Back in Pemba! Hallelujah!

I feel like I could start all my blog entries with the title “Jesus is Good!” Because He just is.

My first few days in Pemba have been spectacular. Wonderful beyond words. So much goodness has taken place I don’t even know if I can type it all :) I like it this way.

Everything is very much the same, and very different at the same time. It was very strange to be back the first day. I didn’t realize how much my heart recognized all the sights & smells of Mozambique. It was crazy, so much came flooding back.

So i got here on a Saturday afternoon and had a good time meeting some staff & just being reminded how things run here. I have a bit of relearning to do, but is good. I had forgotten how different life was here. It is beautiful and simple, but a very very big shift from the way I am used to living. But thank you Jesus for the joy in it all!

Sunday was amazing. A perfect gift from above. I went to church here on base and in worship I see Mama Afia (the mother of Carlitus, etc) & I just run over to her shedding tears of joy. It was so so wonderful. She told me she was going to walk all the way home (a good 15 minute walk) to her village to tell the boys I was here so they could come see me. A while later she returns, followed not long after by Carlitus. Oh my goodness. He is so grown up. He has gotten so big. I just held him & cried I was so happy to see him. Jesus is so good. Thank you God for beautiful reunions. Later that day Focas & Hasam came to the base to see me & that was wonderful too. A day full of lots of hugs & smiles & laughs & joy. So good to be with them.

Also in church there was a woman who I had just met (honestly I cant even remember her name) & as the church was taking up the offering (during which i had no idea what was going on because the service is only in Makua & Portuguese right now) this beautiful Mozambican woman with a baby strapped around her back comes over & puts a coin in my hand so I can give to the offering. Wow. God your people are beautiful. It was very humbling & very beautiful. Such a gift. Thank you Jesus for how you move and work. The whole service was very moving, just having children all around me at all times, loving on me & worshipping with me. I love this place so much. So much beauty.

Today we spent the morning getting the houses set up for students to come. :) Can’t wait for them to start rolling in a couple weeks. I get the honor & joy of being the House Mom for House of Peace C and I just know its going to be wonderful. I am really excited for all He has in store.

I spent the afternoon at the boys house, ironically without them there. I just hung out with Mama & her daughter, Laucinda (19) and their older brother Papaitus (18) who speaks pretty good English. Most of the time it was just me & people who don’t speak English though so it was a pretty funny time of just sitting in the dirt together. I love this place. In America the whole situation would’ve been so awkward but here it was perfect. Laucinda did my nails after I complimented her black nail polish. It reminded me very much of the time I allowed her to put Mesha in my hair, which made me nervous. Their nail polish is some strange gray substance (reminds me of cement) that she put on with a toothpick, let dry/harden and then wiped off, leaving my nails black. I’m curious to see how long this lasts and what exactly it does to my nails... aye TIA (this is Africa) Sidenote: when she finished my nails Mama took the leftover goop & put it in Papaitus hair as hairdye i guess? So strange. So very strange. But it was a wonderful afternoon.

Tonight we had a cookout with the staff, first time eating a steak in Mozambique, pretty good. Now it is getting late (almost 9:15pm) and I am ready for bed. I hope & pray your all are well. Thanks for reading the long updates. I feel like I could write a million more pages about the goodness of God & all that is happening here but I will save some for later. God is good. I am thankful for each minute here. Thank you for your prayers and love, I can’t express how much they mean to me.

a verse i discovered this morning-
1 Corinthians 8:1- “while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.”
whew. amen Jesus. I pray we are all filled with more of His love each day. I pray we continue to learn how to love where we are and who we are with each day. Thank you for the love you share with me. Blessings and love to each of you!

ps- thank you for all the prayers because all of my luggage made it with me on the plane. First miracle of the trip- check!