Our first bush experience

We have been here for almost a month and now we can say that we have had our first “bush” experience! A week ago we had the chance to go out with some of our colleagues to the “bush” to do Bible storying. Bible storying is an awesome tool to use in oral cultures (such as the Makhuwa) because most of them are illiterate and they learn best by listening. Jenni and the other missionaries took turns telling stories chronologically from the Bible. We had a translator who spoke English, Portuguese, and Makhuwa. She did an amazing job translating in 3 languages for 2 straight days! The village that we visited was in the middle of no-where. It took about 2 ½ hours to go 100km to get to the villiage because of the awful roads. The drive alone was exhausting! I guess we can’t complain since some of the ladies that were meeting us there had to walk 6 hours or more in their bare feet without food or water! It was really humbling to see how these people live. Most of them live in mud huts with straw roofs with no electricity or running water. However, they are equipped with the finest squatty potty’s in town (aka hole in the ground)!
We really enjoyed our time with them. Even though we don’t speak any of their language (Makhuwa), we were still able to bond with them. Corey played the African drum with some of the ladies and as he played they danced and sang songs. It was really cool. They kept trying to teach him how to play the African beat (which is VERY different than anything he did in America). The Makhuwa love to dance…so we both danced with them and made fools of ourselves! We were all laughing really hard! We learned through this experience a cultural difference…when they laugh at you, it means they like you. However, in the States when people laugh at you it is usually because they are making fun of you or you’ve said something funny. People here just laugh at random times and sometimes it makes you think you’ve done something but really they just like you and they are happy.

We were able to meet with the AIDS and True Love Waits teams, which are made up of native Mozambicans. It was good to be introduced to them and we look forward to working with them once we get the language down! We will actually get to observe a True Love Waits rally this Saturday as they are hosting one at a local school here in the city. We are very excited for this! Also, last week we were able to meet some of the orphans we will be working with. Most of these orphans have lost their parents due to AIDS. We hope to form close relationships with all of them!

Here are some prayer requests that we have for this week: Please pray for 1) Minds that absorb Portuguese and good memories, 2) Patience and endurance as we study the language and adapt to a new culture, 3) Discipline in every area of our lives, 4) Safety as we are still learning to drive in absolute chaos, and 5) Attitudes that reflect Christ daily.