listened a very long time, but fundamentally he was looking for money and the liquor on his breath pointed more strongly to what any money would likely go for - part of the challenges of being here. He stayed for the film and spoke more with me afterwards and promised to think about the things we talked about. He promised that he would return to the church in the morning. We will see - and I pray that God's spirit will move in his heart and life.
So, a rather long entry of what has been happening. Another snapshot of life here. The well drillers have delayed us until September now as we get fit into their work back-log, but we are on the list and we continue to make progress!
Thank you for standing with us!
"The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him." Na 1:7
Momma (a term of respect here, emphasis on second syllable) has a son who is dieing that she is taking care of. We don't know what it is as these things are not talked about, but we are almost certain it is advanced aids. He is to the point he is unable to get up off his grass mat and is totally skin and bones. Momma is taking extremely good care of him and at this point there is little to do but keep him comfortable. I think it is the love of family that keeps him going. In the past, he used to work in South Africa and return to Maputo but as this horrible disease ravaged him more and more, he had no where to go but home. As we held his hands and spoke with him, we could only offer him encouragement, that God knows his name, and in this case, he also has the peace of knowing the very Creator. As we prayed with him, I so wished that God would allow him to 'take up his mat' but this was not to be. A gaunt face of a young man, burned into my consciousness, laying on a grass mat on a concrete floor in a little block house on the outskirts of Maputo. But by the grace of God go any one of us....
d over again that was unfamiliar to me. Afterwards, I talked with him trying to understand what the word meant. It wasn't in our dictionary and so we got out our Bibles and used them as our dictionaries - and it worked. I learned a new verb that isn't in our little dictionary and now I just need to use it about 10 times to cement it in my brain. While we were having that discussion, I didn't realize that Ann snapped a picture - so here is truth. The sermon was on the "call of God" and it was something Daniel and I have discussed many times.
