Christmas in Mozambique

We have had quite the eventful December here in Nampula. We have been extremely busy with many different things but we have also been very sick. We possibly had our first bout of Malaria this month and it was awful! The worst part about it was that not just one of us had it but we both suffered through it! One morning we both woke up not feeling so good and as the day progressed, we just got worse. We had high fevers that wouldn’t break, chills, headaches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, the works. We would have these symptoms at the same times too. It was so weird. So after all this stuff we were going through, we decided to take a malaria test. The test was negative but the symptoms still continued. (Many people have “false negatives” here) After trying to figure out what we might have, our nurse friend persuaded us to just treat for Malaria and an amoeba as we had symptoms of both sicknesses. This was such a miserable experience for us as neither of us could serve the other person. We were both stuck in bed being sick and miserable and helpless. This experience did help us to appreciate our health more and appreciate the body of Christ. Many people were praying for us and several other missionaries helped us out a lot by bringing us dinner and being willing to help us out in any way. We really appreciated all that they did and are very grateful for the body of Christ.

In happier news, Jenni had a really good time with some missionary friends throwing a Starbucks/craft party. This was so much fun for Jenni as she is so gifted and creative with these types of things. Her and some other ladies did some Christmas crafts as they drank Starbucks coffee. That’s right, Nampula just opened a Starbucks Coffee! Well close enough…Jenni’s best friend sent some Starbuck’s Christmas blend coffee with some Starbucks cups, lids, and holders. All of the ladies enjoyed the atmosphere of a familiar coffee shop while sipping frozen Gingerbread latte’s! This was such a blessing for everyone as the holidays can be very difficult when you’re away from home. Please pray for missionaries during this time of year as it can be the most difficult time of the year for them as they are away from all of their friends, family…and familiarity.


Another neat thing that we did this month was throw a party for the kids at the orphanage. We did the same thing last year and had so much fun so we wanted to do another one this year. We had such a great time! They made ornaments for the Christmas tree, ornaments with their picture on it, and they decorated some Christmas cookies. We also received many generous donations and so we made them school bags with names on them and stuffed them with brand new school supplies. This was really neat as Victor, the orphanage director, and the kids had prayed that they would receive all these things even being specific as having their names on the bags! It was so great to see the kids’ faces when Victor told them we had a special gift for them. He asked them, “Do you remember what we prayed for a couple months ago, concerning school supplies?” They answered, “Yeah, that God would provide us with new supplies.” Then Victor asked them, “And what did we pray for these supplies to go in?” The kid’s answered, “A school bag!” Victor then asked, “And what did we ask God specifically about these school bags?” Then they answered with full excitement, “School bags with our names on them!” We brought out the bags and Victor explained to them that he didn’t tell us about this prayer request, but God Himself put this special projects on our hearts and in the hearts of people back in the US that gave generously to do this. The kids were amazed and really excited at the answered prayer!! They can truly see the faithfulness of our God in every little aspect of their lives. They can see that He is the father of the fatherless and how much he cares for them. We thank our Lord Jesus so much that He has let us be a part of this great work and that we could witness with our own eyes what He is doing at that orphanage….and in the hearts of so many people.

In our TLW meetings we are still continuing to teach discipleship lessons as we feel like we need to touch on many more issues. This past week was good yet bad. We talked about the issue of corruption here in Mozambique. This is a huge problem in Mozambique. According to our TLW team, one of the greatest temptations for Mozambicans is to give into corruption. This can occur in several different ways but the most common is paying for work and paying for grades. When we say paying for work it means that people will pay someone to get a job. For example, we knew someone who paid about 40 or 50 dollars to get a government type job. Many times here the jobs don’t go to the most qualified or hardest workers but to those who are willing to pay the most. Many of them will say that to get a really good job with the government or other business, it is nearly impossible without bribes. So we confronted that issue and challenged them to suffer even if it means not getting a job or passing to the next class in school. We shared 1 Peter 4:19 with them and how we should suffer for doing good and for doing God’s will and commit ourselves to our faithful Creator. This was very challenging for them as it was the first time for many of them to hear that it’s not right to give bribes.

Christmas Eve was special as we sat around our Christmas tree singing Christmas Carols and sipping some more Gingerbread Lattes! Jenni’s friend Stacy sent her a recipe for some Café Rio pork, so we had some more taste from home and it was great…although we are looking forward to the “real thing!” We had a wonderful Christmas day. Since, there is NOTHING to buy here in Nampula, we decided to wrap up some things from around the house. It surely was creative and funny!


We spent part of the day with the orphans celebrating Jesus’ birth by having a big goat lunch and eating “Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes.” It was really special, and it was so neat to hear them sing Happy Birthday to Jesus with their sweet voices! They are such a blessing in our lives. Tonight we had a big turkey dinner with some of our good missionary friends. It was very special and delicious! It has been a good day and it kept us smiling in the midst of being sad that we are not with our families. God has really provided us with some great family through our kiddos at the orphanage and through friends!

Well, this will be our last post for 2007 as we will be traveling to South Africa this week. (We are ready for a little break…off and on we’ve had no water, electricity, or phone for a month now…it’s time for a break!) We will be attending our annual prayer retreat and then celebrating our 3rd anniversary of being married. What a blessing it has been to share our lives and to serve our Lord together! Thank you Lord! Then once we return we only have a couple months of our term. Craziness!

Please pray for: 1) Wisdom and clarity as to how we should wrap up our TLW ministry. 2) Guidance as we prepare to return to the States. 3) Traveling mercies to and from South Africa.

We hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating our Saviour's birth! FELIZ NATAL!! (HAPPY CHRISTMAS!)