{"id":2544,"date":"2015-05-27T04:54:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T11:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2015-05-27T05:50:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T12:50:23","slug":"our-trip-to-beira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/our-trip-to-beira\/","title":{"rendered":"Trip to Beira Part 1 – Family as Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Layne Post<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Because the story of our Beira trip is long and we feel it is important to tell it in completion, we’ve decided to do a 3-part blog. Stayed tuned every couple days for the next two segments! <\/em><\/p>\n

Since our first trip to Beira (the capitol of Sofala\u00a0province about 16 hours north of us when traveled by road, and where most of our patients are from) in December-January of 2012-13, we have longed to go back. It was our desire to make it an annual Heller family trip, as it was a highlight of our ministry and time in Mozambique, following up with patients we had grown to love. 2014, however, did not happen due to the instability of the country during elections and fighting along the only road up north.<\/p>\n

But we did not forget.<\/p>\n

We settled in our hearts that a trip would be priority for 2015. With a new baby to consider,\u00a0planning was going to be tricky, but we felt confident it could happen. I wanted Selah to be at least 6 weeks old, so that I would feel comfortable with people holding her and getting to know her, and I wanted her to be young enough to still sleep often\u00a0during the long car ride. So it was settled \u2013 mid-May.<\/p>\n

We also knew with 4 kiddos 4 and under the 16 hour drive would need to be broken up. We decided to go more or less half way and spend two nights on the beach, letting the girls frolic and stretch for one whole day, and then continue the rest of the way to Beira. We would do the same on the way home.<\/p>\n

In a country where planning ahead is somewhat foreign, we began calling our patients and friends about a week in advance letting them know we were coming and that we would like to see them. We were pretty bummed that In\u00eas<\/a>\u00a0had lost her phone a long time ago and we had no contact with her. Sara<\/a>\u2019s phone also hadn\u2019t worked in months. Even\u00a0Campande<\/a>\u00a0was not answering his phone. This meant there were 3 former Casa Ahav\u00e1 patients we didn\u2019t know if we would be able to visit. Still, we had people we wanted to see. Regina\u2019s health had taken a turn for the worse and she had been admitted to the hospital, but had a desire to meet Selah. That, in our hearts, was enough to make the trip. Also, Jon needed to do some leg work in person for Benjamin\u2019s house<\/a>, which had frustratingly come to a standstill.<\/p>\n

So we made check lists, piles of supplies and loaded up the van as a family of 6.<\/p>\n

Off to Beira.<\/p>\n

The drive to a little beach town called Vilanculos, our half-way point, went fabulous. Anaya threw up once, but showed no other signs of ill effect, so we figured it was car sickness. Overall the girls all did better than I could have imagined. The next day they so<\/strong> enjoyed the beach. Anaya kept telling me, \u201cMama! Jovie and I are having so much fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

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