MOZAMBIQUE

This post is long overdue, but I just wanted to give everyone a quick recap of my Mozambique trip, along with some pictures. Please know that this post will get incredibly long, so if you're not in the mood to read, my one sentence recap would be: Africa is hot, God is good, and World Vision does amazing work. More pictures are included in the picture album to the right. Click on the link and then go to "sets" and it should be the first one.

If you've decided to continue reading, you are a brave person indeed. So here goes... I was blessed to be able to go to Mozambique with a team of 8, including myself, one other pastor, one staff videographer, and five Eagle Brookers. As a church, Eagle Brook partners with World Vision in the country of Mozambique. 1200 children in Mozambique are sponsored by Eagle Brookers, and Eagle Brook also is the sole sponsor of World Vision Mozambique's Christian Commitment initiative. The trip was meant to support both causes. Each person on the trip supported at least one child in Mozambique, and was going to have the opportunity to meet their sponsored child. Jim, our video guy, brought a camera to catch every moment, as our desire is to show the footage to the church in hopes of inspiring hundreds more people to sponsor children through World Vision. Additionally, Dale - the other pastor - and I went to teach a two-day leadership seminar for regional pastors and lay church leaders.

Our team met every two weeks for several months prior to our departure in preparation for what we would experience. God brought together an amazing team full of diverse personalities - but we all had in common our passion to be used by God in the country of Mozambique. We left on October 13th, and the travel was less than ideal. It was an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, followed by a three-hour layover, before another 10 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flights were exhausting, and yet - despite taking sleeping pills with glasses of wine - I wasn't able to get a wink of sleep until we arrived at our hotel in Johannesburg nearly 26 hours after our initial departure from Minneapolis.

After a night in Johannesburg, we had a one-hour flight to Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. We were greeted at the Maputo airport by World Vision, and were escorted to our hotel. World Vision took very good care of us every step of the way. Knowing that we had just been through a grueling travel period, they gave us a day to just relax and unwind at our hotel, which was much more comfortable than I had imagined. (I think they knew what our accomodations would be like a day or two later, and wanted us to have one last comfortable night of sleep!) At the hotel, we were welcomed by Ernest Fraser - the head of Christian Commitment at World Vision for all of Africa. Ernest traveled with us every step of the way from that point on, and I grew to love Ernest. He was very gracious, had an infectious laugh, and a deep love for American classic rock music (Dale and I sent him 3 CDs after we got home - Queen, Boston, and Lynyrd Skynyrd - his favorite!).

The next day, we went to the national offices for World Vision for an orientation, where we were briefed on all of the work that World Vision does in Mozambique, as well as information on HIV/AIDS. 17% of the population in Mozabique is infected with AIDS, and the average life expectancy is 44. Needless to say, it is an epidemic that World Vision is seeking to combat. After the orientation, we hopped on a plane for another flight - this one lasting 90 minutes, and bringing us to Quelimane. In Quelimane, we stayed at a hotel where all night I could hear fruit bats screeching outside my window and I wondered if an ax-murderer was hiding in my closet - it had that kind of vibe...

From Quelimane, we drove three hours to the town of Mocuba, where we would stay the next three nights. Once we reached Mocuba, it really felt like Africa as I pictured it in my head. 6 of the team members stayed at a fairly "nice" guest house, where we had breakfast and dinner every day. I say it was "nice" because it had running water. However, it didn't have mosquito nets, which was a bit of a concern because malaria is a big issue in Mozambique. The guest house that Dale, Ernest, and I stayed in was a little more "third world." We did have electricity and mosquito nets. But we didn't have running water - so there was a big rubbermaid garbage can filled with water in our bathroom. Alongside it was a pitcher that we would use to "shower" every night. Fun stuff. Additionally, Dale's room had cockroaches galore and my room featured an ant parade that traveled up the wall and across the room.

Breakfast and dinner every day was like a feast - the people of Mozambique were so gracious to us, and went out of their way to spoil us in many regards. It was quite humbling to have people who could afford very little offer you their very best. Each morning, they even made us cake! Other components of our meals were varieties of meats - some good (grilled chicken), some bad (balogna that looked like spam), and some unidentifiable (brownish meat patties). Prawns were a staple in Mozambique, since it is a coastal country - but we're pretty sure some members of the team got sick off of the prawns. The highlight of every meal for me was the Mozambican Coca-Cola. Their Coke was life-changing - I'm not a regular Coke drinker here at home, but their Coke uses cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and it was delicious! I still crave it regularly!

After breakfast each morning, we would drive out to Mugeba, the area where Eagle Brook sponsors most of the kids. It was an hour-long drive that felt like three because there were potholes the size of small meteors everywhere you looked, and so the drivers would swerve to avoid as many as they could. But inevitably by the time we made it to our destination, I had to pee because my bladder got worked over by all of the bumps along the way.

The first two days on the field, Dale and I spent most of our time teaching pastors and church leaders. It was an amazing experience! First of all, it was just a blessing to be able to spend time with men and women working for the same team, just on the other side of the globe. It was affirming to hear their stories and know that God was doing great things through them. At the same time, it was also fun doing what we could to encourage and equip them in their ministry. The first day, we focused on more theology and bible-based training. We realized that because of the lack of education in Mozambique, some of the things we generally assume as common knowledge were new to them. It took me a little while to get used to teaching using a translator, but Gildo - the World Vision translator - did an incredible job. You could tell he was actually preaching the translation. The pastors thought it was funny that I was a pastor, since I was "so young." Dale said he was like Paul and I was his Timothy - that made a little more sense to them. :) They also called me Mateos, because that was easier for them to say than Matt.

For the second half of our first day in the field, I was able to go out and see some of the work World Vision was doing, including several wells and a wood-working shop. You could see the hope in people's faces because of what World Vision was doing. After eight hours in the field, we took the hour-long drive back to Mocuba for dinner - a feast every night. Then, Dale, Ernest, and I went back to our guest house to "shower" and play Farkle.

Our next day in the field consisted almost entirely of teaching. This day, we focused more on personal character and leadership - stressing that as pastors and leaders, they must make sure their hearts are in tune with God's heart. After our sessions, we drove to a World Vision regional headquarters, where we had the opportunity to meet about 50 children sponsored by Eagle Brook. Included in this 50 were our sponsored children. Sally and I sponsor two kids - a twelve-year-old boy named Tomazinho and a six-year-old girl named Suer. It was truly a gift to be able to meet these children. My heart was overflowing at this chance to meet them, touch them, talk to them, and play with them. Tomazinho was a bit more outgoing and we played soccer together for awhile. Suer was incredibly shy, but I absolutely adored her. She was so cute in her pink dress, and by the end of the two-hours that we had with them, I finally got a smile and a wave out of her. We left knowing that we would have another 3-4 hours of undivided time with our kids tomorrow.

The next morning, a Sunday, we went to a Catholic church. Needless to say, it was nothing like church back here at home. There was a lot of dancing, and just an inexpressible joy in the worship. It was quite the experience. After the service, we were able to visit several other area churches. We were greeted at each church with singing and we were sent off with gifts. We then went back to the regional World Vision headquarters, where we had lunch with our kids. I gave Tomazinho and Suer the gifts that Sally and I had bought for them. It was a blessing to be able to see them eat so well - we knew the food that they got to eat with us was a feast compared to anything they normally would eat at home. I played more soccer with Tomazinho, and even got Suer to come and kick the ball around with me. The time flew by and was over before I knew it. It was hard to say goodbye to them, knowing I would likely never see them again. But it was also so uplifting to meet these children that we had written letters to and received letters from, knowing that our sponsorship is making a difference.

After that, it was back to Mocuba for one more night. We departed the next morning for Quelimane, and then flew back to Maputo. In Maputo, we met with World Vision at their national headquarters to debrief our experience. We then spent a night in the nice hotel we had stayed in earlier. The next day was quite a treat - we drove into South Africa to visit Kruger National Park, one of the biggest wildlife preserves in the world. We drove for six hours through a portion of the park, and were able to see elephants, giraffes, monkeys, hippos, a rhino, and even a lion - all roaming free in their natural habitat. It truly made me appreciate the beauty and variety of God's creation.

We stayed one final night, spent the next morning bartering in the streets for souvenirs, visiting the Indian Ocean, and saying our goodbyes. We then hopped on a plane back to Johannesburg, before the grueling 24+ hours of flights. We finally arrived home in the afternoon on October 23rd, ten days later.

All in all, my experience was incredible. I walked away from it encouraged by what God is doing on the other side of the world. I am now deeply passionate for the work that World Vision does - after being there, I can say with 100% conviction that every dollar given to World Vision makes a difference. Their staff is sold-out for their mission and they care so deeply for the children of Mozambique. Hope is brought to families, villages, regions, and entire countries because of World Vision's work. This may be a shameless plug, but if you don't yet support a child through World Vision, I would strongly encourage you to consider it. Many people - including you - will be blessed by the experience!

So that's my trip... If you made it all the way through this entire post, congratulations!!! You have more stamina than I do. Be encouraged that we serve a big God who is doing great things in every corner of this planet as He works to redeem humanity and reconcile us to Himself!