Chapa's, church, and camp

"My future and all to which I relate hangs in the balance, and You tell me wait?!?"

 This has honestly felt like my life this week. Waiting on the Lord, waiting for other people, waiting for decisions to be made. I am still waiting for the biggest decision to be made, but at least the smaller one was finalized yesterday. Early Thursday morning I will be taking a bus from Maputo to the border of South Africa (SA), crossing the border, and then re-entering Mozambique within two hours with the Word of Life team from SA coming into Mozambique for the English Camp (see below). I have to exit Mozambique because my first 30 days expires during the camp. 

 Last Sunday I was able to attend church with my friends from December camp, Catarina and Elina. To step into their lives in their home and community environment apart from camp was an honour. I wish I could describe it for you. A small black church nestled in the heart of their community but with hymns from the Western culture translated into Portuguese. After church Elina introduced me to everyone, I ate lunch at Catarina's house, and then the three of us took a Chapa back into Maputo. (A Chapa is the most common mode of transportation, it's basically how many people can you squeeze into a small vanlike vehicle, but it's very cheap, picture belowe). During the short ride they were asking me what I thought and were happy that I (a white foreigner) was willing to experience the reality of their life in this way. 

 Upcoming: I will be going to another province in Mozambique on Thursday to counsel at the same English Camp (Rock for Life) as I did last year. I am looking forward to a "break from the norm" and the chance to pour into the lives of the girls attending. Sadly, Alexandra is not able to attend this year but I know God has other lives to touch. March 23-27 is the camp for the middle school/early high school grades March 27-April 1 is the camp for the upper high school grades. 
Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of everyone attending, that His Truth will be boldly proclaimed, that I will be open and genuine with the campers and focused at the task at hand. 
Resultado de imagem para mozambique chapa
(A picture of a Chapa from the internet, most Chapa's look much more beat-up than this one)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee Shop Atheist

Image
My ears perked up. The three men at the table across from me in the coffee shop had started talking about the Bible. My intentions of working on my historical fiction novel got pushed aside as I started eavesdropping on their conversation. Who were they? What were they saying about the Bible? The smartly dressed, white-haired gentleman facing me pulled up Romans 8 on his phone and read part of it to the young man sitting with his back to me. Intriguing. I love Romans 8. Was it a pastor mentoring a young man in his church?  Then came the revelation. The two older men facing me identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. I should have known. But what about the young man with his back to me? Who was he? I could hear the older men quite well, they had louder voices directed towards me. But the young man had a softer voice and was facing away from me. I couldn't hear him very well. Concern for the young man grew in my heart. I know who Jehovah's Witnesses are. I know what they
Read more

5-Day Club

Image
The big week had finally arrived! I smiled in excitement as I thought about the 5-Day Club about to happen at the Welcome House. Several refugee families had been invited of mixed beliefs and backgrounds. I was also nervous. How would it go? Would anyone get offended? Angry? Keep their kids from coming? Or stop the 5-Day Club from happening? (A 5-Day Club is a ministry of CEF, a type of backyard Bible club with stories, songs, games, and memory verses) Day 1 As the CEF teachers walked toward the tree, one talkative little boy following in my shadow went on the defensive. He said his family doesn't believe in Jesus and asked something about God having a dad. I went on alert as I listened to him. This is exactly what I was nervous about. I wanted to navigate these conversations with respect for others but in a way that the Truth could still be proclaimed. "I know you don't believe in Jesus," I said as we walked into the shade of the tree. He seemed happy that I knew thi
Read more

God's Backward Oreo

Image
"I feel like God made you an Oreo, only a backwards Oreo." I knit my eyebrow trying to follow my mom's line of thinking as I listened to her voice note. "He's got cream on two sides and the hard cookie in the middle," she continued, "As in, you're standing in the blueberry patch on Saturday just talking with Dad and suddenly this lady goes, 'Hey, I want to get your newsletter.' I mean, wow, cream, sweet cream. And then... a hard cookie." I laughed a bit sardonically as I realized where she was going, "There's a lot more layers to the 'Oreo' than that this week!" I replied. I was having a weird week and wasn't sure how to feel about it. Yes, God had given me several moments of sweet, delicious cream, but those moments of cream had been broken up by more than one hard thing. On Thursday, listening to my mom's message, I couldn't decide if the cream outweighed the hard or if the hard outweighed the cream
Read more