Moz Update from July 8

Yesterday, we went to a local church here in Beria

in a village called Nhounga. It was quite remote

and very rural. The church was made of sticks and was maybe 20 x 40 feet in size. Pastor Domingo had a home on site, along with two other buildings. The smaller of the two mud-walled buildings was no bigger than a walk-in closet. Somebody was actually living in it. I’m not sure what the second building was for. During our lunch, we watched a duck and a rooster get into a serious squabble and the duck was thrown into this other building. I think he was getting put in a timeout. There was an outdoor cooking area over a fire, like when you go camping, minus the loads of gear from REI. The pastor’s house was heartbreaking. We were allowed to take a tour. It was no larger than a normal-sized living room and was divided into four “sections”. The home was missing electricity, running water, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Pastor Domingo had a small hand-held battery operated lantern for his single light. One room was a bedroom and one was for storage. The bed was the only piece of furniture I remember seeing. I left barely able to choke back my tears.

Prior to the lunch, battle of the birds, and the home tour, we experienced a church service and hours of free-play time with the kids. Even though it was midweek, the church slowly filled up after our arrival. Apparently, there had been a death in the village during the night and many of the villagers weren’t able to worship with us. Their custom is to sit with the family after a death for days and days. Because of this, we were not able to walk through Nhounga and meet the local villagers.

And yet, despite the loss of a community member, the service opened with the most dynamic praise and worship time. A circle of brightly-clad women passionately danced and sang nonstop for a good 30 minutes. By this time, the kids were assembled and our “kids team” led a bible story and then played and played. The kids were very timid and leery around us at first. The digital display on my camera is a big hit because they can see themselves instantly. We played a toned-down version of dodgeball, catch with a football, ran relay races, and had a tug-of-war. I tried to teach a session of duck-duck-goose to the younger kids through an amazing interpreter named Antonio. They never really quite got the whole concept, but it was fun nonetheless. The language barrier is a bummer, but there’s nothing I can do about it so I can’t get frustrated or mad. I just wish I could fully communicate.

Back in the church, there were messages from my team leader Melanie, my pastor Tim, and pastor John (who overseas all the churches over here). Then a few testimonies were given. People spoke of being delivered from witchcraft before turning to Christ. Not your ordinary American testimony.

On the drive home we crossed through a forested area and saw some wild baboons on the side of road. They looked to be having more fun than the duck, which was still in his timeout when we left.