Birthday in the bush!

Well I can’t believe how quickly time has flown…my time in Mozambique is coming to an end..well at least for a few weeks anyway!  Life has been challenging and rewarding all at the same time.  We have seen lots of significant things happen, prayers answered and students complete the training school.  I have enjoyed the work behind the scenes and supporting the families who have attended amongst other things.

One of my highlights, well at least one of my more memorable days was my birthday….in the bush!  We took a team to a couple of villages where our organisation has a presence to help encourage and build the local church and provide medical assistance.  One of the villages had a big problem with worms being in peoples feet..so a team went back to help deworm and provide socks and shoes as well as do some general health promotion.

On my actual birthday I was woken up at 5.30am with a radio held to my ear to tell me it was time to get up to help prepare breakfast ie cut up rolls that had begun to go stale and put jam or peanut butter on them (such a staple food here!)  I was then given the massive privilege of helping inaugurate a new village church building (my hands got to be one of 4 pairs on the scissors cutting the string on the door!) and then eating pork for lunch (the poor pig had been killed the night before..all I could do was cover my ears and pray when I heard the squealing!!) 

Then we had a fairly ridiculous truck ride back with 50 people, 2 live chickens and 12 bags of cement as well as all of our bags and the sound system etc in..and got stopped and fined by the police for people standing…actually I think the police were quite nice to us!

By the time we got back to base I was too tired and dirty to go out for my birthday meal so other staff went out for main course and then came back and we all had cake together (nice lemon cake and brownies which people had cooked..yummy!)…all that was missing was a nice glass of white wine..which will have to wait until South Africa!

So we are now in the process of packing up, saying good bye to students and evaluating our work.  I will miss the lovely girls that I've been to house mama to.  They've bonded well as a house and friends for life have been made.

So what’s next for me?  On Thursday I fly to Sierra Leone, West Africa for just over a fortnight to work with a base there who have a childrens centre and church amongst other things.  I was meant to be leading a team but I seem to be the only person on the team.  After praying I still felt it was right to go anyway..especially as its where I spent some of my early childhood and so the adventure  continues!   

Thank you for your support, prayers and friendship!  Love and miss you all lots xx