Sunday was our last full day in Mozambique. We were a part of Sunday morning services at the church. There were over 250 kids up to age 11 in the Children's Church! It was bitter sweet as we drove away with kids running after our SUVs one last time.
This morning we are heading home... Maputo to Johannesburg to Dakar to Atlanta to Memphis/Baton Rouge. Over a 30 hours on the move!!
Can't wait to tell you more details in person :)
Monday, September 3, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Game Park, Youth Service, Food and Shopping
On Thursday, we took a 2 hour trip to Swaziland to Hlane Game Park. It was an awesome experience! We saw elephants, warthogs, rhinos, giraffes, impalas, hippos, wildebeast, lions and many birds. We slept in huts with oil lanterns. No electricity or air, but it was a great place! For dinner, we were served wildebeast sausage and impala stew. We saw the traditional Swazi victory dance after dinner (some of us tried to imitate it unsuccessfully). It was so nice to be in the solitude. You could almost hear a pin drop... along with the sounds of wild animals. We had the opportunity to pray for Isaac and Carol and each share about the impact of this trip to our personal lives. God is good.
The youth service began on Saturday afternoon with upbeat worship songs. For the first time today, they had electricity and the youth led worship. In another first... they broke an attendance record for the number of kids with 56!! Steve and Mona shared testimonies from their hearts. It was awesome how God tied both of their testimonies together. The boys (led by Steve and Bryan) beat the girls (led by Jane and Kelley) in a slight victory in charades... do you think a man or woman wrote this sentence? :) A team from Oasis church near Atlanta stopped by on route to a CarePoint in Swaziland. It was great having a new perspective on our experience.
Food in Mozambique is anything but lacking! There is a wonderful seafood selection, especially the prawns (large shrimp with heads still attached). The ice cream, although limited in the Hotel 2001 lobby :), is more than adequate to tempt any sweet tooth- Heaven, Mega, Chocstick and King Cone bars. Only one or two per person... so far. We haven't spotted a vending machine, but Cokes are available everywhere. There are grape and apple tizers and Fanta drinks that we are all enjoying.
We made a 2 hour stop Satruday morning at the Maputo market for a little shopping. Everyone's "game face" was on as bargaining became a sport. We did find some great deals on everything from batiks to jewelry to wood carvings to "real"Ray Bans. Steve is convinced that the Ray Bans are real (for approx. $9 American dollars)!
Tomorrow we are having church. Can't wait to see how God will move in our last day in Maputo!
The youth service began on Saturday afternoon with upbeat worship songs. For the first time today, they had electricity and the youth led worship. In another first... they broke an attendance record for the number of kids with 56!! Steve and Mona shared testimonies from their hearts. It was awesome how God tied both of their testimonies together. The boys (led by Steve and Bryan) beat the girls (led by Jane and Kelley) in a slight victory in charades... do you think a man or woman wrote this sentence? :) A team from Oasis church near Atlanta stopped by on route to a CarePoint in Swaziland. It was great having a new perspective on our experience.
Food in Mozambique is anything but lacking! There is a wonderful seafood selection, especially the prawns (large shrimp with heads still attached). The ice cream, although limited in the Hotel 2001 lobby :), is more than adequate to tempt any sweet tooth- Heaven, Mega, Chocstick and King Cone bars. Only one or two per person... so far. We haven't spotted a vending machine, but Cokes are available everywhere. There are grape and apple tizers and Fanta drinks that we are all enjoying.
We made a 2 hour stop Satruday morning at the Maputo market for a little shopping. Everyone's "game face" was on as bargaining became a sport. We did find some great deals on everything from batiks to jewelry to wood carvings to "real"Ray Bans. Steve is convinced that the Ray Bans are real (for approx. $9 American dollars)!
Tomorrow we are having church. Can't wait to see how God will move in our last day in Maputo!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Slides R Us
Today was a good day! The guys finished putting up the slides on the playground. The bolts for the swings are in place, and they will be finished by tomorrow. Once the slides were assembled, the kids just went wild. Kim had a time with traffic control!
Kim and Adam continued with one-on-one interviews --- this time with the cooks at their houses. The ladies facilitated crafts with the kids. They traced their hands on paper and colored them. Each finger represented 5 spiritual growth areas - pray, read your Bible, obey, tell others, and go to church. Carol sang songs in Portuguese and danced with the kids -- which the ladies tried unsuccessfully to imitate:).
On a side note, part of the team got to go to the American Embassy -- Greg needed more pages in his well-traveled passport!
Tomorrow, we are finishing last minute details --- installing swings and possibly some home visits. Afterwards the team will be leaving for the game park in Swaziland where we will spend the night with the animals! Lions and tigers and bears -- OH MY!
TIA -- We will not post tomorrow because we'll be at the game park. Hope to update the blog on Friday.
Kim and Adam continued with one-on-one interviews --- this time with the cooks at their houses. The ladies facilitated crafts with the kids. They traced their hands on paper and colored them. Each finger represented 5 spiritual growth areas - pray, read your Bible, obey, tell others, and go to church. Carol sang songs in Portuguese and danced with the kids -- which the ladies tried unsuccessfully to imitate:).
On a side note, part of the team got to go to the American Embassy -- Greg needed more pages in his well-traveled passport!
Tomorrow, we are finishing last minute details --- installing swings and possibly some home visits. Afterwards the team will be leaving for the game park in Swaziland where we will spend the night with the animals! Lions and tigers and bears -- OH MY!
TIA -- We will not post tomorrow because we'll be at the game park. Hope to update the blog on Friday.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Construction Begins
Today was great! We were able to begin building a "monster" playground... pics to come. The men dug holes with a shovel and muscle, hoisted solid wood posts and secured the posts with cement. The biggest accomplishment for the day for the guys was realizing that Pi r Round, not Squared... Ha Ha. Building a playground with an IT guy (Steve), an engineer (Greg) and a Marine (Bryan) is truly a learning experience.
The women helped by sanding and painting the 2 slides for the project. Connie headed up the painting project. A preteen boy named Mario, helped in all of the projects with no prompting. In the time it took 2 of us to dig a hole for the swingset, he finished the same task single handedly. Mona taught the kids the LSU fight song... L-S-U Tigers!! Rena' and Fern played kickball with the kids and gave them lessons in hop scotch and hand games. Jane taught volleyball and exhausted herself with a game of soccer. Kelley used her Nurse Practitioner skills to see many children and diagnose ailments. This was a great blessing to the CarePoint as medicines on hand were used to specifically help the kids in need.
Kim and Adam shot one-on-one interviews with the cooks for the CarePoint. They were deeply impacted by how real these women were in their answers. Most of these women are single mothers and are facing the same challenges that a single woman in the States would also face. These videos will be used at a HPC Women's Conference in the fall.
Tomorrow we will come back for more of the same as well as doing home visits and crafts with the children.
TIA (This is Africa)... we hope to be giving you more updates tomorrow. If the Internet is working!!
The women helped by sanding and painting the 2 slides for the project. Connie headed up the painting project. A preteen boy named Mario, helped in all of the projects with no prompting. In the time it took 2 of us to dig a hole for the swingset, he finished the same task single handedly. Mona taught the kids the LSU fight song... L-S-U Tigers!! Rena' and Fern played kickball with the kids and gave them lessons in hop scotch and hand games. Jane taught volleyball and exhausted herself with a game of soccer. Kelley used her Nurse Practitioner skills to see many children and diagnose ailments. This was a great blessing to the CarePoint as medicines on hand were used to specifically help the kids in need.
Kim and Adam shot one-on-one interviews with the cooks for the CarePoint. They were deeply impacted by how real these women were in their answers. Most of these women are single mothers and are facing the same challenges that a single woman in the States would also face. These videos will be used at a HPC Women's Conference in the fall.
Tomorrow we will come back for more of the same as well as doing home visits and crafts with the children.
TIA (This is Africa)... we hope to be giving you more updates tomorrow. If the Internet is working!!
Monday, August 27, 2007
We're Here!
Well, we have arrived at last! It was a long journey but smooth. We went to the church and played with the kids today. It was such a blessing to spend time with them. Today we helped them play on a makeshift slide leaning between trees. In order for them to get up there, one of us had to lift them to the top of it. They loved every minute of it (and so did we) but we're excited to start building a nice new playground tomorrow. We can feel your prayers all the way here in Maputo. We love you and will write again as soon as possible.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Count Down
We are counting down the hours until we head to Maputo to serve the people of Mozambique. Less than 24 hours and we are on the plane!!
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