The continuing Story of our trip to Mozambique last year...
Tuesday, 10-7-08
We woke about 6:30 this morning; Claire Cunningham had already left the guest house. Breakfast was ready at 7:30…another great meal. We discovered that there was going to be a conference held at the guest house today. All the pastors in the area, plus the district superintendents from more distant regions had brought their annual budgets for review and submission. This made it a good day for us to clear out of the guest house early.Armindo picked us up early since Zef and the Bishop were going to be tied up in this conference all day. We made our first stop in town to acquire a sim card and some minutes for our unlocked phone. This allowed us to talk within the country at a reasonable rate versus the $2.59 a minute that AT&T charged.
After that we headed out to Chamanculo which is an area in the outskirts of Maputo. There we visited with Rev. Alfiado Zunguze and His wife Joanetta. The Reverend is pastor of the Methodist church in Chamanculo which has about 900 members. He has been the pastor there since 2003 and is currently offering a training course for pastors as well as a bible study at the church. The course for pastors is described as being a mini theology course with 18 students currently enrolled.
We presented a Proclaimer in the Xitshwa language to Rev. Alfiado. To our surprise we learned that he was one of the readers in the Xitshwa recording. He had read the narrator’s text in the recording of the book of Matthew. The original recording was done in a radio studio in Maputo. About 50% of the members at Chamanculo have Bibles and there is a good literacy rate in the congregation. Rev. Alfiado plans to use the Proclaimer in Sunday school and worship services.
Next we went to visit Machava which is also located in the Maputo province, and is one of the five proposed well drilling sites. The proposed well site is located about 3.5 miles off the main highway outside of Maputo. There are currently about 200 households being served by a hand dug well – 21 meters (69 feet) deep. The water from this well did not look like any water I would ever drink. It had a very cloudy and dirty appearance and is drawn up with a rope and a plastic bucket. We met Felix Chilovani, a local resident who lives near the current well and proposed drilling site. He is the one that approved and authorized the proposed site for drilling a new well. He told us that cases of cholera had been reported there during the rainy season. The Methodist church has already purchased the land for this new drilled well which will provide clean water to about 200 families. Additionally, a church will be built on the site to reach out to the many who will use this new well.
When we returned to the guest house that evening, we met a few of the budget conference attendees that were spending the night at the guest house. Over dinner we had a chance to talk to Zeferino Elias Massicame, Director of the Cambine Mission, Rev. Eduardo Filipe Ângelo, district superintendent of the Gaza district and Rev. Olga Lucas João Sincaugo, pastor at Sitila in the North Morrumbene district. Each one of these people expressed sincere thanks for our presence in their country and told us about the need for wells in the areas in which they minister. This further reveals the great need for these life-giving wells throughout the region, and confirms the call God has set within our hearts.
End of Day Tuesday, 10-7-08.Currently, we are in the initial phase of planning our trip during the Fall of this year. We are researching possible grants for drilling wells and are making plans to visit several other churches in the North Metro Atlanta area to try to gain support for future wells in Mozambique. There are over 50 sites that have immediate need for clean water in Mozambique. We are also in the process of establishing a new cause on our Face book page that will allow for contributions to be made for new wells in Mozambique. We are hoping that through this means we will be able to garner support from a wide range of people from around the world.
Your continued prayer support is needed and appreciated.
Mike & Melody Vanderhoff
Labels: mission trip, mozambique, wells
