MozamWeek

We are still in Sweden, but we have news from Mozambique! A phone call from missionary friends in Tete confirmed that we are expected back... soon! It was great to talk to these long-time residents of Tete. They come from Zambia... they are Africans who are missionaries to Africa. Much more effective than we are at times! They are well. The temperatures are already climbing over 95F. They will greet the church in Tete from us. They will pray for our return... hopefully by November! An e-mail from our missions director in Mozambique confirmed that Nyungwe Bible translation is still moving forward! The 3 guys on the translation team have spent a week in Beira with a consultant checking John 1-12. It was slow going without a missionary translator, but it worked and they have done a good job! Our director says that they are taking initiative to start Exodus... easier to translate the "stories" of the Old Testament than the teaching in the New Testament. He confirms that they need...

The kids are back in school. Sigh... I love to see my kids in school. It isn't that I don't like to have them around... more that I don't like to have them around each other all day! They are happier when they get a break from each other. They greet each other after school with hugs and smiles. It is nice to see. Katie is back in the same classroom. They went from 16 kids in 1st grade to 24 in 2nd! They have a different teacher. Katie's 2 best friends from church are in her class this year. It will be interesting to see how their relationships develop. They have a male teacher this time, and that give the class a different dynamic. Since they had the world's best teacher last year, he has a hard act to follow! Jake is in "barnskola"... 'barn" is Swedish for "child" so it is basically kindergarten. He has an experienced teacher, about 5 kids from his preschool, and 9 others. A smaller group in a cosy room. Sweden doesn't push academi...

We have been put into a holding pattern. We had thought that we would return to Mozambique in September, but that is not possible now. We are thankful that the reason for our delay is not bad health or other emergency. You see, we receive more than half of our support from ONE church in Sweden, and the congregation didn't want to make a decision committing hundreds of thousands of dollars over 4 years while everyone was on vacation! I can understand that, but it had looked very positive otherwise right before this meeting changed our plans. Our first reaction was anger. Such an attitude of righteous indignation! "How can mere men stand in the way of God's work?"Then there was sadness and confusion. "How are we supposed to make plans for our family if we may leave in a few weeks or we may be here until January?" Than there was a period of trying to figure out how to make them change their minds. Then finally a decision to accept the decision and move forward ...