Life here in Africa requires a new level of vulnerability than I am used to. Have you ever been through phases of life like that? Times to grow and change? Times to self-reflect and question your own motivations behind your actions? Oh good, I’m glad we can just share a cup of tea and chat about it as old friends then.

Oh you know how it is here, how everything has changed. It goes so much further than those mystery hotdogs in the store. It’s not even the fact that Africa has found a way to make apple juice super different. Maybe it’s the sugar level. Maybe it’s the fruit. Maybe it’s the heat and the paper carton. Maybe it’s just everything. 😉

But it’s in the transparency. Everyone knows how many bug bites you have. Everyone knows how dirty your feet are by the footprints left on the kitchen floor. And then there’s all your personable out on the back laundry line hanging out there in public for hours… and hours. Oh sure it’s just a part of this culture. It’s totally normal. A totally different normal for this modest lady.

Windows wide open. The general public may not understand our language, but the use of a parental tone, however infrequently, is cross-cultural. The baby’s crying transitions are highly familiar to our guards. Speaking of our sweet guards, want some vulnerable transparency? How about someone hearing your every conversation throughout the day while outside your home. Oh no, people, our guards are wonderful. Sweet men from the community. But still their mere presence bucks the American culture of privacy.

Their presence begging to question if privacy is indeed as critical as it was once termed. Oh friends, we have nothing to hide. We are who we are, you know? Mistakes and all. The good, the bad and the ugly.

No we’re not postcard to send home. No poster children here. Just real. And honestly transparent.

Vulnerability is not a negative trait.

Like how would you define vulnerability? Generally it’s pretty undesirable, huh? But Africa pushes me to redefine it and live in the new definition. Oh sure, I still cringe a bit at my underwear hanging out on the line. Super awkward still. Practical? Yes. Awkwardly immodest? For me, yes.

But there’s something about it all. A rawness to live in. No room for dreaming, creating an escape or living in an alternate reality. Oh no, right here is the beauty. Right here in the middle of the push. In the middle of the pinch and the stretching.

No, friend, it’s not comfortable. And then sometimes it’s just normal and there’s comfort in that. Normalcy to laugh at your own mistake in language, even when you’re a bit embarrassed. Nope, you really don’t remember the name of that type of cup today. It’s just gone. Like it never existed. And no matter how simple of a concept that may be, you’re still fighting to compose even a toddler sentence.

But I’m just thankful. It really is a privilege to be stretched. Nope, it doesn’t always feel like a privilege. And sometimes you just have to choke back tears and say “one moment at a time”. That’s how endurance is built. That’s how you build a new life. A new life with the same old people. The same old joy and thanksgiving and sorrow. In a new setting.

Vulnerability.

The song came to my ears from the kitchen windows as I hung the clothes on the line that morning. I wanted to get all the sunlight I could get. I had two loads to rotate out that day. Music has ministered so to our hearts here. From Eden dancing to a silly veggietale song to Disney song dance-breaks and worship songs. Soundtracks of familiarity have brought such joy. Such joy flooded my ears as I chewed on these thoughts that morning. And then the song lyrics hit, making brunch of these scrambled-egg thoughts.

“This cup, this cup I want to drink it up. To be right here in the middle of it. Right here, right here. This challenging reality is better than fear or fantasy.”

No, Lord, don’t let me pass this cup. Oh sure it has its bitter spots and its hurts. This cup has its fears and its challenges. But you have set this cup before me and I desire so to drink it up for Your glory. You know the best for me. You know to Whom you have called me and then to who you are sending me. Lord, may this cup of challenge overflow with delight and love onto others. Lord, but may I never forget amidst the transparent vulnerability that this cup is so worth drinking. This growth is for Your glory. Thank You for the reminder, sweet Father.

In Jesus’ Name.

– Yours.

We have enjoyed Left-Over Night (thanks for the idea, Brad and Julie!), rotating after 30 seconds at a time through the plates with the roll of the dice. We ate until we were full or the plate was gone. If you like the dish, then eat fast! Otherwise, fake eat. 😉

We found Leechees (no idea how to spell it) at the store. Leechees are little fruits with a hard outer shell (don’t eat that!), squishy sweet inside and an olive-like pit (don’t eat that either!).

Matt and the girls like them, but I can’t get over the similarity to eating an eyeball – especially since Matt calls them “eyeball fruit”.

(Of course I didn’t ask her to pose for this picture. lol)

Oh and speaking of that cute kid, guess who lost a second tooth this past week?

(She carried that tooth around in that bag all day long. 🙂 )

We found a park nearby and had some fun bonding with our house helper, Emilia, by playing together.

We’ve also enjoyed some outdoor water play with the warm 100 degree weather lately.

How’s that for some cool fall temperatures? 😉

Hope you’re having some great days too! =)

Our first Sunday here, we got the privilege of going to a nearby city church. Church here is long, but happily filled with many worship songs. Despite the patience test under hot and less comfortable conditions, I am thankful that Mozambicans have great joy in celebration of Christ’s gift of salvation. It’s loud and full of drums and clapping and even some dancing.

The following pictures were taken during Sunday school, which was divided up into age groups. Sunday school walks through a curriculum written by a missionary here, John. The curriculum explains our Christian faith and the Southern Baptist practice of Scripture.

Rachael and Abi’s Portuguese nurturer is Elsa, who is also the children’s Sunday School teacher at the city church.

Elsa is preparing to study English at the university, and therefore, was able to give the girls a few English cues to the Sunday School games they played. That Sunday they played a game of Cherades, guessing the animal a particular child acted out.

The girls really enjoyed participating and when Eden was tired of sitting quietly in the adult class, she also enjoyed watching the children’s games. As Eden becomes more comfortable, she will be able to stay beside her sisters in the children’s Sunday School.

I am thankful for Wanne’s help in easing Eden through this sometimes confusing transition.

In the city church, the children are free to sit or play with the other children outside when their attention spans give out. The littles and I made it until the sermon began (some hour+ into the service) before we enjoyed the sand outside. 😉

We went to the village church building for a reading group last week, but the littles and I stayed home our second Sunday morning due to some sickness (it was all me, so no one panic. nothing serious ;)). The following are a few pictures I took of the village church while waiting for reading group to begin.

The village church is a dark mud/stick building constructed about a 30 minute drive from our home. The length of the drive is mostly due to rough roads requiring slow speeds verses physical distance. It was a bit surprising to me how much I felt like we were “in the middle of nowhere” when we were only just “across town” from our home. How quickly the scenery changed to the typical African village scene with it’s mud/stick homes, roaming chickens, and barefoot children running about.

Wanne and I brought Rachael with us to the reading group and we enjoyed sitting on our straw matt outside of the church building to go through a reading book with some 3rd-5th graders. Despite the sand blowing into our eyes, Rachael and I enjoyed our time there. In the pictures this church may look large, but in reality this church is VERY small, pretty dark, and contains 6-8 skinny log-benches in two rows with a middle aisle. There is one door in the front right of the designated altar area and one door in the back of the building. A barebones tin-roof tops the little church building and sunlight comes in through stick window slats.

These are the two churches we will be getting familiar with and attending for the next while as we continue our Portuguese and culture learning. =)

Ok, ok, so it’s spelled Lagartijia, but it sounds like the above. Yep, that’s right, Mozambican Portuguese adopts some Spanish words.

But Rachael found and caught one! In our house! And the girls all LOVED it!

Ciao, lagartijia!

Since then we’ve been on the hunt for lagartijia! When we take our semi-daily walks in the morning (still getting into a routine here), in the backyard… always on the hunt… the prowl…. to catch our next one.

Lagartijia everywhere beware. 😉

Today marks our first day of language acquisition. We are using a Growing Participator Approach (GPA) where a nurturer comes to our home for three hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. The afternoon sessions will be used to get us out in the community while using our nurturer as our guide.

The first 30-40hours of our language acquisition is not like other foreign language programs. In the first 30-40 hours we are exposed to over 300 words and are required to respond to them nonverbally. In fact, we may not speak at all during these first lessons. Not. a. word.

We are being trained to listen. Our brain is being trained to differentiate sounds and interpret them. We are not to imitate sounds yet, just to listen and respond to the information through body language. We won’t retain all the words. But through the process of mass exposure and training our ears to listen, we will become familiar with the a large amount of vocabulary and be able to master hundreds of words as this process continues. We are encouraged to think of it as an iceburg; large base of vocabulary, small surface of mastered words. The more we add to the base, the more pops out of the water into the mastery world.

After a few days of being here, Wanne (pronounced Vonnie) and I decided it would be best for Rachael and Abi to also have a Portuguese nurturer to better prepare them for school. Rachael does not know this yet (nor are we going to tell her this far in advance to keep her nerves at bay), but she will have an entrance exam before being enrolled in third grade at school. She will be tested on math and Portuguese. While the school knows that she will fail her Portuguese test and this will not affect her placement, they would like to know where she specifically is starting in her education. There is no concern for her Math scores. She has already tested into the middle of third grade in the States and the school has already guaranteed her a spot. Abi will not be tested before entrance.

Beyond the testing, we thought it most helpful to have Rachael and Abi learn some Portuguese before entering a strictly Portuguese environment. So Rachael and Abi will be following the GPA approach as well with a nurturer, Elsa, whom they have already come to love. Elsa has completed secondary school (high school) and is currently scheduled to test into university to study English, with hopes of a future career in translation or teaching. Elsa knows some English and has already been helpful in, as the Sunday School teacher of the children’s class, helping Rachael and Abi with a few English words in order for them to more fully participate in Sunday School. Elsa is gentle, sweet and a bubbly smiler. The girls are VERY excited at the chance to work with Elsa.

We covet your prayers during this process of language acquisition. Specifically, please pray for all of our frustration levels with being mute for the first 2+ weeks of language. Please pray that we would fight valiantly through our hiccups and that God would bless us with understanding and discernment in grasping vocabulary and letting go of others. Please also pray for the two littles, Hannah and Eden, as they continue to make adjustments to our GPA schedule.

Thank you for your love and care for us.

We can’t wait to hear what’s happening in your world too! =)

When adjusting to cultural stress, we’re thankful for familiar family voices that read us fun picture books and chapter books. Some recordings were given us before we left and some were emailed to us recently. Some books are from their childhood and some are best sellers from today, but each one is treasured because of the voices we miss so much. Those voices bless us even more than the stories. 

Thank you, Aunt Kat and Uncle Stephen! Today we listened to the Pinkalicious stories and some of the Pete the Cat ones. 

They blessed us so.