A Final Project

I was doing movie night for the kids one night a few weeks ago and was shocked at what they had. 150 eager eyes were focussed on a small TV and the dodgy DVD player kept skipping and jumping throughout the movie. This really wasn't fair - we are a children's ministry after all! So I decided to tackle it as my final project here. With a very kind donation from South Africa, I was able to install a projector and Media Player in the library, and now ALL the kids can actually see the movie!

It took me about 3 weeks to get the entire DVD collection converted to divX format and loaded onto the Media Player. It was over 100 DVDs! Most of them are bible stories, but there are cartoons (Tom & Jerry) and also a few Disney movies. All in Portuguese of course!


Mark Mozely helped me put up the cage that John Woollet had designed for the projector - but my drill stopped working just as we were about the put in the final two screws on the front. So in true Iris style we improvised and used nails instead. They were really really really long nails, so we only hammered them in halfway - but now it looks kinda ghetto! But at least it's up and works like a dream!



The first time they used it was on Christmas day and the kids loved it!!

Christmas (round 2)

Merry Christmas (again!) Today went by so quickly, but it was busy busy busy!

It started this morning 9am with handing out of gifts - all the kids got a little gift bag which had been bought from money raised by the children of the Valley Brook Community Church, CT and I helped Jessie hand out the gifts to the Tias, Tios and their kids.



Then we headed down to the church for a live nativity play which was organized and performed by the visitors.




It was great, really well done - they even used a real horse to take Mary to Bethlehem!



After the play, all the Iris kids and missionaries went to the refectory and enjoyed a great chicken lunch. It was family time, and it was really nice.


Then the real fun and games started - feeding all the villagers...

Over the past 3 years our strategy for keeping things organized and calm has evolved into a system that works very well! It has taken some time refining it, but I think we finally have it down!

From the front gate they were let in in groups of 20, holding hands and then via the church they made their way to the refectory - all the while being led hand in hand!


At the entrance to the refectory porch their hands were checked for a purple mark, and if they were un-marked they were let in.


At the door to the refectory they were filed in single file, handed a coke/fanta and a plate of food then directed to a seat.

As soon as they were done eating they joined the 'exit' line, where they were searched for food and plates before being let out. As they exited their palms were marked with a bit of gentian violet and each of the kids got a toy or some candy.



(Gentian Violet is used in wound care, and leaves a nice purple stain which lasts about a day or 2 before it washes off, so it was great to control who had already eaten)

Then they made their way back down to the front gate and went home!


We fed 2500 people today, all in just 2 1/2 hours!

After it was all done, the missionaries got together for a BBQ at John & Margaret's, where we ate and chatted till late!
Mark and Bridget, BBQ Chefs!

And for dessert Jessie baked a cake, and as an homage to the cold American christmas she was missing, I decorated the cake!

Then Jessie, Bala and I went to Maringanha and lay on the beach looking at the stars. It was gorgeous!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas also!

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas from a HOT Pemba, Moçambique!



Tonight was the annual candlestick fight, or as many in more conservative circles would know it as: "Christmas Eve Candlelight Service".


But I'll stick to 'Annual Candlestick Fight', as it more aptly describes what happens when you give 180 kids a lit candle! But it was loads of fun! (someone also described it as: The Candle Relight Service - well what would you expect?? Haha! Give a child a candle and he will blow it out! - and promptly try to relight it, and then it becomes a game to see who can blow out his neighbors candle...) but it still was fun!



Here I am with Selso, he's the son of our Bible School director. Selso loves taking Bala (my dog) for walks, so he was an instant friend!


Mark and Jen Mozley with Arcelmo, one of our newest kids - he came to live with us 2 days ago!


For Christmas, we all chipped in and gave our laundry lady, Veronica, a chicken, a bag of rice and some clothes, toys and candy for her 5 kids. I drove her out to her house in the village cos it was all a bit much to carry, but I left the camera at home (I'm still kicking myself for that!) She has quite a nice house - here in Mozambique the woman own the house, and they tend to invest in their houses instead of spending their wages on alcohol. So for the past year, Veronica has been putting her income into improving her house - by putting on a decent tin roof and matopi (mud) on the walls. It was really good to see that she has been making such a good investment!


I was tasked with trying to find a chicken - You'd think it would be easy... The first chicken seller I found was in the middle of Natite Market, and he asked me to marry him in the same breath as the price of the chicken. My polite refusal was met with astonishment and immediately he asked me "But why not?!!?" - my answer, "Because I dont want to" was met with another "But why???" Needless to say, I left quickly and went on an expedition to find another chicken seller. I finally found one and bought this chicken, and as I walked away the chicken seller ran after me, and said 'Excuse me, but will you marry me?' And yet again (I just copy pasted): My polite refusal was met with astonishment and immediately he asked me "But why not?!!?" - my answer, "Because I dont want to" was met with another "But why???" Haha, it was pretty funny - 2 proposals in one day! But at least I had the chicken! She lived in our back yard for a day, and Bala had to stay in the house - she liked chasing the chicken!

And this is the bag of rice we bought her:


Until tomorrow, when we have Christmas (round 2)...!

Christmas (round 1)

We are having 2 christmases this year - the first one was December 13th and ALL our kids got gifts. It took nearly a month to get all the gift bags prepared, and even though I helped a bit, most of the work was done by Jessie and Tanya.

The day itself was quite busy - gift giving started at 4pm and lasted late into the night. I opted to stay at the 'Christmas Room' and get the bags ready to be sent down to the rooms as they were needed. Heidi personally gave each child their gift, and she spent a few minutes with each one as they unpacked their gift bags.



Jessie also got a chance to sit and have some fun with Victor - usually she has to run around organizing things, but there were some helpful visitors, so she got some quality time too!

Each of the gift bags contained a ton of goodies, most of which have been collected over the past 2 years by Iris UK and shipped over in a huge shipping container.

Inside a Girlie Bag: (We packed over 50 of these!)
*Stuffed Toy/ Doll
*Board Game
*Earrings/ Bracelets/ Necklaces/ Rings
*Nail Polish
*Hair bands/ Hair clips/ Hair extensions
*Candy
*Cookies
*Underwear
*2 sets of clothes
*Deodorant
*Toothbrush


Inside a Boyish Bag (we packed over 120 of them!)
*Toy Car/Truck
*Ball
*Board/Card Game
*Baseball cap
*Candy
*Cookies
*Underwear
*2 sets of clothes
*Deodorant
*Toothbrush

On real christmas day there will be a special chicken dinner, and then each of the kids will get another little gift, just something small - and this includes all the village kids who will join us, as well as the kids from Mieze and Noviane. Also, there are plans in the works for a candlelight service for the 24th!

Niassa Outreach - Dec 2007

So, just over a year ago I went on a 2 week extended outreach to Niassa Province BUT I never blogged about it! So here it is now... just over 356 days later!

This is what I journaled way back then... "Extended outreach totally blew me away. after I had decided that I would take the plunge and go, I heard that there would only be 2 teams: one to Nampula prov, and the other in Cabo Delgado. I really wanted to go to Niassa, so I was disapointed, but I'd comitted to co-leading a team so I would just go. I saw carlos one day about a week before outreach and randomly said that I wanted to go on whichever team he was on. He said,' That would be great, I'm going to Niassa Province" I nearly jumped up and down with joy! I finally had the opportunity to go to Niassa. So exciting - and then I met my team. Co-leading with me was Jarod and Erica, the 2 HG students that to me had stood out the most for their leadership qualities and ability to have FUN. So I was really happy. I didnt really know the others on my team, but I figured that I would get to know them pretty quickly (trauma bonding!). We also had a really good team of Mozambicans going with us, as translators, worship leaders and cooks.

We were:
Carlos Wacha: Fearless Leader


Erica Grimaldi: Co-Leader


Jarod Ely: Co-Leader


Ruth Donaldson: Keeper of the Cash


Ruth Alexander: Assistant to the Cooks


Rosalind Walker


Sharon Ridenour: First Aid/Nurse


Kara Rowley: Midwife (you never know!)


Jessica Wereley


Stephanie Mueller: Assistant to the Cooks


Emilee Johnson


Marisa Gourley


Don Foster


Lopes Mozambique: Our Driver


Johnny: Worship & Translation


Egas: Translator


Lazaro: Worship


Assane: Cook


Antonio Balanca: Cook


Teresa: Cook


and of course me: Token Missionary, co-leader and Sound Person
.

Using the adage that "A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words" I have decided to tell the story of the adventure with photos!


Team Niassa!



We camped in villages...



...and we camped near the mountains



And I slept in my pickup most of the time (until the generator leaked and I had to evacuate!


Many an hour was spent in the back of this camião


And some of the time was spent behind it too!


It was a long and dusty road


As I just said"It was a long and dusty road"...


A desperate effort to keep the dust at bay!



We were there to spread the Good News


Dancing...


Fighting off swarms of flying bugs...



...and Preaching our way across the Province


The outreaches served a dual purpose... Generator = Electricity!





We had the biggest, most airy kitchen in the world!



And our leftovers always went to the kids in the village


The man in the tree we called "Mango Man"... he was one of the Niassa Pastors who travelled with us, and he JUST ate mangos. All the time, breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks. For some reason he had a diarrhea problem...




It wasn't all just work work work - we had some down time too!




The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful


We spent 2 nights at the Iris base in Lichinga



Where we enjoyed CLEAN and airy bathroom facilities for the first time in a while...


We also took some time off to visit Lake Malawi (Lago Niassa)


But for the most part this was the first thing we saw in the morning...


:-) OK people lets do the Can-Can!




So there you have it - a quick look at our outreach. It was amazing, we saw miracles and healings and the team was just such a pleasure to be with! Truly one of the good memories I will treasure from my time here in Mozambique"