African Spinning Tops

We have noticed lots of boys playing a game here with home made 'spinning tops'. They carve a piece of wood into a point to make a spinning top, then they fashion a whip out of sticks and scrap material. They then whip their spinning top and can keep it going for a very long time. I haven't figured all of the rules of the game (or if there are any) but they seem to try and knock into each other's spinning top. They don't mind whipping each other around the ankles either :)

The Fort, Phase One

Nate is working on a fort for our kids. It's a long process, finding someone to chop the trees, waiting for the wood to dry, having people sand and plane the wood, painting the bottom of the planks with diesel in the hope to prevent termite damage, driving down the rode to shovel sand into sacks for mixing with cement…. But bit by bit he is getting it done, and doing a great job.

He always does things well. I hear him tell Eliana as she help him dig holes, "Eliana, whatever, we are doing, we are doing it for the Lord, and so we should always do our best."

Resurrection Day

Over a month ago, Nate asked the local believers if they knew what Easter was. Most of them didn't. So Nate launched into a month and a half long teaching series about the Passover, the Lord's Supper, and the death and resurrection of Christ. It has been wonderful teaching. It has been great to see the believers learn and grow. It summited with their first Easter celebration together, inviting believers from nearby villages and celebrating the Lord's supper and eating chicken and boiled maize flour together.

It was a really great day, remembering our Lord's death and resurrection so that people from all nations could become children of God. 

Another swing set

Nate has a huge "to do" list for our new home. Literally pages worth :). Right now he is fulfilling one job - 'treat the house for termites'. It's a big job which involves digging a trench around the entire house and filling it with termite poison. Hopefully it works!

Yesterday he checked another job off the list - 'build girls a swing set'. It's the second one he's made in Mozambique.

It was a hit! What a man.

Apples, Oranges and Mandioka

It has been interesting learning food names with my language tutor. Many fruits and vegetables that stock grocery stores in the western world are unknown or new to the people of our village. Grapes, strawberries, apples, oranges, cabbage and broccoli are some examples of foods without names in the heart language of this people.

A big part of their diet here is cassava, which has no nutritional value, or boiled maize flour. Sauces to have with it are made from leaves with salt, water, and perhaps onion, tomato and garlic. Some of the treats people may add to the sauces, depending on their means, are small dried fish like pilchards, or large ants that come out with the rain.

Back to language lessons

We had a lovely time in Australia over Christmas, visiting Jenni's family. Now we are back to business in the Africa. We have spent the better part of August 2012 - November 2013 learning the national language in a city on the coast. In November 2013 we moved inland to a little village where many women don't speak much portuguese and to get deep with most people, we need to learn their heart language.

So we are back to language lessons, this time with our people's heart language. Nate has a language tutor for three hours in the morning while I do preschool with the girls, and then I do two hours of the heart language in the afternoons, four days a week. So far so good!

Rainy Season

Here is a picture of what Sunday meetings are commonly like for us in Africa. We have lovely meetings with the few believers here. Nate is passionate to teach the Word and is thankful for every opportunity. This particular day it poured and poured on the tin roof during a meeting. It showed no sign of clearing up at the end so…..

Nate, my hero, ran through the sheets of rain and over footpaths of mud with a piece of material over his head to fetch the car and keep us all dry. Nate seems to be frequently running in the rain this rainy season :)