As written yesterday, Father's Day, by Jeff Mickey on the trip:
We met with a young man yesterday morning named HowlKanu (How Canoe). He is in charge of child development and the sponsorship program for Food for the Hungry (FH). He had an amazing story. He became a Christian when he was in 4th grade. His dad was a powerful communist. They lived in Ethiopa at the time and his dad did not like it that Howlkanu became a Christian. He tried to kill him 6 times before Howlkanu escaped to the streets where he lived alone for 10 years, graduating from high school and eventually university with a degree in development. His dad killed more than 70 people, or had them killed, before the government was overthrown. At that point the new government in power executed Howlkanu's father immediately. He shared with us the pain of growing up without family love. I am very thankful today for the father and family love I received growing up.
After meetings we went to a beach. It was a private resort called Savanne.
We took a dirt road passing unbelievable poverty, rice fields, swamps, and forests. We saw a group of baboons out in the middle of an open pasture. All along the way the narrow, rough dirt road, which is unpassable in the rainy season was lined with women carrying loads on their heads and men riding and pushing bikes with loads of sticks, grass, rice and other things that would make it impossible for us to ride and impossible for them to see if they were behind the bike pushing. There is not enough room on the road for the car and bikes at the same time. At one point our side mirror hit a bundle of sticks that were on the back of a man¹s bike. I don't know how the man didn't get knocked off the bike.
At the end of this road was an unbelievable paradise. We took a boat across a river canal lined with Mangrove trees to an island. This place was so out of the way I don¹t know how anyone could ever find it. We walked the boardwalk to the most beautiful sand beach I've ever been on. The water was warm and the ocean waves were swelling at 8-10 feet, some higher. We rode the waves for awhile before grabbing lunch. Some of the people in the group ordered fish, others prawns (shrimp), and I ordered a half chicken. All of the food looked just like the animal it came from. The fish still had teeth and eyeballs, scales and fins. They had just been thrown on the grill. But everything was very tasty. The food has not been bad and we've had plenty to eat so far. Interesting that paradise is so close yet so far away from so many people! I think God's kingdom is like that. Once we discover the way we have to help people get there! It is worth the trip, despite the obvious pain, suffering and treachery we go through along the way.
This morning we split up and attended two different churches in Beira. Both Dave and I preached at the churches we went to. We didn¹t know that we were going to preach until we got there and they asked us to. I'm glad that I had prepared a little bit beforehand and God had given me something to share as I had no notes. The interpreter did a great job and I pray that God was able to speak through me and the interpreter to get past the obvious barriers between us and encourage the people of this church. If you had told me that I would preach at a church in Africa some day I would have said you were nuts!!
I am missing home, Cindy and the kids a lot! Tomorrow we head to Gorongosa after morning meetings and the real work begins. It will be good to get to the village. I'm thankful for the unexpected time we had in Beira, but we all are excited to meet the people of Gorongosa.
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