Final Thoughts . . .

Libby:
Well, our journey has ended. It has been wonderful to have had the opportunity to meet such committed Christians. Although they are poor financially they are richer than we are in some ways. They welcomed us with open arms and genuinely can twait to share their last food with us. What a lot we have learnt! We hope by being in their houses they will remember that we are praying for their success and future projects and that they feel supported.

Nicki:
Mozambique - a country of extremes. Extreme beauty, extreme colour, extreme poverty and extreme faith and love for the Lord Jesus. I had no idea what to expect or what to find and am coming home with an inner peace and calm and a better understanding of what we can do to help Bernadette and the congregations we visited.
It was so important that we went. What we were able to give and share with everyone in Christian love and fellowship was more than any money could possibly achieve. The overwhelming and uplifting spiritual joy which we have all felt sharing praise, worship and prayer with all we met is priceless.
We were guided physically and spiritually by pastor Danie Murray, a channel for God's love and understanding. We have all shared so much love, laughter, tears and joy with everyone we met that I feel humbled when I see how much is being done with so little for so many.
I feel blessed to have been able to share this experience with my fellow travellers and feel this is not the end of my journey, just the beginning.

George:
For me the mission to Mozambique has been an experience of a lifetime. Before leaving I had some doubts that given my age (68, ed.) I was perhaps not the correct person evangelising in a foreign country where I did not speak the language. However, given the warmth of the welcomes we received at every location, and the hospitality extended to us it became clear that I slotted into the team with ease. The enthusiasm of the Christians we met in the various locations was a joy to behold and an unforgettable, uplifting experience. I addition pastor Danie Murray, our guide, translator, driver and spiritual leader might be succinctly described as "God's love in action". It was a huge privilege for us to have Danie with us and I can honestly say that our Lord, working through Danie, has strengthened and deepened my own faith to a level which I have not ever known in the past.

Martin:
For two weeks we have walked closely with deeply religious missionaries and seen the communities they work for. They speak openly about their great love for God and God is central in everything they do. This has made a deep impression on us all. We have seen and we now understand the local needs, we have informed and discussed, we have laughed and cried, we have comforted and been comforted.
We have created new friendships which will last because they are part of a bigger plan (as pastor Danie would say). All of us have felt the need and made fresh commitments to lead our lives with a stronger commitment to God. This mission trip will change the lives of the team and the congregation and our friends in Mozambique for sure.

This is the end of our blog. We hope you enjoyed reading it.
If you have any questions please mail Martin Beck at this address:
mbeck944@aol.com

Saturday Update - Saying our goodbyes

We said our goodbyes to Kruger du Preez and pastor Samuel Matunda this
morning. We left a whole stack of clothes and food behind for Samuel to use
in the community where it is most needed.

The drive back was uneventful.  Both border posts were teeming with people.
We had a delay on entry into Malawi when the army border guards just kept
looking at us but wouldn't open the gate. Dani wouldn't hoot his horn. After
a long time a casually dressed man ambled up leisurely and opened the gate
for us. No uniform needed here.

Saying good bye to Dani was hard. In the two weeks he has become a good
friend and we will miss his laughter, stories, perspective and guidance. The
devotions sessions with him won't be forgotten. George led devotions this
morning and did a very nice job.

We recorded a video message of thanks for the Strand congregation which Dani
is hoping to play to them in late January.

We landed in Addis two hours ago and have stayed awake playing twenty
questions. Hopefully our flight is on time at 1:45.
We are all looking forward to seeing many of you at church tomorrow.

We are grateful to Ben for maintaining the blog during these two weeks. Well
done Ben.

Tomorrow we will add our last post to this blog. This will be final thoughts
from each of the travellers on their experience in Mozambique.

Heartfelt greetings from your mission team.
George, Nicki, Libby and Martin.

Friday Update

We spent the day in two villages, saw a rice distribution to the poorest
people of the district and visited the first reformed church built in
Mozambique in 1908 by AC Murray, a distant relative of Dani.
We visited the local Pastor's wife (the Pastor was away for several days to
help one his elders get going).
On the way back we bought bread in Vila Ulongue's market - what a mess, wait
for the photos!
In the afternoon we realised a minor miracle by making the library look
neat.
We also heard more about the language training and the reading initiative
for blind people taking place here at Hefsiba.

We had our final supper just now and retold some of our best stories.

Leaving tomorrow at 9 am.

We are thankful for a spiritual time under the guidance of Pastor Dani.

We pray for the poorest people in this region and hope that they receive not
only the rice but also the message that this rice was given by their
Christian neighbours out of love.

Signing off.
 The mission team.

Thursday Update - Librarians book two

Spent the entire day in the library. None of us have ever played librarians
before and so we were somewhat out of our depth. We then discovered a 1965
book of library decimalisation which we used for indexing everything. That
effort went quite well until we discovered on the internet that changes had
been to the system since 1965. Who would have thought. . .
As a result we do know that the job of sorting, categorising and  labelling
isn't finished.  We don't know if the resident librarian was truly able to
follow our logic or if she simply said "Yes" to everything to please us.

We invited pastor Samuel and his wife over to our house for dinner. There
was a minor glitch when the electricity went off at 3pm and never came on
again and so dinner is an improvisation. A tinned Chili con Carne was
augmented with tomatoes from the market and cooked at a neighbour's house.
Desert was a fruit salad of mangos and bananas.
The Pastor's wife is very quiet although she probably understands most of
what we say. We had a lovely time, eating by candle light and the Pastor was
very friendly and funny. We even sang a hymn after dinner. I do
wonder if they felt like judges on the X Factor.
Pastor Samuel's father is recognized in Mozambique as the founder of mission
work in the Milange area, where he ministered even during the countries Civil War.
We handed over several Bibles and workbooks. George inscribed a
leather-bound Bible with greetings from the Marlow congregation.

We are thankful for fellowship, friendship and support we receive from
everyone here.

We pray that by some miracle we will be able to finalize the library
decimalisation tomorrow and that the new librarian can understand and work
the system.

Wednesday Update - Pictures!

After a good nights rest we played with the plumbing in our house trying to fix
airlocks and turning trickles into some flow. Being inspired by our
surroundings of the Bible college we then held an inhouse devotions meeting
led by Pastor Danie before meeting Pastor Samuel at 9 o'clock.
We assembled in one of the lecture halls with Samuel, the Principal, the
vice principal and members of the executive.
They explained the college organisation and workings and we spoke about our
trip so far and our church in Marlow.
Following the meeting we were given a tour of the grounds and lunch.
We started our library job of identifying and categorizing a large heap of
(really ancient) books. This took up the entire afternoon.
We cooked a simple pasta dish for dinner and are now definitely ready for
bed.

We are thankful for our growing relationship with the people from the
college, who have built a recognized institution over the last 12 years.

We pray that Hefsiba's may continue to flourish and that they will be able
to support and train an even greater number of students in the future.

Tuesday Update - Border control

After a meeting with Espanor representatives which went on until 10pm we had a late start. A 5star breakfast was laid on by pastor Cobus' wife Nana who reside at the mission station in Milange.
We bade them and Tony (who is persisting with his language training efforts) a fond farewell and Cobus promised to mail the diary which I left behind in Ile to England.
Our attempt to find some trousers or shirts in Milange market ended with the realisation that they must be receiving Oxfam rejects in rusty containers and then hang these out for sale. So our visit to the "famous gents outfitters" of Milange were unsuccessful.
Four border crossings later we are now in the beautiful accomodation of the Hefsiba bible college at Vila Ulongue.
The border formalities were pretty uneventful, only our last re-entry into Mozambique was noteworthy. At 3:30 pm we were the first car that passed through his checkpoint and we chatted for a while.
Malawi is very green in this region and living standards are higher than in Mozambique. There are many more cars and the roads are tarmaced. There were various military checkpoints during our transit and at one of them Dani thought he had been waved on when he hadn't. This resulted in a bit of a tense moment when the soldier said: why are you in such a hurry? As in all situations Dani remained calm and friendly and we got on our way without having our luggage searched.

We had several rain showers during the day and by the time we arrived at Hefsiba the temperature dropped to 24 degrees. The college looks like a tropical botanical garden. Tomorrow we are getting the guided tour.

The welcome from pastor Samuel Matunda was unlike anything I have ever seen. He greeted me and the others like a long lost son/daughter. We are staying in a lecturer's house which is empty this week and will be occupied again from next week.

Pastor Samuel is going to the local restaurant for dinner with us in a few minutes.

We are thankful for safe travels on the boggy roads of Mozambique. We also thank Cobus and Nana for their hospitality.
We pray that the efforts of Espanor will come to fruition according to their plans.

Monday Update

Just a short update as we've just started a meeting which will last all evening.
Started in Ile this morning, saw pastor Ualize again, stopped at the Anamed project where we saw how they make medicine from plants. We bought some Morimba.
We then drove to Mussi. The pastor was working in the field and didn't expect us. He had not received the message that we were on our way.
Nevertheless his wife and daughters rustled up a lunch of rice and Sardines. George knocked his head on the roof and drew a little blood - an opportunity for Nicky to get out the first aid kit.

Then on to Milange where we are right now, meeting with Espanor to discuss how they might be able to move forward.

We are thankful for safe journeys through flooded and muddy roads.

We pray for the congregation of Ile once more that they may reflect on the events and discussions from yesterday and jointly find good solutions to their questions.

Sunday Update - Pastor Ualize and problems of poverty

I'm writing this very late today.
We left Bernadette's at 7 am. Our time with her has been too short.

We arrived at the church at Ile at 10am, had a 3 hour service with them and
then a 5 hour meeting with their elders. Lunch was also served.

They have an amazing pastor whose name is Antonio Ualize. We met various
other church leaders and elders during the day and finished well after dark
(no electricity here).
The frisbee worked well to break the ice as did the pictures of our church
and congregation. Libby and Nicki made Christmas stars with the kids during
a break. Each of us did a short piece in the service (more about this
later).
They were amazed to hear that we had come "from the other side of the world"
(equatorially speaking) and that despite our good-looking church have no
minister and declining numbers of youngsters.
We listened to their problems of poverty and administrative woes.
Pastor Ualize runs 12 churches, all of them have around 50 members.

We are thankful for meeting and discussing with these amazing, honest people
who carry their love of God deep in their hearts.

We pray that Bernadette can finalize her preparations for her vacation and
that she can enjoy a relaxing and well deserved break with her family in
South Africa.
We also pray for pastor Ualize, his family, congregation and colleagues,
asking that their problems of poverty can be resolved.

Saturday Update - Football, frisbies and first aid

We spent the day at Magodane with pastor Jussa and his elders. We practised
hymns all the way there, George tried to write down some of the words but
was beaten by the bumpy road.  In the end we decided we would sing Amazing
Grace for the congregation.
The pastor came on his bicycle a few moments after we arrived but apparently
they had not been expecting us.
We played frisbee with the kids and then with the adults. We laughed such a
lot!
3 Elders arrived and showed us round the church. Libby produced a photo in
which one of them looked very proper in a suit and tie. Libby gave it to
him.
We talked about their needs, a Portuguese dictionary and a Shuabu/Portuguese
bible, apparently available in Quelimane. They would also benefit from a
typewriter. They explained that the tin roof makes the church really hot and
they were thinking of raising the walls and the roof. Libby sketched out an
idea of adding a bamboo structure over the roof to give shade and to grow
trees in the long term.
We also spoke about spiritual problems and they explained that elder
training and materials would be good.
They have lots of children at church - so we left two frisbees behind and
encouraged them to buy a new football. Apparently they had one , with
scripture verses written on it in the past. If the ball went out of bounds a
verse had to be read before the throw-in.
We sang several hyms, some in Shuabu.
The Lord's my shepherd, Amazing Grace, etc.
Just when we were ready to leave Nicki saw a young girl with a horrible leg
wound where a bicycle spoke had gone through. The wound was terribly
infected with flies all over. Nicki got the dressings from the car and
dressed the wound. This drew a huge crowd and we left two weeks supply of
dressings with the family.

We thank the Lord for a wonderful day where we again renewed our connection
and that Nicki managed to help the injured girl.

 We pray for the congregation at Magedane and that they will continue to do
well. We also pray that the little girl will recover quickly and completely.

Friday Update

Dani and Martin got Bernadette's scooter working again and she rode on it at
the end of the day.

Libby and Nicki did the infant clinic this morning with Bernadette and loved
it.

The whole team met with pastor Texeira and 3 elders at church. We discussed
their problems and their help from Strand church to build a much larger
church. The pastor also invited us across to his house. We met his family
and had lunch there.
Strand are supporting them really well. We talked for a lomg time in 40
degrees heat. We feel a very strong connection with this church and we will
pray for our brothers and sisters in Mocuba.

After lunch we tried to buy a crate of coke bottles. The problem is they
won't sell you any if you don't bring a crate of empties. Three  ways of
getting a crate is to inherit one, to buy one from a truck on a country road
or to buy one in the market - a crate of empties! !
Long story short - we went home with cans instead of bottles.

For dinner we went to the only acceptable restaurant in Mocuba - lovely
chicken and also king prawns.

What a fantastic day.
We thank the Lord for our special relationship with pastor Texeira and his
congregation. We are so thankful for Bernadette's hospitality and how she
involves us.
We pray that the local congregation will complete their building project and
continue to build their congregation.

Pineapple's and bird song!

We were up at 5am this morning - and that is by choice, not because a
timetable demanded it.
This early you can hear the most incredible bird calls. Hard to write down
but I promise to do a bird imitation when we get back.
We had a cop of tea under Bernadette's huge cashew nut tree.
Pastor Teixeira arrived even before breakfast to meet us. It was very nice
for Libby to see him again.
Then we had to repair our Toyota which wouldn't start due to a flat battery.
We tried jumpstarting, then with a tractor pulling. In the end we replaced
the battery and the car worked fine.
We saw all the buildings on the compound and everything is in incredibly
good service. The clinic and the classrooms are spotless and the sewing
rooms and shop and vibrant with all their indigenous colours and patterns.
We spent the entire day fitting a DVD system and speakers. Bernadette bought
them last year November and trusted us with the installation.
We got it all working by about 6pm and it was a pretty difficult job.
Pastor Martin came past while we had our tea. He wanted to show us his new
50cc motorcycle. We all looked suitably impressed and he was clearly very
proud. Before he left he asked us to pray for him to ride safely on his
bike.
Libby and Nicki are giving a lot of attention to 14 month old Felix who
lives with Bernadette at the moment.

It is a lovely, lovely home Bernadette has made for her and many others.

We are thankful that we all get on so well together and that we are able to
experience this special place.
We pray that Pastor Martin will ride safely on his bike and that Felix's
grandma will be treated in the hospital.

Wednesday Update

We saw the farming project in Milange this morning and stayed for lunch.
They practice "farming in God's way" - more about that some other time. They
grow lovely pineapples and corn.
The farming manager is also the pastor and we went along to see his church.
He invited me (jokingly obviously) to move into the empty manse.

The roads were all dirt roads, washboard and potholes with some very narrow
passes. This evening we arrived at Bernadette's place in Mocuba. It has
progressed so much in the last three years. She has electricity and running
water now. She was also visited by Mozambique's first lady today, in total
800 people turned up for the event.
So despite being tired she gave us a very warm welcome.

We are thankful to have arrived safely at our destination and we are so
priviledged to know Bernadette.
We pray that her work continues to be richly blessed and that she can
continue to improve her assistance to the local people.

It just started raining on the metal roof and the electricity went off.