We recently made the decision to move our blog over the AIM sites, to take advantage of the better format and to have our blog with lots of other blogs about life in Africa. You can find us at www.camikevin.aimsites.org
We won't be posting any new entries here, and eventually will take this site down. You can still find Kevin's blog at camikevn.blogspot.com.
At the new site, you'll find some webpages that we've posted about the work we are doing in Moz, as well as blog entries as per usual.
See you there!
Cami
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Looooonnnngggg Trip back to the USA
It came time to fly back to the USA on Saturday, July 17th and we were ready! Maybe not emotionally, as we were nervous about the trip and about what lay ahead, but all the bags were packed and we stood by the door 45 minutes before our ride came to pick us up, everything prepared.
Our dear colleagues, the Slaytons, gave us a ride to the airport, which was appopriate since they were the ones who picked us up when we arrived 3 1/2 years ago. At the airport, our faithful guard, Fernando, met us and stayed with us until we got on the plane. He remained at the balcony, waving and watching until we took off. What a dear man - we are so thankful that we found him an excellent job before we left and he will be well-provided for.
The boys were excited and interested to see everything, and we were suprised to see the small plane that would carry us 30 minutes east to the coastal city of Pemba, then on to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. As we took off, Benjamin had such an excited look on his face and gave us the thumbs-up. It was the first plane ride he could ever remember taking, as he hadn't been in an airplane since he arrived in Moz, at 11 months old.
We deplaned in Pemba, then re-boarded for the two hour flight to Tanzania. On arrival, we had to go through passport control and buy visas for our overnight stay, which was a long process, and it wasn't until two hours later that we arrived at the AIM guest house for our overnight stay. We are SO thankful that we arrived with all our luggage intact as Dar is known for theft from luggage. That night, we walked to a nearby bar (complete with a live band, dancing, and lots of people), which was the only place for dinner, and discovered that Swahili really is the lingua franca of Tanzania. We asked the waiter if the chicken was roasted or fried and he replied "yes". Ok, there was no choice! it was fried, which is probably best since then any local germies were boiled to death, and our stomachs suffered no repercussions. We were brought a basin of water at the table to wash our hands, we ate everything with no silverware, and then another basin was brought to clean up afterwards. After 3 1/2 years in Moz, the kids didn't even bat an eye.
Here's a photo of us waiting for the taxi in Dar, with our four pieces of luggage. We sure came home with a lot less than we went out with it, and most of it is presents!
We boarded our Emirates flight to Dubai (5 1/2 hours long) at 4:40 the next afternoon after another taxi ride back to the airport, and it was uneventful except that Ben fell asleep as we landed. I pinched him, shook him, shoved chocolate in his mouth, but that kid was in a coma. Kevin carried him off the plane, we wheeled him in a kind of stroller to the next plane, and plopped him in his seat there, and he continued to sleep for 9 more hours! Which was a good thing, actually. We were disappointed that our flight was a little late getting into Dubai, which meant we had no time to look around that very interesting airport. We were through there at 2 am, and the place was buzzing with activity. Paul Slayton told us that most of Dubai's flights take off at night because during the day the air is too hot for the jets to get enough lift.
Our 13 1/2 hour flight to New York went fine, and it was funny to see so many Americans on the plane. We have seen so few Americans in the last years, besides missionary colleagues, that being surrounded by them was a wierd experience. There were college girls in very short shorts, sitting near the Middle-Eastern ladies clothed in black Burkhas. Rather an unwise choice for the girls, I would say, but they were oblivious. Each seat had its own tv screen with a huge choice of movies, tv shows and video games, and when Toby wasn't sleeping (he slept most of the night) he was happily playing video games. Ben woke up about 4 hours before we landed, and also enjoyed playing (completely unsuccessfully) the video games.
Landing in America. What a surreal experience. We felt like we had stepped into the twilight zone, and yet it was all so familiar. As we went through passport control, the agent said "welcome home" and it was such a - RELIEF. Since we left America, we are always greeted with suspicion at border control posts, and we always wonder if we will be allowed to pass, or if we will be hassled. But in America, we are welcome. It seemed like we waited forever for our luggage, in an enormous baggage terminal, and finally we stepped out to be greeted by Kevin's family and it was a beautiful thing. How could it be that only two mornings before we were driving out of Nampula on those bumpy roads, desperately poor people along the sides of the roads? People with things balanced on their heads, cell phone cards for sale beside the road, dust rising up, baskets of tomatoes and piles of bananas for sale everywhere? Now we were in an enormous parking garage, everything cemented or landscaped with GRASS. As we drove north to Connecticut, we stared at all the stores beside the highways, stadiums, the skyline of Manhattan. Wow. The kids actually handled it really well, and were more interested in the cookies their Grandma had brought! We picked up Kevin's brother's family, and went off to McDonalds for lunch, where the kids ate blissfully and were so excited at the Happy Meal toy.
Well, that is enough for now. We are so thankful for a smooth trip and that our luggage and ourselves made it safely. We are enjoying the good things that the USA has to offer (including way too much GOOD and fattening food!) and most especially seeing our families. That is the best part. More to come soon. - C
Our dear colleagues, the Slaytons, gave us a ride to the airport, which was appopriate since they were the ones who picked us up when we arrived 3 1/2 years ago. At the airport, our faithful guard, Fernando, met us and stayed with us until we got on the plane. He remained at the balcony, waving and watching until we took off. What a dear man - we are so thankful that we found him an excellent job before we left and he will be well-provided for.
The boys were excited and interested to see everything, and we were suprised to see the small plane that would carry us 30 minutes east to the coastal city of Pemba, then on to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. As we took off, Benjamin had such an excited look on his face and gave us the thumbs-up. It was the first plane ride he could ever remember taking, as he hadn't been in an airplane since he arrived in Moz, at 11 months old.
We deplaned in Pemba, then re-boarded for the two hour flight to Tanzania. On arrival, we had to go through passport control and buy visas for our overnight stay, which was a long process, and it wasn't until two hours later that we arrived at the AIM guest house for our overnight stay. We are SO thankful that we arrived with all our luggage intact as Dar is known for theft from luggage. That night, we walked to a nearby bar (complete with a live band, dancing, and lots of people), which was the only place for dinner, and discovered that Swahili really is the lingua franca of Tanzania. We asked the waiter if the chicken was roasted or fried and he replied "yes". Ok, there was no choice! it was fried, which is probably best since then any local germies were boiled to death, and our stomachs suffered no repercussions. We were brought a basin of water at the table to wash our hands, we ate everything with no silverware, and then another basin was brought to clean up afterwards. After 3 1/2 years in Moz, the kids didn't even bat an eye.
Here's a photo of us waiting for the taxi in Dar, with our four pieces of luggage. We sure came home with a lot less than we went out with it, and most of it is presents!
We boarded our Emirates flight to Dubai (5 1/2 hours long) at 4:40 the next afternoon after another taxi ride back to the airport, and it was uneventful except that Ben fell asleep as we landed. I pinched him, shook him, shoved chocolate in his mouth, but that kid was in a coma. Kevin carried him off the plane, we wheeled him in a kind of stroller to the next plane, and plopped him in his seat there, and he continued to sleep for 9 more hours! Which was a good thing, actually. We were disappointed that our flight was a little late getting into Dubai, which meant we had no time to look around that very interesting airport. We were through there at 2 am, and the place was buzzing with activity. Paul Slayton told us that most of Dubai's flights take off at night because during the day the air is too hot for the jets to get enough lift.
Our 13 1/2 hour flight to New York went fine, and it was funny to see so many Americans on the plane. We have seen so few Americans in the last years, besides missionary colleagues, that being surrounded by them was a wierd experience. There were college girls in very short shorts, sitting near the Middle-Eastern ladies clothed in black Burkhas. Rather an unwise choice for the girls, I would say, but they were oblivious. Each seat had its own tv screen with a huge choice of movies, tv shows and video games, and when Toby wasn't sleeping (he slept most of the night) he was happily playing video games. Ben woke up about 4 hours before we landed, and also enjoyed playing (completely unsuccessfully) the video games.
Landing in America. What a surreal experience. We felt like we had stepped into the twilight zone, and yet it was all so familiar. As we went through passport control, the agent said "welcome home" and it was such a - RELIEF. Since we left America, we are always greeted with suspicion at border control posts, and we always wonder if we will be allowed to pass, or if we will be hassled. But in America, we are welcome. It seemed like we waited forever for our luggage, in an enormous baggage terminal, and finally we stepped out to be greeted by Kevin's family and it was a beautiful thing. How could it be that only two mornings before we were driving out of Nampula on those bumpy roads, desperately poor people along the sides of the roads? People with things balanced on their heads, cell phone cards for sale beside the road, dust rising up, baskets of tomatoes and piles of bananas for sale everywhere? Now we were in an enormous parking garage, everything cemented or landscaped with GRASS. As we drove north to Connecticut, we stared at all the stores beside the highways, stadiums, the skyline of Manhattan. Wow. The kids actually handled it really well, and were more interested in the cookies their Grandma had brought! We picked up Kevin's brother's family, and went off to McDonalds for lunch, where the kids ate blissfully and were so excited at the Happy Meal toy.
Well, that is enough for now. We are so thankful for a smooth trip and that our luggage and ourselves made it safely. We are enjoying the good things that the USA has to offer (including way too much GOOD and fattening food!) and most especially seeing our families. That is the best part. More to come soon. - C
Saying Goodbye
We had some goodbyes to say not too long ago. The last two weeks before we left Mozambique on July 17th were full of busyness and sadness, as well as excitement for the road ahead.
The hardest people to say goobye to were the monitors. We had a special lunch for them the week we left, and Kevin was able to give them some final teaching on leadership, as well as give each of them a packet of materials and a calendar. There were tears in many of the guys' eyes as they said goodbye to us and we could see they had trouble believing we would return to Mozambique. A Mozambican friend of ours visited Canada last year, and he said to us after he returned that he can now appreciate how much we have given up to serve in Mozambique. I think that our monitors suspect as much, and know how hard it will be to say goodbye to family and return to Moz. We will pray for the monitors this year, that they will be strong and faithful, and that God will protect their families from sickness and harm.
We also said goodbye to various churches and friends. Here's a photo of our houseworker Teresa's family. She is a lovely woman who helped us faithfully, and always with a smile on her face. It was very sad to say goodbye to her, though we are glad that her husband is able to provide for the family so we don't have to worry about her family going hungry because we are not there to give her a job. It is awfully hard to find jobs in Nampula.
Here's a photo of Ben with his little friend from Portuguese preschool, Kelvin. He's a sweet little guy who befriended the "wierd" kid who didn't fit in. We've found that in all the schools where our kids have gone (not English-speaking schools) there is one child who reaches out to the stranger. We hope our kids will do the same for others.
It was also sad to say goodbye to our dogs, and to our missionary friends, many of whom have upheld us during some very difficult times during this term. Some of them will not be there when we go back, and we have no idea when we will see them again. Such is the life of a missionary!
As we finished up our work in Nampula, finished packing the last box and said the last goodbye, we looked at each other and said "Whew! We made it!". We feel like it is a big accomplishment to have completed this first term and as we look back over the last 3 1/2 years (we arrived in Moz on February 11th, 2007) we remember many very dark days as well as many very happy ones. We do love it in Mozambique and fully intend to return if it is God's will (and He will provide the support we need if it is!). Meanwhile, it is heart-wrenching to say goodbye to those we love, and a little hard to part with our "stuff", which is safely in storage along with our wonderful LandCruiser. - C
Last Day of School
On Toby's last day at the Morningstar Academy, there was a sports day. There were all kinds of races including rope climb, long jump, and, well, races. The highlight of the day were two soccer games, the moms against the first through fourth graders, and the dads against the fifth through eighth graders. Here's a photo of the moms team: I was the goalie (being unable to run around due to back problems). As goalie, I ensured a win by the kids when I let one get past me. The dads creamed the older kids, much to everyone's surprise, and they are still sore about the betrayal.
Here is a photo of the kids in Toby's first and second grade class: Paula (from Moz), Shumi (from Zimbabwe), Quinton (from USA and Brazil), Toby, and Kathriona (from Zimbabwe). Here is also a photo of Toby with his teacher, Peggy Dancey, to whom we are so grateful. Toby's school experience up to now has been so wonderful, full of all kinds of interesting projects and solid education. Thanks to Peggy (and his part-year teacher last year, Kelly Jarvis), Toby loves learning, loves going to school, and is reading at a level beyond his grade (he's into Hardy Boys books now). He'll start third grade in September at a public school in Connecticut, and we hope that his experiences continue to be positive. Many, many thanks to Peggy and the other teachers at Morningstar for their significant sacrifices (leaving home and family, and raising support) to minister to our children and provide them with a stable, loving school environment, preparing them for their transitions back and forth from their home countries. I think many fewer missionary families would be working in Nampula if not for this school, and certainly there would be a lot more tired missionary moms who had to homeschool! We look forward to Toby's return to Morningstar for Fourth Grade, and hope that Peggy Dancey will still be there when Ben starts first grade in 2012. - C
History in Mozambique
Here's a photo of Kevin and I in front of the chapel at the Fort at Ilha da Mocambique. This chapel is the oldest european-built structure in the southern hemisphere and was built by the Portuguese in the late 1500s. The fort was built later and was a base of operations for them in their control of trade and land off the coast of Africa. Kevin and I enjoyed spending a couple of days with colleagues and visitors at a beautiful beach. Unfortunately I was down sick the whole time, but at least it was a beautiful location. Mozambique has a lot of history, most of it bad, and you can read about it by using google. I say it is bad because there was so much oppression of the peoples of Mozambique, as there was with pretty much every colonial invader around the world, but in Moz it was especially harsh. -C
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Making an Mk's Day
This is a photo of the three dear folks who flew all the way from Western Canada (Vancouver) at considerable expense to minister to our children during our recent conference. The AIM conference was held in Nampula, for 39 adults and 11 children, from June 21-28th and was a very busy time. Barb Woodring came, along with Noah and Phil Balzer (father and son) to care for our children during all the meetings, but it was much more than that. they presented a full-on VBS program complete with surprises every day, treats brought from Canada, special events, and a birthday party with presents for each child! They had the kids every day from 8:30-12:30, 1:30-5:30, and then from 7-8. I don't know how they maintained such a level of energy to the end of the week, but they did it with smiles on their faces. The theme of the week was "God's Promises", dealing with covenants, and they used a lot of hockey-related images during the week too. Noah and Phil had brought their hockey gear and did skits for the kids as hockey players, and there were hockey t-shirts, jerseys, and hockey sticks for all the kids. There was even a day of "hockey training camp" and it was hilarious to see the kids running races dressed in adult hockey gear. They had such a blast and we are so grateful to Barb, Noah and Phil for their sacrifice of time, money and energy to minister to our kids. It was a week they'll never forget, and we hope that they all come back again next year! - C
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Malaria, Again
Well, we had hoped to avoid malaria this year but unfortunately I came down with it 10 days after returning from South Africa. I must have caught it in Maputo on my way back. I was down for a week with that nasty stuff and was glad to be rid of it. One of the treatments I took had sulfa in it, which I didn't realize, and so I had some itching along with the malaria misery (I am allergic to sulfa).
Toby had malaria (his fifth time) at the end of June, just as our conference ended. He always gets really pale and has a sore stomach, so we know to take him in and get him tested. He's had a problem before with reoccurances, so we'll be sure to bring a malaria test kit and treatment to the USA, as hospitals tend to "freak out" when you show up with malaria and want to admit you! But hopefully there won't be any reoccurances. Poor Toby always wants to keep going when he is sick - doesn't want to miss any time with his friends. He has recovered well, though he looks a bit thinner and we must fatten him up in the USA! - C
Toby had malaria (his fifth time) at the end of June, just as our conference ended. He always gets really pale and has a sore stomach, so we know to take him in and get him tested. He's had a problem before with reoccurances, so we'll be sure to bring a malaria test kit and treatment to the USA, as hospitals tend to "freak out" when you show up with malaria and want to admit you! But hopefully there won't be any reoccurances. Poor Toby always wants to keep going when he is sick - doesn't want to miss any time with his friends. He has recovered well, though he looks a bit thinner and we must fatten him up in the USA! - C
Moving house
We moved out of our house on June 2nd, and moved over to the SIL missions compound across town, into the house of friends. I was so sad to move out of our house, which had been a real refuge in times of trouble during these three years. The move went smoothly and we were grateful for the help of all of our AIM colleagues in town, who came with their trucks (everyone has trucks here, which helps on moving day!) to move our things across town to the 40-foot shipping container at the AIM property. We are thankful for this container, where all our belongings will be safe and dry during this next year while we are gone in the USA. It does get quite hot in there though, so we've found another home for our DVDs and computers while we are away. The container is packed full - moving an entire house was a new experience for me, as we've never lived in more than an apartment, really. It was a big job and my back was pretty sore at the end of it. Right now we are in the furnished house of a friend, which is a huge blessing. There has been much less to pack up at the end, and we are getting ready to pack the suitcases to go to the USA on Saturday, 17 July. We leave here at 9:30 am on that day and fly 3 hours to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where we spend the night. The next day at 4 pm, we fly to Dubai, a 5 hour flight. After a 3 hour layover in Dubai, we take the 13 hour flight to New York, where we'll be met by some very happy grandparents! - C
Monitors Chosen!
HEre is a photo of the monitors who are being trained to take over the program while we are on Home Assignment.
These men are dedicated church leaders who are working for no pay. They will each be leading a weekly Bible class, which lasts 10 weeks. We hope that there will be several rounds of classes during this next year, and that the monitors will stay strong in the Lord, and healthy. They are participating in this program because they want to see others grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures and of God, and it is exciting to see them at work! Kevin has been supervising their classes since March, and discipling them along the way. -C
It's been awhile!
I realized that my last post was done in March, and I apologize. We hadn't had internet at home from late February until early June, and just never had the time to update the blog from the internet cafe.
A lot has happened in the last few months and I will try to do some short blog posts to catch you up. However, we are moving from Moz to Connecticut on Saturday, so there is not much time! - C
A lot has happened in the last few months and I will try to do some short blog posts to catch you up. However, we are moving from Moz to Connecticut on Saturday, so there is not much time! - C
Toby turns 8!
Toby turned 8 on April 25th, and we can't believe he is so old. He is in second grade this year, and has been reading longer and longer books all by himself. He is voracious reader, and has in particular been enjoying the Hank the Cowdog books this year. We are so blessed with a great library at his school, where he can take books out weekly. This is a photo of a recent MAF flight, by the way. He and i got the chance to accompany these two MKs to pick up their dad. We flew 1 1/2 hours but once we got there, the clouds were too thick to land, so we had to turn around and come back without the dad. Toby rode in front with the pilot, and when the pilot told he that we couldn't land because of the clouds, Toby was quiet for a minute and then asked calmly "Does that mean we are going to crash?". The pilot was quite taken aback, and told us later that he'll have to phrase that differently in future!
This year, Toby has been meeting twice weekly with a Portuguese tutor, and shown a lot of progress. He doesn't enjoy speaking Portuguese that much, but we think it was because he wasn't very good at it. His skills have improved remarkably and he is more comfortable playing with kids who speak no English. He has been very successful in school this year and is an enthusiastic learner. But he is even more enthusiastic to spend time with his friends, of which he has many. He is very social, and lots of fun to be with. In particular, he's gotten very good at several complicated board games and regularly trounces his parents but is a good sport when he loses. We are enjoying him in different ways as he grows, having deeper conversations and discussions, and he has a real interest in spiritual things. We are so proud of the person he is becoming and look forward to what the year holds for him! -C
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monitors Press On!
Kevin has been busily supervising the new TEE monitors (the six men chosen to teach classes in Theological Education by Extension) as well as teaching two of his own classes. Mostly, it has been good and Kevin is impressed by the level of commitment from most of the monitors. He has been attending almost all of their classes and helping them to improve and condense what they know into a great environment for discussions. More on that in our upcoming newsletter! -C
Ben turns 4!
It was sad to me that I wasn’t with Ben on his 4th birthday, since I was in South Africa, but being Ben, he wasn’t sad. He is a happy little guy and despite his many moments of stubborn determination to do exactly what he is not supposed to, we enjoy him a great deal. He is destined to do great things, with all that willpower. Here is a photo of him with his Spiderman cake, which mommy made after she got back. We enjoyed his party with dear friends, and he also had a party at school with his little playmates. Ben’s accomplishments this year include learning to use a computer (seemingly effortlessly), beginning to speak Portuguese, pouring drinks without spilling (mostly) and inventing all kinds of new ways to try to get what he wants. We are on to him, though. What a joy he is to all of us, and his funny remarks frequently leave us laughing. - C
From this to the Superhighway
We have purchased our tickets back to the USA! I was tempted to write “home” but Mozambique is our home now and we try to make that a point with the kids. They are living here at home, not away from their home.
Here is a photo of us walking home from church. We have to ford a small stream.
We will land in New York on July 19th, after 21 hours total flying time and one overnight stay in Tanzania. We have been looking at schedules and plan to be in Ohio in August for two weeks, then settle in Casa Zwart (Kevin’s parents) from September to December, then in Fairfield Country, CT (near our main supporting church) from February to May. During those months, we’ll be doing a lot of side trips to various places including Oklahoma, Colorado, Hawaii, Ohio and two locations in New York State. We should have our schedule published in the next couple of months. Meanwhile, we’ll be moving out of our house here in early June, and staying at the SIL missions compound in town until our departure date. So, May will be “pack up everything we own” month, which we aren’t especially looking forward to. It will be sad to leave our house here, which has been a huge blessing to us, but we are excited about what is ahead. Top of the list: seeing loved ones. It is hard to believe it will be 3 ½ years since most of our family has seen us and the kids, and it will be a happy reunion. - C
Going to South Africa
Many of you know that I have been having back problems for a long time now – over two years. The severity of back pain has ranged from bad to none, though since August of last year it has been constant. After seeing a German physiotherapist (translation: someone who is actually qualified as opposed to the treatment you’d get in the physio department of the local hospital here) for some months and seeing little improvement, God made a way for me to leave my family for 10 days and fly south. This would be 2 ½ day trip by car (over some bumpy roads) but I was able to fly only two hours to the capital city of Maputo, then take the bus 3 hours west, crossing the border into South Africa.
Long story short, x-rays revealed that I have mild scoliosis (which we knew) and a tilted pelvis. Because my “core” muscles that support the back are very weak (after 3 c-sections) my spine is not properly supported and parts of my spine are rubbing together, resulting in some arthritis. This is part of the reason for more severe pain when I do a lot of driving over our bumpy roads here in Nampula. Since my core muscles don’t work right, my back muscles are trying to support the spine and have all gone into spasm. Pain cause number two. The physio I saw who specializes in backs feels that strengthening my core muscles will resolve a lot of the back pain, and has given me an hour-long program which I do every morning. I appreciate your prayers for me, that all back pain will be gone! I am so grateful to God for the doors he opened for me to take this trip, and to Kevin for being willing to shoulder so much while I was gone, as well as to the dear friends who helped him out.
by the way, I brought back MacDonalds french fries for the guys, but they were a sad disappointment - 30 hours on the road did not leave them very tasty! Toby still loved them, though. – C
What is Normal?
Conversation between Kevin and Cami, driving in the car one evening:
Kevin: There’s the crazy guy.
Cami: He doesn’t have any pants on tonight.
Kevin: Well, it is hot today.
Cami: Yup, that’s true
Cami: Did we just think that was a normal conversation?
Yes, we have given him clothes before, but sometimes he doesn’t wear them. Sometimes we just take for granted things here that would be totally off-the-wall if we lived in America! This conversation was about a mentally ill man who lives in town – there are a few people like this around town, and sometimes you do see totally naked people walking down the street. Likely they need medications, but that type of thing isn’t very available here. They are still doing shock therapy at the mental hospital to “cure” people. Sad.
Kevin: There’s the crazy guy.
Cami: He doesn’t have any pants on tonight.
Kevin: Well, it is hot today.
Cami: Yup, that’s true
Cami: Did we just think that was a normal conversation?
Yes, we have given him clothes before, but sometimes he doesn’t wear them. Sometimes we just take for granted things here that would be totally off-the-wall if we lived in America! This conversation was about a mentally ill man who lives in town – there are a few people like this around town, and sometimes you do see totally naked people walking down the street. Likely they need medications, but that type of thing isn’t very available here. They are still doing shock therapy at the mental hospital to “cure” people. Sad.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sum of the Last Two Days
Yesterday Kevin and I went out for our Valentine's Day lunch (early, 'cause we work on Sundays) at one of the big hotels in town, where they serve authentic Indian food (there are many Indians in town) and then enjoyed a bit of roadside shopping at the used clothing stalls. We bought a few things for Benjamin and a new purse for me. Mine was stolen in November and I never did replace it. Toby’s school had a little party, and I brought cupcakes for the whole student body and teachers (numbering 30), while Benjamin played at a nearby friend’s house. I did quite a bit of shopping this week, stocking up the larder with cans of black beans, a big can of powdered milk, spaghetti, and fresh produce in the fridge (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and green peppers). Kevin has been meeting with the monitors, overseeing classes, preparing a sermon and he attended the funeral of our landlord’s father.
This morning we received word that the son of one of our monitors, Alberto Castelo, died. Earlier this week, I took his wife and this child around to several pharmacies in town to buy the medication that they would never be able to afford: Malaria treatment, antibiotics, and Tylenol. Total cost: about $8. We hoped that this treatment would send him on the road to recovery, but this latest sickness was too much for him. He had been sick off and on since birth, and didn’t walk even though he was almost 3 years old. He was as small as a 14 month old. It is another tragedy for Castelo, who lost a baby just last year in April. The funeral will likely be on Monday.
Today is also the funeral for Kevin’s grandfather. Lorance was his last living grandparent, and the sixth of our grandparents who has died while we were overseas. It is painful for us to miss yet another funeral for a loved one, and we are especially sad that we won’t be able to see Lorance again on this earth. He was 95 and a really good guy. We are thankful, however, that he knew the Lord and we will see him again in heaven.
This morning I went to a ladies meeting at my church. We met at the pastor’s house (20 minutes fast walk from my house), then walked another 20 minutes to the church, then afterwards walked 15 minutes to visit a lady with a baby, then another 20 minutes back to my house. With temps in the high 90s, I returned feeling rather limp! While visiting the lady with the baby, I noticed that the one-month old was wearing a charm around his wrist, to protect him from evil spirits. Almost all babies wear these, and they are put on by witch doctors. I’ll have to speak to the pastor’s wife, who didn’t seem bothered by it. She also announced that the baby was now a Christian, since we had prayed for him, which is another thing we’ll have to discuss. Just another example of the “heresies” that are present in all the churches here and are due to the lack of Bible teaching. At the meeting, they asked me to teach them an American song and dance (we dance while we sing here) and since I don’t have any praise dance songs, I taught them to do the cha-cha-cha while we sang “God is so Good” in Portuguese, Makua, and English! They enjoyed it a lot and it promises to be a fun time tomorrow when we do the cha-cha-cha in church. We also practiced a drama of the parable of the Prodigal Son for performance in church tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Kevin and the boys went to a yard sale of retiring missionaries. These kind of sales are a big draw for missionaries, because you can buy items that you’d never get in stores here. The big purchase of the morning was a used American-made standing fan for $20, and we were glad to have it! Most of the electronics you buy here are poor quality, and American-made promises to last for some time. They also bought some construction paper, watercolor paints, and a hot glue gun.
This afternoon, Toby’s Portuguese teacher will come at 3 pm to teach Toby for an hour, and he’ll teach me from 4 to 5. He is a very pleasant young man who is well-spoken, though his spelling is awful. I need to find out what the difference is for two words, which are similar to “put” and “place”, and when I should use which one. I also want to find out all of the words for “attend” and “go to”, as there are different verbs for different situations. You may attend a church service, but have another word when you go to a meeting, and another word when you are at a public event. Portuguese is a very specific language, verb-wise. Meanwhile, Kevin is off to oversee more classes, teach a class, and then will drive 30 minutes outside of town to find out when the funeral for Castelo’s child will be. No one out there has a phone. - C
This morning we received word that the son of one of our monitors, Alberto Castelo, died. Earlier this week, I took his wife and this child around to several pharmacies in town to buy the medication that they would never be able to afford: Malaria treatment, antibiotics, and Tylenol. Total cost: about $8. We hoped that this treatment would send him on the road to recovery, but this latest sickness was too much for him. He had been sick off and on since birth, and didn’t walk even though he was almost 3 years old. He was as small as a 14 month old. It is another tragedy for Castelo, who lost a baby just last year in April. The funeral will likely be on Monday.
Today is also the funeral for Kevin’s grandfather. Lorance was his last living grandparent, and the sixth of our grandparents who has died while we were overseas. It is painful for us to miss yet another funeral for a loved one, and we are especially sad that we won’t be able to see Lorance again on this earth. He was 95 and a really good guy. We are thankful, however, that he knew the Lord and we will see him again in heaven.
This morning I went to a ladies meeting at my church. We met at the pastor’s house (20 minutes fast walk from my house), then walked another 20 minutes to the church, then afterwards walked 15 minutes to visit a lady with a baby, then another 20 minutes back to my house. With temps in the high 90s, I returned feeling rather limp! While visiting the lady with the baby, I noticed that the one-month old was wearing a charm around his wrist, to protect him from evil spirits. Almost all babies wear these, and they are put on by witch doctors. I’ll have to speak to the pastor’s wife, who didn’t seem bothered by it. She also announced that the baby was now a Christian, since we had prayed for him, which is another thing we’ll have to discuss. Just another example of the “heresies” that are present in all the churches here and are due to the lack of Bible teaching. At the meeting, they asked me to teach them an American song and dance (we dance while we sing here) and since I don’t have any praise dance songs, I taught them to do the cha-cha-cha while we sang “God is so Good” in Portuguese, Makua, and English! They enjoyed it a lot and it promises to be a fun time tomorrow when we do the cha-cha-cha in church. We also practiced a drama of the parable of the Prodigal Son for performance in church tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Kevin and the boys went to a yard sale of retiring missionaries. These kind of sales are a big draw for missionaries, because you can buy items that you’d never get in stores here. The big purchase of the morning was a used American-made standing fan for $20, and we were glad to have it! Most of the electronics you buy here are poor quality, and American-made promises to last for some time. They also bought some construction paper, watercolor paints, and a hot glue gun.
This afternoon, Toby’s Portuguese teacher will come at 3 pm to teach Toby for an hour, and he’ll teach me from 4 to 5. He is a very pleasant young man who is well-spoken, though his spelling is awful. I need to find out what the difference is for two words, which are similar to “put” and “place”, and when I should use which one. I also want to find out all of the words for “attend” and “go to”, as there are different verbs for different situations. You may attend a church service, but have another word when you go to a meeting, and another word when you are at a public event. Portuguese is a very specific language, verb-wise. Meanwhile, Kevin is off to oversee more classes, teach a class, and then will drive 30 minutes outside of town to find out when the funeral for Castelo’s child will be. No one out there has a phone. - C
Kidnapping
Yesterday, there was a terrible event in our town: the young son of a Nampula family was kidnapped at gunpoint right outside of his house while on his way to school. This family was certainly targeted because they are very wealthy, and a ransom of about $8,000 has been asked. This is a huge sum for people here, though this family is doubtless able to pay. Apparently the same thing happened in another big town last year, and although the money was paid, the child was not returned and has not been seen since.
I feel terrible for this family and hope and pray that they get their son back unharmed. The whole situation makes me very nervous for my family as well, since we are perceived to be wealthy since we are white, and American. The car we drive is the same make as the one the president drives (though ours is 15 years old, it looks much newer than that) and we live in a much larger house than your average Mozambican. Here, unfortunately, “white” equals “rich” and although it is true that we are much wealthier than your average Mozambican, our bank balance is still not very high. It is often frustrating to us to be perceived as limitlessly wealthy, and we know it is frustrating to local people here sometimes that we don’t give out more money.
Anyway, we just have to hope that none of the missionaries here will be targeted by this kind of crime. It is the first kidnapping for ransom that we have heard of in Nampula, though in the capital of Mozambique it has been happening for some time. We hope that this is not the start of a crime wave of this type.
I was speaking to a Mozambican about this event yesterday, and he said “Now you know how we feel. Black people are kidnapped all the time, and their families never see them again.” There are foreigners (other Africans, mostly) who “steal” people in Nampula (and in other places) and sell them as slaves, sending them to other countries. Stories are circulating about people stolen during the night when they went out of their house to use the bathroom, and about children who are stolen in the middle of the daytime. I’m not sure how many of these stories are just rumors, because there are lots of rumors also about how white people eat black children, and how much human trafficking actually does go on. I have seen statistics, though, that do show that trafficking does come through Mozambique, whether it is people stolen from other parts of Africa and brought through Moz on the way to somewhere else, or people stolen from Moz I don’t know.
How will I protect my family? Mostly just pray. Also we don’t leave the kids unattended, or allow them to be escorted around town by local people, who are much more likely to be assaulted. It seems unfair that there is yet one more thing to have to be on our guard against, when there is so much already! But we are thankful that we live in a secure home and have people to watch out for us. - C
I feel terrible for this family and hope and pray that they get their son back unharmed. The whole situation makes me very nervous for my family as well, since we are perceived to be wealthy since we are white, and American. The car we drive is the same make as the one the president drives (though ours is 15 years old, it looks much newer than that) and we live in a much larger house than your average Mozambican. Here, unfortunately, “white” equals “rich” and although it is true that we are much wealthier than your average Mozambican, our bank balance is still not very high. It is often frustrating to us to be perceived as limitlessly wealthy, and we know it is frustrating to local people here sometimes that we don’t give out more money.
Anyway, we just have to hope that none of the missionaries here will be targeted by this kind of crime. It is the first kidnapping for ransom that we have heard of in Nampula, though in the capital of Mozambique it has been happening for some time. We hope that this is not the start of a crime wave of this type.
I was speaking to a Mozambican about this event yesterday, and he said “Now you know how we feel. Black people are kidnapped all the time, and their families never see them again.” There are foreigners (other Africans, mostly) who “steal” people in Nampula (and in other places) and sell them as slaves, sending them to other countries. Stories are circulating about people stolen during the night when they went out of their house to use the bathroom, and about children who are stolen in the middle of the daytime. I’m not sure how many of these stories are just rumors, because there are lots of rumors also about how white people eat black children, and how much human trafficking actually does go on. I have seen statistics, though, that do show that trafficking does come through Mozambique, whether it is people stolen from other parts of Africa and brought through Moz on the way to somewhere else, or people stolen from Moz I don’t know.
How will I protect my family? Mostly just pray. Also we don’t leave the kids unattended, or allow them to be escorted around town by local people, who are much more likely to be assaulted. It seems unfair that there is yet one more thing to have to be on our guard against, when there is so much already! But we are thankful that we live in a secure home and have people to watch out for us. - C
Say That Again?
I teach a Sunday School class at our local church. I teach it, but I often wonder if many of the children learn anything. Why? Because I teach it in Portuguese, and most of these children speak only Makua.
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” You say. You’re right. It doesn’t! So why am I standing up there blathering away about God creating the earth and such, in a language these kids don’t speak very much of? Their parents want me to.
First I ought to explain some things about Mozambique. There are over 60 tribal languages, though the “trade language” is Portuguese. When I go to town, I could walk around for a long time before I found anyone who spoke English, and many of the conversations are going on in Portuguese. It would be easy for a visitor to assume that everyone here speaks fluent Portuguese and would be just as comfortable in Portugal or Brazil as they are here. However, that is not the case at all. Among ALL of the people here (except perhaps a small subset), Portuguese is their second language. There are actually millions of people in Mozambique who speak no or almost no Portuguese at all. These are the folks out in the villages. If I wanted to go out and speak to a group of women in a village just 10 miles outside of town, I’d need a translator. In fact, right here in Nampula I frequently meet women who speak very little Portuguese. I’ve actually had women in the market stare at me panic-stricken when I’ve asked them a question like “Where did you buy that?”. They don’t know what I am saying.
There are quite a few men whose Portuguese is not so hot, either, but the level of the women tends to be lower. Why? Because for many children, Portuguese is first learned in school and not before. Since girls are less likely to go to school or stay in school, they are more likely to speak only their tribal language.
This is the problem in Sunday School. There are a lot of younger children who have not even gone to school yet, so they haven’t learned much Portuguese. At home and with their friends, they speak Makua. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
So, why do the church leaders insist that the children must be taught in Portuguese? Because Portuguese is the language of the church. Missionaries who come in rarely learn the tribal languages (after spending 2 years learning Portuguese, the idea of learning yet another language is daunting – let’s get to work instead!). Pastors who go away to Bible School always learn in Portuguese (too many languages, we’ve got to pick one that everyone speaks). Courses and seminars are always given in Portuguese for those same reasons. Because of this, the “religious words” that people learn are all in Portuguese. There probably isn’t even a word for “redemption” in Makua. One could be invented, surely, but at this point people use Portuguese words. All the Bible helps are in Portuguese, all the good Bibles, all the educated people in the city work in Portuguese. To have a Portuguese-speaking church is a major status symbol.
Therefore, to give the children a good basis in “churchiness” and in religious instruction, they must be taught in Portuguese. Eventually they’ll learn it, and doubtless it will be a help to them in school and such. But meanwhile, these kids just stare at me blankly when I ask a question. Part of the problem here may be that Makua children are not taught to speak to adults. They learn by observation, not by discussion. So, when I ask a question, even a child who understands will be reluctant to volunteer an answer. But mostly, they just don’t know what I am talking about. Last week, I asked the children who created the world. Blank stares from 15 children. We had had literally 10 lessons on who created the world. But very few of them had understood anything. I wanted to sink down on the ground and bury my face in my hands. Finally, I dragged the answer out of one of the four children that I knew understood. “God”, he whispered.
I’m meeting with the wife of the leader of the church this week and tendering my resignation. Not out of spite, not out of frustration, but out of a simple belief that I am not the best teacher for these kids. They need someone who speaks Makua, someone who can give a quick translation from the Portuguese when needed. And the church won’t look for more teachers unless they are forced to. So, I’m forcing them by withdrawing to the sidelines and offering to train teachers, but refusing to teach.
If I had my way, all of the teaching would be in Makua. Unfortunately, it is not likely that this will happen. It is also hard to find teachers in my little church . . . the ladies who could help with the teaching don’t read or write, and therefore can’t read the Sunday school materials that are written in Portuguese (which they also don’t speak very well). The men are all busy with teaching the adults, except for one man who is involved in teaching the kids. But he’ll need help. Keep them in your prayers and let’s see what God does! And by the way, we do plan to learn Makua, starting after we return from our home assignment next year. It is an extremely difficult language, so it will take some time to reach proficiency. - C
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” You say. You’re right. It doesn’t! So why am I standing up there blathering away about God creating the earth and such, in a language these kids don’t speak very much of? Their parents want me to.
First I ought to explain some things about Mozambique. There are over 60 tribal languages, though the “trade language” is Portuguese. When I go to town, I could walk around for a long time before I found anyone who spoke English, and many of the conversations are going on in Portuguese. It would be easy for a visitor to assume that everyone here speaks fluent Portuguese and would be just as comfortable in Portugal or Brazil as they are here. However, that is not the case at all. Among ALL of the people here (except perhaps a small subset), Portuguese is their second language. There are actually millions of people in Mozambique who speak no or almost no Portuguese at all. These are the folks out in the villages. If I wanted to go out and speak to a group of women in a village just 10 miles outside of town, I’d need a translator. In fact, right here in Nampula I frequently meet women who speak very little Portuguese. I’ve actually had women in the market stare at me panic-stricken when I’ve asked them a question like “Where did you buy that?”. They don’t know what I am saying.
There are quite a few men whose Portuguese is not so hot, either, but the level of the women tends to be lower. Why? Because for many children, Portuguese is first learned in school and not before. Since girls are less likely to go to school or stay in school, they are more likely to speak only their tribal language.
This is the problem in Sunday School. There are a lot of younger children who have not even gone to school yet, so they haven’t learned much Portuguese. At home and with their friends, they speak Makua. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
So, why do the church leaders insist that the children must be taught in Portuguese? Because Portuguese is the language of the church. Missionaries who come in rarely learn the tribal languages (after spending 2 years learning Portuguese, the idea of learning yet another language is daunting – let’s get to work instead!). Pastors who go away to Bible School always learn in Portuguese (too many languages, we’ve got to pick one that everyone speaks). Courses and seminars are always given in Portuguese for those same reasons. Because of this, the “religious words” that people learn are all in Portuguese. There probably isn’t even a word for “redemption” in Makua. One could be invented, surely, but at this point people use Portuguese words. All the Bible helps are in Portuguese, all the good Bibles, all the educated people in the city work in Portuguese. To have a Portuguese-speaking church is a major status symbol.
Therefore, to give the children a good basis in “churchiness” and in religious instruction, they must be taught in Portuguese. Eventually they’ll learn it, and doubtless it will be a help to them in school and such. But meanwhile, these kids just stare at me blankly when I ask a question. Part of the problem here may be that Makua children are not taught to speak to adults. They learn by observation, not by discussion. So, when I ask a question, even a child who understands will be reluctant to volunteer an answer. But mostly, they just don’t know what I am talking about. Last week, I asked the children who created the world. Blank stares from 15 children. We had had literally 10 lessons on who created the world. But very few of them had understood anything. I wanted to sink down on the ground and bury my face in my hands. Finally, I dragged the answer out of one of the four children that I knew understood. “God”, he whispered.
I’m meeting with the wife of the leader of the church this week and tendering my resignation. Not out of spite, not out of frustration, but out of a simple belief that I am not the best teacher for these kids. They need someone who speaks Makua, someone who can give a quick translation from the Portuguese when needed. And the church won’t look for more teachers unless they are forced to. So, I’m forcing them by withdrawing to the sidelines and offering to train teachers, but refusing to teach.
If I had my way, all of the teaching would be in Makua. Unfortunately, it is not likely that this will happen. It is also hard to find teachers in my little church . . . the ladies who could help with the teaching don’t read or write, and therefore can’t read the Sunday school materials that are written in Portuguese (which they also don’t speak very well). The men are all busy with teaching the adults, except for one man who is involved in teaching the kids. But he’ll need help. Keep them in your prayers and let’s see what God does! And by the way, we do plan to learn Makua, starting after we return from our home assignment next year. It is an extremely difficult language, so it will take some time to reach proficiency. - C
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
TEE Monitor Training - A Big Event!
Last week was a big one at our house. Two pastors traveled five hours by minibus taxi to stay with us all week and train the six chosen TEE monitors. Each of these six will begin teaching their own classes soon, in teams of two, and needed to be trained in how to run a TEE class. These classes are discussion-based, not lecture-based, which is a completely different model than what each of these men grew up with. Training them to work in this different format is challenging, but they seem to really enjoy the new ideas and format.
Pastor Campos and Pastor Mala are the two men who traveled from Mocuba to do the trainings, and each of them has a great deal of experience in teaching TEE and running a program. The TEE program in Mocuba is about 10 years old and has over 1,200 students! So, they had a lot of share and put together a great program for our guys, which lasted from 8-5 daily from Monday to Wednesday. They had actually planned to teach until Friday, but found the men already trained in some areas, and told Kevin that he had “cleaned the field” well. These two pastors stayed in our guest room and were so pleasant to have as guests. One day, I decided to feed all of the men pancakes for lunch, and they loved them! It was fun to share our differing cultures and there was a lot of discussion and laughter on many topics. We commented on how difficult their tribal language of Macua is, and they responded that English is much harder!
For Kevin, the week was a realization of a dream come true. See his blog for more on that. It was exciting for our whole family to see the start of the real work, which will be done by Mozambicans, for Mozambicans. We hope to see more and more people come to know and understand God better through these six men, and can’t wait to see what God will do with them, and with others who will be trained, in the years to come. - C
Pastor Campos and Pastor Mala are the two men who traveled from Mocuba to do the trainings, and each of them has a great deal of experience in teaching TEE and running a program. The TEE program in Mocuba is about 10 years old and has over 1,200 students! So, they had a lot of share and put together a great program for our guys, which lasted from 8-5 daily from Monday to Wednesday. They had actually planned to teach until Friday, but found the men already trained in some areas, and told Kevin that he had “cleaned the field” well. These two pastors stayed in our guest room and were so pleasant to have as guests. One day, I decided to feed all of the men pancakes for lunch, and they loved them! It was fun to share our differing cultures and there was a lot of discussion and laughter on many topics. We commented on how difficult their tribal language of Macua is, and they responded that English is much harder!
For Kevin, the week was a realization of a dream come true. See his blog for more on that. It was exciting for our whole family to see the start of the real work, which will be done by Mozambicans, for Mozambicans. We hope to see more and more people come to know and understand God better through these six men, and can’t wait to see what God will do with them, and with others who will be trained, in the years to come. - C
Trip to Iapala
Back in November, Kevin took a very exciting trip with the six men that he is training to become TEE monitors. Unfortunately, he didn’t take any photos, so a description will have to suffice.
As part of their training, Kevin wanted to take the guys out to a bush location so that they could teach others what they had learned about the book of Genesis (which was the TEE book they did together in the second part of last year). They wanted to go somewhere where they could have a variety of denominations meeting (enmity between denominations is a big problem here) and really have a group of people eager to hear more about the Bible. They chose Iapala, a location about 150 Kms from Nampula, because no one ever goes out there to encourage the Christians.
Kevin borrowed equipment to show various films while they were out there, and a trailer to put it in, and hooked it all up and pulled out on a Thursday afternoon. He picked up all the guys, and they drove about 3 hours, over a rough dirt track, to Iapala. That night, they slept in a tent together (which the guys really thought was interesting – both the sleeping in a tent and sharing accommodation with a white guy) and the next morning the teachings began. Each of the men had prepared 1 ½ hours worth of teaching, and most of the teachings had about 50 people in attendance. They showed a movie each night, with 300 to 400 attending each night. They showed the History of the Bible, Story of Paul, and the Jesus film.
The church that hosted the event is one that broke away from another major denomination last year, and as a result of this, no one from the other churches wanted to go into their mud-brick building. Yet another example of denominationalism! It was sad to all of the guys to see this, and annoying to Kevin as the heads of those other denominations had promised to send their people. However, the local church did a great job of providing food for Kevin and the guys, and they were provided with three meals a day of cornmeal mush, often topped with beans. Kevin was glad to eat something else when he came back! It was a major sacrifice for those out in the village to provide all of this food, and an example of how hospitable many Mozambicans are, as well as how eager to hear about the Bible.
The only catch in the whole weekend? One of the guys helpfully locked up our truck, not realizing that the keys were inside. The only other set were with me, three hours away in Nampula. A young man with a car in a nearby town was sent to pick up the keys, and unfortunately he saw it as an opportunity to get an entire tank of gas free, instead of just the amount he actually used while driving. It was interesting to see, however, how the guys took on the responsibility for the bad behavior of their countryman. Normally, the white man/foreigner would be expected to cough up all the money requested, no matter how unfair the claim. But the guys told Kevin he didn’t owe anything, and signed a paper promising to pay the young man what he requested. Of course, we did put in quite a bit of the money later rather than see the families of these guys go hungry to pay this amount, but they genuinely desired to handle this themselves.
Kevin returned on Sunday afternoon, tired but happy. The thing had really been a success, and it was a great opportunity for the guys to stretch their teaching muscles, and for Kevin to observe in what areas they needed refinement and encouragement. The believers in Iapala were sincerely grateful for the visit and the teaching, and another step taken in creating an independent TEE program in Nampula province. - C
As part of their training, Kevin wanted to take the guys out to a bush location so that they could teach others what they had learned about the book of Genesis (which was the TEE book they did together in the second part of last year). They wanted to go somewhere where they could have a variety of denominations meeting (enmity between denominations is a big problem here) and really have a group of people eager to hear more about the Bible. They chose Iapala, a location about 150 Kms from Nampula, because no one ever goes out there to encourage the Christians.
Kevin borrowed equipment to show various films while they were out there, and a trailer to put it in, and hooked it all up and pulled out on a Thursday afternoon. He picked up all the guys, and they drove about 3 hours, over a rough dirt track, to Iapala. That night, they slept in a tent together (which the guys really thought was interesting – both the sleeping in a tent and sharing accommodation with a white guy) and the next morning the teachings began. Each of the men had prepared 1 ½ hours worth of teaching, and most of the teachings had about 50 people in attendance. They showed a movie each night, with 300 to 400 attending each night. They showed the History of the Bible, Story of Paul, and the Jesus film.
The church that hosted the event is one that broke away from another major denomination last year, and as a result of this, no one from the other churches wanted to go into their mud-brick building. Yet another example of denominationalism! It was sad to all of the guys to see this, and annoying to Kevin as the heads of those other denominations had promised to send their people. However, the local church did a great job of providing food for Kevin and the guys, and they were provided with three meals a day of cornmeal mush, often topped with beans. Kevin was glad to eat something else when he came back! It was a major sacrifice for those out in the village to provide all of this food, and an example of how hospitable many Mozambicans are, as well as how eager to hear about the Bible.
The only catch in the whole weekend? One of the guys helpfully locked up our truck, not realizing that the keys were inside. The only other set were with me, three hours away in Nampula. A young man with a car in a nearby town was sent to pick up the keys, and unfortunately he saw it as an opportunity to get an entire tank of gas free, instead of just the amount he actually used while driving. It was interesting to see, however, how the guys took on the responsibility for the bad behavior of their countryman. Normally, the white man/foreigner would be expected to cough up all the money requested, no matter how unfair the claim. But the guys told Kevin he didn’t owe anything, and signed a paper promising to pay the young man what he requested. Of course, we did put in quite a bit of the money later rather than see the families of these guys go hungry to pay this amount, but they genuinely desired to handle this themselves.
Kevin returned on Sunday afternoon, tired but happy. The thing had really been a success, and it was a great opportunity for the guys to stretch their teaching muscles, and for Kevin to observe in what areas they needed refinement and encouragement. The believers in Iapala were sincerely grateful for the visit and the teaching, and another step taken in creating an independent TEE program in Nampula province. - C
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Vacation in Malawi
We have been so blessed every year to go to Malawi for some time away. The stresses of living here really get to you after awhile, and once you start to become really grumpy with people asking you for money, or being late, or the power going off and on, then you know it is time to get away. God has provided us with very cheap accommodation each year, and we've been grateful to have time with friends and alone as a family. And two major bonuses: Malawi is English-speaking, and much cooler than Mozambique!
Here's a photo of a place we spend a lot of time at in Blantyre, the second-largest city. It has a big store that sells toys and household items, as well as electronics and plastic storage boxes and all kinds of things! We are always excited to go to this store and we go up and down all of the aisles and look at everything three or four times. The kids are especially excited to see the toys, though the prices of these toys are really amazing. This year, Toby wanted to spend some of his Christmas money on four Hot Wheels cars. Price tag? $50. I am not kidding. I told him no way, that grandma would send him some that she can buy for $2 each. In the end, both kids got some things that they really liked and Kevin and I bought some things near and dear to our hearts: Me, a plastic salad dressing mixing bottle, and Kevin, plastic storage boxes for his tools!
We also took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda at the new movie theater there. We have seen the movie quite a few times already on our little DVD player with the 8 inch screen, but watching it on the big screen was amazing! It was Ben's first movie ever, and Toby and I hadn't been to the movies since we left the USA three years ago (Kevin went once in Kenya). Wow, movies are powerful.
In Blantyre, we also bought new tires for our car, which were desperately needed and hadn't been found in Nampula. When Kevin showed the tire salesman our old tires, he looked horrified and we were so glad to get new ones, thanks to a generous supporter! We also went to the dentist (clean bill of health)
and I got new glasses. It was also fun to visit a large African church that was more like the American churches we know (with sound system, large building, worship singing, a 3-point sermon). We are used to sitting in a small mud-brick building for church services, and listening to sermons that are usually not quite on the mark, so it was great to hear some real teaching.
After Blantyre, we spent four days near Zomba mountain and traveled up the mountain on two of those days to do some hiking and viewing off the mountain. Oh, it was so beautiful and green up there. We picnicked and walked in the woods and just soaked in the cool green.
From there, we went up to Lake Malawi for a week, where we spent Christmas Day with two other families, dear friends who are working in western Mozambique and came over to join us at the lake. It was great to spend time talking, laughing and sharing with them and the kids had a great time. There were 7 boys and one girl, and there was a great deal of swimming and running around the large yard. Christmas Day was totally different than in America, with only one very small gift opened in the privacy of our room, and stockings for the kids to open (other gifts had been opened before - don't worry, the kids got plenty!). We had a Christmas service with singing and the Christmas story, then spent the rest of the day swimming, caring for those who had come down with malaria, fixing the car, and grilling pork ribs and fish caught by the guys in our group. The next morning, we all packed up, said goodbye, and headed home. It was a great vacation and we were so thankful for the much-needed break. It is on trips like these that we remember who we are and can refocus and think about the coming year. There is always the stress of travel in Africa, like bad roads (almost all dirt roads on the twelve-hour trip home), border crossings and dealing with difficult police, stress of costs and things that need to be purchased, and the danger of criminals who prey on out-of-towners, but God really watched over us and kept us safe. It was a wonderful time of refreshment. -C
Here's a photo of a place we spend a lot of time at in Blantyre, the second-largest city. It has a big store that sells toys and household items, as well as electronics and plastic storage boxes and all kinds of things! We are always excited to go to this store and we go up and down all of the aisles and look at everything three or four times. The kids are especially excited to see the toys, though the prices of these toys are really amazing. This year, Toby wanted to spend some of his Christmas money on four Hot Wheels cars. Price tag? $50. I am not kidding. I told him no way, that grandma would send him some that she can buy for $2 each. In the end, both kids got some things that they really liked and Kevin and I bought some things near and dear to our hearts: Me, a plastic salad dressing mixing bottle, and Kevin, plastic storage boxes for his tools!
We also took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda at the new movie theater there. We have seen the movie quite a few times already on our little DVD player with the 8 inch screen, but watching it on the big screen was amazing! It was Ben's first movie ever, and Toby and I hadn't been to the movies since we left the USA three years ago (Kevin went once in Kenya). Wow, movies are powerful.
In Blantyre, we also bought new tires for our car, which were desperately needed and hadn't been found in Nampula. When Kevin showed the tire salesman our old tires, he looked horrified and we were so glad to get new ones, thanks to a generous supporter! We also went to the dentist (clean bill of health)
and I got new glasses. It was also fun to visit a large African church that was more like the American churches we know (with sound system, large building, worship singing, a 3-point sermon). We are used to sitting in a small mud-brick building for church services, and listening to sermons that are usually not quite on the mark, so it was great to hear some real teaching.
After Blantyre, we spent four days near Zomba mountain and traveled up the mountain on two of those days to do some hiking and viewing off the mountain. Oh, it was so beautiful and green up there. We picnicked and walked in the woods and just soaked in the cool green.
From there, we went up to Lake Malawi for a week, where we spent Christmas Day with two other families, dear friends who are working in western Mozambique and came over to join us at the lake. It was great to spend time talking, laughing and sharing with them and the kids had a great time. There were 7 boys and one girl, and there was a great deal of swimming and running around the large yard. Christmas Day was totally different than in America, with only one very small gift opened in the privacy of our room, and stockings for the kids to open (other gifts had been opened before - don't worry, the kids got plenty!). We had a Christmas service with singing and the Christmas story, then spent the rest of the day swimming, caring for those who had come down with malaria, fixing the car, and grilling pork ribs and fish caught by the guys in our group. The next morning, we all packed up, said goodbye, and headed home. It was a great vacation and we were so thankful for the much-needed break. It is on trips like these that we remember who we are and can refocus and think about the coming year. There is always the stress of travel in Africa, like bad roads (almost all dirt roads on the twelve-hour trip home), border crossings and dealing with difficult police, stress of costs and things that need to be purchased, and the danger of criminals who prey on out-of-towners, but God really watched over us and kept us safe. It was a wonderful time of refreshment. -C
German Chocolate Retreat in Nacala
Every year, all the AIM missionaries working in Northern Mozambique get together for the German Chocolate Retreat. Why is it called this? At the first meeting, some years ago, one of our German colleagues brought chocolate and it was unanimously agreed that German chocolate should be consumed every year. At that time, there was hardly any unmoldy chocolate to be found in northern Moz, so it was a super special treat. These days, we are more spoiled but still rarely enjoy that kind of quality chocolate, so it is appreciated by all.
This year, 31 adults and 8 children gathered in Nacala, on the coast, for a few days of fellowship and fun in November. No business meetings are allowed, and the only serious part of the retreat is spiritual encouragement and prayer. We enjoy our time with our colleagues so much, and it is great to hear how their ministries and personal lives are going, and what they have experienced during the year. Many people from other missions have told us how lucky we are that our leadership feels this time of fellowship is important, and we agree. It really helps to bond us together, and it is so necessary to have that family feeling when you are working in a place like Northern Mozmbique.
Here's a photo of the guys enjoying the water.
And some of the ladies chatting.
Here's the kids having sunday school with Miss Jennifer.
We enjoyed the time together so much, and thanks to our colleague Inge, who is on home assignment in Germany, for sending out the chocolate! - C
This year, 31 adults and 8 children gathered in Nacala, on the coast, for a few days of fellowship and fun in November. No business meetings are allowed, and the only serious part of the retreat is spiritual encouragement and prayer. We enjoy our time with our colleagues so much, and it is great to hear how their ministries and personal lives are going, and what they have experienced during the year. Many people from other missions have told us how lucky we are that our leadership feels this time of fellowship is important, and we agree. It really helps to bond us together, and it is so necessary to have that family feeling when you are working in a place like Northern Mozmbique.
Here's a photo of the guys enjoying the water.
And some of the ladies chatting.
Here's the kids having sunday school with Miss Jennifer.
We enjoyed the time together so much, and thanks to our colleague Inge, who is on home assignment in Germany, for sending out the chocolate! - C
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