Mozambique

We drove to Mozambique Sat, July 3. "WE" included Matt Moffett, one of the leaders of Evangelism Explosion, currently posted in West Africa, George, a recent graduate of ABC and our translator, and Jose and me. We crossed the border at a small -but busy- crossing south of Dedza, then drove another 2 1/2 hours to reach Zobue. It is a border town, also, but the Malawian roads to that crossing are so bad it is much faster and easier to cross by Dedza. We had to fill up the car in Dedza, as there are no filling stations in that whole area of Mozambique - so you see people on the side of the road selling little oil bottles filled with petro or diesel. They either travel to Malawi to buy OR they buy from truckers coming through, who will sell them a little of their fuel (thereby making some spending money for themselves, as the companies pay the fuel fees).. interesting system. We did NOT want to have to buy from the road side, needless to say! In Zobue we stayed at Mr. Piava's house. Actually a little compound, with a main house (toilet, dining and living room area), a house for them to sleep, a guest house with two bedrooms (no toilet) a couple of lean tos and kitchen areas. Very secure behind a wall, with it's own well (hand pump) on the premises. Jose and I had the guest house with the two bedrooms. We were there to visit Davie. Davie is a graduate of ABC and went to Moz some years ago to work with the CCPA (Presbyterian church). He has now started 3 churches and 12 prayer houses. His main church is in Zobue, and his latest church is in Mussacama. He, his wife, Uleme and new baby, Franklin, live outside the Piava compound in a little traditional Malawian house (read - outside toilet and kitchen, no running water, no furniture). Saturday we saw the churches and met many of the church members. We ate traditional Mozambiquan foods - which actually is pretty much like Malawian foods. Moz was involved in civil war for many years (Mr. Piava was a freedom fighter in the war and now works for immigration), and many Mozambique nationals fled the war and crossed into Malawi. The national language there is Portuguese, but in this area of the country, most of them speak some Chichewa (one of the main Malawian tribal languages) along with their own tribal language and maybe some Portuguese. Occasionally a little English. Mr. Piava spoke Chichewa (some) English (tiny) but mainly Portuguese. So with my broken Spanish, we were able to have some very limited - and I suspect very funny - interchanges. I would hesitate the call it a real conversation!! He and his wife were most gracious hosts to us. They did have power, and dish TV!! So were we able to watch some of the World Cup (huge over here)... but no running water. Interesting how technology comes to third world countries in such disjointed ways. Almost everyone has a cell phone, especially in Malawi, but almost no one in the villages has power or running water.

Sunday George (ABC graduate) preached at Davie's main church, and the rest of us went to the newest church at Mussacama. An American group gave the money for the land, and another church group gave the money to build the church ($1000). The members made most of the brick - dug the dirt / mud, molded the bricks, then made the stack and 'burned them' with fire (so they last longer than just sun dried brick). The mortar is mud. They ran out of bricks to do the gable parts, so had to buy some. They are waiting for the windows and doors to be delivered, and they have bought the roof supports, but do not have quite enough left to cover the roof with the tin sheets. At some point in the future they would love to plaster the walls (to protect the mud mortar from slowly dissolving in the rainy seasons). Maybe even have more than a dirt floor, but who knows. Currently, not even brick pews, just dirt. We had hoped to have the church service in the new building, but there was so much rain the night before, it just was not feasible. So we met in a classroom of the local school. It was a great service, Matt preached (and Davie translated), the church sang traditional Malawian hymns, and there were a couple of solos. I hope to post some of Matt's sermon and the singing on Youtube in the near future. The church had put together a meal for us, the elders and Davie at one of the elder's homes. It was a feast, with nsima, spagetti, chicken, potatoes and greens. His home was nearby the church, so we walked there, the dining area was too small for all of us, so Davie ate outside. This was some GOOD food!! Yummy! Of course, then visiting with the church elders, the ladies who cooked the food, and all the social things you do in this culture (which are delightful but very time consuming) we were able to leave for the border by a little after 2 PM. We made it back to Lilongwe right at night fall. The border crossing was wild this time, and the guys gave me their passports so that I could shove / elbow / force my way in the line.. you will get pushed out of line if you are not pretty aggressive. They thought it was funny to watch me jostle with the Malawians - and others - in the 'line' (not really a LINE, but a mass, of people). So much happened there it is hard to get it into one blog post..... And we got back to crazy - busy, so more later!

As an aside, check out facebook for more photos and videos. As usually, Jose was a kid magnet - he loves the kids and they adore him. And I feel in love with a darling little girl named Celia.

The photos: First is the guest house where Jose and I stayed, the car is Mr. Piava's.

Then Davie eating on the porch of the elder's house (the feast), next in the elder's house eating - Alex (the elder), Mr. Piava, Matt Moffett and me. And yes, that is a mud hut we are in. Next the church at Mussacama in the background (with no roof and no doors or windows yet) with (foreground) one of the men of the church, Mr. Piava and Davie, lastly Davie's main church in Zobue, with George and I in front, and Davie and Matt removing the 'door' (a woven mat to keep out the dogs and goats). Enjoy!