wafrica: week number 4--SURVEY TRIP

Hallo hallo hallo from Mozambique!

Hoping and praying you all are well! We are coming to the last few weeks of the internship (sad day…I’m trying not to think about it ha ha). We still have a lot to do including a beach holiday with the missionary families!

But for now why don’t I tell you about this last week!

On Saturday, June 26 we loaded up the cars at 5.00 am and started off on a 12-hour drive to Mozambique’s Niassa province, which is west of Montepuez (where we are living).

[The purpose of our trip was to survey some towns in the Niassa province. We gathered information that will be helpful to future missionaries if they plan on moving to the area.]

It was rough roads and by rough I mean I was air born out of my seat quite a few times—especially at the on set of the adventure BECAUSE I was riding with Chad…Chad likes to drive fast (just like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights). Alan drives a bit more slowly over the bumps and ditches in the road, therefore he is usually about 30-minutes behind Chad. Every hour or two Chad’s car would stop and wait for Alan; we calculated that if the 30-mintue pattern continued Chad and the members of his car would wait for Alan a total of 2-hours for that day’s driving time.

I started out in Chad’s car, BUT my neck started to bother me (I have a pinched nerve in my neck) SO I made the switch to Alan’s car—thankfully Mark was kind enough to switch with me—because see there’s another catch to the “car situation” (if you can even call it that): Alan’s car has air conditioning and his radio/ipod hookup works…Chad has neither such luxury.

So I joined the ranks of Alan’s car about 3 hours into the trip! We listened to several interesting podcasts from radio lab including one about parasites…yes parasites.

Soon after the parasite podcast we started going over several bridges and small bodies of water—let me build you a picture: the bridges were small, in length and width; they were made out of logs and occasionally some cross boards underneath the logs for support. The space between some of the logs was wide—wide enough for say a wheel of a truck to get stuck in; but over and over again we drove over and made it!

When we came to the small ponds (if you could even call them ponds, puddles really) the task seemed easy—we had just driven over some perilous bridges for Pete’s sake—BUT as we (in Alan’s car) rounded the corner we came upon an unpleasant sight—Chad was stuck in the mud.

Yes. The mud of a puddle/pond.

This was no laughing matter (he he he) We got out an assessed the situation and determined that Alan could drive around Chad straight through the pond and make it to the other side, once over he could pull Chad out!

We got in Alan’s car. Rolled up our windows and prepared to drive across. A little extra gas, a large splashed AND we made it!

(sorry to keep you on the edge of your seats)

We got out some of the towing equipment (not sure what to call it exactly) and within 5-minutes had Chad out of the mud!

The rest of the day consisted of more driving; a few more car switches (I did return to Chad’s car) and then around 3.00 pm we arrived at the Tallbot’s house –the Tallbot’s are a wonderful family of American missionaries who live in ………… We stopped at their house to visit and rest our legs.

They were so sweet and had coffee and dessert waiting for us; they also gave us a tour of their land. They had a beautiful house, a lot of rabbits, chickens, and so many trees and plants it was phenomenal.

Hopped back into the cars and headed to our final destination—The Dutch Reform Mission compound in Maroopa.

We stayed in Maroopa Saturday and Sunday night AND we were treated with such hospitality home cooked meals, coffee, tea, dessert, and a lot of conversation.

The couple that lives at the compound are from South Africa; their names are Frits and Nikki; both are from Dutch descent and both are amazing. Right after we arrived Nikki brought us hot tea and coffee; then she showed us to our houses. Yes our houses. The girls and boys both had our own houses with beds and bathrooms.

We had a rousing dinner, which consisted of women jokes as told by Frits and a couple of the guys (the names have not been mentioned to protect the innocent…Ted and Jon). We also had a great time of Bible study and discussion which was great because we got to talk with another missionary team from a different denomination and nationality.

SUNDAY

We went to church on the compound and we were asked to sing some Makua and American songs…we were a sight to be seen I’m sure, but the Africans seemed to like it so we were pleased with our musical selections. Also the children from the congregations Sunday school sang…so so so cute! I took some video of them so I will for sure post that (eventually).

In the afternoon we took a tour of the land including the farms and different agricultural projects they have going on. We also divided up the survey questions (the reason we are on the trip) between our group members. I was in charge of learning about housing costs and general living conditions in the area.

We had another rousing night of jokes and Bible study.

MONDAY

Then the next morning we woke up early and headed onto Maua and Neipeepe.

The drive was GEORGEOUS; the mountains jut out of the ground and are spaced in a way that it looks like God just dropped random HUGE boulders in the area.

We arrived in Maua for a day survey. The first place we visited was the Catholic Church and the Padre’s name—Frits. I go my whole live not knowing one Frits then within days I meet two of them.

Padre Frits was kind and generous. He gave our group some picture Bibles they had translated into Makua-Shreema (the local dialect of Makua). He showed us around their compound and he took us to their church. BUT the strange thing about the Catholic Church in Maua is this—they are not opposed to ancestor worship. They have actually taken the traditional practices used in local ancestor and spirit worship and infused them with the Bible. For example: The name they use for Jesus, as healer in the Makua Catholic Bible is the same word for witch doctor. They do not show Jesus crucified on a cross but on a Y shaped tree; the Y shaped tree is the traditional place where sacrifices to ancestors would be made….so in a creative attempt to contextualize the Gospel into the Makua culture, they have essentially synchronized the two. A very interesting experience.

We then spilt up into two groups and went on the search for some leaders from different denominations. Alan, Kaitlin Scaefer, Mark, Zack, and I met with a woman we is a part of the Evangelical Church of Christ. She was kind and took a break from her work to answer all of our questions, AND THEN she fed us lunch: Egg sandwiches, french fries, and coffee. Needless to say we got some evil looks from the other group…who turned down lunch when it was offered to them. ☺ (our bad)

We then drove on to Neipeepe—which was a small town another 3 or 4 hours away—and because of a time crunch we were only there for maybe an hour. So unfortunately we did not get to spend much time with the church members there.

We then piled back into the cars and headed to the booming metropolis of Cuamba! (that is not sarcasm it really is a big city). The drive was probably 5 hours long, which was very unfortunate especially because we all thought it was only going to be 2 or 3 hours…so tired, drained, hungry, and sore we pulled into Cuamba around 9.30 pm.

Luckily we were staying with a fellow missionary in Cuamba so she had a hot dinner waiting for us right when we got there.

The woman’s name is Millie and she has been a missionary in Africa for over 30 years! She was awesome: hospitable, sweet, down to earth, funny, and very encouraging. The girls stayed at her home and the boys stayed at a guesthouse about a 5-minute drive away.

TUESDAY

Thankfully we took Tuesday kind of slow. We were all very tired of driving. We interviewed some teachers from a Portuguese Bible school; they were very kind and showed us around their “campus”. They also showed us the preschool they run down the street from the Bible school. The sweet little kids sang to us and stared at us (per usual).

We then took a walk around the city, looking at prices of food and different items that would be helpful to know when we write our survey reports.

THEN

We all piled in the cars (a constant theme) and went to this great restaurant that has an amazing view of the mountains that surround the city. We had a leisurely lunch and talked about what we had seen and experienced so far on the survey trip.

Headed back to Millie’s house, played some games, read, rested, and relaxed before we interviewed her. She has so much knowledge about ministry and the people of Mozambique it was a blessing to be able to pick her brain! After the interview we ate dinner—Millie fed us AGAIN so sweet of her. Then I went to sleep on my pallet next to Kaitlyn Scheafer!

WEDNESDAY

We went out to the Church of Christ in Cuamba to talk and worship with some of the leaders.

While we were meeting with the church leaders we actually ended up splitting into two groups; Kaitlyn, Kim, Mark and Jon went with Chad to survey another village Millie had suggested which was about an hour away.

Kaitlin Petty (KP), Ted, and Zack stayed at the church with Allen while he taught some lessons. Ted and Zack got the change to teach as well which was great for them and fun to watch and listen.

Around noon we got done hanging out with the church members so we headed out to a little kiosk for lunch. Oh if you could have only been there for the conversation. Some how we ended up talking about whether or not African couples kiss…yeah that’s where we ended up. We did not come up with a solid answer but the consensus was that they do show affection by kissing but not in public.

Headed back to Millie’s played spades and a few other games before Chad’s group returned. Hung out for a while before dinner then we headed to be early BECAUSE we were set to leave at oh 5 a.m. for another FULL day of driving.

THURSDAY

Woke up at 4.45 a.m.

It was dark when we piled into the cars. Several of us tried to sleep but the bumps in the road make it a little difficult.

Stopped at the Tallbot’s again for a little rest and some coffee. Since it was actual real morning by then…not 5.

All day we drove and drove THEN around 11 o’clock we decided to stop on the side of the road and climb a mountain. Yep stop on the side of the road and climb a mountain. Kaitlyn and I opted out; so we waited by the cars…which was a little frightening because right when the group was out of sight a car full of African men pulled up, stopped, and got out to watch the crazy white people climb a mountain. But they didn’t bother us and fortunately we were not alone for too long because Alan and Mark both came back—they opted out of climbing to the top when it turned into a longer trek than expected.

We waited for about an hour before every body got back down—it was quite a show watching these little dots of people basically crawl down the mountain—we ate some lunch (while be watched by over 30 Africans) before we started back on our journey!

Amazingly we stayed in the same cars all day long! Ha ha We had some good conversation, mostly to keep Chad awake. He told us that if we wanted to make it home alive we should probably talk to him… ☺

Because we were so far a head of Alan…following the 15-minute pattern—we stopped got out and rode on the top of Chad’s truck for almost 45 minutes! It was so fun, but so crazy we were basically holding on for dear life! Ha ha

Alan finally caught up and we started off again—drove drove drove drove.

Finally got home around 9—went straight to bed after a shower.

Whew we did it guys we got through survey and YOU GOT THROUGH THE POST ABOUT IT!

But I’m sorry there is just a bit more of the week that I must relate to you.

FRIDAY

I would like to dub this day tomato day.

We spent the day in Amy’s kitchen cutting and cooking tomatoes for spaghetti sauce and salsa.

And when I say all day I mean all day—there was over 100 pounds of tomatoes to cut and cook THEN can. We got all of the tomatoes cut and all of the ones for the sauce puréed…but it took Amy another day to get all of the sauce cooked and canned.

After we cut up the tomatoes we spent the day hanging out and preparing for YOUTH DAY!

SATURDAY

I dub this day YOUTH DAY!

Alan and Chad had invited the youth and children from all of the church in the Montepuez area to a youth day at their land. Basically we spent the morning playing games and hanging out with kids and youth! We also sang, had some devotionals, and dramas preformed by the proud the wonderful interns.

It was so much fun playing and communicating with these kids! We didn’t have to speak the same language we just had to throw a ball or be silly—it was wonderful.

After youth day we were all exhausted so we headed back and rested the rest of the day.

SUNDAY

The 4th of July! Whoo Hoo.

We headed out early early in our respective groups—drove a couple of hours to go to church! Kaitlyn, Mark, Ted and I went with Alan and the church we went to was small but so full of life. They were very welcoming and very enthusiastic about praising God! It was so encouraging and made me smile basically the whole service.

We visited a sick member of the church then had lunch with the congregation. Oh and they gave us a chicken. Yes a live chicken.

After church we drove another hour or so to meet up with Chad and the rest of the group BECAUSE we were going to the WATERFALLS!

The drive there was another couple of hours or so…down some bumpy roads or more like bumpy walking paths. But we finally got there and it was amazing. The trek down to the waterfalls was kind of treacherous especially since we were being followed by dozens of Africans, but we made it and it was worth it.

Got back into the cars after we crawled over several boulders and after Mark and Jon did some cliff jumping; they waiting until we reached the cars to tell Zack and Ted…to lessen the jealous factor.

Jumped back into the cars and headed home. We had to drive through a huge soccer game…which was funny, but we got cheered so I considered it an African version of a 4th of July parade.

Got back around 7 and realized that we had been in the car for over 8 hours that day…whew.

Ok now if you’ve made it this far…I’m very impressed. Thank you for reading. Thank you for fighting through the grammar mistakes and the horrible syntax.

We have about two weeks left and it is very sad. I really do not want to leave. I miss home I miss my family I miss friends but I really enjoy being here. I will be sad to leave.

A lot of love to you all. Kisses and Hugs.

<>< caroline