It’s about time!

A Layne Post

Me here in Menongue

It is hard for me to believe we have only been here two weeks. I feel like I have much to tell you!

We have had to adjust to “life” here, but I feel like we have gotten a good routine down, which makes things easier. Funny how things become “normal” in such a short amount of time.

Our House

We are living in a small 3 ½ room mud house with a tin roof. Upon arrival we had to clean out the rat poo, cobwebs, and dust. Honestly, I have not felt motivated enough to clean like I will if we come back, but it is much better and I would definitely say “livable”. We have had to chase a few mice and frogs out, and we regularly kill spiders, crickets, caterpillars, and the like. Just last night I had a run in with a snake that had decided to make its way into our doorway; that was probably the most shocking.

We do not have a flushing toilet, and the one we do have is outside, which is not too bad, except when I have to use it in the middle of the night, which happens to be every night. Thankfully, the property we are on does have a lot of water, so showers are sinks are available, but in the large communal missionary house, not ours. We also don’t have an oven, only a few gas burners, so the variety of meals available is small. We run a generator for power for two or three hours at night, but other than that, we don’t have electricity. (I’ll take a moment to praise the Lord for the generator though. Lights a wonderful when it gets so dark, and I even have to ability to blow dry my hair! Amazing!)

It is rainy season, which we expected, but it has also been unusually cool here; sometimes I would even say cold. I have worn my fleeces multiple times and Jon his jacket. We aren’t complaining though, as any relief from the heat and humidity in Mozambique is welcome.

I have been washing the clothes by hand, which I had some fear of, but I am getting used to it. Jon has been working so hard outside that I end up having to scrub his pants inch by inch with a brush. The hardest part is wringing out after washing and then after rinsing; I think my arms are going to be buff! Sometimes I get Jon to help me on the final wringing out. I have figured out that I need to wash every two days; otherwise it is way too much for this back of mine.

Jon welding

Jon has learned to weld and is making us a little bit of furniture for our house. (a shelf, a bed, and a table) What a blessing! It has undoubtedly added to the “homey” feeling. He also has started making a chicken run, cutting and welding poles and planting them in the ground with cement. He works very hard.

We had the opportunity to share at a youth group a couple of weeks ago, and we plan to share our testimonies with them this upcoming week. We’ll split the girls and guys up, which will be fun; I love girls! It is a neat group of older youth (15-18) that we feel we would easily get more involved with. Jon also preached at a church a couple of Sundays ago. He did a great job speaking of the family of Christ, as the believers here, as in all countries we have been to, have welcomed us with open arms.

All of our speaking has been in Portuguese! I am a little amazed. I think our language is improving, and public speaking is forcing us to be comfortable much quicker. There is another tribal language commonly spoken here in Menongue, and we are trying to pick up what we can. So far we have the greetings and ‘thank you’ down.

We also have begun to pursue some ministry in the hospital. We hope to have a meeting in the next week or two in order to get permission to start visiting… we miss our friends in the Maputo hospital and pray for them regularly.

Yesterday we visited the home of an elderly woman that has been sick for five years, having pain in her bones and now a skin problem. She didn’t speak Portuguese, so communication was through her daughters; however, I am quite sure our love, through the love of Christ, was adequately shown. Jon and I encouraged one of the daughters as best we could; it can be difficult to see your mother like that for such along time. We sang and prayed together. At one point the elderly lady invited me to sit on the bed with her. My heart was full. I love being close and physically loving on people, but I also like to be respectful. With the invitation, I hopped up there and placed my hand on her thigh to show my affection. I felt so honored.

As for the future, we continue to wait for a clear answer from the Lord. In many ways we hope this will be it, but we agree that we must have a firm “Yes” or “No” from the Lord. Just last week we were reminded about and felt the need to start fasting. We started on Saturday, and I think we will fast once a week as we seek the plans of the Lord for our lives. We appreciate your prayers as well.

We have felt a bit disconnected without internet, as I am sure you have too; however, I think we should have consistency from now on. Slow, but consistent. Hallelujah! We love you and miss you guys.

Us just after crossing the border