The Big Move

The time had come. The moving truck was on the way!

The process was crazy.
First, I was sorting through EVERYTHING and piling up the give-away stuff.
Then, I was sorting the rest of our stuff into the things we would take with us in our car
and the thing we would put on the moving truck.

My helpers were great!

In the meantime, our car was broken-down and in pieces in our driveway.

Then our Zimbabwean mechanic shows up one morning with a transmission!

We were praising God for this miracle.

And the movers kept wrapping and packing....for days!

Maybe it took so long because they were playing around!?!
(Not really, they did a good job.)

That's lots of stuff.

They used up every bit of space on that truck.

Almost everything fit.

That's the crew!

During all of the craziness of moving week, Emma had a lesson from our houseworker, Anita,
on how to make her Lemon Chicken. It is Emma's favorite recipe and she HAD to learn how to make it.
There is no Anita in Zambia. 

Yummy!

The new family got to our house before we could get moved out, so we went to a hotel for a few nights. 
The girls had a beautiful view from their balcony.

There was something wrong with the contrast between the nice new hotel and the outside world of Nampula.
But, we were so thankful to have a good place to rest during such a stressful week. 

After being back in Nampula for a month, we were finally getting on to Zambia! We are ready!

Thankfully,
Tracy

Saying Good-bye to our Church Family in Nampula

On our last Sunday in Nampula Pastor asked if some members of the church could come and say good-bye to us during the week. We were truly expecting maybe about 10 people to stop by and just visit for a few minutes and that would be it. 

Oh no! The announced time was 4pm for people to meet at our house. By 4:00, we had already surpassed the expected 10. If you know anything about this culture you know that it is strange that anyone would be on time, much less early! 

(These pictures are terrible quality, but I thought it was worth it to share them with you.) 

As the minutes passed, the people kept pouring in.

As the people continued to arrive, I kept thinking, 

"All we have prepared are some oranges and a plate of cookies!"

Once most people had arrived we started singing.

Soon, there were about 40 people in our yard/driveway.

(You can see the small plate of cookies, a few boxes of juice, 

and about 10 cups on my make-shift table.)

As we looked around this group that had gathered, we are all saying to ourselves, 

"Why are so many people willing to take a Wednesday afternoon to simply come, 

sit, sing, and tell the missionaries good-bye?" 

After we sang they put our family all together.

Then one-by-one they said the kindest things about our family.

And I thought, "There was so much more that we could have done. 

There is still work left to do. We should have given more of ourselves."

Don't you love our shirts :)
These were golf-shirts that they had made for us with the church's emblem screen printed on them.
Lee said that he felt like a sausage!

I was okay until this young lady hugged me. It was Solange.
She sobbed into my shoulder and I could not hold back the tears.
It was as if she knew how much I loved her. 
Maybe our family were the only ones who believed in her.

 This is Solange (So-lan-gee). She is one of the youth.
This picture is from when a team came to Nampula. Some of you may remember her.
She was so proud of her beautiful blue nails!
Solange has been actively attending our church since before our family arrived in Nampula.
I loved her from the day I met her. There was always a smile on her face. Until recently.
When we arrived back from the states in January, Sunday after Sunday there was no Solange.
We began asking the other youth of her whereabouts and none of them knew.
They said that it had been several months since they had seen her and that they had visited her home multiple times to never find her there. Then finally someone ran into a friend of her's from school. This friend said that her family had forced her to marry a muslim man. We were heart broken. Then one Sunday, half way through the worship service Solange snuck in the back of the church and sat down on a rock. Her head was shaven and down. We weren't even certain that it was her.
After the service she came over and hugged me and wept. I had no words, just that I was so glad to see her face. I asked if she was okay and she said yes. I wanted to know what had happened to her and how it was that she was back in a church, but it wasn't the time or the place. 
I never did get to ask the questions that I wanted answers to.
Our time in Nampula was very short. God knows her story and she knows His.
I pray that He keeps her close and that she stays strong in her faith.

The line continued. From the oldest wrinkled hand to the smallest hands of the children.
They told us of how the hoped God would bless our obedience and they asked us to never forget about them.

This is our little pastor. Joao Martino. The one who is always so small beside my tall husband.
He was gracious with his words. I thought I was ready for the good-byes.
I don't think you can ever be ready!

Then, I read a passages as my prayer for them.
The words of Paul to the church in Philippi.
Lee also thanked them and shared what the church has meant to us.
He also encouraged them to continue the work that they are doing for the gospel.

Before they left, some of the girls wanted their picture taken with Meghan.
The girls asked if we had any Bibles left. I found 3 and  gave them each one. 

The Baptist Church of Cosorre will always hold a special place in our hearts.

And we will continue to pray for them and we ask that you do, too.

Thanks,

Tracy

Our Last Sunday in Nampula

Today was our last Sunday at our church in Nampula. We have worked so hard for those sweet relationships and will miss many of these dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

The morning started with Lee teaching Sunday School for the adults.

These are the leaders within the youth.
They prepared some special music just for our last Sunday.
We adore them and so wish we could pack them up and take them with us.
Pray specifically for these young people of Christ.
They are (starting at the left going around circle to the right) Marcelino on the drum, 
and Claudio who calls Lee "Father".  
(I don't think he has a father in his life other than Lee.)  
Then there is Alexandre. He is a nephew of our pastor, but Alexandre has been 
raise by Pastor and Dorca for most of his life. 
He is strong Bible student who has a gift for seeking the truths of the Bible.
Next is Elsa. She is a sweet gal who has captured the heart of the next guy, Montinho. They have pledged themselves to one another. They are a perfect match. Montinho is a evangelist who is truly seeking God's will for his life. Beside Montinho is Machaca. Machaca was raised in a Muslim home, but came to know Jesus years ago by hanging out with all of these guys! Last there is dear Timotio. He is our Pastor's oldest child and a strong man of God. He has musical talent oozing for all ports. We can't wait to see what God does with this group of Kingdom Seekers.

Opening the word and seeking Him!

You can see how the church is under construction.
They are building the sanctuary around the existing building.
It is literally a brick-by-brick project. 

Good-bye Cossore Baptist Church. You have taught us lots!

Gratefully,

Tracy

Going with Dad to Malawi

This past week we went with Dad to Malawi. Because of his new assignment as Logistics Coordinator for the countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Angola, he has a lot to learn. He has taken a trip already to Zimbabwe to try to get a handle on things and us girls were left behind. This week he is going to Zambia without us. So, last week he took us with him to Malawi. It isn't THAT far so we went by car. 

The day before a road trip is always a busy prep-day. Literally, there is only a couple of gas stations where snacks and drinks can be bought on the whole trip. So, I made banana bread for breakfast and BBQ chicken sandwiches for lunch. Then I made rice krispie treats and cookies. Then some grapes and apple slices for snacks. We also pack our water and drinks for the journey.

We were up and out the door very early Saturday morning, like 5am early. Because of some switching around of cars while we were in the states, we are driving a small pickup truck. The backseat was very "cozy" with 3 fully grown girls sitting side-by-side.

The first part of the journey wasn't too bad. They have just resurfaced a portion of the road from Nampula to the city of Cuamba. So even though it was early, we were happy campers on that part.

There are beautiful mountains along the whole journey.

Then, we hit the dirt. Because it hadn't rained in a couple of days the ruts and bumps were as hard as concrete so we felt every one. I developed a headache not too far down the dirt road and my new medicine was not working to get rid of it. Also, I was trying to help out the girls by taking a turn in the backseat. I have a new appreciation for those sisters. We bumped and knocked each other into the next district. It was AWFUL! 

Don't let this good-looking road fool you!
It is a beast!!
We were on the dirt for about 155 miles and it took 5 hours.
That is 30 miles/hour!!!!

Togetherness! 

After 14 hours of hard driving we arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new ones. The Baptist guest house there is lovely and we really enjoyed our time there.

Sweet Meg ready for church.
She loves getting dressed up.

This girl....loves her jeans.

Valentine's Pizza 

Loving the Italian restaurant

Dad and all his girls for Valentine's Dinner

One of the bonuses of this trip was getting to hold colleagues' sweet babies.

Such a fun girl lunch.

With milkshakes

Meanwhile Lee was hanging out with the men at the market while the rains poured.

Great lunch place that was a tropical paradise.

Looking at Malawian crafts.

At the plant nursery.
We sure don't have anything like this in Mozambique!

Huge elephant ears.

Because the drive over was so difficult, Lee decided to take us home a different route. We drove south through the city of Blantyre, Malawi and down to the Mozambican border. Near the border, but still in Malawi is an area full of tea plantations left from British colonial times. We asked someone while we were still in Lilongwe for a recommendation for lodging in this area. From that conversation we ended up making a booking at a Lodge in a Forestry Concession at the base of the mountain.  While this was far from the worst place we have ever stayed, it wasn't the nicest either. Unfortunately there were no air-conditioners and no fans in the rooms. However, there were lots of mosquitos! 

Mount Milanje and the tea fields heading to the lodge.

Dinner was prepared by the staff just for us. We ate in the dinning room while they waited on us.

Relaxing on the porch.

Check out the honey bee hive at the end of the building. There were thousands of bees coming and going.

This was almost exactly 4 years ago, just after we arrived in Africa.
We were on our way home from a meeting in Malawi. The girls were so small. 

This is in almost the same spot. Look how they have grown!!! 

Men and women picking tea in the fields.

There was just about 2 hours of dirt before we got to the black top that took us home to Nampula.

Always an adventure!!!

Tracy