The following is an excerpt from a blog post by Africa Immersion team member Emily Bostrom, which originally appeared on her personal blog, 'LoveFromAfrica'. Their team is currently traveling to the small south African country of Lesotho, where they will spend their final six weeks.
Mozambique is filled with the unexpected. There are so many things that have happened here, I think I could have written a blog every day, explaining some funny, crazy, or surprising thing I encountered. I could tell you about my host granny and how comfortable shes made me feel. Or about my host brothers and sister and why I love each one of them. I could describe the laugh of my favorite little girl and how she always seems to make my day. Or I could tell you how homesick Ive felt, the struggles Ive faced, and the times Ive felt like giving up. But I think what I need to share most is what Ive learned so far during my time here. Its crazy to have just over a week left in this country and then were on to Lesotho! So here they are, the good, bad, and downright crazy: "Life Lessons From Mozambique":
1. Fresh papaya is downright the greatest thing on a hot day. Let me tell you, it has been H-O-T here! But the sound of a papaya being knocked to the ground by my ten-year-old neighbor creates heart palpitations I havent felt since the good ol' days of the Ice Cream Man.
2. "Clean is a very relative term. BUT, that being said, I can now clean my entire body using 1.5 soup bowls full of water. And, I think while Im trying to convince my parents Im a changed girl, I should tell you all that Ive go to bed between 7:30-8pm and wake up between 5-6am. Yep.
3. The word "avo" means so much more than "Grandma" in Portuguese. It means provider, comforter, protector, friend and it means that if you hear her calling your name, you drop whatever youre doing and run to her.
4. Clean, flushing toilets with a seat are such an underrated luxury. I am a little tired of my little hole in the corner of a brick square, the floor of which is covered in a mysterious liquid. Sorry for that, just had to get it out there.
5. In Mozambique, if you want to eat, you must farm. Farming means getting up early and walking (great distances at times) to the small patch of land you use to support your family. Since its October, I was under the impression that wed be harvesting soon. It just makes sense to a Midwesterner. But alas, its not. We hoed and hoed and hoed. Ill be honest, before this I didnt even know what a hoe was really used for. It sucks. Sometimes it means ripping up things that are already growing in order to prepare the soil (sand) to plant something new. It means hacking away at hardened ground to get to the good stuff underneath. Although it wasnt my favorite, I had a great God moment in the field. One of the reasons Mozambique has been such a challenge is that were just living with people. We spend all of our time building relationships. It's an awesome thing to be doing, but its one without tangible results. So as I was in the field with my 73-year-old grandmother, I felt God just say to me, Emily, this is not your season to reap. This is your time to work. Someday, I think Ill look back and see the purpose of my being here. Right now, I dont get to see that. Its not harvest time in Mozambique. Its time to prepare the fields.
6. Taking care of the widows and the orphans makes so much sense. This one took my granny literally telling me, Were suffering here in Mozambique to actually understand. They seem so happy, and when Im staying with them theres always food to eat. But my granny said to me, We are suffering. My husband died a long time ago. Without a man here, theres no work. Without work theres no food. You have to farm if you want to eat. That broke my heart. Widows and orphans are vulnerable. They need care and provision because they cant provide for themselves. Its not because theyre weak, its because society has been set up for them to fail on their own. Were called to care for them. After five weeks of living with them, I finally understand why. Theyre the outcasts of society, the downtrodden, the poor, and the unloved. Were called to change that.
7. Finally, I just want to share one last thing Gods been teaching me. For a lot of this trip Ive been nervous about the future. Ive questioned school, my major, whether or not I want to do full-time mission work, unsure of where I want to live when I graduate and Ive just been stressed. I started this trip with a vague picture of what God has planned for my life. It felt like certain passions and desires were leading me somewhere, but now I feel like Ive been searching, questioning and just plain wandering. Then I read some of Deuteronomy. The Israelites wandered for 40 years, knowing the promise that was ahead of them. God had told them their future, yet they had to wander before getting there. Im sure they often felt alone and abandoned by God, but that never diminished Gods character or changed His promise for them. I think sometimes God has us wander before we receive our promised future. When were wandering, we have to live in complete dependence on God. I think we wander so that when we see the real promise, when we get to a land so sweet, we know its the real deal and were grateful for what we have. We end our wandering phase knowing that Gods been holding our hand the whole time. I think Im in a wandering period right now, though I dont think it's because God is changing His promises for me. Right now, Gods just holding my hand.
For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.
Deuteronomy 2:7
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