A Paraplegic Prince

Today I helped a family move all their earthly belongings from one house to another. It took less than an hour, and only one small truckload of actual things, the second load was people. The load of things consisted of a table and four chairs, two bed frames (no mattresses), three boxes, three baskets, about four sacks of food (mostly cassava roots, they call it mandioca here), and a few miscellaneous tools. This was a family of six. It made me ashamed to think about how many truck/van loads were required to move my things out of my apartment before I left the states…

And I say that I “helped” but really they wouldn’t let me do anything. It’s a weird feeling to be treated at the same time like royalty and like an invalid. A paraplegic prince, that’s what I feel like… As soon as we arrived at the old house I asked how I could help. They brought out one of their chairs and asked me if I would please just sit down and rest. And whenever I picked something up to load/unload, even the women would rush to take it from me – despite that I was stronger and healthier than anyone else present. Maybe my white skin makes me sickly? I’m never sure.

Yet despite their lack of material things, “blessed are the poor” kept coming into my head as I watched them interact. This family is one of the (relatively) few Christian families around, and even though they had so little, I could tell they were grateful for it. They were loving toward one another, and they were ecstatic that I was willing to help them move. And, of course, kids are kids regardless of language or culture, and I always have a good time with them…

This photo of a house isn’t the one that the family moved out of or into. It’s just a random house so you can see what is the norm around here. Typical houses are dirt floors, mud walls and grass roofs with bamboo frames.

I’m also including a photo here of me teaching about three weeks ago. Yeah, so I helped a fellow missionary teach a group of twenty pastors some of the basics of bible storying. Of course it was all in Portuguese, and of course I again couldn’t have done it alone. Thanks so much for your prayers about my language learning, I feel like I’m always bragging about how well the language is going for me, but I can definitely feel the results of the prayers, and that’s what I’m trying to show.

And these last two photos are of my recent trip to Johannesburg. I just returned from a 10-day trip down there to meet up with other people in the region who are doing this same two-year deal through the IMB. There were sixteen of us, and I only knew one other person previously. I had a great time. Didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, but I had a lot of fun, and that’s more important. The first photo is of me playing with a baby lion. Yeah, don’t know too many people who’ve done that now do ya? The second is of a few of us posing for a serious photo on the last night. Always serious.

Mozambique Island

Howdy! I thought everyone could use a nice big photo of me right up in your face. This is from a few weeks ago when I went snorkeling off the coast here in Mozambique. I’ve been a couple more times since - there are some amazing reefs around here. It’s no Great Barrier, but it’s the best I’ve seen otherwise. And that’s just this one area; Mozambique has a coastline about twice the length of California…

Language study is going really well, and is still taking up nearly all my time. I can actually communicate with people now – really communicate. Yesterday I visited a guy’s house and family for lunch and then we just talked, for TWO HOURS. How cool is that? I can understand random people’s conversations who aren’t even talking to me. I love it. Thanks SO much for your prayers in this; I can’t express how grateful I am.

So about a week ago I went to a place here called Mozambique Island. It was the original capital of the country, and was the first settlement built by the Portuguese when they colonized the area. It’s home to the oldest European building in the southern hemisphere, and there is a unique blend of four different cultures (European, African, Arabic and Indian) due to its importance as a trading port for almost five centuries. It’s very small, only 3km by 0.5km (~1.8 by 0.3 miles), but I’ve got to say that it is one of the most singular places I’ve ever been to in my entire life.

It’s interesting for several reasons. The blended architecture from the different cultures is very unique – buildings built in European style, with African materials, utilizing mostly Arabic roofing techniques. There are several Catholic churches, a mosque and a Hindu temple. And of course there are traditional African houses as well.

Nearly all the buildings are seriously decaying; missing roofs, walls, staircases, etc. I can only imagine what the place would have looked like in its prime, but the decay was a part of what made it all so intriguing. I’ve never been in a working city that felt so much like a set of ruins.

A very small number of buildings have been restored recently, and the old palace is one of the lucky few. They’ve actually restored the building itself and stocked the interior with all sorts of luxury items from the 16th century, it’s pretty cool. That’s the red building in the photos.

The final bit of charm for this little island is a fort on the northern tip. Before the Suez Canal was opened, this was an important military location, and had some pretty hefty defenses. One really cool thing about the fort is that it was designed in the Arabic fashion. Because there’s no fresh water nearby, the entire structure gathers rainwater and channels it down to a huge cistern beneath.

This last photo is of the church just outside the old fort. This is believed to be the oldest European structure in the southern hemisphere, built in 1552. It’s very small, but what a location, huh?

And that’s Mozambique Island. I don’t really know if you guys enjoyed reading this or if you think it’s too dry. I think it’s interesting, but I guess I need to cater to my audience if I want to keep them :-) Just let me know if you liked it. And if I don’t get many comments then I’ll stick to the more “juicy” aspects of life in Africa in the future… maybe…