March 2006
Hello,
I’m sure many of you are wondering how the past few weeks have gone for me. Right now I am not feeling well so I haven’t sent out any updates about my recent literacy workshops. I’ll try to sum up things in this note. This refers back to two weekends ago. Last week I was out of commission all week except for one of the literacy workshops. The Thursday and Friday prior to this we had also done a literacy workshop.
On Saturday night we had a team birthday party for two of the members who had birthdays this month. We were all able to attend except for one guy who wasn’t able to travel in because of bad road conditions. It is the rainy season now which means that it has rained about 5 of 7 days maybe in the afternoon or during the night. Of course somedays more than others.
Sunday was a 1 year anniversary celebration of a church not far from the city. There were people from another church who had walked 11 hours to arrive at the celebration! The way the cars travel it would be about 55 kms, I’m not sure how many kms it was by foot, it was still a lot anyway you look at it. We feasted on chema, rice, goat, and chicken after a 3 hour or so service.
Then Monday I woke up and went walking. When I returned from that I realized that I did not feel well at all. After that is when the “fun” started. I won’t go into details of anything but I’ll just say Monday and Tuesday I went from the bed to the bathroom. Wednesday I was doing a little better still not great. But I knew that Thursday we needed to go on the literacy workshop. I did have a little bit of an appetite on Thursday which was good.
After traveling 100 kms on pothole dirty roads we arrived at our destination. There were 24 people at the first literacy workshop. We took the material to them and showed them how to teach the actual literacy classes in their churches. The area is so large here that there is no way one person could go to all the churches in different areas and lead the classes so we train people in the church to teach the classes. They decide when the best time to have the class is, a lot of that depends upon planting time and harvest times for the machambas-the gardens of the people.
I did enjoy going in the watering hole with the ladies for a bath. That was nice.
Friday we returned to Nampula. By the time we returned home I was feeling tired. I did enjoy some potato soup and NCAA basketball.
Saturday and Sunday I rested and stayed home. There were things I wanted to do but I decided I still wasn’t feeling the best so I didn’t go. I have been able to see some of the NCAA basketball tourney which has been a blessing.
This week I am still taking medicine working on getting my strength back up to normal. I’m a lot closer than what I have been but still not there yet. I know many prayers were lifted up for me on Sunday because I felt a lot better when I woke up Monday morning!
On a language note, I’ll be stopping Makhuwa lessons for now and just working on Portuguese. I think this will be good, that way I can work on some things in Portuguese which I’ve realized I need some help on since the Makhuwa lessons have been in Portuguese.
I’m sure I could have written a lot more for you. But that is all for today. I’ll work on getting some pictures to you as well because I know you would like to see those. Right now no interesting stories like pigs coming in the outhouse on the trip. However there was a chicken who thought about coming in our tent. Thankfully he decided not to!
Take care,
Carol
P.S. If you haven’t picked up the Beth Moore devotional book, Voices of the Faithful, I would really encourage you to go pick it up today. Today’s reading, 3-29-06, was written by one of my missionary friends. As I read this devotional I thought I have those same thoughts. In short the college age son was sick; his parents were in Middle America where they lived. He called home and said if I ever wish I could be home today is the day. The missionary then cried out to God to provide someone to fill the void that she couldn’t feel because of being miles away. God provided in his sovereign way a doctor who had been on a missionary medical trip to work with this family. As I was reading that just now I thought that is the way I felt the other day. I just wanted someone to take care of me, someone to say it will be okay, someone to bring me water. Looking back on the week I can’t say that I had just one person who God gave me to help me through but there were different ones at different times who were able to help me even if it was “just” a phone call to check on me. Of course there is nothing as “just” a phone call, sometimes that is just as important as many other things…..
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Sharing a Meal with some friends
I had the pleasure of eating at a Mozambican's house the other week. The family just recently had electricity installed in their house which is a blessing for them. For the meal, we feasted on chicken and rice, common foods for Mozambique and also very good foods.
Some Fun and Games....
Carol is relaxing in Jo'Berg, South Africa playing with the timer shot on the camera. Carol is still Carol as you can tell from the sequence of shots. Oh, well- if at first you don't succeed, take another shot!
Lawrence and Sarah
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Lawrence and Sarah- Prayer Warriors for Mozambique! They are from Florida and because of Florida's WMU parthership with Mozambique they have been praying for us and our work here. I've "talked" with them via email several times but was blessed to actually meet them!
2-22-06
Hello friends,
I’m sure many of you are wondering why you haven’t heard from my human in a while. Carol has been busy so her dog, Boots, is writing this for her. When she’s not here I have to stay outside so I really like it when she is home. Because then I can stay inside and play and sleep and play and sleep. I did catch a mouse for her the other day when I was outside. We were playing the crazy game where she throws something and I go fetch it. When I went under the truck instead of coming out with the toy I came out with a small mouse. I had fun playing with it. I was very proud of the catch. Well, I’m tired now so I think I’ll go chew on whatever I can find (I’m still a puppy and I like to chew things, newspaper, envelopes, socks, pillows and anything I can find). I’ll make my human finish this for me….Boots.
This is Carol writing now. I had an interesting cultural thing in a restaurant the other night. Another lady and I went to a particular restaurant because we wanted the stir fry rice which they make. Granted we were eating more on American time instead of the later African time. Anyway, we ordered the chicken stir fry. About 20 minutes later the waiter came out and said you can’t have stir fry until after 6:30, at this time it was about 5:25 pm. We said why? He said because we just called the “stir fry” cook and they won’t be here until then. But you can order some other things. Evidently one cook was there but he couldn’t make stir fry. Instead of waiting we ordered something else.
Today in a restaurant the waiter came up to us-there was about 7 of us ladies- and he said I’m going to be leaving now; can you go ahead and give me my tip? He said another waiter will be taken over for me. He wanted to make sure he got his tip before he left. We gave it to him. Actually Mozambicans don’t tip in restaurants. The wait staff is paid normal wages, not like in the states where the wait staff makes most of their salary from tips.
I have been able to watch some of the Winter Olympics. It is nice to be able to see that. The other day I received a picture from some missionary friends in Italy. It was a picture of the family playing in the snow. I almost melted when I saw the picture. The weather here is hot, probably close to 94F each day but because of the sun and humidity it seems even hotter. It has been raining in the afternoons the past couple of days maybe for 10 minutes a day or an hour per day it just depends. Thankfully I do have air conditioner in my bedroom which I turn on each night for sleeping.
I have begun studying the African language of Makhuwa. It is a challenge. But it is safe to say that I’m not mixing the words of this language with any other language because it is not like any other language which I know. Right now I have class 3 hours a day.
At the end of the month, I will be traveling to South Africa for a few days for a conference on prayer. I have agreed to be the prayer advocate for our team so an unexpected blessing was to get to attend this conference.
Next month I will be traveling out to do two literacy workshops. These will be the last two I do with Dianne before her and her husband transfer to another mission position in S. Africa.
I was able to listen to the final service of Pastor Jon and his family at Stanleyville Baptist Church. It was good to be able to listen even if I couldn’t be there. It was very touching when I was mentioned by name in his prayer saying something to the effect of bless Carol as I know Carol would love to be here because she loves her family and church family. Be with her and the missionaries throughout the world.
However as I listened to it I thought I want to hear from the people who were there. It reminded me of the eyewitness accounts of the disciples in the Bible and how much better it is to hear things from people who were actually there.
I would ask that you would pray for me as I look to join a church here in Mozambique.
I have started playing volleyball on Saturday afternoons with a group of ladies. It started out because the Brazilians wanted to play the American ladies in volleyball. It is a lot of fun. We have even played in the rain some. Speaking of playing in the rain, we had a team meeting a few weekends ago in a coastal area. It was hot. We were going to the beach later on Saturday afternoon. Well, it started raining about mid day. One of the kids wanted to go play in the rain. So he and his dad did. Then I watched them and I thought that looks like fun and looks refreshing. The mom and I put on our bathing suits and joined in the fun. When it rains the African kids love to get out and play in the rain. For some of them that’s the only bath they have so they enjoy playing in the rain.
Something which I’ve been reminded of lately is that the Christian life is not a sprint to the finish. It is a race of perseverance and endurance. A good quote which I read said “to get through the journey, take only one step at a time, but in God’s strength keep on stepping”. Steadfastness determines the winner. This is something which I have had to keep reminding myself lately.
As I’ve had my pity party days it seems like I am reminded of how much I do have and how blessed I am. The other day I had been having a woe is me afternoon. Then I received an email which said that a church had taken up a love offering for me with half of that to be used for my fun and relaxation and the other half to help with some of the benevolence things which I do for people here. Tears came to my eyes as I read that because I thought here is God doing the behind the scenes stuff for me and here I am having a woe is me party. It was a great blessing to receive the news of that unexpected gift.
As I’ve been learning another language I have compared that learning to the training Olympic athletes have to go through. They train and train for many years doing the same training each day. As I’ve had the days when I’ve gotten tired of language classes and learning I’ve thought about the athletes and how dedicated they are to their sport. They have to have the behind the scenes preparation just as I’m having the behind the scenes preparation with language class. I’ve realized that being a learner in some many different ways is tough. God’s strength is what I have to depend on. We, as Christians, are all running after the eternal prize. Sure an Olympic medal would be great, it would be a great achievement but we are encouraged/commanded to keep our eyes on the eternal prize. As I attempt to do this I pray that each one of you would as well.
May God bless us all on this journey as we travel it together.
Love, Carol
I’m sure many of you are wondering why you haven’t heard from my human in a while. Carol has been busy so her dog, Boots, is writing this for her. When she’s not here I have to stay outside so I really like it when she is home. Because then I can stay inside and play and sleep and play and sleep. I did catch a mouse for her the other day when I was outside. We were playing the crazy game where she throws something and I go fetch it. When I went under the truck instead of coming out with the toy I came out with a small mouse. I had fun playing with it. I was very proud of the catch. Well, I’m tired now so I think I’ll go chew on whatever I can find (I’m still a puppy and I like to chew things, newspaper, envelopes, socks, pillows and anything I can find). I’ll make my human finish this for me….Boots.
This is Carol writing now. I had an interesting cultural thing in a restaurant the other night. Another lady and I went to a particular restaurant because we wanted the stir fry rice which they make. Granted we were eating more on American time instead of the later African time. Anyway, we ordered the chicken stir fry. About 20 minutes later the waiter came out and said you can’t have stir fry until after 6:30, at this time it was about 5:25 pm. We said why? He said because we just called the “stir fry” cook and they won’t be here until then. But you can order some other things. Evidently one cook was there but he couldn’t make stir fry. Instead of waiting we ordered something else.
Today in a restaurant the waiter came up to us-there was about 7 of us ladies- and he said I’m going to be leaving now; can you go ahead and give me my tip? He said another waiter will be taken over for me. He wanted to make sure he got his tip before he left. We gave it to him. Actually Mozambicans don’t tip in restaurants. The wait staff is paid normal wages, not like in the states where the wait staff makes most of their salary from tips.
I have been able to watch some of the Winter Olympics. It is nice to be able to see that. The other day I received a picture from some missionary friends in Italy. It was a picture of the family playing in the snow. I almost melted when I saw the picture. The weather here is hot, probably close to 94F each day but because of the sun and humidity it seems even hotter. It has been raining in the afternoons the past couple of days maybe for 10 minutes a day or an hour per day it just depends. Thankfully I do have air conditioner in my bedroom which I turn on each night for sleeping.
I have begun studying the African language of Makhuwa. It is a challenge. But it is safe to say that I’m not mixing the words of this language with any other language because it is not like any other language which I know. Right now I have class 3 hours a day.
At the end of the month, I will be traveling to South Africa for a few days for a conference on prayer. I have agreed to be the prayer advocate for our team so an unexpected blessing was to get to attend this conference.
Next month I will be traveling out to do two literacy workshops. These will be the last two I do with Dianne before her and her husband transfer to another mission position in S. Africa.
I was able to listen to the final service of Pastor Jon and his family at Stanleyville Baptist Church. It was good to be able to listen even if I couldn’t be there. It was very touching when I was mentioned by name in his prayer saying something to the effect of bless Carol as I know Carol would love to be here because she loves her family and church family. Be with her and the missionaries throughout the world.
However as I listened to it I thought I want to hear from the people who were there. It reminded me of the eyewitness accounts of the disciples in the Bible and how much better it is to hear things from people who were actually there.
I would ask that you would pray for me as I look to join a church here in Mozambique.
I have started playing volleyball on Saturday afternoons with a group of ladies. It started out because the Brazilians wanted to play the American ladies in volleyball. It is a lot of fun. We have even played in the rain some. Speaking of playing in the rain, we had a team meeting a few weekends ago in a coastal area. It was hot. We were going to the beach later on Saturday afternoon. Well, it started raining about mid day. One of the kids wanted to go play in the rain. So he and his dad did. Then I watched them and I thought that looks like fun and looks refreshing. The mom and I put on our bathing suits and joined in the fun. When it rains the African kids love to get out and play in the rain. For some of them that’s the only bath they have so they enjoy playing in the rain.
Something which I’ve been reminded of lately is that the Christian life is not a sprint to the finish. It is a race of perseverance and endurance. A good quote which I read said “to get through the journey, take only one step at a time, but in God’s strength keep on stepping”. Steadfastness determines the winner. This is something which I have had to keep reminding myself lately.
As I’ve had my pity party days it seems like I am reminded of how much I do have and how blessed I am. The other day I had been having a woe is me afternoon. Then I received an email which said that a church had taken up a love offering for me with half of that to be used for my fun and relaxation and the other half to help with some of the benevolence things which I do for people here. Tears came to my eyes as I read that because I thought here is God doing the behind the scenes stuff for me and here I am having a woe is me party. It was a great blessing to receive the news of that unexpected gift.
As I’ve been learning another language I have compared that learning to the training Olympic athletes have to go through. They train and train for many years doing the same training each day. As I’ve had the days when I’ve gotten tired of language classes and learning I’ve thought about the athletes and how dedicated they are to their sport. They have to have the behind the scenes preparation just as I’m having the behind the scenes preparation with language class. I’ve realized that being a learner in some many different ways is tough. God’s strength is what I have to depend on. We, as Christians, are all running after the eternal prize. Sure an Olympic medal would be great, it would be a great achievement but we are encouraged/commanded to keep our eyes on the eternal prize. As I attempt to do this I pray that each one of you would as well.
May God bless us all on this journey as we travel it together.
Love, Carol
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