Some of us recently did a fun little “herb garden” project. Herbs and resources are hard to find here, but with a little persistence, problem solving and creativity we were able to find a solution.

Mr. Parsley joined our family as a stow-away from South Africa.

And Mr. Mint was found growing in our garden thanks to some previous ex-patriots who apparently lived here a while before us. Our guards are still baffled at what this foreign plant actually is, but we shall see if they like it in tea. 😉

The problem of protection from the scorching African sun arose which made for a logical idea of baskets.

Since we only found one basket idea that was horridly expensive, extremely small and didn’t hang, it was time to get creative. We gathered our supplies and got to work. Two plastic baskets and one rice bag later, we had spent $4.50 on the hanging basket part. Mr. Parsley cost us $3 and Mr. Mint was free. A total of $7.50 was still significantly cheaper than the original small basket we encountered.

We cut and sewed the rice bag. Why a rice bag? We used it to contain the soil in the basket (that has air holes) and allow for a sifter for excess water to pass out of the soil so as not to rot the plant roots.

Mobility was an important factor in this project as the African sun can easily scorch plants (as has been the case for most of Mr. Mint’s family). So we used ribbons to hang our baskets and allow for moving of them out of direct sunlight as we monitor their progress. This also allows them to come inside too, which is a fun addition to the kitchen window (that doesn’t receive much sun but could be a nice refuge for some heat-exhausted plants).

It was a fun little project and we’re enjoying the fruits of our labor amidst our daily reality of cooking from scratch. 🙂

Fresh is lovely so we say, “let it grow.” 😉

We celebrated the end of our 11th year of marriage this weekend.

Thanks to our saintly friends, the girls enjoyed a spoiling sleepover while Matt and I checked in to a local $15 dive of a hotel down this abandoned road:

[wpvideo qhZVGv1S ]

Ok, ok it wasn’t a dive (though it has a dive center) but it was indeed $15 for the night for a 3 bedroom house with this view:

I know, I know… we suffered. 😉

And with that amazing view came the excitement of whale watching as groups and groups of whales traveled by, putting on quite the show of jumping and splashing for hours on end.

When the moonlight fell, Matt and I enjoyed watching what looked like a white fireworks display of whale splashing across that shimmering ocean horizon. Those party mammals splashed by all afternoon and evening long!

Saturday we tried our hand at a snorkeling expedition, but learned that we both prefer two feet solidly placed on the land over the nauseating ocean turf via boat ride. Ha! We’re so old. 😂 But it’s good to know these things… even if it involves donating breakfast to the passing wake. Lol. (Just keeping it real.)

Despite that very real moment, we had a absolute blast. Walking the beach. Hand in hand. Kid free.

It was a quiet weekend.

Calm.

And just us.

Now that year 11 is in the books, can’t wait to see what year 12 has for us, my love.

(Translated: Baptist Church)

So here in our happy little job city, the kids have gotten the chance to participate in a budding children’s program at the local church. We meet under a tree’s shade outside of the church building on a straw mat (like the one at the bottoms of the pictures below). The little ones sit on the edge of the mat and draw in the sand a little when they get squirmy during the lesson. So far our kids make up about half of the class. It’s simple, Biblical and a lot of fun for the kids to get specialized lessons. Our church leader’s wife leads the lessons and I get to be support staff, sometimes helping in lesson planning and helping her with curriculum access.

Each Sunday the Sunday School classes have someone stand up during Sunday morning service and explain what they learned that morning in Sunday School. This past Sunday, the children’s class put on a small presentation, acting out their story lesson and singing about it.

Rachael, being the strongest Portuguese reader in the group (Go, Rachael!), read the Bible text. Then Abi got to be the paralytic coming to Jesus to be healed.

Rachael (because 3 of the kids came late this Sunday) also got to be a mute first receiving the ability to speak from Jesus.

Then they all sang this song:

[wpvideo ebVF2Kxk ]

Translation: Jesus cures the paralytic, cures our soul, cures our feet, our hands and our bodies.

It was a great Sunday in the children’s program celebrating that only Jesus can heal us and has proven it through miracles in the past.

About once every 4-6 weeks we have a big bulk-cooking Saturday. Emilia graciously comes and bring Marlene to play with the girls while we three adults cook away the morning. Between the three of us we’re able to help with kid needs throughout the morning and also knock out a month’s worth of meals for the deep freeze.

Matt is our wiz at finding Africa-friendly recipes online.

Emilia is my potato cutting buddy and we often enjoy chatting while slicing away. See how terribly sad she is that I’m not sitting right beside her in this exact moment? 😉

Sometimes a snuggly toddler hitch-hikes for a while.

The kids often enjoy a morning of water play, play dough, movies or whatever else they can get themselves into. 😉

Sometimes we go out to lunch afterward with Emilia and Marlene and sometimes we enjoy one of our meals fresh out of the pot with our sweet friends. =)

When naptime hits we are all beat, but we’re happy to cut down on HUGE amounts of meal prep time throughout the weeks since everything is cooked from scratch here.

 

We have been learning and growing here in Mozambique.

God is continuing to answer our joined prayers in opening our minds to Portuguese and Mozambican culture here.

Through His gracious hand, we are thriving well here.

Matt has begun a Wednesday afternoon Bible study with local area pastors. It’s a great time to be an encouragement and be encouraged through those God has called to lead here amongst the local bodies of believers. Matt is also leading a Thursday morning Bible study in a village, allowing for our use of storying to encourage a budding body of Christ about an hour away. There is an understanding and grace extended from many here, as most in Mozambique have had to learn Portuguese as a second or third language as well. Matt has also joining a preaching rotation at the local body of believers we have joined here in Q.

I, and the younger girls also have the opportunity to attend and participate in the Thursday study with Matt. It has been a wonderful opportunity to be out in the community, build continued endurance of the little ones in self-entertainment and appropriate boundaries, and, of course, use our Portuguese to share the Good News. I have also begun teaching the adolescent’s Sunday school class at the church we attend. I am thankful for the opportunity to struggle through Portuguese for the sake of the Gospel. This opportunity has also allowed me to use some of the storying techniques that we learned in our FPO training to help the 10-14yr olds hang onto the big, underlining  story in the Bible. I am also enjoying coming alongside of a friend in her education process. We have begun studying daily for a half hour to an hour each morning in her various school subjects. It has proven to be fruitful for us both in learning Portuguese as a second language. =)

Rachael and Abi are excelling in school and have passed from the transition stage to the “school is old hat” norms.

Rachael took her beginning of the year testing and scored a 13/20 possible points in Portuguese (it’s taught like “English” is taught in our school systems as a school subject, but the entire day is taught in Portuguese as well.), 15/20 points in Social/Natural Sciences and 16/20 in Mathematics. Let me remind you that this child did not know how to read or write in Portuguese 3 week prior to these tests. Let me also paint the picture of her uphill climb: She had to learn first how to understand what was being asked of her, secondly she had to learn how to spell it, and thirdly she need to learn how to write it in the modified cursive from Portugal. So Math looked like knowing the answer to a geometric shape in English, but having to guess at the Portuguese word for that shape, then guessing at how spell it and working through how to write it. Yep, this kid had a STEEP uphill climb, but she is ROCKING IT and we couldn’t be more proud! Rachael has taken a healthy pride in overcoming Portuguese and is very determined to do her best on her school work. Rachael has also made a sweet little friend at school with whom she has enjoyed playing tag and sharing snack time together. Rachael has even used her learned cultural games that she plays with her friend at school to play with village children outside of a local church we visited a few weeks back.

Abi is doing well in her class, learning the basic building blocks of cursive writing (since it’s taught first in the school systems here). Abi has thus far scored a 19.5/20 in Mathematics and a 19.25/20 in Portuguese. I know, she needs to raise the bar, right?! 😉 She enjoys catching lizards and frogs at school during her break and enjoys school. She’s a pretty straight-forward kid who tells you what’s on her mind and is quick to adjust. =) She is randomly vocal about not wanting to do the workload, reminiscing on the easier days of less-demanding workloads, but she’s happy and well-adjusted. Abi has met a friend at school who is quite the spirited little thing so they have a typical flighty kid friendship, playing some days and wandering around in their own worlds other days during recess. Abi is still enjoying drawing and often uses that as a bridge with other kids when we go to a village church. Abi is my happy little introvert that is more than content to live in her joyful world, getting her social fixes at times and happily playing solo, inventing some elaborate game or rescuing “lost” frogs. 😉

Hannah is frolicking in the autumn mist of childhood. She LOVES the sheer freedom of running amuck in the house and shadowing Emilia. Hannah will be quick to tell you she doesn’t know what someone is saying in Portuguese and then respond perfectly to their question. She doesn’t know how much she has absorbed. Hannah is a social butterfly who desperately wants to know what everyone is saying and will often ask us to translate. Hannah has really taken to our morning language teacher, Suzana, and confides in her like they are old friends. Suzana eats it up (having 5 girls of her own) and they have a special little sit-together time-sharing Portuguese stories (thank you, Ellen for those that you have given to our family, they have gone a LONG way in bridging the two cultures through Emilia and Suzana reading the girls the books), picture books and often involving Hannah asking Suzana to braid her hair. Hannah absolutely adores it here and is often lost in utter and hysterical laughter.

(Oh the “eye business”. Hehe.)

Eden is flowering here too. Eden has learned the respectful Mozambican greeting and it’s absolutely adorable when her little two-year old voice offers it up with such ease. Eden is still her Mommy’s girl, but she has grown into a spirited little toddler, singing ALL THE TIME and offering snuggle-love to those that are normal in her life. Eden is quieter in public, but quick to come out of her shell around her sisters. Eden LOVES the worship songs at church and she comes up with her own 2-year-old rendition of the local dialect songs, singing them much to the delight of Emilia throughout the week. Eden and Emilia have a special bond, and Eden loves to ride Emilia’s hip and “help” Emilia in washing the dishes and laundry care. Emilia welcomes her little helper with open arms. Many in the community are attracted to Eden because she’s “the baby” and as long as Eden is close to me, she is tolerant of such attention. Eden knows a few Portuguese responses, but has a great understanding of the Portuguese language as is seen through her immediate action when asked to do something in Portuguese or her English response to the Portuguese question (hehe). Eden is flourishing in her English, grasping more and more vocabulary each day and experimenting with some bigger vocab words. She has started adding  “just” to her sentences, “I’m just playing with this,” and “I’m just looking at something.” Hehe. She likes to put the emphasis on the “just” in a cute little high-pitched way.

Titan has grown like a fat, rambunctious and teething weed. He adds daily spunk to our worlds and sometimes that spunk has to be reined in a bit. Ha! We’re definitely still in the puppy training phase, but he has proven himself to be much more than a GREAT guard dog who has put some fear into a few local night-time robbers (one trying to steal our car tire and one jiggling our gate). Don’t anyone panic, crime here is petty crime of opportunity and Titan and our night guards are determined to disuade all opportunity. 😉 Titan may only be a beastly mid-sized dog, but his bark sounds ike a polar bear and by all means people, “don’t mess with Texas!”. 😉

[For my friends and family who are still panicking inside at my last statement about robbers, we have steel bars caged on all our widows, doors and reenforcement steel pipes behind out doors. The IMB doesn’t play around with safety. We have 4 barrier layers that anyone would have to get through before they could even enter the house. In both cases, our car was on the street and the robber passed by on the sidewalk outside of our gate. Beyond the physical safety, we have put all our hopes in the One True safety our Lord, God Almighty Who protects FAR GREATER than anything we can ever construct. We are WELL cared for indeed!]

Bun-buns, as she has been affectionately called by Eden, (also know as Penney), got a happy cage upgrade and is a wonderful addition to our home. She is so gentle, licks fingers, tolerates toddler hugs and stands on her back legs to be held by us. Bun-buns is everyone’s love and despite those prickly claws (which we’ll be happy to cut when we can get some cutters in town), she is rarely ever in her cage since there is SO MUCH love to go around between four awesome little girls. Bun-buns is often a playmate at tea parties, a princess castle pet, and a friend to read books to. Oh how these little girls adore their beloved bunny.

So as you can see, God is at work among us and is answering your faithful prayer in teaching us and growing us here in Mozambique.

We are indeed thriving here, through His Gracious hand.

Thank you again, for your continued prayers.