Story time! About a month ago Nasimo and I were walking toward the Nautilus. We got just past the fish tree and a woman stopped us and asked us to pray for her. We prayed for her head and her neck- apparently she was in a lot of pain. After praying we continued and she caught a ride home- she doesn’t live in Pemba. A few days ago she ran into Nasimo in town and told him that she had been healed by Jesus! She was so Grateful for our prayers that she gave us a watermelon!

Hurray! Watermelons are pretty uncommon in Pemba. If you find on it’s likely to be ridiculously expensive. What a grand gift- and we didn’t even do the hard part.  Thank you God for healing our sister…and also for our watermelon

Yesterday we had a birthday party for all of the January birthdays! Here’s a quick clip of the party. I wish you could all join me on the warm sand and in the warm water but it’s cool, we can do it another time

I was walking back to base along the beach with about 12 others when I realized how natural and normal it felt. Just walking and chatting; kids jumping into the waves occasionally. I’m going to miss this place- I’m going to miss my friends. Sentimental, Yikes! . . . breakfast time, see ya

For the last week or so I’ve seen this man around our base, playing with children and being a seemingly nice guy:

Let’s compare:

Coincidence?

Maybe.  I don’t know if changing glasses and putting on a smile changes who you really are.  I’ve got my eye on you mister.

I hope you’re enjoying this year and all it brings …and if you don’t understand this post, no worries, I still like you.

Pam asked for more pictures of my cat Matopi (who is on my lap as I type), so I shot a few yesterday and here they are (click to enlarge):

 

 

 

And just as long as we’re talking matopi, thanks and kudos to Melissa for these pictures (not to mention teaching me everything I know about pottery):

 

 

 

Yesterday our youth band here was invited to another church to lead worship. Here’s a quick clip of our band and a few scenes from worship here. It gets a lot crazier. We were all soaked with sweat by the end- I’ve never actually seen myself sweat so much there was puddles on my skin and the bass and guitar had sweat all over them. The sound quality here isn’t great because this was shot on a little point-and-shoot still cam but you’ll get the idea. Life is fun!

I’ve been pretty busy lately hence the lack of writing but it’s raining and I have a free afternoon so I thought I’d let you know what’s new and what you can be praying for. First off I moved a little over a week ago. I’m still on base but in student housing that used for Harvest Missions School when it’s in session. I have 3 rooms and two bathrooms, a shower a kitchen, running water (sometimes),

and electricity (also sometimes). I have an entire house to myself and it feels quite excessive. The beach is so close that I hear the waves rolling in an out whenever I’m home. My bed is huge a family of 5 could sleep on it. I stack my old water boxes for shelves- it’s quite nice.

My village school has been going well I gave them a test last friday and they did well albeit with a little help. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last week trying to get my kids into schools but it’s not all that easy. Of 18 kids in my class only four are planning to join school. In addition to those I’ve managed to get 3 more matriculated by walking to homes talking to parents, filling out forms and trying various area schools. Some of the kids have a reputation and aren’t accepted anywhere. One of the boys I’ve been trying to get into school isn’t allowed to sign up for two years because of problems last year. Please pray that God provides opportunities for these kids. Above all else, pray that they know Him.

I’ve been playing worship once or twice a week. Occasionally I lead but mostly I play bass and do sound. For those of you familiar with names, my friend Chico who was leading worship and doing youth ministries left to live in Beira and basically study microbiology- possibly medicine. Chico is my African prototype and we’ll all miss him greatly. Elder is taking over his role although Armando leads worship most of the time. I love working with all of them. Frankie is a phenomenal drummer. Our other vocalists Salina, Fatima and Teresa are amazing. Things are done differently here- for one we don’t really practice. Second there’s no printed music so everything is played by ear or memory. And if you’re accompanying you just figure it out as you go. Mostly we play Portuguese or Makua worship but Armando likes Newsboys, the girls and Chico love anything Hillsong or related and Frankie likes P.O.D. This morning we loaded up all our gear and lead a worship service at another church which was a lot of fun.

So there’s a few more parts of life here. I’ve learned a lot- not the least of which is how to salvage the good bits of a worm infested mango. We lost water for 3 days- I was so excited when it came back on because I could…do dishes. Really. We exalt God and give him the glory for everything He continues to do in our midst. I hope you’re enjoying winter- I can hardly wait!

Feliz Ano Nuvo! It’s actually 7am here as I’m writing this. New Years night went very well- the city around the base was pretty quiet. We had a prayer walk around the perimeter in the morning and people prayed and exalted God all night- especially as we ate an awesome New Years dinner! Lots of the kids stayed up in the biblioteca watching episodes of Tom and Jerry on our new projector. It reminded me of new years at David’s…Hope you all had fun!!

At midnight there was a 5 minute proper fireworks display on the beach at the hotel just across the street from us. Everyone cheered. And everyone who was asleep woke up (it was close enough that it shook the rooms) and came out for the celebration! Right now I’m off to play for a New Years worship service. Happy New Year friends!

Merry Christmas from Africa!!!! I miss you and love you all – no snow here yet but our God is God so who knows??!

We had a candle light service Christmas Eve and it was roughly like you would imagine it would be like if David Rice was in charge. It started out quiet and somber enough but quickly transmogrified into a candle blowing-out and re-lighting service and then dancing and then a firey dance party. The building is still up although some kids left with flames in hand. No burns reported.

Today I’m in a nativity play and I’m the star. No really, I’m the star, that and a Roman guard. After that it’s a lovely lunch and then presents and then presents for the village kids. Christmas is pretty magical feeling here too- it’s raining lightly and it’s abnormally cold out The dinning room, the church and the dorms are decorated. Christmas eve was fantastically peaceful and full of smiles. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for loving us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Today we had Christmas III in Mieze. Mieze is a prototype village with just two houses, one for boys and one for girls. In addition to the church on site the village raises chickens and takes care of an orchard. After the kids greeted us with several songs they handed out candy to the village kids in the area “Feliz Natal!” It’s so great to watch them enjoying giving. Here’s a few quick shots of Mieze. Happy Christmas Eve!! My friend Chico is in charge of decorating our base for what I’ll call “Christmas IV.”

[caption id="attachment_515" align="aligncenter" width="458" caption="Kid Danced for 20 Minutes Before Presents"][/caption]