Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 9

Day 9



After a marathon of planning on day 8, we spent the morning today prioritizing the tasks and goals that we had identified. We made a list of things to address within the next 30 days, and then divided those tasks among us. Chief on our list was to improve our communication ability by having Ernesto and Seba purchase a cell phone that could double as a wireless internet access for Ernesto's computer. This would allow him to email / skype us from his home or Possulane, and avoid having to make the arduous trip into Maputo to use the internet cafe. We also tasked he and Seba with getting a bank account set up for CCSR (the community center / orphanage) so that he could track income and expenses related to the center more accurately.

The "to-do" list stretches out over a year and has goals set to accomplish within 90 days, 180 days, 270 days and one year. We fully realize that we must be flexible in our expectations on timing to accomplish much of what we have planned. Things move much slower in Moz. (The bank account mentioned above took 9 days to get open).

We left our hotel and headed for Possulane, where a meeting was planned with the Department of Health and Welfare to discuss completion of the dormitory and foreign adoption of Moz. orphans. We were greated warmly by Adolpho and Anna at the center, and after some brief introductions and comments, we dove into the the subject of adoption. With Seba translating, Adolpho confirmed that foreign adoptions have happened, but that they were infrequent, and would likely be a last resort for the courts. They mentioned that in order to adopt a child from Moz., that child would have to be without any family whatsoever in the country.

Further raising the bar was the requirement that a family would have to live in Moz. for 6 months prior to finalizing the adoption. When asked why, Adopho responded that his department would need to get to know the parents and the children of the adoptive family.

We took the opportunity to tell him that the requirements he was describing were similar to what we had in Texas (Pat and I have both handled several adoptions). He seemed open to the idea of having the Texas authorities coordinate with those in Moz. to conduct home studies in lieu of having the adoptive families live in Moz. for an extended period of time. The lack of depth of understanding of international adoption was quickly apparent. They referred us to the main office in Maputo if we wanted to explore this further. We pointed out to Adopho and Anna that adoption was just one of many ways that we wanted to help the children of Moz.




We next turned our attention to the requirements that were necessary to complete before children could move into the dormitory. Imagine City officials doing a walk-through before giving a certificate of occupancy and you'll get a feel for how this went. They walked through the building and pointed out some obvious and some ridiculous requirements that they wanted addressed. (one being that they wanted cartoon animals painted on a sign out front so that people would know there were kids present). Ernesto, ever confident of his mission, sat there smiling and when we nervously pressed him about how they were going to get it all done, he smiled wide and said, "All these items are negotiable." Add seasoned contractor to his list of talents.

Ernesto drove Adolpho and Anna back to their office in Marracuene and then returned and we held the dedication. Pat and I both spoke about the significance and opportunity of the dormitory, what it represented, and how the Lord saw special significance in the caring for orphans (see James 1:27).

Afterward, the ladies treated us to some traditional Mozambiqan foods - boiled Cassava root, homemade guacamole, boiled peanuts and a fruit called Ata.

The Ata fruit looks kind of like an artichoke on the outisde, but broken open, it reveals this tender, fleshy fruit that surrounds black seeds. There is no easy way to eat this fruit except to stick your face in it, swish the fruit around your mouth and then spit out the seeds. The white fruit is about the consistence of yogurt and tastes similarly.

On our way back to our hotel we drove through the "downtown" area of Marracuene and down to the river. The picture below is of the river basin area and a small neighborhood.

The ferry is the only means of access to a neighboring small island community.

Once back at Turistico Complexo de Roger, we ate our final meal and paid our tab for the week. To our amazement, our entire restaurant tab was about $200.00. That included all meals for Michaela, Pat and I. Seba and Ernesto ate with us as well almost every night, and for one lunch Ernesto's entire family was in attendance.

During dinner, we asked Ernesto to tell us more about how he came to be involved with the Leadership Foundation in Moz. He said that in 2006 he was asked to come to Pretoria, South Africa to speak at a conference. He took a bus 12 hours and showed up with nothing prepared to say. He said he decided to "tell the story of my life." In attendance were Bob Reeverts (of the Denver Leadership Foundation, who helped put the trip together in 2008 when Sheri Pattillo went) and Juliao Mutemba, the Anglican priest that leads the Leadership Foundation in Moz. Interesting how God uses the smallest efforts of obedience to set into motion great works.

One of Michaela's little friends, Nusta, who to me looked like a little pixie. She was ever-present at the orphanage.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 8

Day 8

The first 5 days of this adventure in Mozambique were about information gathering and getting a sense of the pulse of Marracuene and the village of Possulane. Pat has relentlessly asked questions of everyone we have met - digging in to learn their story, trying to understand their take on life and their circumstances. In a sense, Pat was gathering all the puzzle pieces. Today would be about throwing all those pieces on the table and trying to sort through it and make sense out of it all. The question we all wanted to try and answer was "Now what?" Keeping with the puzzle analogy, the first and most important question we needed to answer was "What is the picture on the front of the box?" If you know what you are trying to create, the task is much easier, right?

As an aside, I must confess that although my family had been invited into this journey from the very beginning, I had in my mind that once the orphanage / community center was done, the work would be fairly complete - that we would just need to focus a little effort and energy on helping them get organized. Wrong. There is so much more opportunity in this village and in this country. So much so that it is difficult to know where to start. The articulated needs of most everyone we talked to involved the basics - food, water, housing, clothing, medical care, and jobs.

So the day began about 7:00 a.m. with me trying to put together an agenda for the day. Sheri Pattillo, the point person for Partners in Ministry's efforts in Mozambique, had requested that we videotape Ernesto and Seba answering questions about the state of affairs in Mozambique. That seemed like a good place to start the day - a recap of all that we had discussed for 5 days. So, we filled over three hours of tapes listening to Ernesto's and Seba's testimony, the history of how their work with the community of Possulane began, their roles in the work and the elements of their typical day. We then talked about education in Possulane and the challenges the kids face in getting into school and being able to stay there. The conversation then shifted to health and medical needs, food and housing.













Once the taping was complete, the four of us (Pat, Ernesto, Seba and I) pulled chairs to the table and began to strategize. We decided to stay at the hotel for the day, as it afforded us some nice surroundings in which we could have our discussion and a restaurant to feed us. The pictures below are of the pavillion where we spent the day.

























Pat and I came to the table with similar attitudes. We both wanted to help and contribute to Ernesto's, Seba's and Filo's efforts in Marracuene and Possulane. We saw ourselves as "interested consultants" so to speak. As I opened my mouth to begin the "consulting", Ernesto, somehow sensing this "consultant mindset" pre-empted me and looked at both Pat and I as though he was looking at us from his heart. He said this work is "our work. You, Michaela, Pat and Mama Sheri (as he called Sheri Pattillo) are our partners in this work." The invitation to take ownership in this effort was unequivocal.

We then turned our attention to identifying "the picture on the box." It is worth mentioning that planning is not a natural response for most of the people of Mozambique. They are mostly reactive in their thinking, and the reactive thoughts and behaviors are born mostly out of the need to just survive. We spent some time discussing the value of planning and looking a long way down the road instead of at just the next step. Fortunately, both Ernesto and Seba were starving for a plan. Their heart's desire was to "teach the people how to fish" - to give the people of Marracuene and Possulane the ability to feed, cloth, educate and house themselves. We worked our way through the process of coming up with a short, focused statement that would describe where we wanted to go - a mission statement. Or, for our purposes, the picture on the box. After much discussion and multiple revisions, this is what we came up with. CCSR (Real Dream Community Center) exists to be a beacon of Christ's love to children and families in darkness, seeking to meet their immediate and long term physical needs in a sustainable fashion, and giving them the light of Chris to carry as they go. Each word was carefully chosen, and represents a specific part of the "picture" that we all see.
























The rest of the day was spent making the initial effort to identify the corners of the puzzle - those foundational things that needed to be accomplished first in order to realize the vision. We listed our goals, assets, challenges, opportunities, the roles we would each play, how we would be accountable and transparent with one another, how we would handle communication, ideas for income production, a budget and a timeline to accomplish our agreed tasks. I'll defer some of those details until later, but suffice it to say we covered a lot of ground. We completed our day of planning about 20 seconds shy of midnight - the day of planning had taken 17 hours. And, we had only just begun!















Ernesto (left) and Seba.















Pat during our conversations

Michaela writing in her journal

Ernesto's son, Caleb (10 months). He was Michaela's favorite subject to photograph and hold. We had to peel them away from each other at the end of the day. As you can tell, this kid is personality plus.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 7

Day 7

Since the day we arrived, we told Ernesto and Seba that we had come with money to go shopping for supplies for the orphanage. At first, they responded with a non-commital, "yes", the way people who don't speak your language respond when they don't really know what to say. Finally, after four days of pressing them, we said today was the day. We sat down for coffee this morning and said again, "what do you need". Once they realized we were serious, the list started and began to grow. We then strategized our plan of attack - where to go first, and how to get the stuff back to Marracuene and Possulane. Ernesto enlisted the help of his cousin, Assyrio, who owns the little yellow Toyota that is in the pictures below. So we started for the car only to find out that Ernesto had left the lights on during breakfast. The battery was dead. Like other hurdles that we encountered, Ernesto's immediate response was, "Let us pray". For full effect, you have to imagine the way Ernesto rolls his "r's" - Prrrrrray. We did pray. We would need God's provision to get out of this jam. There was only one other car in the parking lot and the owner did not have jumper cables. I'm not sure about Pat, but my anxiety started to rise - we have this list, this plan and we need the whole day to execute it. We don't have time for a dead battery. Ernesto and Seba started talking to Carmin, our hostess as the hotel, and they were running through ideas. Then Carmin barks an order to one of the groundskeepers and he disappears and then returns with a car battery he unhooked from the hotel's generator. We talk Seba out of his idea to invert the battery and try and touch the battery posts from the car battery to those of the generator battery. I can just see the battery exploding and all of us permanently scarred from spewing battery acid. Instead, he puts the generator battery under the hood and holds the connections to it. Then he tells Ernesto to start it. "Wait, wait, wait!" I told him. "You are going to hold those connections while Ernesto trys to start the car?", I ask Seba. He looks at me with that look that communicates "I know what I'm doing." Well, the car starts, Seba is injury free and we are on our way.

The purchases were all over town and we tried to get around and buy everything and have the stores hold them until Assyrio showed up with the truck. We bought pots, pans, toothbrushes, plates, bowls, forks, propane cook stoves, rice, beans, sugar, salt, canned milk, ground corn, mosquito nets, oil, and plastic chairs. Below is a picture of Pat negotiating the chair purchase from the roadside vendor. By the way, there are very few stores in Maputo. So much is sold on the side of the road. In this case, we never even saw the chairs displayed for sale. Ernesto knew a guy who knew a guy, we told him we needed fifty chairs, we drove down the street, and there they were, delivered by 5 or so other guys, and waiting for us to load them.

After the chairs were loaded, we went to the wholesale food store and picked up all the grocery

items. As you can see, our purchases filled the truck. From our own funds and those generously donated by Soul Cafe church, Covenant Academy, and many other individuals, we spent over $2,000 US this day and bought a 90 day supply of food for the orphanage. It was so great to know that there would be more than biscuits and juice available for these kids.

Assyrio loading the truck.














Greg, Michaela and Ernesto with the stoves that will be replacing campfires as the primary means of cooking. These stoves will provide a much more efficient means of cooking meals at the orphanage.

Pat with the mosquito nets purchased with donor funds.

Back(Assyrio, Pat, Seba and Greg); Front (Ernesto and Michaela)
All packed up and ready to go.












Ernesto sent Seba and Assyrio back to Marracuene to unload all of the supplies. We stayed in town to complete some shopping. As we were driving through an intersection, a police officer waived Ernesto to the curb. He came to the car, asked for Ernesto's license and then disappeared with it. After some time he returned and wrote out a ticket while giving Ernesto a lecture. The officer left and Ernesto explained that the ticket was not for any specified offense. More troubling, though, was the fact that the officer confiscated Ernesto's license and told him he could pick it up in 90 days. The thought of being stuck in Maputo without a licensed driver, knowing we had two checkpoints to go through to get home, was not a welcome thought. Of course Michaela was more optimistic. As we were lamenting our problem, she looked at Pat and I and said, "Dad, you and Mr. Pattillo are lawyers; do something about it." It doesn't work that way, dear. Pat encouraged Ernesto to go back to the officer and ask him if there was any way something else could be worked out. Ernesto did and we waited anxiously for him to return. He did, but with this dumbfounded look on his face. "The officer told me that if I wanted to, I could just pay him the ticket and get my license back." That incident set us back 1,000 mt. ($30.00 US), but Pat and I both agreed that $30 was a cheap price for getting such a good story!

On our way out of town, Ernesto asked if we would buy him a loaf of bread. As he was driving he asked me to make him a sandwich with the bread and some dried sausage that we had purchased earlier in the day. His specific instructions were to put three slices of bread on top and three on the bottom. We just had to take a picture of this. He ate the whole thing.



Getting things done in the city was difficult. There are people everywhere and lots of them. We got it all done, though.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 6

Day 6

Today we headed into Maputo to meet with Fr. Juliao Mutemba, an Anglican priest, and head of the Leadership Foundation of Mozambique, the sister organization to Partners in Ministry - the Leadership Foundation of the Texas Hill Country. Fr. Juliao is currently completing his doctoral studies on "The Theology of Garbage". He has for some time worked with children and families that live at the dump outside of Maputo. We had planned for this day to go to the dump and visit with some of the people living there, but unfortunately we ran out of time. The compound where the church is located has an area set aside for construction of a future guest house. Fr. Juliao explained that Mozambique is extremely short on trained medical personnel. He would like to someday host medical missionaries from other countries and house them on the grounds.

After touring Fr. Juliao's house and church, we headed out of Maputo to the south and west of the capital city. Fr. Juliao wanted to take us to visit a clinic he was working with that served a small outlying village. I snapped the picture below on our way out to the clinic and was taken by the similarities that this area had to the Hill Country of Texas. Unlike Marracuene, which is very sandy coastal plains, this area was slightly hilly with lots of brush cover and rocky soil.

Once at the clinic we visited with a man named Jacinto who headed up an organization called "ARPA", the english translation of which is "The Association for the Eradication of Absolute Poverty." Jacinto works with a group of men that were former military, but now serve as "activists". Jacinto dispurses these guys out into the vast and unmapped countryside, where they identify needs and seek to try and provide for them. The primary thrust of their efforts is to provide much needed medical attention in rural areas. We split into two cars and left the clinic with these guys as our guide and headed back into the wilderness. We were almost immediately separated from each other. Pat was with Jacinto and several of the activists in a truck. Michaela and I followed them in a car. The roads got bad and we got lost. We eventually found our way back to the main road and waited for hours for Pat and the others to return. Fr. Juliao took it upon himself to go and borrow a motorcycle from the nurse and go and look for the others. When we asked him if he had ever ridden before, he smiled and remarked, "No, but I always wanted to try." Then off he went.

Pat and the others finally returned from the bush, where they met individuals and families that were far worse off than those we had visited in the village of Possulane, outside of Marracuene. There were many very ill people, some near death, and although the clinic was a resource available to them, getting there met a four hour walk through rough country. And, their first effort would be to make the appointment. They would then have to walk back the day of the appointment.

Pat snapped the picture below of a meal that was being prepared at one of the homes they visited. I'll pass.

Once we made it back to town, we stopped and visited another ministry run by Kate DeTomb, called Project Purpose. She ministers to prostitutes in and around Maputo by trying to provide a way out for them. She also takes in many of their abandoned children and provides a home, food, clothing and education to them.

Chris and Kate DeTomb were recently married. Chris had been married previously and his wife died from cancer. Kate has been a missionary in Mozambique for several years and Chris had a ministry in South Africa. They met two years ago at a conference that was happening while Sheri Pattillo was in South Africa on her initial trip there. Interestingly, Chris and his wife Kate grew up 20 minutes from each other in Michigan, but never met prior to South Africa. Pictured below is one of the DeTomb children holding on of the orphas they care for at Project Purpose.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 5

Day 5

We began day 5 with a trip to town to replace a camera charger that was lost and to buy some additional video tapes. We planned (and ultimately accomplished) getting almost 6 hours of video on our trip. Much of it is Ernesto and Seba relating their history and testimony, as well as describing in detail the state of affairs in Marracuene regarding medical needs, education, food, and housing.

On the way back to Marracuene and the orphanage, Ernesto said he needed to stop off and buy the "biscuits and juice" for the children. I'm thinking big buttermilk biscuits and orange juice. Come to find out "biscuits and juice" means slightly sweetened crackers and something like kool-aid. For the 50 or so kids that were fed that day, each got 3-4 crackers and a half cup of juice. What you see in this picture is the bag of "biscuits" and the juice. Ernesto said that for many of the children, this was all they would get to eat. We saw first hand the truth of that statement when later in the day we went with the village chief, Andre, and toured the village (Possulane) and met many of the people that live there.

On our way, we saw a little girl on the trail headed home. We met her at the orphanage. She was born without a leg. She was scooting along the path, unassisted. My heart absolutely broke for her.

One of the young girls we met in the village was especially memorable. She had that thousand yard stare that people get when they have experienced severe trauma. This little girl's father and mother were both either dead or gone and she (at probably 11-12 years old) was left to raise her younger siblings.

Consistent at each home was an open fire on which the one small daily mean was cooked. For some the meal was rice, others beans or ground corn. Housing was very basic - usually what Ernesto called "local material", which meant a mat of woven river reeds that was used as walls and either a thatched or tin roof. All homes were very small and accomodated several people. Most did not have any electricity. None had running water. Men were noticeably absent. Children were plentiful, especially the young ones. Some were truly orphaned and living with "substitute families". Others were deemed "vulnerable". Ernesto explained that for many of the families there was just not enough food to go around and when that happened, it was usually the kids that suffered. The atmosphere from home to home, however, was not one of despondency or despair. Rather, smiles were fairly easy to come by, as was laughter. Fatigue is the cloud that hangs above it all, though. You get a sense of what it takes to survive there. Imaging you have gone camping and most of your gear disappears, you have no transportation, no home to return to and no resources to replenish your needs. That is how these people live daily. Most survive by trying to farm a small garden to raise corn, cassava root, cucumbers and squash. Proximity to the coast allows for some fish.

Meeting the families in the village made me realize how significant this community center / orphanage will be to not just the children, but the families as well. Imagine that in these circumstances, three people (Ernesto, Filo and Seba) and many volunteers, most of whom are barely better off than the people in the village, are sacrificially helping feed the children and their families, educating the children, and looking for ways to do more. Ernesto's, Filo's and Seba's vision for the community center is that it will serve as an orphanage to young boys, to educate and train them so that they can support themselves. While the boys are in training or school, they want to use the building for the young children in the area, feeding them and teaching them Portugese so that they can attend the local primary school (most kids are raised to speak the tribal language and few know Portugese). There are also plans to create a farming cooperative that would create jobs for many of the villagers, helping them consolidate their efforts to produce a cash-crop instead of just subsistence farming. The opportunities are literally endless. One could do anything for these people and it would be helpful to them. Consistent in all of the dreams we shared was the desire to help the people of the village help themselves - to teach them how to fish so they could feed themselves for a lifetime. First things first, these people need something to eat!

The above picture is Ernesto with a grandmother that is raising the five grand-children you see pictured. Below is a woman we met on the way home. Like most women, she carriers what she needs on her head and her baby is strapped to her. This woman has aids, Ernesto told us.

At the end of the day, as my daughter, Michaela and I were talking, I asked her why she didn't seem more moved by the circumstances of the people that we had seen. She responded and said Dad, I just want to great them with joy and a smile, not sadness." Wow! She's 11.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 4 (continued)

Day 4 (cont)

The first kid we met at the orphanage was a kid named Mercedes, who went by the nickname "Pai". (He follwed me around everytime we were at the orphanage, and he quickly became on of my favorites.) Ernesto explained that his father had recently died, and that he lived with his mother and 8 month old sister. The mother is apparently ill and can't work. Hers was one of 16 families that Ernesto supports out of his own pocket each month. In later conversations we learned that it takes $180.00 US to cover Ernesto's bills for a month (food, water, elec., cell and transportation). Yet he spends over $1,000.00 US to feed these 16 families, because those families have no other options.

Ernesto's story gives one insight into his passion for helping others. He told us his story as we sat down just outside of the newly completed orphanage. When Ernesto was a young boy, his father left his mother and she could not afford to feed him. So, he and several friends jumped the border to South Africa and made it to Johannesburg. For two years Ernesto lived on the streets and in the sewers, eating out of "dust bins", as he calls them. One day he was walking in the rain and a car passed him and then pulled over. When he caught up to the car, a German couple asked him where he was going. "Nowhere", he said. The wife insisted that he come with them. He spent the next two years living with this couple and learning the husband's trade: construction. They provided for all of his needs without any expectation for repayment. He eventually left their home and made his way back to Marracuene, Mozambique. He was sitting outside one day and heard music and went to investigate. He happened upon a crusade that was being conducted by Heidi Baker's ministry, Iris Ministries. They presented the gospel message to Ernesto and he accepted Christ as his Lord and savior that day. Then, within a short time a man showed up in Marracuene from the Congo and told Ernesto that God had sent him to train him in scripture. Ernesto spent two years studying under this teacher.

While Ernesto was in South Africa, God appeared to him in an amazing way. Ernesto recalls seeing a blue and green fire, and then seeing a vision of himself with lots and lots of children. He had a sense that he was to provide for all of these children. After becoming a Christian, Ernesto set out to start the orphanage. He had no job and no money. He decided the way to start was to go out into the bush and cut and gather firewood to sell. He and his wife, Filo, who was pregnant at the time, cut, gathered and hauled wood back to their home to sell. For several days no one purchased any of the wood. Then, it rained for 7 days straight and still no one purchased any of the wood. On the seventh day of rain Filo came to Ernesto and reminded him that they had not eaten for several days, and begged him to do something. He did. He got on his face and he prayed non-stop for several hours, asking God to provide a way for his family. On the eighth day the rain stopped and all of the sudden a line of people formed at Ernesto's house to buy wood. When he went to check the wood pile, the area around it was completely saturated from the days of rain. The wood, however, was bone dry. They sold all of the wood, and because of the significant demand, were able to command a good price for it. It was the proceeds from the sale of this wood that set the orphanage into motion.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 4

Day 4 - Sunday

Ernesto picked us up this morning and was already listening to the praise and worship CD that Courtney Barton had sent with us. We traveled the 2 or so miles from our hotel to the Redeemed Church of God in Marracuene. There was significant contrast between the dimly lit building, with its concrete floors and drab plastered walls, and the exhuberance and excitement of those attending. All the songs were sung acapela, and we were treated to special music by the ladies of the church, the youth and the children. Pat, Michaela and Greg all had the opportunity to speak, followed by a sermon delivered by Ernesto and interpreted into English by his assistant pastor, Seba. After the service, the chairs were immediately rearranged, and a single table was brought in and set up, and food was placed on it. It didn't take long to realize that the ladies of the church had made a significant sacrifice of time and resources to prepare this meal. Pat and Greg looked at each other, knowing immediately what the other was thinking: what do we do? Experience told us both that we should be cautious about what we eat and drink or we might suffer again from "tourista", something we both had had before and wanted to avoid. So, we prayed over our meal like we have never done before and began to eat. We picked around and were careful about what we ate, only to look at Michaela and see that she devoured everything on her plate without even blinking. We are grateful to report that there were no stomach pains. Lunch consisted of fried fish (carapao), cooked rice, fried potatoes, cabbage salad and cucumbers. Dessert was boiled peanuts.

When lunch was finished we loaded up into the car and headed for Possulane, where the orphanage is located. Five minutes down the paved road and another 15 minutes down a sandy trail and we were in the heart of the village. We immediately took a tour of the orphanage and saw the freshly painted rooms and stained concrete floors. Ernesto's pride of accomplishment and excitement about the future of the building was very noticeable. He himself constructed much of the building - making the bricks, laying the foundation, putting on the roof and plastering the walls. Ernesto then walked us around the property, showing us the bathrooms, water well and future sites for classrooms, a kitchen facility and office. Ideas for service to the children and families of the village flowed out of Ernesto like water. Ideas like "water evangelism", where he planned to hook up many of the village houses to the water well they had constructed on site, and have them pay cost only so that they would have fresh water in their homes. Telling of Ernesto's commitment to the people in this village was the hand cart he showed us and how he told us of the many trips he alone would make into town to buy materials, pushing and pulling the cart as many as 20 kilometers one way to buy bags of cement, or rebar or paint.

His plan for the orphanage is to bring in teenage boys age 12-16 to educate them, teach them a trade and work with them for their first year out of school to save up enough money to get a place of their own and end their cycle of poverty. It is an ambitious plan, powered by deep faith in God. As Ernesto would say, "He will do it!"

Indeed.

We then met some of the kids in the village and sat down with Ernesto to hear his story. More on that later.

Mozambique Trip - 2010 - Day 3 (continued)

Day 3

After leaving the airport, we drove through Maputo (capital city of about 2 million people) and out to Marracuene, where we arrived at Ernesto's church and were greated by several ladies singing praise music acapela. It was beautiful. First thing Ernesto circled everyone up and led us in prayer. He revealed that he had been fasting for 28 days in anticipation of our arrival, and his joy was palpable. He began to praying, thanking God for our arrival, safe journey, the gifts we brought, etc. After he prayed for each item, he would invite everyone else to pray together at the same time. All of the sudden prayers would be lifted up, a cacophony of sound: English, Portugese, Tchangana, all praising the Lord for his provision. The prayers would conclude and Ernesto would speak up saying, "Let us continue to pray", rolling his "r's" each time he said it. He moved on to the next topic and the process repeated itself many times.

After the prayers, we were introduced to Ernesto's family: his wife, Filo, and his daughters, Princessa, Abigail and Regina, and his 8 month old son, Caleb. We then proceeded to unpack all that we had brought and complete the delivery of the items. There were clothes, generously donated by many families, medical supplies, craft supplies, construction supplies, computer, video camera, digital camera and more.

Afterwards, Ernesto gave us a brief tour of his home, which consisted of an outer room with concrete floor and walls made from reeds, and a bedroom made out of cinder blocks with one window, a bed and desk. When Ernesto was about to peel back the curtain to his bedroom, Filo said something politely and quietly to him in Portugese and then looked at us with mild embarassment. We asked Ernesto what she said and he commented that she didn't want us to see the bedroom because it was not cleaned up. Go figure. 9,000 miles from our home and the wife's response to the home tour is always the same: apologizing for the home being messy, when it was far from it.

Left: Ernesto showing us his computer and desk, while Filo looks on.

Below: some of the kids that greated us when we arrived