Hello all! I am so sorry it has been such a long time since I have written an update. Getting into town to the internet cafe is quite a challenging feat, considering how everything here takes about 3 times as long as it does back home. And when you do make it to the internet cafe, there is really no gurantee that the internet will be working! My friends and I have just started saying TIA (This Is Africa) and getting a good laugh about it. Needless to say, life here is very different than what I am accustomed to. While these adjustments are difficult and challenging at times, there are so many blessings to be found in a simpler life.
One thing that has been a challenge here is the heat. The sun rises at about 4:30 am and it is already hot hot HOT by 7! But unlike the midwest, there is not nearly as much humidity and finding a good bit of shade can do wonders. :) The other thing that has been quite challenging is the language barrier. While the official language here is Portugese, very few people in the villages in the bush bush speak it. The heart language of most of the people here is known as Makhua and it has been fun to try and learn. Most often, we just accept that we can't communicate and laugh with the Mozambicans.
Two weekends ago my color group went on outreach in the bush bush to a leper colony. It was an 8-hour drive in the back of a covered truck on dirt roads, if they could even be called roads. No one from the mission had ever been there before, so we were able to be pioneers! The kids in the village were absolutely lovely and so sweet. At first it was difficult to see so many people who were so sick, but then God helped me see through their sickness into their hearts. It was wonderful. While a few of us were going around praying for families in the village, I saw the most heartbreaking thing I have ever encountered. It was a little boy around the age of two whose entire body was covered with leprosy and some staph infection. Thankfully we were able to take him straightaway to our clinic where our doctors treated him with medicine. At the end of the outreach, 30 people ended up accepting Christ, and the chief of the village asked us to come back and build a church. I felt so incredibly blessed to be a part of God's Master Plan!
I also joined a team that goes into the village every Friday to build houses for widows. It is such a beautiful ministry, and this past weekend I was able to become good friends with the Mamas at the house. I can't wait to go back next week!
God has been doing so many amazing things both here at the school and in my heart. I am so unbelievably privileged to be able to be here in Mozambique at this time, and I can't begin to imagine what the next few weeks will hold. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
