MozamWeek

Nyungwe team is far side on left: 3 guys in white shirts We came up to Nampula to attend a workshop with our translation team. They are studying principles of translation and how communication is a part of the process. How does the context of the Biblical passage determine the meaning? and How does our present day context determine the understanding of the text? I think it has been a good week for them. Mikael is in the workshop with them as a participant, though he has had the material before. This time it is being taught by an African for Africans, so he gains some insight into their perspective on communication. Should be enlightening! During this week, I've been taking care of some paperwork for conference planning, thinking about sending out a newsletter, taking care of the house and kids, and enjoying the fellowship of friends. We work with some pretty special people, but we are usually "together" from a distance in this job. Nampula is a place where the train...

We've enjoyed the Brazilian friends we have met through the Zambezi Jr. School here in Tete. They came as "set up" crew for the new mining boom. They brought their children into the African unknown with a hope to grow and make a difference in a hard place. They have added a new wrinkle to the Tete landscape and the school's culture. We have carpooled and shared ideas and dreams and frustrations about living in this place.They have let us invade their homes (when our home was no real refuge.) They have walked beside us and prayed beside us. We have been friends! In February, one family relocated to Malawi leaving holes in the classrooms they left. Then we heard that the second family was relocating as well. Just this morning I learned that a departure planned for May was moved up to tomorrow. When they leave for vacation, they won't return to Tete, but will set up house in Maputo. In this life we have chosen we are faced with constant turnover. We meet new fr...

Kind of seemed like a theme for the week when I was writing the last post. Sunday started with Song of Songs in the car, but I was reminded over and over of this theme of awakening love. The sermon on Sunday morning was a reminder of some aspects of God's character: A reminder that there is "clock and calendar time" and there is "spiritual time". We can't understand what is beyond our own perception: that dimension of existence outside of time. So we try to understand the greatness of God and His love for us, but it's impossible. We can compare it to the unconditional love we experience in human relationships, but we still need to have faith to understand that God's love is so much more. Later on Sunday evening, we met for Fellowship and Bible study with friends. Again, I was reminded of awakening love... Somehow while studying Phililppians 3 where Paul speaks of his own experience of being a "perfect" Jew and following all the laws and...