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

My First Teaching in Portuguese

Sorry that I am way behind on my blogging. 

Since Sally left for the states I have had many responsibilities. 

I am going to try to catch up this week.

A couple of Sundays ago I taught Sunday School in Portuguese for the first time. Sally had let Quelimane for the states and Wanne was gone to a conference.  So it was my turn to start teaching. I was prepared to teach the smaller children, those 10 and under. But, the gentleman that normally teaches the older children during Sunday School had to teach the adults. So, that left me to teach everyone! I never thought that I could pull it off.....but I did it! I actually did a whole Bible lesson in Portuguese!!! Now don't get me wrong, I couldn't have done it from memory. I had to read it. But it was a giant confidence booster for me. The girls were also proud of themselves for helping so much. I was a proud Momma, too!

Getting started with some songs. 

The Lesson....Jacob and Esau 

Notice Bionda helping me a little with some pronunciation.

It was so great to teach again!!!

Giving out their coloring sheets

sweet faces

There were around 90 kids there.

Trading for a different color

We tried to play some games, but we ran out of time.

The beginning of my new teaching career....it is a beautiful thing. God is good!

Tracy

Growing Chickens in Africa

Food here is expensive, especially protein. At our little grocery store we can purchase whole chickens in the freezer section, similar to what you would buy in the states. They weigh about 2.5 lb (the whole bird). and cost about $6-7. This hardly feeds our family for one meal. (And, we are about to add a precious young lady to our table every meal.) So, Lee began to think of some type of solution to our protein problem.

He decided to put his knowledge of poultry farming and his agricultural education degree from Auburn to work and raise some chickens himself. 

The first problem he encountered was finding these 1 or 2 day old chicks. They are not available in Quelimane. So, on a trip to Nampula about 2 months ago he purchased 40 chicks and brought them home in a footlocker.

So tiny and cute!
Lilly and Emma quickly started to name them and pet them.
Lee said over and over, "Don't pet them and don't name them.
They are for eating. Don't get attached"

One-by-one the girls put them into their new home.

The weeks passed. Emma and Lee worked hard to feed and water them multiple times a day. The little cute chicks grew and grew into fine looking birds, perfect for eating! And we didn't lose a ONE!

Here they are now

One of the bigger ones weighed in at about 4.5 lb.
He was the first one to make it to the table!

So, the day came to kill the first bird. Our precious houseworker, Pascoa, had no problem with the task. She has prepared many chickens in her time.

Here they are getting ready to move the chosen one to the room at the back of our property
for seclusion so he wouldn't eat breakfast :)

Lee put it in there and Lilly and Emma wanted a peak. 

 The girls really didn't want to see the actually killing, but wanted to participate in the other stuff. So, after Pascoa did her thing with the big knife, she brought it in and the girls joined her.

Bird ready to prepare

Emma working on the feathers

Pascoa finishing the feathers

Meghan.....not so fond of this process

Poor guy

What a nice looking chicken!!
It sure beats what we have been eating.
All of the nationals that saw it that day couldn't believe how large it was.

Little Odie....waiting for something to drop!

In the end, Lee and I weighed the pieces (breasts, legs, wings, and thighs) and it totaled 2.2 lb. Pascoa took home EVERYTHING else to eat, except the toenails and gizzard (head, feet, back, heart, liver, intestines, stomach, skin, etc.).

39 more to go!

Tracy

Turning 40 in Africa

Eventually everyone gets there if God allows. For me, it happened last week. I turned 40! I wasn't looking forward to it and I am still not happy about it, but it was fun! Here are some pictures of how we all celebrated....

There is a new couple that recently arrived in Quelimane for language study.
April's birthday was on the 18th so we celebrated together that night at the Dina's house.
We had cake AND ice cream. It was so very yummy!!!

Then, we played "Minute-To-Win-It" games.
Here Sally and I are going at it in the stack the dice game.
She beat me :(

This is Lee beating Lilly at keeping the balloons up for 1 minute.
What kind of Dad does that?!?

This is Jessica and I getting ready to play a game where you pick up paper tubes with your mouth.
She beat me :(
(It really wasn't a winning night for me.)

Lee and Lilly doing the shoe toss

Then, on Saturday, my birthday day, our family headed to the beach!
Here are all of the young boys that run to your car when you arrive 
or leave to sell you necklaces.

Down at the water we quickly drew a crowd. 

Cutie Pie!

Making a giant crocodile with the hoe from our garden

This is the crowd later in the day......

After you look at the girls.....look at that blue sky.....no air polluting here!!

These girls wanted to sit by Meghan and me.
(It really didn't bother me....but Meghan was about to come unglued!)
You can tell that they are Muslim by their head scarves.
This is the norm along the coast of Mozambique. 

Is there a message in this bottle??

Going back home I had to take pictures of the homes in this area.
They can barely be called houses. You can see right through this one!
I wonder what is it like during the rainy season!?

You can't tell very well in this picture, but these are both houses and they are so very tiny!
And, they are literally made out straw!

That evening we had a great meal at home
and I received some gifts from my family.

Turning 40 wasn't so bad. I hear that I even have more gifts in the mail. Yippy!!

Tracy