June 5, 1999, CE
     I am safely in Mozambique. My flight was a long one -- from New York all the way to Johannesburg. The last two hours of the flight were visually amazing. For a long time the view out my window was totally and utterly black. Then I saw a smudge of red on the Eastern horizon; an unexpected touch of color emerging over Africa. Very, very slowly the band of color grew. Did you know that sunrise over Africa is a rainbow? It is. With the darkness of land below and the darkness of heavens above, the band of color was very striking. Again, slowly, the bandwidth increased until it caught its breath on some clouds and turned brilliantly and vibrantly organe and red -- a color not found in my Crayola set. As I sat transfixed by unnamed colors (and vainly straining my eyes to see if I could distinguish any of the darkness below), I managed to catch The Moment when the sun debuted above and below the clouds. It rose quickly, changing from a dark red to orange to too brilliant to look at. The Africa below was illuminated -- and it was all clouds. Coming into Johannesburg was equally amazing. This part of South Africa is currently shrouded by those clouds. Coming in, everything was obscured by the clouds, except for Johannesburg itself, which rose golden and gleaming in new sun; like a city from dreams. It was beautiful, more like an artist's rendition of some imaginery city than a modern African metropolis. Truly, it was a memorable, if unexpected, first impression that Africa gave. The Lord has sent me to a beautiful place.
     I have a room at the guest house, the Pousada, at the Presbyterian compound in downtown Maputo. I am the only one staying at the guest house, so it is a bit lonely, but it is also spacious and comfortable. I have electricity all the time, and cold running water until the tank runs out (it gets filled daily). Alas, no hot running water, but I will survive that. (I figure that I'll just wait until I'm hot and sweaty, and then a cold shower will feel good!) There is also a kitchen here. I guess I will have to learn how to cook after all. (There is a lady who will cook for me, Philamina by name, but she won't be here all the time.)
     Today Mark (who is the "real" mission staff here -- he's from Canada and is flambouyant and fun) and I went to the market. I changed about $40 US and got tons of fruits, vegetables and stuff to eat. I can understand quite a bit that is said in Portuguese, but by no means all. The market here is run by barter, and Mark seems to have a lot of fun with it. I ended up with tomatos (very fresh and good), kiwi, bananas, onions, grapes (I guess the water can't be that bad if Mark thinks its okay for me to eat grapes), 3 big bottles of water, tomato paste, spaghetti noodles, and an additional AC adapter. There are tons of people in the market. As we sat and drank coffee (more like espresso, actually) and ate some sort of cream filled pastry, all these people would try to sell us things -- from carvings to watches to not too badly out of date copies of Newsweek. We also went to the tourist market (how's that for honesty -- actually calling it what it is!). They had some very nice things there, but I think I'll wait until I'm closer to heading out to pick up nicknacks.
     God's mission for me here is not quite what I was expecting when I volunteered (do any of us ever get quite what we were expecting?) but it sounds interesting and like a worthwhile project. I will be writing a book on the various missions here, with the help of visiting them and reading their descriptions. Reverend Sive said to me yesterday, "We need someone who can write. Here in Africa we can talk and talk, but we are not good at writing." So I am here to write. I will also be doing specific brochures (on targeted areas such as healthcare) for potential donors. It sounds like I have a lot to learn. I hope God can take what I do to help the people here. They have been warm, welcoming, and very patient with one whose Portuguese leaves much to be desired.
     The weather is lovely (60 at night 80 during the day), the bugs are few, the people are friendly, and God is in this place. What more is there to ask?
I was met at the airport by Reverend Sive and another member of the Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Pousada. The corner you can see is where my room was.
Philamina is on the left in this picture, taken on the Presbyterian compound.
Mark and the young boy who carried our groceries and find things in the market.