Weekend in the Bush

During this time of year the women in the Baptist Mission of Mozambique have conferences in different areas to teach and strengthen the women. I was able to go to my first conference, WAY out in the bush, weekend before last.

I was excited, but a bit nervous. I knew that we would be camping out, but I didn't know exactly what that looks like here. I knew that we would eat whatever was put in front of us, but I didn't know exactly what that would be. And we would be hours away from home with no clean water other than what we took and hours away from cell phone coverage. Let the memories begin!

We travel for about 3 1/2 hours out of town to a small village. Really....it was less than a village. Houses were very spars and people walked very long distances to get there. For a large portion of the way I rode in the back seat of the Dina's truck with one normal sized and two very large sized African ladies that were leading the conference. I wish I had a picture of me plastered up against the door! You will just have to imagine!

This was April's first trip out of Quelimane.

The leadership of the conference enjoyed meals together.

The church is in the back.
In the front is a little structure used for meals and small meetings.
You see our tents between the building? There were 3.
Wanne, April, and I slept in the little orange and white tent in the middle.
Notice the solar panel on the roof. This is to give power to the projector
that showed the Jesus film that night.

This little girl came cruising by on this big bike
while I was taking the above picture.

During the meeting Saturday, April read a Psalm.

Most of the women brought their small children with them.
Notice the necklace the little girl has around her neck.
This from the traditional healer.
It is placed around the neck of small children to protect them from harm and sickness.
(It is the same thing as the bracelets in other blog posts.)
It is very hard for these new believers to let go of those traditional beliefs when they come to Christ.
Pray for strong faith!!

Look closely.....you see our goat hanging?
It was just killed and skinned.
It was very tasty.....after it was cooked I mean.

Here you can see the cooking area under the trees.
The participants came and slept and cooked right here the whole weekend.
In the distance you can see our chairs facing the area where the women sat for the sessions.
Just for this conference they made a temporary grass fence
so that we could sit outside instead of in the hot dark church.

By mid-day the children had fallen asleep on the mats in front of their moms.

April's first taste of sugarcane.

This little guy found a plastic bag for a hat and chilled on the drum for an entire session.

My turn! I gave my testimony in Portuguese for the first time.
The guy with the "American Idol " shirt is translating it into the tribal language.

While we were there, we painted the ladies' and girls' nails.

And a few little boys....

Sunday Morning

Using a party favor whistle as a rhythm instrument

Africans love "Obama gear"!

It was a very fun weekend and great seeing women coming to learn more about God's word. I am thankful for strong national pastors and women's leaders that make weekends like this happen. Good things are happening for the kingdom of God. Yet, there is still SO much work to do. 

Tracy