October 23, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We have been thinking about you, especially when we answer our hosts’ many questions about the UMC in the United States.
On Friday afternoon we drove east toward Zimbabwe in the van on a good road. We saw many large trucks going in both directions. Many of these trucks were carrying very large logs harvested from virgin forest by Chinese companies. They are milled in Beira and shipped in containers to China.
After we reached the boundary of Gorongosa National Park, we drove at least ten miles on a bone-jarring dirt road into to the official park entrance. Our safari ride left at 6:30am the next morning. On the ride we saw many monkeys, baboons, warthogs and birds. Near water there were hundreds of hoofed animals. In the four years since American Greg Carr has been involved, large predators and elephants are being reintroduced. We saw big, fresh lion tracks, but not the lions themselves.
Back in Beira on Sunday, each of us spoke at a different church. The congregations enjoyed hearing from United Methodists from so far away. In the afternoon John attended two large stewardship meetings, which were followed by meals of celebration.
Monday morning our flight to Nampula was delayed two hours by an unseasonable torrential rain. There was at least an inch of standing water on the tarmac. Our host, Jacob says this is highly unusual for October in Beira. It was the first time any of us had seen a rain storm in Mozambique.
Marcia, one of our scholarship students, met us at the Nampula airport. We shopped at an artisan woodcarving cooperative. Marcia took us to visit her UM church, where she sings in the choir. John and Annette had been there in 2003, and were pleased to see that the church has grown so much that a new much larger church is now under construction. Marcia then took us for a tour of the Catholic University of Mozambique, Nampula. She will receive her bachelor’s degree in communications this December.
Next day we were greeted at the Lichinga airport by our brothers and sisters, followed by a welcome ceremony at the church. The choir’s singing was inspirational. John was delighted to see the cross he had made and carried across the sea is hanging on the wall behind the altar.
The new church building we had worked on is now seven years old. The congregation has renovated the inside and has plans for repainting the outside. The old church building that was being used for classrooms had to be torn down. Classes are now being held in a very small room behind the sanctuary. There are now 150 adults learning to read and write.
Wednesday we visited the church farm project. It is very exciting to see the fields being hand tilled for planting in November. About 8 acres of prime farm land is now being farmed, with hopes to expand to use the entire 100 acres in the future. The next step planned is to build pens and raise pigs.
Thursday our hosts took us to see a five-year-old farm being developed by a South African who has had agricultural training. It was interesting to hear about his successes and failures in introducing modern commercial methods into this society of subsistence farmers.
While at the meeting of the Women’s Group we received five handmade dolls we hope to sell in the United States. If we are successful in selling them, we will encourage our friend Florida in this commercial venture.
The rain yesterday afternoon was so heavy that it turned dirt roads into dangerous mud roads, cancelling our trip to Lake Niassa for today.
Peace,
Annette, John and Martha