African: Time, Food, Football, and Stories

Greetings, my dear family, friends, and random people I don’t know who are possibly reading my blog,

Life goes on here in Africa. I just finished reading a book about ministering cross-culturally, and it had a fascinating chapter in it about how different cultures view time management and being late. I’ve been told (and have observed myself) that Mozambicans are very laid back about time. On one hand, things take forever to get done, which can be really frustrating if you’re trying to accomplish a lot. But on the other hand, everyone has a very relaxed and carefree attitude, the study of which Americans would benefit greatly from. Most of us really don't know how to stop and enjoy life, and society doesn't make it very easy to do so. Speaking of time, I have loved being able to spend time with my sister Carla and brother-in-law Jon again. I look up to both of them so much, it’s so cool to live with them and see the work they’ve done here. And, they’re both such amazing Christians, I learn so much when I’m around them. Besides being awesome missionaries, they’re hilarious people with senses of humor much like my own (scary, right? You bet!). We’ve enjoyed many a game of Settlers of Catan, which I discovered I actually enjoy a lot (I didn’t use to very much) now that I really understand how it works. I’ve even won a few times *woot* which may explain why I like it so much better now. =)

The food here is very good (though as I said before, there isn’t much variety), I have liked just about everything I’ve had, maybe excluding the definitely fermented, warm, lumpy corn mush drink thing. Oh, and the “shrimp” dish that tasted like canned dog food. Other than that, I have loved the beans and rice, fish and rice, spinach and rice, goat and rice… it’s a good thing I love rice, I guess. All of the afore mentioned toppings for rice are also served for lunch on ‘xima’ (pronounced ‘shee-ma’), which is kinda like really, really, thick grits, for those of you who know what grits are. 

The other day, I played my very first (believe it or not) game of football, or soccer, to you Americans. Yes, actually my first real game of football, or ‘futebol’ as they call it here. I became an instant fan of the game and I plan on playing it a lot more when I get back to the states, though I am wondering if it will be as much fun if I speak the same language as the people I’m playing with. I played it with a bunch of girls from an orphanage place called “House of Blessing” I got to go to couple of times. It was started and is run by a really awesome lady from Alaska named Lee. She’s given a safe and loving home to over 30 kids who really didn’t have any hope. I know this because Janie and I were put on the task of interviewing some of them while we were visiting. Among other questions, we asked for stories of their lives before they came to HoB. Some told long, heart-wrenching accounts of abandonment, death, sickness, and hopelessness, but the one that impacted me most was from a little girl of about 8 or 9 named Rosina. She was very somber and quiet and we couldn’t get much out of her, but we tried asking her if she had any stories. Her reply was only nine words long:

“We didn’t have enough food. My mommy beat me.”

I had just listened to lots of other kids who had similar stories, many of them honestly worse than that, so this was nothing new. The difference was none of the others told it with such a downcast face or with so much pain in their eyes as Rosina did.

Lee (or, 'Mama Lee' as all her kids call her) is an artist and loves to do lots of arts and crafts but especially jewelry making. She’s taught all her girls how to make all sorts of neat stuff that they can sell. I got a lot of really cool and creative ideas from them (I honestly had never thought of making wallets out of juice cartons) and I actually got to teach them how to make friendship bracelets, a skill I just recently picked up from Carla. I'll close with a picture of me showing Rosina the ways of bracelet weaving: 

 Photo courtesy of Janie Smith

  

Africa Update, FINALLY!

YAY! I’ve successfully traipsed myself and my luggage across three continents, four countries, and countless cities via three planes, an SUV, two buses, and a Land Rover. My final destination; the city of Dondo, Mozambique in the gorgeous, amazing, glorious continent of AFRICA. I apologize to all friends and family who have been patiently waiting (or not, as the case may be) for some news of my existence. For all you knew, I fell of the face of the earth, and I’m genuinely sorry for taking FOREVER to write anything here, but it’s so hard to pull myself away from all the things that are happening for long enough to write anything. It’s difficult to spend hours on the computer when Africa is waiting just outside. Oh, Africa. The very name sends shivers down my spine, as I suspect it always will. Words cannot be used to describe it; it is just something you have to see and feel for yourself. I have loved every second I have been in this place, and I could not be happier to be here.

So much has happened since I got here; it’s so hard to sum it up. The flights coming here were all very nice and awesome (I love traveling, flying especially). If you want to read some really cool musings and thoughts about the trip over, read Night Flight: Musings and Poetry on the blog of my good friend Janie Smith. Janie is traveling with me and will be with me in Mozambique the whole time I am, so we have most of the same experiences. And, since we’re very similar, we share the same thoughts and feelings on a lot of things, and she (unlike myself) is very good about actually blogging and posting stuff, so if you haven’t heard from me in ages, take a glance at her blog: The Chronicles of Janie and you’ll have a good notion of what’s happening to me. She is also a very good photographer, so if you want to see pictures of our trip before I get around to posting any, which may be a while... (Humm, well, the original plan here was to give you a link to Janie's picasa album, but I can't find it, and she's already asleep, so I'll post a link to it tomorrow. Sorry!)

So anyway, what’s actually happening to me? A lot, a whole lot. Being in Mozambique has given me such a profound appreciation for so many things I’ve taken for granted all my life. Things like living in an environment where you can walk up to anyone and be able to talk to them. Before I left, someone asked me what I thought the hardest thing for me would be, and I predicted that not knowing the language would be my biggest frustration. Well, I was right. The bugs, heat without a/c, weird food with little variety, the ‘running’ water that seldom does so, being sick, having random drunk guys try to kiss me (awkward), doing all my laundry by hand, and nasty toilets… all that barely phases me. But oh, how I wish I could talk to people without an interpreter. Nevertheless, life still goes on here at the Iris Ministries base here in Dondo, Moz. Thankfully, I can still make myself useful in the mission field without knowing Portuguese by helping Carla and Jon with random stuff around the mission base. If I baby-sit my (adorable) nephew, do dishes, design things in Photoshop, clean house, cook food etc, it gives Carla and Jon a nice (and much deserved) break, or it frees them up to do more important things, like teach bible classes. Doing dishes and baby-sitting probably isn’t exactly what most people envision when they think of mission work, and to be honest, neither did I until now. But I’m actually immensely glad that I can genuinely help Jon and Carla by doing things I already know how to do and can do well; I’m happy as long as I’m being useful. I’m learning so much about what it’s like to be a missionary, it's great. So yeah, I’m finding out missionary life isn’t always a life full of adventure, danger, amazing encounters with God and the supernatural etc… a lot of it is just normal, everyday stuff. Which is totally okay with me, by the way. I am having a BLAST meeting new people, making friends, learning about the culture, the people, and the area. And like I said, I’m happy as long as I’m helpful. And to be fair, plenty of exciting things have happened too. I’ve gotten to preach in a prison, pray for sick people at a hospital, go street witnessing in the capitol city, assist in the widow ministry, see demons cast out of people, feel God’s presence stronger than I ever have before, and learn a lot about spiritual warfare and spiritual gifts. So life isn’t boring either.

Well, I’m afraid that’s all the news you’ll get from me today. Have a blessed day, week, month, and may God be with you.