Yesterday was my last morning in Mozambique.  I woke up at 5am and went to the prayer hut where we worshipped and prayed until about 8.  Nasimo did the rounds with me, first stopping at the toddler house then visiting the playground and one final trip through the village.  I had packed the night before so I got to spend the whole morning with the kids.

Mark, Jen, Nasimo, Chantal, Rosa and the Wood boys came to the airport with me.  Jun was leaving on the same plane.  Boarding time came and we were rushed through onto a little jet, the kind with only 3 seats per row (Pam prayed that I would get a small plane because they’re more fun).  It was small enough that the asked us to move to the back of the plane because it was imbalanced for take-off.  I sat in the very back left corner between the wing and the engine.  There was a misty rain as we waited and occasionally streams of water would leave tracers on the window.  We left early.  The plane made a steep accent, the land is greener now than when I arrived.  I noticed all the buildings that had been invisible when I flew here in November.  You just had to know what to look for.  I watched the beaches go by and recognized a few of them.  They served lunch immediately and there was cheesecake.  It’s was hard to eat without the kids- I didn’t escape thinking about them and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to.  One thing my stay has produced is a keen awareness of what is available to whom.

In my estimation I’ve left at least a ventricle and quite possibly an atria or even both at with my family in Pemba.  There’s the Iris kids, the village kids, the missionaries and tias, the babies that have broad teethless smiles- the kind that would show all their teeth if they had any, babies that only want you and fall asleep however you hold them.  There’s the challenge of putting Mildo (his name is “Mildew” heh heh)  to bed after he’s asleep in your arms.  He grasps your shirt and then monitors your intentions.  Plenty to miss.

I’m writing from South Africa- I’ll be here for 5 days before arriving at SFO in San Francisco, 1:25pm on Thursday, February 12th (Happy Birthday Kiddo!).  It’s cold this morning.  Please pray for my friends in Pemba and for me as well, daily bread, keep us from temptation, deliver us from the evil one, exalt God, that sort of thing would be good.  Especially pray for Nasimo that he would have a close godly Mozambican friend.

Thanks for your prayers! All of our toddlers are doing well. Vitor is through with cholera and Merina seems to have kicked malaria also. Please pray for my Fatima who seems to have become ill with malaria. Yikes.

I’ve noticed lots of skin infections on the tops of the heads of a bunch of village kids too.  Please pray for us all!!

I’m teaching Piano on base and Fatima is one of my students.  I have to say that the girls learning piano are pretty amazing.  We’re doing a bit of music theory- by the third day they were able to name every note as well as form scales and chords.  They moved the keyboard into their house so they can practice and do their “homework”.

This afternoon I was walking back from some errands and I noticed my door was open- yeak! I walked in to make sure everything was good and I was greeted by a half naked Mozambican man. These are the times when you hope that your communication skills are up to par. I turns out he’s my new housemate, “colecao da casa,” for the next week or so. He was just finishing a shower after the 10 hour drive here. So I introduced myself and offered some peanut butter (the peanut butter lady who makes it delivers it fresh in jars for 50 mets, 40 if you return the jar) and whole wheat crackers. Good times.

Please pray for our kids. We have one boy from the toddler house who is hospitalized with Cholera. Fortunately it looks like none of the other kids picked it up. One of our younger girls, Merina, is sick with malaria. We have two sick babies, one appears to be constipated and the other one balances the equation if you catch my drift. As for me, I am well although I’m being bitten by mosquitoes more these days.

Yesterday we had the last day of village school. I took the kids to the beach and we used the rest of our bag of chalk drawing on the rocks. I was really impressed- many of them drew things that we learned about in class. The kids who have come consistently have made lots of progress. Perhaps most significantly they are able to sit still and quiet, they follow directions and they leave the base when it’s time to go. That last bit is a big deal because they used to go hide or try to blend in until dark at which point they would beg or raid the kitchen or pilfer from the boys dorms. Leaving the base costs them something but it has earned them (and me) the respect of the Alpha Guards not to mention the honor of being honest. We celebrated our last day with a banana cake, courtesy of Jun. The kids who want to continue in school will matriculate into the state system.

If you don’t know who Nchamo is, have a look at his first article here. He’s my brother in Christ- and he is from a village called “Palma” heh heh.

Think, who knows you very well in all the world. When leave your country and go somewhere else who knows you? If it is your first time coming to Mozambique no one here will know you except God. Think, when you are sleeping and you can’t see anything, who protects you? If you want to trust God you can look at Luke 12:

“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; Yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”

If go anywhere in the world you can trust that God will give you what you need even if it is a poor country or a rich country. God has a plan for you where ever you go. One time I met a man who came to Mozambique and banditos stole from

him and he didn’t have anything, not even money to go home. He didn’t know Jesus but I told him about God and he said let’s go pray. So we started to pray. After 3 months the man found me and told me “God is good and I want to trust him forever. It’s amazing, God provided for me.”

Before you are born, when you are in you mothers tummy God has a plan for you. Sometimes, as you get older you forget the plan. Just like a child, when he is three years old he remembers something but when he is 16 he doesn’t remember what he was doing when he was three years old. If you are rich or if you are poor sometimes it distracts you from what the plan was.

If you are rich maybe sometimes you think you are god and everything is zero and you are a VIP and everything is about you. You might always think about cars, computers, airplanes, boats, clothes, houses, jewelry, girls, everything and you forget who was rich first. Who was rich before you and who is the most rich in all the world?

If you are poor you might think you are all alone. You might think people don’t like you and that you are cursed. But someone gave you a big present for your whole life. The present is the heart for life. You can live but not have life. God is with you everywhere you go and he has a plan for you. Keep praying, keep asking- if you don’t know Him, you need to know Him. It’s very important for your life.

You think maybe if you have a lot of stuff you will feel good, but it’s nothing. Share what you have. Even if you are poor you can give to people by volunteering and giving your time. Sometimes the only thing the children here need is time. It’s not just the children sometimes if you just sit with your friend then he is happy. If you only give him money but don’t spend time with him or show him love then you don’t know his problems and every time he goes away he is sad. Even if you are rich when you don’t have friends or people to stay and talk with you then you are sad.

Rich people have a responsibility to give. Some rich people here don’t know Jesus but then because of their giving they find out about Him. One time Jesus was talking to a man who was very rich:

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sad because he had great wealth.

When you have, try to find those those who don’t have and give him a little of what you have to give. God will bless you more and people in the world will see you are good. When you are rich and have many things but you don’t give, you will be sad. Do you know why? Because God wants you to give. If you want to keep your life you need to work with God forever. When you give and you don’t know God nothing happens with blessing because you don’t know Him- how can He bless the gift? Try to trust Him when you give people things. When you know God you give according to His plan.

When you speak the truth more trust comes, more truth and more vision from God. To be responsible with giving you need to know Jesus and you need to have peace. If you don’t know Jesus how can you be responsible with giving? How? A man from England was visiting Mozambique and he gave someone a lot of money to go help the people in the village. The man who took the money didn’t help the people in the village,

instead he used it all for himself. The man who gave the money didn’t have peace or faith and didn’t know Jesus. He could not discern if the man who took the money was telling the truth or lying. It is important to know if someone is telling the truth about their difficulties because because you really want to help.

Remember, God, He knew you before you were born, and he has a plan for you. Don’t worry if you are rich or poor you still have to give. Don’t forget to look for people who want help- remember who is the most rich all the world. Do you know what to do to avoid being sad? Try to remember. When you give, you need to know God. Pray when you give and He will bless it. Remember who knows you the best in the whole world. I hope are blessed and that you give and pray about giving and that you will always remember this message. This message is not just from me, God is using me to tell you this message.

-Nchamo Muedine

Happy New Years Eve! Today is also the half way point of my time in Mozambique. My bottle of doxycycline reminds me every morning that I don’t get to stay here forever.

I’ve been here long enough that I catch myself speaking portuguese to my cat. In fact I did our village school without a translator for about an hour and a half yesterday…although my grammar is atrocious, really.

In the past New Years here has been rough. Staff tell of witch doctors coming out all over the city in their full garb. Perhaps something that US-ians can relate to more is rampant drunkenness. Fatherhood isn’t valued much in this culture and an excuse to drink loads of EtOH doesn’t help the situation.

Please pray for families here. For a new spirit of real love and for protection from temptation and evil of every kind.

I have a funny story for you…when white people walk through the village they’re bound the hear children yelling “akunya, akunya” which means white-person, white person. Adults chuckle. Visitors are advised to avoid walking through the village in case a situation escalates. I had to go get some “matopi” for our pottery class so I went into the village with two Mozambican friends. Sure enough within the first minute a child piped up “akunya, akunya, akunya” to which another child replied (in Portuguese) he’s not an akunya, look at him. The two began fighting between themselves over whether or not I was white enough. Good times.

Now when a village kid calls me akunya I just look around really fast and say “where??!?” and everyone seems to think that’s pretty funny. There’s one place in the village where, when I turn the corner, they just yell “Eduardu, Eduardu!” and come running. These are my students and their brothers and sisters.

May God give you exactly what you need in the year ahead, lots of love, Ed

…and here’s a picture my friend Sam took, just cause I like you:

My friend and translator for school, Nchamo “Nasimo” wants to be a journalist who speaks the truth to help his country. I told him we should start doing some writing and that I’d publish it on the internet for him. This is his first article. We started in Portuguese but then he wanted to write especially for people in the US and Canada so we switched to english.

Christmas in Mozambique
26 December 2008

Christian brothers and sisters, the love of God spreads to all the world. Many people in Africa are Christians, they love Jesus but they need someone to come explain.

Many people do things to commemorate Christmas but it is difficult for these people because they don’t have anything. It is important for these people that you pray, asking God to bless the country and give more power to the people for everything that they need. Nothing is impossible with God! We need your help but prayer is so important because it touches everybody in Africa. If you send money then sometimes the people don’t get it. If you send money here in the mail, sometimes people open the mail and they take the money out but if you pray and God hears your prayer he provides for everybody. Come see Mozambique, now it is different because many people are trusting in God. God brings more power for the country. Some children lose their families to be christians. That is like me, I lost my family when I was 6 years old to be a christian.

If you get this message tell another person to pray for our country so it will spread the love of God. You have a lot of money, but it is not possible for all people because there are so many people. Try visiting the countries and pray over the countries and look at what Jesus wants to change. You need to think about you, how God changed your life, then come and tell your testimony. Maybe if you tell your story then somebody else will know Jesus. Even me, I have a dream to go to other countries and tell people about God. Even if you don’t have anything you need to continue to share that message because the message is for everybody.

Jesus wants to give you more- more responsibility for teaching other people about God. This message is from me, a young boy, sixteen years old. I am working with missionaries wherever I go, they are like my family.

Please pray for Africa and the world, for peace and love and faith. Please christian brothers and sisters don’t fear when you want to visit the world because Jesus is with you everywhere you go. Me too, I pray for you. When God calls you anywhere, you need to just go.

When you are finished reading this message please keep it in your heart,

-Nchamo Muedine

Nchamo would be really blessed to hear what you think of his writing. I’ll give him a copy of all your comments so he can read them!

Well I’m on my fourth christmas. We woke up had bread and tea and gave presents to all 200 kids here on base.

After that they all came to the church building where we put on a nativity play. Let me sum up the awesomeness with this still from a video:
After the nativity we had lunch with our kids- chicken, rice, salad and fanta. Then we served lunch to 2000 people from the village. Two-thousand is a lot. Here’s a few pictures of how we did it:
Everyone ate and everyone got a gift. We went through more than 2300 fantas and cokes at one per person. Many were blessed and we were blessed bless them.

For more christmas pictures from today have a look at my friend Nikki-the-sound-engineer’s Africa blog.

Love Ya, Hope your Christmas is awesome too!

Remember how we had Christmas a week ago and then Christmas again the next day? Well we’re having Christmas again in two days! Never winter but always Christmas. Back on second Christmas night we had an outreach that I wrote about. I told you I’d put some pictures up eventually…well instead I managed to get a video for you. I filmed in 720P HD in at times in infrared (when it’s green). The video quality is degraded on here because I had to compress the willies out of it to send it from here. In total I have about 80 minutes of footage, this is just a quick 15 minute summary of night outreach including testimonies. This all happened just last week at a location where some people of a different religion began stoning the outreach team at the beginning of the year. Now there’s a church starting there! Praise God!

Today our little village school went through a bit of a transition. Andrea who has been doing the school went home to London and Jared the photographer went to South Africa. That leaves me and Nasimo, my 16 year old translator/teacher to take care of the school. Jun, a visitor from Korea is helping me out too. There’s lots of challenges, especially in lesson planning, language, teaching supplies and discipline. If anyone has tips on how to discipline wily villagers I’m all ears. I have to say that for it’s challenges there are certainly real blessings. There’s a boy named Jonny, 13, who used to be very difficult to have around much less to teach. He sat quietly and at the end of the day said “Edwardu, I like studying with you.” It’s amazing the range of student that come there’s about 9 that are consistent some of them can do multiplication while others haven’t quite figured out writing. Last week Nasimo asked what the first bible story I told was (from weeks ago) and they remembered. Sometime I wonder if they listen even when they’re being crazy, and apparently the answer is yes. One of the boys even put the biblical principle into action (this was after the fisticuffs).

I’ll run our unofficial little summer school until January when the official school goes into session then I’ll help the kids in our class get signed up there. We just found out yesterday that the school here on base is the top school in the whole province of Cabo Delgado. Please pray for me, Jun and Nasimo as well as our students.

Update: I don’t usually take a camera to school because it’s distracting but I caught a few moments on my iPhone so you can get an idea of what school looks like. Enjoy!

Update II: Friday the class peaked at 25 students which was a bit much. The upside is that about half of them understand the concepts and methods of subtraction well enough to subtract numbers in the millions although a riot almost broke out when I tried explain the concept of “borrowing.” They calmed down after I explained it. The downside (or the other upside, depending on your goals in life) of a class that size is that we had our first classroom fire.