Mike Holl's Thoughts

It is now one week after we return and my head is still spinning! There are so many things to share! I am amazed at what God can do with 7 totally different people in a place that was so foreign to all of us. God had a plan and (thankfully) we were able to set our own agendas aside and listen to what He wanted us to do for His kingdom!

The most difficult thing was the travel. The amount of time sitting was tough, especially for those of us with long legs! Most of us had trouble sleeping when needed, but that worked it self out as the days passed. The tour through Paris was a blur! I was working on about 36 hours without sleep and was so exhausted that I can’t remember most of what we saw in the quick tour. I’m not sure what I will do next time but sleep was definitely needed by the time we made it to Africa!

I really enjoyed getting to know so many different people… our team, the Mozambique teachers, the other missionaries at Bethel Center, our translators and overall the people of Mozambique. By far the most interesting thing for me was the overall concept of how beautiful the people of Mozambique can be. It puzzled me for a few days, but I finally figured out what I was seeing as beauty was not the physical features, not their smiles, nor their eyes… it was their character! Most of the Mozambique the people are living in poverty, or at least a day to day survival. They don’t have much to give, but they would give it all away if asked. They shouldn’t have much to be thankful for, but they are more thankful than we could ever be.

My wake up call came when I was teaching about pride. I was teaching a concept that didn’t make any sense to them in their culture. I asked them about a time they were proud of an accomplishment, a family member or even a talent that they have. No response. The silence was killing me… until a pastor in the group explained that everything they have, skill, family, food, shelter... everything was given to them by God even though they didn’t deserve it, so there was no need to be proud. At that point they were teaching us!

There is so much to be done in Mozambique! I’m not sure when, but I know I will be going back some day to help. It might not be as a teacher, but all I know is that God has a plan and that no matter what we think, His plan is the one that will be accomplished!

Sunili's thoughts

Sunili's thoughts

The journey to Mozambique was layered with experiences that will take a while to process, to be sure. My favorite memory is from the first night at the Bethel Center when we prayed, sang, and danced together. The sound of each of us praying in our own language will resound in my mind forever. The most difficult moments for me were in Maputo when the "vendors" so desperately wanted to sell us their wares. One young man looked me in the eye and said, "Please Mama; please buy just one from me ~just one." It tore at my heart. I was grateful for our interpreter, Sorau, who knew the best way to handle the situation. I came away from this experience with a new definition of "flexibility" and a renewed trust in the amazing power of God's Holy Spirit to weave all we had prepared into a new and useful form for the teachers who came to the training. The wind that blew through the Bethel Center was a constant reminder of God's presence and His power.

Jeff's thoughts regarding a terra boa da gente (the land of the good people)

I am still composing my overall thoughts (and to be sure there are many) about this trip but I wanted to give some initial feedback. The most fun part of this trip would have to be driving from the passenger seat on the left side of the road. That was really cool. The hardest part of the trip for me was the first couple of hours of driving into Mozambique and seeing some of the living conditions. My first thoughts were "what did I do to be so blessed and why me and not them?" I cried with heartbreak. One of the biggest things I have learned so far is the incredible spirit of the people of Moz. I said before "why me and not them?" and found out that although there is a lot of poverty there, the people of Mozambique are not impoverished. They have a great love for each other and for strangers alike. (The early Portuguese explorers named them "the land of the good people"). I felt like a part of their family with each new acquaintance. God is already there. We were sent to help move the kingdom a little further along and to help the teachers have a stronger impact on their students learning. I am sure it helped, but there is so much more opporutnity there and they are eager to grasp each and every one that comes along. God was behind and in front of every move we made. Deus e bom, todo momento...Todo momento, Deus e bom...(God is good, all the time...)

Thoughts from Heather aka "Lena"

-Charles De Gaulle Airport - stuck in the revolving door!

- Mike, Jeff and Jonathan outside the Louvre Museum.

-PARIS!!!

What a great adventure this trip was! I would be hard pressed to pick out just one or two things that impressed me the most but since Jonathan set us homework I will try to narrow it down. The most fun part of the trip was....getting to know my teammates, the Mozambican teachers and staff at Bethel Center. It was good to make a connection with the teachers during our training and have them laughing and sharing stories. They were tough nuts to crack and it was difficult to break the ice at first. I also enjoyed speaking in Portuguese and being able to communicate a little without help from our interpreters. Of course being that I am an art teacher the stop in Paris was absolutely amazing! I am glad that we had the time to spend in the city and that my teammates were game for riding all over on buses all day long and for visiting the Louvre.

The hardest part of the trip was...traveling - as you may know, I did not fare well during our travels. The worst part was in the Jo-burgh airport when I got sick during dinner. The second hardest part of the trip would be learning to communicate with the very limited Portuguese that I knew. I did get a little better through the week and was able to understand more than I could speak but I am really glad that I took the lessons at church before we left. The third hardest part of the trip was...leaving! I wanted to stay longer and get to know the people better and do something more for them. I feel like I shared some good ideas with them and that they will use the ideas when they teach but I don't feel like I made that much of a tangible difference. Teaching someone to teach does not have the same results as building a school or digging a well. The seeds I helped to plant won't be evident for a long time and not seeing immediate results is hard.

The biggest thing I learned on this trip was to trust and have faith in God. I could feel him growing stronger in me while we were preparing for the trip and it was amazing to be a witness to the work he sent us to do. We had to learn to let go of our plans and let the Holy Spirit guide us and that started the moment we set foot on the continent. Our plans changed for the rental cars and without two cars we would not have been able to purchase all the supplies we needed for the teachers. God provided Sorau, a wonderful man, who was willing to act as interpreter and buying agent as well as tour guide for our team. Every little attack we felt on the trip was overcome by God and we were able to use the changes to our advantage. We also had some divine appointments and made connections with important people during our travel and our stay that will help with future trips. How amazing is that?

From Africa (but not Moz)

Ola,

We have arrived safely in Africa. We had several surprises on the way, and God used those to show us that he's the one in control, not us!

One very surprising thing-- the company that we had our van reservation with wouldn't let us take the van into Mozambique! So we ended up getting 2 cars instead with a different company. That put us behind schedule in our drive to Mozambique, so we ended up needing to spend the night in South Africa. So we have not made it to Mozambique yet, after 48 hours on the road. We are tired, but we can tell that God is going to do great things through this trip because of the barriers we have come up against so far. We have been under attack from the enemy, but he is not the victor! One example- 4 of us got stuck in a revolving door at the Paris airport! We really appreciate your prayers, and we have felt them.

We have one piece of lost luggage (Sue's) and one sick person (Heather).

We will be buying supplies in Maputo, Mozambique, tomorrow; worshiping at a UM church in the city Sunday; and then going up to the town where we will be training teachers and sewing students. We'll update you again if we can get online.

Jonathan, for the Team

Team Photo

Here is a picture of the team that will be traveling to Mozambique. The drawing above was done by Mike's daughter, Amanda and we will be giving it to Bethel Center as a gift for hosting us. In the photo: L to R - Mike Holl, Heather Humbert, Darlene Quallich, (back) Jonathan Fehl, Annamore Matambanadzo, Sue Neeley and Jeff Hironimus

Welcome!

Hello fellow Crossroaders and friends of Crossroads United Methodist Church! This blog will chronicle the travels and missions in Mozambique, Africa. Our first trip will be departing on Wednesday, July 8. My name is Heather Humbert and I will be writing the blog for this trip. Hopefully we will be able to update the blog throughout our trip to keep all of you informed of the God's wonderful work we will be doing for him in Mozambique.

So far we have been working very hard to prepare lesson plans for the teachers we will be training and we are trying to remember to be flexible because God may have a different plan for us once we arrive in Mozambique.

The team for this trip includes: Jonathan Fehl (our pastor), Jeff Hironimus, Mike Holl, Heather Humbert, Sue Neeley, Annamore Matambanadzo and Darlene Quallich. We have also had a LOT of help in planning and preparing from Carolyn Kintzing.

I will add some more details and pictures a little later. You can choose to be a follower of this blog and be notified when changes are made through email. Thanks to all of you for your donations and prayers! Please continue to pray for us!