Quissico House Inauguration Ceremony

This ceremony is a local traditional step once land has been legalized and a new residence is built!

Women from the churches in Cala and Nyamajeho arrived at my house early in the morning to help. 

 

We picked out the pork the day before from one of the freshly killed pigs that are hung from a tree on the side of the road.

Making the typical local dish, chiguinha, with the bitter kakana leaves.

My colleagues, neighbors, and the local officials began to arrive.

Tomas, who was the MC of the ceremony, welcomed everyone.

Representatives of each leadership group were given the opportunity to speak.

Pastor Daniel, as the representative from Living Word Evangelical Church (IEPV) preached about the power of prayer in Hannah's life, and the faithfulness of God. We prayed and dedicated the house to God's work.

Melvin, as the representative of One Mission Society, has been instrumental in the building of this house and in supporting and encouraging me in this ministry.

Pastor Graca, from the Wesleyan church, who is a representative of the Mozambican Advisors to OMS, has been counseling and encouraging us for the last 20 years.

Pastor Mutombene, from the local Nazarene church, who is a representative of the Religious Affairs Department, was the pastor who presented me to the local chiefs, government officials, and community establishments when I moved to Quissico.

The district chief, representing the other five local chiefs, said that I was the first person of my nationality to be a resident in this community, and he welcomed me here.

Senhora Constancia, from the Municipality, presented me with a Bible in the Txitxopi language, and encouraged me to keep learning the local language.

My brothers and sisters from the churches and from the neighborhood presented me with special gifts of capulanas, a serving tray, money, and a frozen chicken!

The women from Cala presented me with a macumi, a large capulana with a white lace connecting section that is used as a blanket.

And they did the traditional wrapping me up in it too.

Then we ate the special meal

Servant Leaders, Pastor Daniel and his wife Luisa serving the guests.

~

I thank God and I thank everyone, near and far, who made this possible. This house is a testament to God's faithfulness and it is dedicated to Him.  

Bible study, Paperwork, and Cursive

These last 2 months I've been using a chronological Bible study cloth with the women from the church in Cala and we've completed the first part of the study.

This next week I'll be taking four women from Cala to the small church group in Nyamajeho so that they can teach the women there what they have learned so far!

Would you pray for these women?

In order to legalize the two plots of land here, I've been visiting many government offices, and working on much paperwork.  

Would you pray for these processes?

When I was in 3rd grade, I learned how to write in cursive, but then computers came on the scene. For certain government paperwork here, only cursive is acceptable, but I've forgotten much my cursive since I haven't really used it much. 

So I put found some cursive letters to display on my screensaver. I realized the irony of this one evening as I carefully copied the letters from my computer into my handwriting onto a paper document.

"The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it's who you become" 

D. Willard

Northern Irish Team

Ian and Sharon led the wonderful team from Northern Ireland who, among many other things...built a covered area for my truck, installed a water filtration system, tiled around the sink and stove, installed outdoor solar and battery lights, replaced a faucet, fixed a bed, adjusted curtain rods, and cooked lots of special meals!

Andrew

David

Bert

Alan and I getting supplies at the local hardware store.

An awesome Australian, Patrick, also joined the team.

As well as two lovely Canadians, Liane and Joyce, here with Sharon and I.

Ian fixed Papa Tomas' motorcycle!

My mechanical comprehension and vocabulary is so poor in both Portuguese and English that I had to ask Ian to explain things to me like he would to a 5 year old just so that I could understand, in order to translate.

Possible future mechanics looking on

Ian also helped Tomas and his family learn how to use their converter, which could produce power when connected to batteries that are connected to a solar panel. My comprehension and vocabulary of all things electrical in both English and Portuguese was also greatly challenged...

I invited my neighbor, Cidalia, over to show the team how a local meal is made from coconuts, peanuts, and pumpkin leaves.

The cooking lesson got a little tense at one point.

Cidalia broke open some baby coconuts so everyone could have a refreshing drink.

"For they refreshed my spirit...such people deserve recognition."

1 Corinthians 16:18

Thank you Ian, Sharon, Bert, Alan, David, Andrew, Patrick, Liane, and Joyce!