MozamWeek

For me, what makes it feel like Christmas is... having kids home from school choosing, buying, wrapping & giving gifts baking cookies and making candy decorating the house and putting up the tree reading the Christmas story and setting up a Nativity set remembering other Christmases visiting and visitors... making time for family and friends good food from far away... smells of cinnamon, orange, cranberry and chocolate with peppermint candles and tiny lights Remember my homesickness in November? Click to see the post Is it homesickness...? Before Thanksgiving I was feeling sad and missing family and all that comes with it. It was hot and my house was torn apart with renovation projects! I didn't think I could feel Christmassy in Tete.I asked for prayer from all my friends. It was a tough week. Guess what! You prayed and I started feeling better soon after. We made an early Thanksgiving dinner when the power cuts thawed our precious turkey legs. We enjoyed our ce...

We were declined permission for permanent residence. They said that since we didn't have permission to stay out of the country for more than 90 days, we relinquished rights to residency when we left on furlough 2007. When we started over in 2008/2009, we don't get credit for any of the previous 9 years residence. So we are now required to renew our documents in January. We will pay $730.60 per person on January 2, 2011 if the exchange rates stay the same. (That's about $30 more this week than last week! Exchange rate is DOWN!) And we will pay that amount in 2012, and every year we are in Mozambique. Ouch. I can think of better uses of my partners' money! Thanks for praying... and I know that God has all this in His plan. Of course, if anyone wants to donate to our ministry, it would sure help in 2011!

There is a chance that we can get permanent residence visas for Mozambique. We have lived in the country for most of the past 15 years, actually... 12 of them in Tete. The law required 10 years residence for permission to apply for permanent residency. Some setbacks... like long furlough and renewal dates made it impossible to apply before now. With new biometric residency docs... and the world's most expensive yearly renewal fees coming into effect, we really want permanent residency. If they look with favor on our request, we will have the right to stay for 5 years without renewal... and we can come and go without restrictions. We would also save the $700/person (x5) annual fee. This would be wonderful. God is all knowing, all powerful... and all good! Join us in prayer for a positive response. We should know the verdict on Thursday. Thanks, Jeni

I'm writing from our new broadband connection. It's fast! I'm still working on getting the wireless working, but this is better than the last connection.This is another sign that we are moving forward. Last year was really tough in a small house in a bad location... all very temporary. In January we moved to a better area of town for work and school. We are happy for this house, but it needed lots of work to get it in shape. There weren't ACs, the yard was a real mess, plumbing and electricity needed an upgrade, inside we needed to paint and even the floors had patches of cement that crumbled when we cleaned! Since each step of the process involves lots of mental and physical energy, we've spread it out. We want to be done by the end of the year. Some of the changes are painful, but some, like this internet thing, are a pleasure. Here's a list of the past month's changes: Air-conditioners. With temperatures around 100F/40C for about half of the ye...

Did I say I'd do Thanksgiving if I had air-conditioners? I HAD Thanksgiving BECAUSE I have air-conditioners! Bought them and had them sitting in the living room for a week. Found professionals to install them. Did it on Friday, but not the electrical... you have to call another guy for that. HE came on Saturday. Unplugged the fridge and freezer because he was worried about spikes when he reconnected the power. BUT he didn't unplug the new air conditioner! Poof... seems it blew a hidden fuse and now Mikael is in town trying to hear what can be done and by whom. Purchases and workmanship are usually not guaranteed in Tete. That was Saturday morning. Sunday morning, after a late breakfast, we opened the freezer to find that "we" forgot to plug it in after the electricity was back to normal. Oops! Surprise! Thanksgiving! I'd found 3 turkey legs in town. They were thawed. So, like a true African housewife, I announced a feast. Amazingly just about everything I need...

No, the AC man didn't come and install our air conditioners yet, but we have had electricity for the past 48 hours! It came back Friday evening 9pm. We'd just prayed with the kids before bed. I went to get a spray bottle to mist them while they wait for that elusive breeze to hit them. As I squirted Katie, the power came back! "Wow, Mom! God was really listening to that prayer!" We'd asked God to give the repair men good ideas about how to fix the power cut that lasted 29 hours. We also prayed that He'd give us restful sleep even if the power didn't come back. We got power and restful sleep, so say a little prayer of thanks with me! We advanced to the part of the nighttime ritual where we place the fan in just the right place so it almost hits all three kids in its oscillation. Saturday was a dream... Mom's package arrived with presents for all. Most packages have been lost or so delayed that she has little incentive to send them. It worked this ti...

I think I'm homesick. Tete in November is enough to drive anyone to dreams of leaving. It isn't the heat and the paperwork and the monotony of life in the hot season. It's different, I think. What do you do when you are far from home in the most family-centered season of the American calendar? It isn't here yet, but it is coming fast. Thanksgiving to Christmas is a tough time for missionaries and others overseas. I think it is worse for Americans. I'll tell you why. WE have THANKSGIVING! It is really the most American of all holidays, I think. More than the 4th of July for some of us. Sure, we have traditions on Independence Day, but not like the traditions on Thanksgiving! You can celebrate the 4th with friends on the beach. You can celebrate with strangers. You can eat almost anything or nothing and it doesn't matter. You want the Star Spangled Banner and Fireworks, but it's nothing to call home about.On Thanksgiving, you WILL call Mom... and you will ...