Who's taking the picture?

I just thought this was a cute picture. The kids are so amazed when they can see themselves in the camera. Its fun to show them and to use the zoom feature on them.

The latest....

Several people have written and said where did you go? It has been a busy few weeks since I lasted posted a blog. I had friends come visit for a ministry vacation. I'm not sure how much rest time they actually had but it was a good time of ministry and fellowship. We were able to travel and do alot in a short amount of time.

Now this week I am sorting, packing, cleaning and doing all that fun stuff in preparation for my departure on December 26. Then I should be in the states on December 28. As I sit here with sweat pouring off my face because it is so hot I think I'll be glad to be cold for a while. It will be interesting to go from the 30C temp to the 30F temp.

I'll look forward to seeing alot of you soon. I hope to update my blog again before I leave but tonight I"m not making any promises!

A friends 30th Birthday

The other week a New Tribes missionary friend of mine celebrated her 30th birthday. To help her celebrate we had a progressive dinner for the ladies.

We went to 3 different houses and enjoyed some really good Mexican food ending with a dessert buffet at the last house.

At each house she received 30 of something whether it was 30 m&m's or 30 recipes or 30 Scripture verses.

There was a good group of ladies who were able to participate. We laughed as we thought about the sight we must have been 20 ladies piling in and out of cars going into the houses and coming out a little later. It was a good time.

The anticipation of it all...

People have been asking me what I'm most looking forward to when I get to the states....I said I'm looking forward to going to a convenience store and getting a large cup of soda with ice! The other week when I was traveling it was so hot. I said where is the 7 Eleven so I can just stop and pick up a cold drink?!



But you know something I'm not looking forward to is having to pump my own gas when I fill up the gas tank. I admit it I've gotten spoiled here by just pulling up to the gas station and saying fill it up. They do it, I pay and I'm on my way.



Just a few things I've thought of as I look towards heading to the states in a month.



However today I am looking forward to receiving my guests who will be arriving from Florida!

Mozambican Wedding

On Saturday November 10th, I had the opportunity to attend my first wedding here in Mozambique. Victor, a Mozambican was marrying Cristina an American young lady. They met through Teen Missions program.

The day started at 10 am at the government office in Nampula. It was the official civil ceremony for the wedding and mainly involved the signing of the wedding document. Everyone arrived on foot or in the back of trucks or however they could.

From there we went to different locations in the city to make pictures of the bride and groom. It was a neat idea because everyone who wanted to could then have their picture made with the bride and groom as well.

It was a really hot day but I guess this is the really hot time of the year for Mozambique.

After the pictures we went to the church for a church wedding. To add a part of the American ceremony to the wedding there were bridesmaids and groomsmen which is not usual for a Mozambican wedding to have.

The church finished and we left for the reception around 4 pm. At the reception there was a lot of good food including goat, chicken, potatoes, rice, eggs, and lots of cake. It was really nice.

I'm sure Victor and Cristina would appreciate your prayers as they begin their life together in Mozambique. Victor runs as orphanage in Nampula and Cristina will be a big part of that ministry. In a way she has "inherited" 58 children in this marriage. Thankfully God knows all this and He wasn't surprised by any of it!

You watched ESPN?

I saw the most interesting tshirt when I was on one of my travels. I saw this little boy with a shirt on which says I watch ESPN with my daddy. I had to laugh because I know he doesn't know what ESPN is. Plus they didn't have electricity where I was at so I know he hasn't seen a TV. He was cute though with a cute shirt on!

Someone was praying...

Have you had a time when God has changed your attitude as a result of prayer? I had that experience last Sunday when I was out on a day trip to one of the churches who wanted the missionary to visit. I admit I didn’t have a good attitude towards the trip for different reasons.

I arrived at the church and we started the service. I was sitting at the front of the church where the guests sit and I admit that my attitude wasn’t the best as I was sitting there listening to the Makhuwa words and songs. Then all of a sudden I had a complete attitude change. I was sitting there and my bad attitude changed to one of a peace and enjoyment about being there. I looked at my cellphone to see the exact time because I knew at that moment that God had lead someone to pray for me. It was at 9:58 am Africa time on Sunday November 11 which 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard time.

So if you were praying for me at that time I just want to say thank you. And I want to say thank you for the many times that you have prayed for me whether it was middle of the night or middle of the day. Your prayers do make a difference!

Carol and the kids

I was at a village the other week and I had a crowd of followers with me. It is fun to watch the children as they imitate what you do. For instance if you jump on one foot then they will do it too. Or if you skip down the road they will do it too. I guess that is a good lesson to be learned to do the things that you don't mind other people copying in your daily living.

A girls trip

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take a "girl's trip" to visit a New Tribes missionary friend. It was a fun time. There were 5 of us who traveled from Nampula to a small village about 8 hours away. It was so good to see our friend, Debi, using her newly acquired language skills to communicate in the heart language of the Lolo people. Above is a photo of the group. Debi is the one holding her 1 year old daughter, Melody.

The quiet little girl

As I've been cleaning out I have found many cards which people have sent to me during my time here in Mozambique. A continuing theme for the people who have known me since I was child is that I was a shy quiet little girl. One person said that I wouldn't look at her when she talked to me because I was so quiet. I said that just shows how much of a God thing all of this is. I found a picture from my first mission trip as I was a little girl. I'm the one with the curly hair in the red shirt.

The story of the Bible

Recently I had the opportunity to do an evangelism teaching. I along with one of the pastors taught the participants the Creation to Christ story of the Bible. This gives the story of the Bible from beginning to end, ending with an opportunity for the person to make the decision to accept Christ as their personal Saviour. Thankfully each one of the participants were able to tell me when they made the decision to accept Christ as their Saviour. Pray that the participants will go back to their churches and share with others about this method of evangelism. But more than that pray that they would have the desire to share this story with their neighbors and family.

Carol and the fish guy

As I was at one of the churches which was literally at the end of the road, a man came by selling fish. He had just caught the fish in the river. The fish smelt bad, more than the normal fish smell so I'm not sure how long ago he had caught them. But everyone was excited about them, the insides had already been cleaned out. He was so excited that I had my picture made with him that he gave me a fish for free.

Carol and Whitey

Remember Teddy E Bear who was here with me for a while? Well he inspired a missionary friend to have Whitey come and visit her. Whitey is a white squirrel from the mountains of NC. He has had quite an adventure. I was with him a while on Sunday. We had a really good service at church. Then we went to one of the nice hotel restaurants for an enjoyable lunch. Plus you get a good view of the city from this hotel.

An American moment

The other day I was helping to transport a body to a neighborhood area in Nampula. I was following the car in front of me because I didn't know where we were going. We got a road where I have passed hundreds of times. As we went to the left of the building I had a truly American moment. I started thinking he is going on the wrong side of the road and this is through a military area, we are going to be in trouble. I was so convinced that he was going the wrong way!

After a few minutes I realized Carol there was nothing wrong with the side of the road he went on, he did it the correct way. I thought wow what an American moment.

Then after we transported the body we were leaving the house. It ended up that I was leaving at the same time as the other car. I thought good I can follow them out of this neighborhood. I started following the guy. Eventually he stopped and got my attention. I said are you going back to the hospital. He smiled and said not until I visit my friend who lives up this road, he said you need to go back and turn on the other road. I laughed and said thanks. I followed the road he told me and I found my way out of the neighborhood and made it back to my house.

A new home for Coconut

A prayer has been answered...At the end of the year Coconut will have a new home in Cuamba. I'll tell you how it happened. A friend of mine from Cuamba called and asked if another girl from there could spend the night at my house. She was arriving in Nampula from a trip home to Korea on her way to Cuamba. So I said she could spend the night. Iwasn't even thinking about her being interested in having a dog. Then she asked what are you going to do with Coconut when you leave? I told her that I wasn't sure, I told her about Boots being with her new family. By the way Boots seems to be doing good and adjusting fairly well, if she will just stop howling when she is by herself. She said she would like to have Coconut when I leave. What a great answer to prayer.

Another visit to Pedro's mom

As I look back on these few days I can see how God is answering my prayer and giving me a heart to share with the people here. I was able to go visit Pedro’s mom again and I was able to have a conversation with her through Pedro translating into Makhuwa. I asked her if she had accepted Christ. She said she had. She doesn’t go to church anymore, she stopped going after her husband was kicked out for having more than one wife. It was such a good visit with her. I asked her several times about her accepting Christ because I wanted to make sure. Then it came to the point that I had to just trust her and what she was saying because God knows the condition of the heart.

She said that she was sad when she heard that I was leaving because she is always happy when I go to visit her.

On my way home from that trip I was reminded of how my connection when that area really started. I had gone to the area but then the day that I transported the dead body, the day that I didn’t want to do that, but it worked out so that I did. God used that day to help me build more relationships in that area of Murrupula.

During the trip on Wednesday I went with Pastor M to visit some of his family. As we were sitting there I saw a lady and my heart really broke for her. I prayed for her. I asked Pastor if she was a Christian and he said no. That gave me the opportunity to say next week can we come back and do evangelism training for the church here and then we can come back and visit her? So we set up a time to do the training and we’ll go back and visit her and talk with her.

I stopped again at Pedro’s mom house and invited her to go to the training. She agreed to go to the training. It will be a good time for her to hear the story of the Bible from beginning to end.

As I got back to Nampula that evening I went to a restaurant with some other people. If I would have let myself I could have cried for the people as I thought of the ones I had seen during the day.

The Pastor told me that he had had his time playing with his friends and now I could go play with my friends when it was my turn to go visit with Pedro’s mom. I thought that was cute.

We also dropped off the Pastor’s wife at her family’s house. The mom wasn’t there when we dropped off the wife. We went and did some other visits and then came back and the mom was there this time. She said I was at a neighbor’s house and I saw the car and I knew that was Carol’s truck. I thought that was neat that she recognized the truck and knew it was mine.

Hat Man

I took a picture of this man and he was determined that I would leave it with him. Someone finally got him to understand that the picture was inside the camera and that I couldn't leave it with him.

Baptism

First we started on nice paved road. Then, too quickly, we were off the nice paved smooth road to the pothole filled dirt road. After about 30 minutes on that road we turned off through the grass weeds continuing to the mission church where we were going. Finally we arrived after the path through the weeds had gotten smaller and smaller. We arrived to a location where once again I was the third missionary and first female to arrive at that area. We were there for baptisms.

After a few minutes we entered the church building and the pastor asked questions of the 6 baptism candidates. Questions such as what is your testimony? Then after successfully answering these questions we began the walk to the watering hole. It wasn't too far of a walk however the sun was hot and there was not any shade on the path or once we arrived at the water. We walked through gardens of cabbage and carrots. One of the nationals even gave me a cucumber to eat as we walked.

We arrived at the water and it was so interesting because the ladies all stood on one side and the men on the other side. Then the pastor shared some words before baptizing the people. After the baptism some of the people stayed at the watering hole to take a bath. After all you don't want to miss an opportunity for that since water can be scarce for the Africans.

After returning to the church we had a church service. One of the groups even sang a song in English called I love you Jesus. They really did good.

Lunch was eventually served at about 2:30 pm, afterwhich we returned to Nampula.

Clean your faces

After a river baptism, the most interesting thing happened. All at once the kids immediately leaned over and began washing their faces. It was the girls on one side and the boys on the other all lined up. It was in unison even though it wasn't meant to be. It was a cute sight to see.

Random thoughts on singleness

A topic which has come up alot recently in different conversations is the issue of singleness. How does/should the church relate to singles? How are singles treated? What do singles need? How do people perceive singles? Being a single myself many of the conversations really hit home with me. After hearing some different ideas about it I wrote some of my thoughts. I hope you will read it and take to heart whatever God may lead you to. Don't feel like just because you aren't single you can't read it. These are thoughts which can apply to all people.

Almost 40 and not married whats wrong with you? 20 years old and you only want to get married whats wrong with being single? 50 years old and happily single? No Sunday School class at your church which you feel a part of because you aren’t married or you don't have children? Do any of these sound familiar? Tired of hearing the clichés like God has the right one just waiting for you? Or stop looking and it will happen.

Singleness is meant to be a gift not a time when you feel like a lesser person because you don’t have a spouse or children. The single life can be fulfilling but it can also be frustrating. I challenge you to think about one question is your church single friendly? Are you single friendly? Not to be a matchmaking service for singles but to be a place where singles can join together for support and encouragement. Did you notice the person who quietly walked into to the church service last Sunday and sat by himself? Did you go talk to him? Did you reach out to him? Or were you in such a hurry to get out that you didn’t acknowledge him?

Being single doesn’t always mean that we have more money because it is only one person to care for and it doesn’t mean we have more time for God’s work. We are still people who have needs and wants. I challenge you have you said before he’s not married he has time to do such and such? Maybe singles do have more flexible time than what married people with children have but maybe you are expecting them to do things they don’t want to do just because they are single.

If you’ve been married for 10 or 20 years do you remember what it was like to be single? Or have you ever known? Were you married straight out of high school or college? Do you remember how sometimes it would just be nice to have a family dinner time? Yes even with the 3 year old who throws his food all over the place or the 6 year old who wants to tell you about his pet turtle or the 10 year old who doesn’t want to practice the piano like you are asking him to do.

In God's eyes we each have a gift which we can bring to His service and that is what we are called to do. For some people that may mean having 6 children, for others that may mean never having children of their own. But the one thing that He calls us to do is to love Him first and foremost and to love others, whether it is the single, the married, the widowed, the divorced, or whoever it might be.

Utah team

Recently I had the opportunity to help Corey and Jenni with their team from Utah. It was a great group of 8 people from their home church in Utah. It was nice to minister with Americans and to experience the freshness and excitement which they brought with them. We were able to share the Creation to Christ story in one of the neighborhoods, work with a childrens hospital ministry, do a True Love Waits rally, attend an African church service, prayerwalk and do other actitvities. It was a good week and I'm glad I had the opportunity to work with them.

Gas station

As I was at the gas station the other day filling up my truck with fuel. I thought in a few months I'm going to have to do this myself. I'm going to have to get out of the automobile and pump my own gas. Yes I've gotten spoiled with the fullservice gas stations which they have here in Mozambique. Also they do a thing which is like an amusement park ride with your car. When the tank gets full they "shake" your car to try and get in more full. The first time it happened to me I didn't know what was going on. Now I am more used to it, however I don't think I'll continue this tradition when I return to the United States.

Labor Day

Even though Labor Day is not an official holiday in Mozambique, I still enjoyed the day with a trip to the beach. Jimmy, another Baptist missionary, is leaving soon to move to his new work area. With the move he will be a 6 to 9 hour drive away depending on the roads. As a goodbye a few of us went to the beach for the day. We were hoping to see whales as this is their migration season but we didn't see them on this trip. Maybe in October we will have the opportunity to travel to the beach again to see the whales.

Literacy Training

Recently I traveled to Murrupula about two hours away for a literacy training. It was a good training with 9 misisons represented. Pray that the recently trained teachers will see the program as an evangelism tool and as a ministry of the church.

Enjoying food

Isn't this the way to enjoy rice and beans??

3 day old baby

This baby was 3 days old when I first saw him during my travels on September 4th. I knew he was young but I was very surprised when they said he was just 3 days old. Mom and baby seemed to be doing fine.

Seeing things anew

Before my recent bush travels a friend of mine encouraged me to see things anew on this trip, to see things like I was seeing them for the first time. I thought how do I do that? I started looking and I began to see how far God has brought me during these past two and a half years. I began to see things that I had become accustomed to on my travels, things such as bathrooms. I remember one of my first trips out to the bush I barely drank any water because I didn’t want to use the bush bathroom. Now that isn’t as much of an issue. Or how I can eat supper at 10pm by the light of a kerosene lamp and be okay with it even if it is incredibly hard to see the chicken pieces.

Another way to look at it is how God wants us to see things. He wants us to focus on the present, not on the past and not on the future. The things in the past we need to learn from and build on to head toward things in the future. As Psalm 118 says this is the day the Lord has made we need to rejoice and be glad in it. Easier said than done on some days isn’t it?

3 days travel

Here's something that can put into perspective for you the size of the country of Mozambique and the road conditions. I was talking to a girl from California and she commented that people drive from Canada to Mexico in 3 days in order to do mission work in Mexico. I thought wow, in 3 days they can travel in 3 different countries and many miles. In 3 days we can travel from Nampula to the capital city of Maputo never leaving the country of Mozambique. I thought that shows the differences in the traveling conditions between Mozambique and there.

Have you seen the xray?

The other day I received a call from Pastor Manuel asking if I could take him to pick up one of the youth from his church who had a car accident the previous day while delivering the Jesus film equipment. I said yes. Pastor Manuel and I had a trip out planned for that day so we modified our plans.

We went to the hospital which was about 2 hours away. I wasn't sure exactly what we would find. Thankfully, the guy wasn't in too bad of shape. He could walk slowly and he could talk. He was having pain in his kidney area.

The Pastor went through the process of finding him in the hospital and checking him out of the hospital. After a while we started on our way back to Nampula. Along the way we stopped at about 3 different places, two of them being police checkpoints and the other one being the scene of the accident. At each place the Pastor asked if he knew what happened to the guy's documents, where was the car that had the Jesus film equipment and then he showed the xray. It was the funniest thing to me to see him showing all these people the xray of the guy's back. I had to laugh at the situation as he showed the xray everywhere we stopped.

When we returned to Nampula we went to the hospital here so the guy could get examined. After about 3 hours he was on his way home again with prescriptions for pain medication.

Now, the guy is doing better I was able to see him yesterday. I'm not sure if the Pastor has been able to locate the Jesus film equipment yet but hopefully he will.

Pedro's mom

This past weekend I was able to see Pedro's mom. I went to her area for a church dedication service. I stopped at her house on the way to the church. I asked someone if she would be going to church and they said no she won't go, without asking her. I said ask her if she is going. They translated the Portuguese into Makhuwa and asked her. She said I'll come after I finish my work here at the house. I said okay and went to church.

She did come to the church. I noticed that she stayed in the church for the part of the service which I helped with during the church dedication. Then she went outside and sat. I went outside a little later and she called me over to where she was. Let me rephrase that she motioned to me to come over to her. (We have communication issues because I don't speak Makhuwa and she doesn't speak Portuguese.)

She had brought food for me to eat while I was at church, it was chema and hard boiled eggs. I was so touched! It was so sweet and unexpected.

I would ask that you continue to pray for her. I do plan on visiting her again and I pray that God is softening her heart to Him. I would ask that you would pray for someone who would be a Makhuwa translator who would be willing to go visit her with me.

What is cool?

Have you ever wondered what the word "cool" means? I'm not thinking in terms of temperature, I'm thinking in terms of saying wow that was cool or he/she is cool. This past weekend when I was at a church dedication these guys posed for photos, I told them you're cool. So I thought I would share the pictures with you so you could see what "cool" is in Nampula area.

A few cultural things I've experienced

Today I went to the post office to pick up my package or large envelope I didn't know what it was. The lady working said my name is Carol, too. I said really? Then she said both Carols are "gorda", fat. Of course for Americans this is not a pleasant term but I knew she was coming from the African standpoint. I just laughed when she said that. I thought what do I say? I've explained to some of the guys who want to go to America to use their English, that the term fat is not a good term to use in America especially with women. I said that can get you in trouble. I remember the first time one of the nationals referred to me as fat, I had only been in the country for a few weeks but I recognized the word gorda from spanish. I thought I know he didn't just call me fat. It was still a while before i learned how that is a compliment in the African mindset.

When I was out with another missionary the other week visiting the nationals in Malawi. One of the nationals asked her if I was her daughter. That just showed us that they can't tell our ages anymore than we can tell their ages. The other missionary is actually about eight years younger than me.

Also when I was in Malawi I was carrying a small duffel bag on my back. The ladies asked the other missionary if I had my baby in it. They were afraid my baby was in there and it was hid.

The guy came to the house the other day to collect the info for the census. One of the questions was how many animals do you have in your house/yard? Of course I was expecting to answer 2 dogs. Well dogs wasn't one of the choices. The choices for animals were goats, cows, chickens, pigs, and ducks....

Rat on a stick

Where was my camera when I really needed it? I was on the one trip where I had left home without my camera and I missed a great photo opportunity. It was pictures of about 10 or so small rats on a stick. These were rats that had been cooked a little and were ready to eat, a delicacy for the nationals. However, they weren't ready to eat by me. One of the men traveling with me was so excited to take the rats home for his children, he said they would be thrilled to receive these. The nationals got a good laugh at my being disgusted at the thought of eating the rats on a stick.

Waiting...

A common question I receive is what do you do on your trips? I took this picture as I waiting on the baptism activities to begin. It was interesting to see the national's reaction to my using the timer setting to take the picture.

Bathroom line?

I have to tell on myself...Last week I was on a bush trip. It was bathroom time. I gathered my toilet paper and went to the area behind the tree that I had "claimed" as my bathroom area. Well when I got to that area there was a national who was there. So what did I do? I stood there and waited for a few minutes. Then I thought Carol this is crazy, you are in the middle of nowhere with plenty of other bushes and tree areas to choose from, why are you waiting in line in the bush?? So I moved to another area laughing at myself as I went....

Sunset at Lake Malawi

No further words are needed...Just enjoy a beautiful picture.

Malawi travels

At the end of July I traveled to Malawi for our annual meeting of the missionaries in Mozambique and Malawi. It is amazing the different terrain which is seen once you cross the border into Malawi. On our way to and from the meetings we were able to stay in the tea plantations outside of Blanytre, Malawi. This was a nice time of relaxation and enjoyment and taking time to enjoy God's creation.

Who is the driver?

The other week when I was out on my travels several of the people who I travel with wanted their picture made "driving" the car. It was fun to watch them have their serious look as they were trying not to laugh...

More photos from the orphanage

An orphanage visit

And Jesus said let the little children come unto me....These were words that came to mind as I was driving to a place where Joseph has an orphanage. It was in town but the road to get there was not very good. It was a road where 3 km's on it seemed like a lot longer.

Joseph is a young man who feels a great desire to take care of children. At the present time there are 4 children who live with him at the orphanage location and he as another 10 or so that live elsewhere. I'm not sure where elsewhere was, I got confused on that. Of the 4 who live there 2 are his cousins.

They entertained me by singing lots of songs. They all go to school, Joseph showed me the latest homework which they had received grades on and it looked good. They read the Bible together and sing together.

But it was sad to see the living conditions and to see the things which they lacked. Yet they were so happy. As far as they know they have everything they need, they have each other and they have a worker plus Joseph who love them alot.

I was so touched when they gave me a gift for coming to visit them. Here they were giving me a gift when they didn't even have food for that night. I felt so unworthy. All I did was take my camera so I could take pictures of the children and the location.

As I was leaving it reminded me of when my sister came to visit and we went to see another orphanage. We had planned to go eat at a nice restaurant after the orphanage visit. Yet as we were leaving the orphanage we both decided that we couldn't go eat at a nice restaurant when there were children living in such poverty yet again being very happy with what they have.

The first female

Recently I traveled to an area in the Nampula district but it was only 3 k's from the next district of Murrupula. We went about 35 k's on a nice paved road and then we turned off onto a dirt path. I had traveled on the dirt path road before up to a certain Baptist mission. We went to that Baptist Mission first. Then after quickly stopping there and picking up and dropping off people and things, we continued to our destination.

As we continued the path got smaller and smaller. We crossed two small bathing holes or creeks as Americans would probably call them. After crossing one of the creeks we got stuck. Thankfully a man came along and used his machette to chop down a tree which was in the path so that we could continue on our way. We all said Gracas a Deus (Thank you Lord) when we arrived at the church.

Upon arriving I was told that I was only the 3rd American to have visited that mission. Two other missionary guys were there before. Thus I was the first female to visit there! Quite a claim to fame to have. The people were very glad to see us.

Baptism

This past Sunday I was able to travel to a church outside the city and attend a baptism and also a church dedication service. There were 5 people who were baptized in the river.

Happy Faces

I liked these pictures of happy people....

Safety pins

Can you see the safety pin she is using as an earring? Interesting isn't it?

Peanuts and more peanuts

During my travels to visit Pedro's mom I was given peanuts as a thanks for visiting her and and others. When I got home I realized how many peanuts that I had. I couldn't resist taking a picture of all the peanuts which I had been given. I hope you can see how full the bag is of peanuts. Along with that I had received two large stalks of bananas. It is great to see how giving the people are even when they don't have many things in our eyes. Yet they always find peanuts, bananas, live chickens or something to share with me when I visit in their areas.

Visit with Pedro's mom

Pedro's mom is a Makhuwa lady who lives about 100 k's outside of Nampula. The other day I had seen her in the village when I was with someone else. There was something about her eyes and face that just grabbed my attention. At that time I wasn't able to visit with her. So God worked it out for me to have another time to go visit with her. This past Tuesday I had that opportunity.

As I turned off the main road I was back on the road where I had delivered the body of the deceased last week. We stopped at the deceased's house as we went by. The mother of the deceased came out to the truck and she grabbed my hand and kept saying thank you. She was so grateful for my delivering the body last week. She continued holding my hand and then she said anytime I am on that road I am to stop at their house because I always have a place at their house. I thought that was so sweet. She and her family were just grateful for what I had done last week. And to think this was the day I was more worried about making my appointment than I was about delivering the body. Thankfully God works in spite of me.

We continued down the road a little ways and arrived at Pedro's mom house. It was a good visit. She said that she was happy because I wanted to come and just visit with her. She prepared a simple lunch of rice and fish but it was good. True to African family tradition her sister and brother also came to visit with us and Pedro's brothers and sisters who live in that area.

After eating the pastor who had traveled with us asked me to take him to his house which was about 8 k's down the road. I said okay. I took him to his house. Then the photo shoot began, see separate entry for that info.

We then returned to Pedro's moms house and then began our way back to Nampula. We had another stop to make before we could leave the area though. We stopped to pick up another lady who wanted to return to Nampula. When we stopped they said Carol we have food for you, we want you to eat. I really wasn't hungry but I said okay. I got out of the truck and went to where two other ladies were and began eating...Well, I forgot one major thing. It is typical African tradition to have a bowl of water which you put your hands in to wash them before and also after you eat. I had just cleaned my hands with hand sanitizer so I forgot the part of washing my hands and I just put my hand directly in the food. As soon as I did it I realized what I had done and I just looked at the other ladies and laughed and quickly drew my hand back. Then washed my hands in the water bowl. They laughed with me. After eating we once again began our journey to Nampula.

It was a good day. While I was there I was able to set up times to return to show the Jesus film and also to do a literacy workshop in the coming weeks. I hope to have opportunity to visit again with Pedro's mom and to build a relationship with her and others who are in that area.

Who had the camera?

On one of my travels the other day the nationals were all lining up for me to take their picture either with their spouse, children, or friends. Alot of times I refer to it as my church directory photo shoot because almost everyone wants their picture made. After a few minutes of taking their picutures I said okay its my turn. Then, I told the pastor I was with that it was his turn to take my picture so he did. I think he did a very good job.

Pedro's mom

This is a photo of Pedro's mom. She is the one who really touched my heart the other week as I looked at her worn face yet happy face. Pray that she would open her heart to God and His truth. Pray that based on God's timing I would have opportunities to share with her.

Sunday celebrations

This past Sunday Nampula Baptist Church celebrated their 25th anniversary. It was a day filled with many activities. In true African fashion the Sunday celebration service lasted for about 5 hours. It included singing, dancing, a message, introduction of special guests, history of the church and other things. Thankfully I was able to sit in the congregation and not have to be on stage as one of the "VIPs".

It is a great testimony for a church to be here and still established after 25 years so everyone was excited.

After the service there was a meal which include goat, beef, chicken, rice, beans and other good foods. There was even a really nice cake which tasted as good as it looked.

Those in attendance were like a "who's who" among the Baptists in this area. Quite a few of the out of town pastors and laypeople were in attendance for this celebration. They all wanted to talk to Carol after the service. But that was okay because their were some who I needed to talk to. As I was looking around the congregation I realized how many of the people I knew. I thought wow God is good as I look at how far He has brought me during these past two and a half years. Granted I still don't know everyone but I sure do know alot more than I did when I first started. Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father.

The urgency of it all

As I write this title I think of the dead body that I transported today. (See story of that in separate blog entry). I asked the question to another person was she a believer? The one I asked didn’t understand my question at first. Then I said is she in heaven? He said no she never accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. She left behind 4 children and a husband. When I thought about it I thought how sad.

Now that I’m home I have tears in my eyes as I think about her and wonder how many others are out there who have never heard. Is there enough time to tell them all? I ask myself the hard question: have I been diligent to share with those around me? Have I shared with those who God puts in my path, I don’t want to miss opportunities which He has for me. I’m sure I’ve missed opportunities before and I don’t want to miss them again.The lady who died lived in the same area as the Makhuwa lady who I saw the other day who I will be visiting on Tuesday. It is in the town of Murrupalu about 2 hours away. I keep ending up on that same road there. I keep thinking what does God have planned for this area? What does He want me to do in this area? I know it has to be something because it is not just coincidence the number of times I have ended up there these past few days.

One thing which led me to the mission field was a mission trip which I took to Brazil. It was a trip of showing the Jesus film in villages along the Amazon River. While I was there I became so overwhelmed for the missionary who was left behind to disciple the new believers. I said this one person can’t do it by himself. I think the same thing with these people in Murrupula, if and when they make decisions for Christ are they getting the basic Christian teaching which they need? Are they getting the teachings? A hard concept for nationals here seems to be to understand that they can have a personal relationship with God and how He can be their friend. I think they see Him as someone above them, someone they might have a hard time relating to.

I know God has something planned for this area of the Nampula province I would ask that you would pray for the people in this area. Pray that they would have an open heart and mind. Pray that I would have wisdom and endurance to follow God’s plan for me for this area. I think there is something He wants me to do there and I want to be open to it.

Next time ask more questions...

My phone rang at about 7:45 am. It was a pastor wanting to know if I could transport a dead body. His wife’s niece had died during the night and they needed the body transported to her house. I said I have something to do from 11 am until 3 pm. But, then I said lets go. I’ll be at your house at 8:30. I went to his house and then we went to the mortuary.

The body was brought out on a stretcher and put in the back of the truck. The corpse was covered in a white sheet from head to toe. Then we were on our way with a car full of people. I was making sure to drive carefully and slower than usual because I didn’t want the body to fall out the back since the tailgate wouldn’t close because of the body.

We got on the main road and about 35 kilometers outside of town I began to realize that we were going out a lot further than I thought we would. We kept going and going. I thought she had lived in town I didn’t realize until later that we are going to this pastor’s hometown area which is about 2 hours away. I thought I have an appointment and I’m going to miss it because I didn’t ask where we were going in enough detail. Of course then I also felt guilty because I was frustrated that I was missing something I wanted to do when this family was dealing with the death of a loved one.

We continued on our way. It was a challenge to go slow because this is a road I’m use to going kind of fast on because it is a good paved road. But I kept slowing down as I remembered the body in the back.
We turned off the main road and there were people there waiting for us. A common thing here is for the ladies to loudly wail as their form of crying. The ladies on the road began doing that while others followed us in the car. We arrived at the house and the body was taken inside the house.

We stayed for a little while and then we were on our way back to Nampula. Then after dropping off people I went to the mortuary and dropped off the stretcher and sheets.

I arrived a little late for my meeting. But next time I’ll remember to ask more questions with the main one being where will be taken the body??? And I was reminded of how God isn’t surprised by any events of a day, He knows what is going on and has things coordinated for me.

Transportation please

What have I done these past two days? I’ve transported people both living and dead. Let me explain…I’ll start with the living.

Yesterday I walked out of the house and I was stopped by a national asking where another missionary’s house was. I said come with me and I’ll take you there. Believe you me that was easier than my telling him how to get there. I took him and dropped him off at the missionary’s office.

After that I saw a German friend walking so I picked her up and dropped her off at her house. Then I continued on my way. Later in the day after attending a lunchtime prayer time I saw Gabriel, one of the street kids. Let me rephrase that he saw me and ran up to me. He said I haven’t seen you in Nampula in a while where have you been? We talked some and then he asked me to take him to his uncle’s house. I took him there and dropped him off.

The house where I dropped him off is close to one of the pastor’s who I work with a lot. The pastor’s wife was at the side of the road and she flagged me down. Its amazing how quickly and easily they can pick out the missionary’s car. She was on the way to the hospital to visit her niece. I took her to the hospital and dropped her off. Then I went to my next appointment.

McDonalds

Of course a trip to the United States wouldn't be the same without a trip to McDonalds. It was interesting because when I returned to Mozambique I was showing the picture of Ronald McDonald and myself on the beach. Well to us Americans it is just a known fact that Ronald McDonald is a statue in this picture. But the Mozambicans all asked if he was a real person sitting on the bench. Different ways of looking at things! Yes, McDonalds was as good as I remembered.

Vacation!

For a few weeks in May and June I was able to take a vacation to visit family and friends in the United States. It was truly a great time of fun and fellowship and enjoyment of things which I don't always get to enjoy in Mozambique. One of the highlights included a night of a Christian music concert followed by dessert at Chili's restaurant. The night still wasn't over then...After the dessert was the midnight trip to Wal Mart followed by a trip to the automatic car wash. It was a fun night.

Other highlights included Busch Gardens, St Augustine, Myrtle Beach, fried snickers, seafood buffets, BBQ, dolphin watching, Putt Putt, basketball, and many other fun activities. However one of the best things was just being with family and friends no matter what we were doing.

I thank God for His coordination and planning of the trip. It was truly a blessing from Him.