The total Mozambique experience

Saturday, July 5^th

Arrived in Beira, Mozambique in the early afternoon. The rest of the day was spent at our base camp (Pastors John and Maria’s home) relaxing, unpacking, and getting ready for the next two days.

Sunday and Monday, July 6^th and 7^th

Two-day pastor’s conference at the Melanie Center. Pastors, evangelists, and believers from our churches in Moz attended. Some traveled up to 700 km to be there. On Sunday, I was part of our kids’ team. We taught bible stories, played games, worked on a craft, and colored with the kids from the Melanie Center and from the local community. On Monday, I sat in on the conference, expecting to teach at some point, but I got pulled from the rotation. Each pastor was given a box of bibles and was prayed over individually.

 

Our Big Top for the Pastor's Conference

Tuesday – Thursday, July 8^th – 10^th

Visited three of our churches in the local area. Each church conducted a mid-week service. The kids’ crew kept the children occupied with lessons and games while the adults had “church”. On Tuesday, we had a potluck lunch (CRP: Chicken, Rice, and Potatoes) with the community. On Wednesday we went home for lunch and then returned to visit the pastor at his home. On Thursday we scurried off to the airport to pick up three more teammates before returning home for lunch. After lunch we went into town and did some shopping and bought food and supplies for the Melanie Center in the local market.

 

Pastor John and I

Friday and Saturday, July 11^th and 12^th

Two busy and fun days at the Melanie Center. Our medical team did check-ups and exams on the Melanie Center children, as well as children from the community. Our research team studied our current and future self-sustainment projects. They also taught computer skills to those working with Operation Mozambeaks (our chicken-raising enterprise). The kids’ crew was busy with games, lessons, coloring, t-shirt tie dying, and face painting. We had a lovely dinner Saturday night at John’s son house.

 

Tie Dye Time

Sunday, July 13^th

Drove out to a fourth semi-local church. If you’re wondering about our transportation, we had two vans. One had AC. The other didn’t and was also somewhat dilapidated. I usually rode in the nicer one! We had two drivers the whole time, Caesar and Moises. We also had three talented translators: Boisse (as in Idaho), Zito, and Antonio. This was my “preaching” day. We also had another CRP potluck lunch before driving back to base camp. We “Skyped” with our church back home at 7:00 p.m. It was 10:00 am and time for church in Torrance!

  

Group Shot

Monday, July 14th

Early, early morning wake-up for a long drive (5 hours) to the town of Chimoio. We rented two small tour buses so we could ride in semi-style (we would have died in the two cramped vans) and also so we could bring folks from Beira with us. Upon arrival at the Melanie Center 2 in Chimoio, we had a ribbon-cutting/inauguration/dedication ceremony for our second orphanage in Moz. Then we had a church service. Which was of course followed by a CRP lunch. Then it was back on the buses for the drive home.

Base Camp

Cutting the Ribbon

 

Riding in Style

Tuesday, July 15^th

Souvenir shopping in morning and an afternoon at the beach with the children from the Melanie Center. They all wore their tie-dye T-shirts that we made on Saturday. It was a great day of playing, swimming, splashing, and singing. One last CRP lunch. After a tearful goodbye, we left the kids and returned to base camp. But then John surprised us and brought all the kids back to his house. We were inside when we heard them singing out in the driveway. Total awesomeness. One last happy goodbye.

 

Beach Day

Wednesday, July 16^th

Debrief day. The plan was to debrief in the morning and pack to go home in the afternoon, but it rained in the morning so we packed up and then went out to a beachside restaurant for team-only time of encouragement and discussion. For some reason we ordered up a ton of French fries! That night we had a seafood feast at base camp in John’s driveway. My favorite.

Thursday, July 17^th

Departure day. Eight of us left early because we were headed to a safari in South Africa. The rumblings of bowel trouble started to brew. Quick flight to Johannesburg and then a six-hour van ride to our safari location.

 

Isn't She Cute?

Friday, July 18^th

Two awesome game drives. Mighty long nap in between.

Saturday, July 19^th

Morning lion-roar wake-up call and one last game drive. Drove back to Johannesburg. Flight to Cape Town. Total bowel explosions throughout the day.

Sunday – Monday, July 20^th-21^st

Death by Diarrhea Days at Big Mel’s farmhouse-style cottage. Comforted by binge-watching season 2 of The Newsroom.

Tuesday, July 22^nd

Restored to health, sightseeing in Cape Town with the awesome Big Mel. Think San Francisco, meets Honolulu, meets Denver. Beautiful city.

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Big Mel

Wednesday, July 23^rd

Wine tasting and lunch in Franschhoek. Think Napa in the Colorado Rockies. BBQ dinner (no chicken!) with Big Mel’s team at Village of Hope (where she works).

Lynx Winery

Thursday, July 24^th

The journey home commences.

Friday, July 25^th

The journey home concludes.

There you have it!