New Adventures

Well, we've come to the end of an era...my passport was full. And I mean full. No space for any stamps. I couldn't even leave the country if I had needed to. So, off the the US Consulate to apply for a new one.  

In many ways, it kinda makes me sad to give up my old passport. My whole African life is in that thing. from the first trip until now. Every border crossing, mission trip, family trip, everything is in that little blue book. I think of the lifetime of experiences held in that book. Faces of people met along the way and many I won't see again this side of heaven, but thanks to the grace of Jesus, we will see again. 

On the other hand, I think of the great adventures that await me! Just to think of filling up a brand new passport. I was a little smarter this time and got the 52 page book. My old passport was due to expire until next August.  I think of all the things my old book holds, all the adventures and things I have gotten to experience and I get so excited to see where the Lord is going to take me in those 52 pages! What a story I'll be telling 10 years from now. Who knew 10 years ago that we would even be living in South Africa as missionaries.  Who knew that our children who get to experience life in another country and have their eyes opened to a world bigger than themselves. 

I pray over this passport and that I will always go where the Lord will lead, share the things the Lord wants me share in those places and meet the exact right people He has placed before me. Big adventures await! 

Missionary Monday 5

Today we have 2 exciting things happening....First a guest writer....David Even. YES folks, you got it right. My husband wrote this blog about the second exciting thing....GOD THINGS happening in Burundi. 

Burundi? you ask...where the heck is Burundi and what is God doing there....Well first a geography lesson. Burundi is in East Africa just south of Rwanda and west of Tanzania and east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Who is in Burundi? you ask....Bosco. His picture and story are below.

Bosco in Burundi Mar 2015 through Mar 2016

His name is Jean Bosco Mutebutsi, he likes to be called Bosco. Until about two months ago he lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi. Burundi held its national elections early in 2015. Following the results of that election – total chaos…! Rioting and killings were the order of the day – every day.

While Bosco was with us for our annual Summit he was hearing from his friends back in Burundi. A great number of his friends were leaving the country. They were all telling him “do not come back here, it’s not safe”. One of his friends even managed to secure a flight for Bosco so he could leave directly from the airport to Rwanda.

But after much prayer Bosco was sure the Lord was telling him to stay. So he stayed. The rioting and killing continued all around him. But he was able to make more progress than he had before! He has added good, committed people to his team and they have gone into new regions to train the church leaders in disciplemaking. In short, he has seen a great increase in fruit because he was obedient and stayed where the Lord put him.

We have since been able to help him move to a somewhat safer location and the rioting and shootings have diminished.

Please pray for Bosco and his team to continue seeing fruitfulness in the work of the Kingdom to which they’ve been called.

Moz Part 3...THE FOOD

We went on holiday with our dear friends, the Stonier's, Jason, Claire, Daniel and Ruben. Jason declares that his holiday is made or broken from the food. Well, mine and his holiday was made. We had fresh homemade Portuguese rolls from the market everyday that we either had for lunch as a sandwich or for with our dinner,

Most lunches we either ate at Liquid Dive Adventures little cafe where they made soup, salad or toasted sandwiches. And they were oh so yummy. Or we ate out and had our "bigger" meal of the day.

Two nights we had HUGE shrimp or prawns as they call them straight from the fish man. One night we had yellow fin tuna steaks that we watched come in on the boat and the fishermen cut up and make into steaks right there on the beach. We also ate at Casa Barry a couple of times which included fresh barracuda and mackerel fish.  Oh so delicious.

Another interesting thing out of Mozambique is that they are one of the largest growers of cashew nuts. You could get them each morning in the market or driving down the road tied up to the tree. Either way, they were delicious. 

Each day we would go to the market and get our bread and vegetables we would need to use to cook that evening or eat with our lunch. It was quite the experience to bargain and take your own scale because there were often differences in theirs and yours. Not that I am saying they were cheating us, but most often their scales were in their favor. 

We had a wonderful time and eating is a huge part of anyone holiday to another country. We love exposing ourselves and our kids to different cultures as well as different foods. I still have one that is a little pickier than the other who will try anything at least once. But none the less, we try. 

Moz Part 2

The water....oh the water

We spent most of our time in Moz (Mozambique) at the beach. The water was so amazing. It was clear as far out as we walked which was up to our shoulders. I could see my toes at that height. We took an ocean safari in which we had a chance to see whale sharks, turtles, mantas,and dolphins. We saw dolphins and also got to snorkel in 2 different places. There are no water or boat pictures because your not allowed to take your camera unless it's waterproof, which mine is not. Just getting on the boat was a feat in itself. We had to push the boat from the shore out to the ocean then climb in boat. We found Liquid Dive Adventures (www.liquiddiveadventures.com) Picture below of the boat is from their website. 

Tofo is one of the major diving places in Mozambique and in all of Africa. We went snorkeling and it was amazing. Our friends have their diving certificate so they spent one morning on a dive. Liquid Dive also has a vegetarian restaurant,but more on that in Part 3. The kids also spent one morning taking surfing lessons. 

The kids had a blast! I loved taking pictures of them and watching them. This was their second try at surfing. They surfed in Cape Town, South Africa in December of 2008. They both got up on their boards several times. Success! 

As you can see above, the beach and ocean look like a magazine picture. It was an amazing way to spend the holiday....at the beach. 

Mozambique Part One

Typical village "town"

Google maps says it should take 12 hours from Johannesburg (the white star) to Tofo, Mozambique (the middle town labeled in Moz), but it took 15 hours going and 16 hours coming back. Lucky for us we love road trips. Especially adventures across any border. Just getting our visas for Moz (short for Mozambique) was quite a task. Three hours at the Moz consulate and there might have been tears. Without realizing it, I didn't have 3 empty visa pages left in my passport. In fact, I had only one empty page period. Thus the appointment this Thursday to get my passport renewed. But the consulate had compassion and granted grace for this mama traveling. He said kids couldn't go without their mama. Which I thought was interesting that it wasn't ok to just go with dad...but that's another subject and blog.

So, the main point of this vacay was to rest. And we went from the beach to lunch to the beach to dinner and some afternoons swam in a local pool. We went with our friends, the Stoniers, who now work in Zambia. So, they flew from Zambia to South Africa and then we all drove together in a van. David slept most of the way there because of his encephalitis. He rested a lot during the week. The kids and I were in the water so much. It was super clear and you could see your feet from shoulder level.

We loved our time away together. Lots and Lots of family time. Our drive home was eventful in that we had a blow out of one tire which makes 4 flat tires in the last 30 days for me. I was driving, but grateful I was not going too fast and could get to the side of the road quickly. We then had to find a spare tire in one of these villages we went through and to find one that wasn't 10 times the price because they saw an American and an Englishman get out of the van. Three stops and 3 villages later we had a spare tire. One thing for sure is that you don't want to be caught in the middle of Moz with no spare tire. There is lots of open space and very small villages in between "towns".

Next installment coming soon....

Part 2: the water
Part \3: the food