MozamWeek

It all started with the kids paging through the Bible into Song of Songs on the way to church. "What's this?" asked Katie. "It's about love and mushy stuff," from me. So, she starts to read aloud. Mikael and I were listening with twinkling eyes in the front seat; Jakob was busy looking for the book in his Bible in the back seat. Somewhere in the middle of the first chapter, there are giggles as Beloved and Lover trade compliments and compare physical traits to rustic themes. You are a lilly among thorns... You are an apple tree in the midst of the forest...  Now, I've been told that Jewish men weren't allowed to read these love poems until they were 30 years old. You can look at them literally and even then they are pretty racy. If you delve into the metaphores and possible interpretations, it's downright hot stuff! We only have a 5-10 minute drive to church, so we got about as far as, Don't awaken love before it is ready, wise coun...

I've recently received information from one of our funding partners for the Nyungwe Bible Translation project. I thought I should share it with you since many of you pray for us as a family here in Tete. Some of you also pray for the translation team regularly. Here is a link to The Seed Company . On the site, you can find information on Nyungwe and commit to praying for the project. There is also a way to give to the translation work through this organization. The Seed Company provides funding for running the translation, training the translators, and paying their salaries. Some of the funds are for printing materials for testing, but not for publishing Scripture for distribution. This organization has worked very hard to make translation possible in projects where there is a local initiative to do the work. Of course, if you want to contribute to our personal ministry, that would be through another organization. We do not receive any funding for our family through The Seed ...

7 traditional Nyungwe benches Q's dad makes these cool benches called nyatandadza from local wood. This is an element of Nyungwe culture that I found just last year. The benches are seen in almost all homes in his village, but made by just two men. I've heard concern from a few that he's chopping down trees in his home area. I cannot guarantee that he's using fallen trees. I do know that trees are cut for firewood and charcoal. They need the wood for cooking because they don't have electricity or gas. Solar power is expensive and solar cookers aren't available out there anyway. Made by a man in Matambo Nyungwe culture in Tete City I also know that people out there in Matambo don't have many ways to make money. So if he chops a tree for my bench, he can buy food that he can't grow himself on his small farm. I will keep his tree for years and appreciate how he saw a bench in a tree. This is a tree saved from becoming charcoal for someone'...

I learned of an interesting occurrence this week on the blog of a friend here in Tete. We have mentioned before that people here live in the city, but still have lots of beliefs based on cultural traditions. I have heard people mention "invisible airplanes" before. It just sounds silly and somehow ridiculous that someone would believe in an invisible airplane! One of the translators has told us that he saw an invisible airplane... it was covered with a sheet. I couldn't imagine what he meant! After reading my friend's post, it makes more sense. Have a look and see what I mean. They took him to the airplane about a mile from my house, right in the provincial capital. This didn't happen in the bush... it was right here... almost in my own backyard... Click this link to read about one missionary's experience with one of the strange realities of life in the land of the Nyungwe people. An encounter with a magic airplane I'd love to hear what you think abou...