Diego's Agricultural Education

Over the last week Diego has gotten quite the agricultural experience.  He collected eggs at my aunt’s “small” chicken farm operation (about 300 chickens which seems big to me).  We all learned how to candle eggs a little later (with a flashlight which seems like cheating based off the name.  For those of you who do not know what that is, it is when you check eggs to see if the chicken inside is viable in the incubator).  A little later in the week Diego got to plant tomatoes, but the pinnacle of his farming experience came yesterday when we got a tour of Holly’s Uncle Calvin and Aunt Shelly’s farm in Lindsborg, KS.

We got there Friday evening, had a great dinner, and Diego enjoyed showing Calvin our new map of Mozambique (as well as the opportunity to play farm toys with a REAL farmer).  Saturday morning Calvin took me to his men’s prayer group where I got a chance to share what we are doing with MAF, as well as participate in a good Bible study and prayer time.

A little while after we came back it was time for the tour.  Diego got to help herd cows, ride a tractor, sit in a combine, climb on big hay bales, and finally sit in the driver’s seat of a real cab over engine semi-truck (which is DEFINITELY his favorite type of truck, as compared to a conventional cab of course).

I also really enjoyed getting to know Calvin better.  He almost died (a few times) as a result of heart problems similar to what my dad had.  Once he was saved by a birth “defect” that put an artery in the “wrong” place.  It was good getting to talk about my dad with someone who in many ways understands, and our time there was a real encouragement.

Today we taught a Sunday school lesson and presented at a church that used to support my grandparents on the Navajo reservation, which is pretty cool.  We also met with a mission board at a different church this afternoon, and we are spending the night with another Aunt and Uncle in Kansas City.  Tomorrow we go to Memphis to spend a few days there.  We will get to spend some time with two young men that I had the privilege of tutoring in an inner city high school in Memphis four years ago, so we are very excited about that.  It will be a busy week, including a 5:15 a.m. prayer breakfast, so please pray for strength, that God will use us to minister to those we see, and that we find the partners God has prepared for us.

Homemade History and Culture Lessons

Lately we have been trying to fill our spare time learning more about Mozambique. 

There are a couple videos that we really liked.  Neither one features exactly where we will be, but both present some beautiful scenery and valuable snippets into Mozambique for us. 

Friends from California showed us an Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations video on Mozambique.  Grady was salivating over shrimp the size of lobsters and the spicy piri piri chicken!  The video also goes into some of the history and culture of the country.  Colorful celebrations full of dancing in the countryside, a community-wide remembrance of the fight for independence that ended in 1975 and a look at where the Portuguese loaded captured Mozambiquians onto slave ships bound for the Americas all offer us a glimpse of our home-to-be.  (It is not a Christian perspective so the language may leave something to be desired… and parents may want to fast forward through a few of the history scenes as well.)

The travel channel has a site page about the episode, but not the full video at http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain/episodes/mozambique.  There are some great pictures though.  I found the episode online but the only official source I could spot was sold on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mozambique/dp/B00FEBLLD0.

We also found a National Geographic video on Parque Nacional de Gorongosa in central Mozambique entitled Africa’s Lost Eden.  It was eye opening to see what years of war can do to a region that was once called the “Place where Noah left his ark”.  Now people are working to help rebuild the animal populations and bring the park back into its rightful place as a world treasure.   

National Geographic has some amazing photos from Gorongosa here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/gorongosa-park/sartore-photography.

We would definitely recommend checking online or at your library for availability of the videos!  We found the National Geographic at the library and No Reservations on vimeo.

Our recent purchases are a Mozambique guide book (it’s much slimmer than any other guidebook I’ve seen…) and a country map.  Diego has gotten a real kick out of studying the map with Grady.  He saw Aunt Roberta recently and spent a long time showing here which roads were paved, where we would live, etc., etc.  Apparently he’s been paying attention to Daddy!

We are driving through Kansas now while on a four month fundraising road trip.  Diego has heard our presentation a few times lately.  In it I talk about loving flying and complaining to my grandmother as a little girl that “driving wastes my time”.  Now Diego has begun to tell us that driving wastes his time.  While we love seeing so many friendly faces we are also eager to join the team in Mozambique.  I will admit that there are times when it would be easy to slip into a mindset where this time of preparation is “just a waste of time”.  Please keep us in your prayers – that we fully enjoy and serve without reservations during our time here on deputation.  We want to be fully vested in this time we have still in the US.  Flying in Mozambique will come in God's timing!