MozamWeek

A slightly amusing result of the robbery in January was that my spare make-up was stolen. I don't use much here in Mozambique, but a bit of sunscreen and face powder make me feel more "put together". In lamenting my losses, I began to replace what I could from the local market. One day when leaving the minibus stop, I saw face powder compacts lined up on a mat on the ground. Some young guy was selling make up to minibus riders... like me. Well, the majority of minibus riders are Africans who are truly Dark and Lovely. As I stooped to check out the offerings of the local selection, I was disappointed to see that all the compacts were "medium" and "dark". Upon inquiring where I could find a wider selection, he indicated a central market. There to my delight, I found it: Dark and Lovely, light . It was only $2.00; a great bargain considering that my usual powder runs about $8 and has to be shipped from America! So, I've gone native... the color isn...

You probably think you know what we do on Sunday mornings in Tete. Actually, we probably don't do what you expect. Since we work with Bible Translation for a language group that has a lot of influence in the city, we find ourselves keeping up contact with many churches in the area. That is good, but it means that we don't really have a "home church" here either. This is complicated by the fact that we now don't have a car to take us around on Sunday mornings. When the kids were little and most of the churches were hot and crowded, they cried and begged to go out and dig in the dirt. The African kids all sat in a row and didn't make a peep during the service. I'd get pulled on to go out with kids and miss most of the preaching. As they got bigger, Mikael was usually called on to preach somewhere. I'd stay home on those weeks and we'd "do Sunday School" at home. The kids loved this and I did too. But it didn't seem right to NOT be in ch...

No, not the car... the pictures of the kids! Here are the kids with the dog near our house at Good News Church. These were taken on the day we flew to Vila Ulongwe for our getaway. Reunited with the Ker kids on the steps of the house in Vila. Took all of 10 minutes for each of the older ones to pair up with a younger one. What a blessing! Anyway, now I know how to use this camera and transfer the pictures to this computer and use this connection to upload them... More pictures to come soon.

So, we left Tete. It was just too much. There was a plane with empty seats. I filled them early in the morning. We flew to the hills. We fled to the mountains. The cool green-ness was refreshing. The away-ness was refreshing. The leaving and landing somehwere else was refreshing. The hugs and smiles and tears of friends who are family were cleansing. It is ok to be weak in a family. It is ok to need a shoulder when yours are weighed down. It is good to need someone sometimes. Thank you, Jesus, for taking me away to my home-away for awhile. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole again for awhile. Thank you, Lord, for open arms and open doors both here and there. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me a rest when I needed it. It is good to be home again. It is good to be here again. It is good that You are always here with me.