Finally, the end of the saga of the trip north. Here is the last installment.

Installment 8 of THE JOURNEY: Our Trip to Northern Mozambique – 23 June to 16 July, 2009

Monday, July 13th – We were up around 5am this morning to get ready for our departure for points south, specifically, Mocuba, in Zambézia Province. We hoped to be there around 1pm at the latest. We had a bite of breakfast with Busi and the kids. Since we had packed most of the things the night before, all we had to do this morning was to load the luggage in the back of the truck in preparation to leave.

It was about 6am that we backed out of the driveway and headed toward the main road south. On the way, we stopped briefly to visit one of our former student families, António and Benilta Sariava and their kids. We met them out near their home where they had come out to the highway to see us. We had seen António at the district assembly, but we had not seen Mama Saraiva or the children, and they had all wanted to see us as well. We took some pictures of the family and chatted briefly, and then we were back on the road headed south.

About 10 kilometers out of the town of Murrupula, we telephoned to another of our former students that we had not been able to see. Alberto Samuel had been in the hospital with an abscess on his leg during the assembly and had been able to be there. We called to see if he was at home and if it would be convenient to stop briefly to visit. Of course, he would be delighted to see us and we arranged a place to meet on the main highway so he could show us the way to their home. A few minutes later we met at the designated place and after a few minutes later, Alberto appeared and we made our way to their home and the church in Murrupula. We had a lovely visit with the Samuel family. Their kids are all grown up now and we would not have known them they have changed so much. We walked the short distance to see the church building – another mud brick building with thatched roof. Before we left them, they insisted on giving us a bag of peanuts and some pumpkins to take along with us. We had a word of prayer together and then we were on our way back out to the main highway to continue our way south.

It was about 9:30am that we turned onto the main road and headed south again with another 300 kilometers to travel to reach our destination. The highway was quite good for most of the journey. It had been rebuilt in the previous year and so the surface was good an the bridges were new. We passed the town of Alto Molócué and the road through town left a lot to be desired, but outside town, the road improved. About 20km south of Alto Molócué, we saw something we’ve never seen before. Trundling up the highway headed the opposite direction was a bicycle with a platform built across the back with a mattress. Someone was lying on the mattress, obviously ill, and the guy was evidently heading for the hospital in town. This was another of the strange loads we saw being carried on bicycles during this trip to the North.

About 80 kilometers out of Mocuba, the good road “died”. The renovation project had come to an end and we were back onto old road, which meant part pavement and part potholes. I wouldn’t say it was 50/50; sometimes there were more potholes than pavement. About the best we could was 30 kilometers an hour and it really slowed us down. We had hoped to reach Mocuba by noon but at noon we were still about 40 kilometers out of town. We were encouraged to see that they were working on this part of the highway, but it meant that we had detours to the right and left and back again at times as we slowly made our way through the red dust thrown up by others who were also headed south. Eventually, we reached the outskirts of Mocuba and the road surface improved measurably. We were back onto a solid tarmac highway and were able to pick up the speed to about 90 kilometers per hour. We crossed the bridge over the Lugela River and were surprised to see a brand new, wide, paved street rising up through the center of town from the bridge to the central plaza of the town! We were in Mocuba in January of 2006 when one of our students from that district died shortly after arriving at the Seminary. Along with another faculty couple, we had transported the coffin and the family of the deceased student back to Mocuba in a marathon 72 hour journey. At that time, the main street was little more than broken pieces of pavement and potholes. Now it was like driving on a carpet!

Our district center is just off the main central plaza and we pulled into the yard just after 1pm. Manuel Vale and Lidia were expecting us along with some of the pastors. We had a lovely lunch together and then headed back through town and out to our church at Cruzamento Bive for a district pastors’ meeting. On the way, we stopped to fill up with diesel – get while the getting is good! (We didn’t want a repeat of Chimoio!). At the church we met a number of our former students, now pastors here in the Mocuba area, as well as a number of lay pastors from around the district. We had a lovely time of praise and celebration together, and we also were able to share some of the news from the Seminary with our former students.
After the service we drove another 7 kilometers out into the country side to see the home of one of our graduate families from last year, Afonso and Rosa Chaves. In the middle of their senior year, they got word that they house and everything they had left behind had been destroyed in a fire. Naturally, they were shattered to receive that news. We contacted the district superintendent, Manuel Vale Afonso, to see if there was anything we could do to help rebuild the house. He told us that the district was able to rebuild the walls (made of clay bricks which they make and fire themselves) but that they could use some help with the roof. We took a collection among the students and faculty here at the Seminary, and members of a visiting Work & Witness contributed, and we were able to raise enough to put a proper corrugated steel roof on the house. We got to there house about 5pm and although it was starting to get dark, we were able to see it and all of their kids, except for one son who was off visiting friends. He did not know we were coming to the house after the pastors meeting.

After a brief word of prayer, we headed back to the district center for dinner and a time of fellowship with former students. We stayed till about 9pm visiting and then made our way just up the street to the home of missionaries from the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland, Gus and Laura Vos, who are doing theological education in the area. They have a small guest flat made from a 40-foot shipping container. We have stayed there before and had arranged to stay there again on this trip. It has two bedrooms, a bathroom with shower, and a little kitchenette – just enough for a couple and a single lady traveling around Mozambique together!
After a quick cup of tea to end the day, the lights were turned out, and so were we all.

Tuesday, July 14th – We were up and loaded to go at 6am this morning, and after a brief breakfast with Manuel Vale Afonso and Lidia, we were headed south out of town making for the Zambezi River, about 250 kilometers away. We wanted to be across the river and in the village of Caia by 1pm if possible so that we could get a place to stay for the night. Accommodation is scarce in Caia, and with the building of the new bridge across the river, business was booming. The road south of Mocuba has been improved over the past couple of years so we were able to make good time. We did stop briefly in Namacurra to try to see former students, Evaristo and Lucia Branquinho, and their family. The kids were at home and seemed a bit stunned to have us drive into the yard, but mom and dad were not at home. They did not know that we were going to be passing through and we had not phoned ahead as we did not know how much time we would have.

After a brief stop, we continued on toward the river. A we made just a quick stop for fuel at Nicuadala – you never know if there will be fuel ahead, so you take every opportunity to fill up the tank when you get it.. Then we were off on the next leg of the journey. This route passes through some desolate territory. Although you see occasional homesteads along the way, most of the people in this area of Zambezia Province live along the coast or along the river, and we were cutting cross-country toward the river. We could tell we were getting near the river as population density increased. Finally, coming around a bend, we caught sight of the flood plains on the other side of the river and then the main channel below. The road was much improved here and then around another bend, there was the newly built Armando Quebuza Bridge stretching off in the distance and crossing the Zambezi River. It looked like we could just go right on across the river! I slowed down to figure out what would be the best thing to do – previously there was a slip road off to the right leading down to the ferryboat landings. I was ready to proceed, when there in the middle of the road was a little “Do Not Enter” sign, all of eight inches in diameter, perched on top of a little thin post with a tripod at its base. It would have been so nice to just sail right on over the river across that bridge, but we obeyed the sign, took the dirt lane off to the right, and descended down to the makeshift wooden stalls toward the ferry slip. The ferry had just come in and was unloading vehicles. We passed a couple of huge tractor trailer rigs parked along the side and following instructions from the ferry guides, took up a position for smaller vehicles near the loading area. As far as we could see, there was only one other small vehicle waiting to cross. It was 11:30am and we were sure we would be across to the other side by 1pm. The other small vehicle in front of us was signaled to proceed and onto the boat he went. A couple of medium sized lorries were instructed to follow, then a big semi-trailer truck. And then the ferry left! Hey, what about us?!

We were sure it would be back and that we’d go on the next trip, but the ferry did not return. We sat in the hot sun waiting and waiting and waiting, but no ferryboat. There was another ferry running back and forth across the river but it was only carrying construction vehicles. It was interesting to watch it, but it was not any help in our getting across. There were also construction and official looking vehicles crossing the bridge up above us, and seeing them only made us wish we had continued straight across, claiming that we never did see that little sign in the middle of the road! We finally learned that the ferryboat stops running every day from noon to 2:30pm for lunch. Ah, those Portuguese traditions die hard! There can 200 vehicles lined up and waiting to cross the river, but if you get there between noon and 2:30pm, it’s just too bad. Trucks have been known to spend a week there at the river waiting for their turn in the queue to get across the river. And this is the ONLY place to cross the river other than at Tete, about 500 kilometers up-river from Caia.

Watching through our binoculars, we saw vehicles on the other side of the river start to move onto the ferry, and then it was coming out of the dock and heading to our side. Another smaller vehicle tired to move on ahead of us, but the load master signaled for him to stay put and motioned for us to head onto the ferry, right up to the front. Rhoda and Mama Uate had to get out and wait on the stern of the boat, but I was to stay in the vehicle for the ride across. About 15 minutes later, we were making our way into the dock and then driving off the ferry and up the bank to a waiting area. After a few minutes, Rhoda and Mama Uate arrived and we were off into Caia. It was 3pm.

The district superintendent, Fernando Gimo, was waiting for us at the main turn-off into town. We stopped and greeted him and he said he had arranged for a place for us to stay and that we should follow him on his motorcycle. He led us down a narrow lane for about 2 kilometers and finally we came to the parking area of a lovely, newly built guest lodge. He dashed inside and we followed, desperate for the restrooms, and we were soon more desperate when the owner said, “I’m sorry, but others from the government came ahead of you and we gave the rooms to them.” So many government officials were coming to town to see the new bridge that guest rooms were at a premium, or non-existent. There was nothing else for us to do but follow the superintendent back into town. We made our way to his home that is right next to the church. He did made visits to several other places in town that rent rooms, but everything was filled up. We told him not to worry. He had done the very best that he could do. We would just sleep in the car that night and we would be fine.

We met with a small group of former students that had come from some distance away, and there were some lay pastors and folk from the local church. We opened the board shutters on the windows of the church to let more light in, and started a service. The sun goes down quickly in Mozambique in mid-winter and by 5:30pm the church was dark, so the service did not last that long. We adjourned to the yard in front of the superintendent’s house and enjoyed visiting with our former students and getting caught up to date on what their children were doing. Around 7pm we were called into the house for a meal of stewed chicken, rice and corn meal porridge. We enjoyed the food and the fellowship and then returned outside for more visiting.

By 9pm people were getting tired and some of the visitors made moves to call it a day. Some were going to sleep in the church. Some of the kids occupied a tent that had been set up outside the church. We used the “casa de banho” – a reed enclosure that doubles as a toilet and a place to wash, brushed our teeth with some bottled water that we had in the car, and then took our places in the car for the night. The two front seats of our pick-up recline so we made ourselves as comfortable as we could, and Mama Uate stretched out on the back seat. We had our pillows with us, and some blankets, but it was not cold at all. If anything, it was quite warm from our heavy breathing with the windows closed. I did try to open the windows some during the night, but the mosquitoes were waiting to come in, so I closed them back up again. We were asleep in no time, but the time did seem to pass rather slowly, at least for me.

Wednesday, July 15th - Surprisingly, the time passed quicker than I realized. It seemed like very little time had passed when the sky was getting light in the east. I looked at my watch and it was about 5:45am. Soon the light turned to orange and yellow and with that there was movement in the yard as ladies began to built a fire and heat water. We finally rolled out of the car, a bit bleary eyed and wrinkled from sleeping in our clothes. The inside of the windows was all fogged up and we used some paper towels to wipe them off. We greeted the folks as more and more began to appear from their places of rest. After a short while, the water was hot and we were served some tea and bread for breakfast. Some thought we would be staying until mid-morning but we assured them that we had a service scheduled for about 10:30am a Inhaminga, about half way between Caia and Beira. So after the bread and tea, we gathered together in a circle in the church yard and had a word of prayer together and made arrangements to get on our way.

Two of our former students, Joãozinho Domingos, who pastors in Beira, and Enoque Sombrero, pastoring in Lamego west of Beira, were visiting in Caia to meet with pastors. They asked if they could get a ride with us to Beira and so we made room and they climbed in the back with Mama Uate. It was a bit before 7am that we pulled out of the churchyard there in Caia and made our way out to the main highway. Just near the intersection there was a brand new petrol station, opened 24 hours a day, and we took advantage of the availability to fill the tank up before heading on to Inhaminga. We sure could have used that filling station back in 2006 when we made our marathon trip from Maputo to Mocuba and back!

After filling up, we got on the highway headed south. We were looking for a road off to the left at about 20 kilometers out of Caia. According to the map, there should be a highway there. But 20km came and went, and 30km came and went, and there was still no highway. I checked with Joãozinho and Enoque and they said, “No, it is still farther on.” Obviously, the map was a liar! Finally, at about 45 kilometers, there was a signpost indicating the highway to Inhaminga – the famous, or maybe I should say, infamous, Dondo road! Until about five years ago, this was the only highway north to the ferry crossing over the Zambezi River at Caia, and half of the year, it was impassible due to water and mud and half-buried trucks. I must say, after all I had heard about this road, I was pleasantly surprised by its condition. It was a dirt road, but it was wide and recently graded and fairly smooth as dirt roads go. We were able to make good time and before we knew it, we were approaching the town of Inhaminga where we were to meet our former students, António and Afélia Mucano. They had also worked for us while they were students, and we had not seen them since they graduated in 2005.

The church is located on the south side of town and so we had to pass through the whole town before coming to the church. It seemed that the whole town was in a grove of trees – soaring high hardwoods and eucalyptus trees lined the streets. In the colonial era, this was a major center between Beira and the Zambezi River, and it was a major junction on the rail line between Beira and Tete to the north, and the branch line to Marromeu, a major sugar producing area near the mouth of the Zambezi River. During the civil war lasting from 1976 to 1992, Inhaminga saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war and the reminders of those days were still visible as we passed through the town. A number of buildings had no roof and there were overturned railway cars along parts of the railway line. There were also some signs of progress. The railway line has been refurbished and is now opened to Marromeu and they are working on the line as far as Tete. A number of buildings had been painted and there was a healthy hustle and bustle about the town.

As we neared the south edge of the town, there was the church. It was a lovely cement block building, nicely painted, neatly trimmed hedges around the property and flowering trees planted around the church and the yard. It was immaculately clean – just what we would have expected from the Mucanos. We pulled into the churchyard and parked under a tree. Before we could get out and walk around, here came Pastor Mucano running from his house at the back of the property! After a hearty welcome, he showed us around the church and the property and then took us back to the house he had built for their parsonage. It was of typical construction for the area with fired mud-bricks and thatched roof, but neat, tidy, and very functional. He also showed us the fruit trees he had planted and the garden he had under cultivation. He had a “green thumb” which he had used when a student and he had not lost his talent.

He had announced to his congregation that we would be coming and they planned for a special service for that morning. They had estimated that we would be there at 11am, but because of the night in the car in Caia, we actually arrived earlier at 10am. By 10:30am, about half of their congregation was already there and so we began the service. As the service progressed, more and more people arrived and by 11am, there were about 50 or so present. We had a lovely service with the folks there and I time of prayer around the altar at the close, and then we began to make moves to head on down the road. We were presented with several pumpkins from the Mucano’s garden and some other produce as well. We got it loaded into the back of the truck and after a final farewell, set off on the way. As we pulled back onto the highway, I thought to myself, “Well, this road isn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be.”

For about the next 30 kilometers, the road was pretty good and we were able to make good time. The road paralleled the railway line and we zigged and zagged back and forth over the rails as the road got deeper and deeper into the tropical forest that covers central Sofala Province. The road got progressively worse and narrower as we proceeded and we had to reduce our speed to about 30 kilometers per hour, never going more than 40 kph. We passed through the small village of Muanza where a turn trail led west off to the Gorongosa National Park. We kept moving south, now and then catching sight of the railway line. This road was famous as the haunt of lions back about ten years ago. Our missionary colleagues, Dave and Marquita Mosher had seen a pride of lions along this road on one trip, just about 100 yards from where they had set up their table and chairs for a picnic lunch. All we saw were several troops of baboons.

About 40 kilometers out of Dondo, the road emerged from the forests and the landscape was more like the African bush we knew from the south of Mozambique. The population seemed to get denser too as we saw more and more homesteads along the way. The condition of the road also got progressively worse. There were large dips and water holes and muddy patches that we had to navigate around. Deep ruts marked the places where trucks and made their way through muddy patches before the rains stopped and the sun had baked the road with the ruts still in place. We crossed narrow little bridges at the foot of steep hills, with a sharp curve thrown in for good measure to make the crossing that much more difficult. We could see how this road could provoke nightmares, and get its bad reputation.

As we made our way along, we passed many people coming and going, some on foot but many on bicycles. If we passed one, we passed a hundred bicycles on the last 20 kilometers of the road. The bicycles were not just carrying their drivers, but some carried families as well. Most, however, were loaded down with cargo – sacks of corn, beans, or peanuts. Some carried building materials. Some carried wood. Others were loaded with three of four large bags of charcoal being taken to Dondo to be sold for fuel for cooking in the city. Finally, the highway got smooth, and wide, and obviously a grader had been down this road recently. We were able to increase our speed – 100 kilometers per hour! And then all to soon, or not soon enough, we found ourselves on the main tarred highway – the Beira Corredor.

We dropped Enoque off so he could get a ride heading west toward his village, and we continued toward Beira, another 35 kilometers further on to the east. As we approached the city, Joãozinho directed us off onto an alternative route that would take us past the church he is pastoring. They were just about finished with a new church building and we wanted to see the church and get a feel for where he is serving. It was a beautiful cement blocking building with corrugated steel sheets for a roof. We stretched our legs looking around the building and the property, and then continued on to the city center and then out along the beach to the home of missionary colleagues, Carlos and Silvia Bauzá.

We arrived at the Bauza’s house around 4pm, anxious to get a shower and change clothes! Once we were clean again, we enjoyed having fellowship and just relaxing a bit. Silvia prepared us a lovely dinner and we heard from Carlos all the news, and saw lots of pictures, from the General Assembly. We could have talked and talked until after midnight, but we needed to continue our journey in the morning and we wanted to get an early start. With that in mind, we finally headed down the hallway a bit past 10pm and headed to bed.

It was great to stretch out for a night’s rest, but before we could go to sleep, we had to make a choice: battle the buzzing of mosquitoes, or put up with the slight roar and wind of an electric fan. We opted for the fan. In spite of being tired, we didn’t sleep all that well, and before we knew it, it was time to get up and get ready to leave on the last leg of our journey.

Thursday, July 16th – The alarm went off at 4am. By 4:30am we had the car packed and ready to go. Silvia had breakfast on the table for us so we could eat something before we headed on our way. A bit past 5am, we bade our farewells, climbed into the pick-up and headed out into some of the densest fog I have ever seen. We could see maybe 30 yards in front of us and almost nothing out to the side. In addition, there was a light mist falling so we had to have the windscreen wipers going most of the time as well. We could just barely make out landmarks along the way as we headed to the main highway out of town. We knew we were passing the airport, but we could not see anything of it. When vehicles came at us from the other direction, we almost had to stop dead in the road because we could not see a thing ahead of us. Finally, we made it to the main highway.

The main highway was smoother and there was more traffic, but the fog was not any better. All the way to Dondo we were in thick fog, but after Dondo it got more patchy, though there was still mist in the air. After we crossed the Pungoe River conditions improved, but it was still foggy. In Lamego we stopped briefly to see Enoque Sombrero and his family. They had walked out to the main highway to greet us as we passed by. Enoque had been single when he was a student at the seminary and we had never met his wife or seen his children. We had about five minutes to visit with them along the way, had a word of prayer, and continued on our way. About fifteen minutes later, we came to the village of Nhamatanda. At the petrol station, we pulled off to pick up Orlando Siapange, our student who we had brought with us from Maputo at the beginning of our trip. Now he would be going back with us as well. We took advantage of this stop to “inspect the facilities” before continuing on the journey. We knew that this would be the last opportunity to “inspect the facilities” for some time to come! About 10 kilometers on down the road, we pulled off again, this time to meet Joãozinho and his wife. She had been visiting relatives while her husband was away and he had got a bus out to be with her after accompanying us to Beira the day before. It was nice to be able to meet her, also for the first time. Another 5 kilometers beyond that stop, we came to the crossroads of Mozambique – Inchope! Here we turned south and headed for Maputo. By now it was about 9:30am and we were an hour and a half behind schedule, thanks to the fog and the visits along the way. At least now we were out of the fog and could make better time.

From this point on we were on familiar highway that we had traveled before. The road was in good condition all the way to the Save River at the border between Sofala and Inhambane Provinces. Except for emergency pit stops along the way, our next stop would be the village of Muchungue where we would fill up with diesel fuel. The route was not overly populated and passed through forested areas. We were able to make good time and we were in Muchungue at around 11:30am. We got fuel - and pineapples! - before continuing south.

The next major objective was the bridge across the Save River – about 150 kilometers further south. We crossed the rive a bit before 1pm and kept moving. Here the road surface was a bit older and in less good condition with the occasional pothole to negotiate. We were still able to keep the speed to about 50 miles per hour, but had to slow down from time to time. We passed several other landmarks – the turn to Inhasorro, a village on the beach, and the turn to Vilankulos where we had spent the first night of our trip. After Vilankulos, the road surface improved for about another 100 kilometers, and then it got back again for another 70 kilometers until we reached Massinga.

In Massinga, we had planned to stop again and visit our pastor there, Helder Zimba, but when we phoned ahead we learned that he’d gone to Maputo to join his wife and her family. So there was no stop in Massinga. We just continued on the way. About an hour later we came to Maxixe where we filled up with fuel again and found some clean restrooms. The stop here was only about 15 minutes, and then we were on our way again. We wanted to reach Xai Xai, three hundred kilometers further south, before dark, but it did not look like we were going to make it. On the road again and the ladies decided it would be nice to get some coconuts and some tangerines; coconuts to take home and tangerines to eat along the way. We finally found a stall along the way selling both and made a quick stop. Then we were off again.

We passed through the small village of Inharrime. Here the road gets really narrow as it passes between shops and buildings that come right up to the edge of the road. The speed limit is only 20 kilometers per hour, and there are people everywhere. Fortunately, it’s only about a kilometer from one edge of town to the other, so we were through there in short order. About 5 kilometers out of town, the highway crosses a little bridge over a tidal lagoon that is marvelously beautiful. The blue of the water is tremendous, and it is surrounded by white sand dunes. About 35 kilometers on we came to Quissico. We sent a message ahead to the pastor and his wife, the Mutombenes, asking them to meet us along the highway. We had a bag of peanuts from her sister in Mocuba to drop off for them, but we did not have much time to stop. As we rounded the bend and started up the hill into Quissico, there on the left side of the highway they were, ready and waiting for us! We stopped for all of about 5 minutes. We unloaded their bag of peanuts (about 25 kilograms) and gave a brief report of our trip and visit with their relatives, and we were off. It was 4:30pm as we passed through Quissico. We would not make Xai Xai before dark!

A half an hour and about 60 kilometers west of Quissico, we watched the sun slip below the horizon. In another fifteen minutes it was dark, and the road surface deteriorated. This stretch, the last 100 kilometers into Xai Xai, was the last section of the highway between Maputo in the south and Pemba in the north, to be rebuilt. They were just getting started on it when we had made our way north several weeks earlier. Now they were a bit more advanced. At least the edges of the highway had been cleared of brush, and some of the worst potholes had been filled in. As we got closer to the town, however, it seemed that the potholes got deeper and more numerous. At 6:30pm as we passed through Xai Xai, we finally said good-bye to the potholes and started the homeward stretch for home.

The road from here on was like a carpet and once we were over the Limpopo River bridge, we could make 120 kilometers an hour (except for speed zones) all the way to Maputo. We ticked off the villages as we passed through – Chicumbane, Chipenhe, Chissano, Chimondzo, Incaia, Macie, Xinavane, 3 de Fevereiro, Palmeiras, Macie, Bovole, Mbulaze, Marracuene – now we were only 25 kilometers out of town! At 9:15pm we passed the police traffic control point on the outskirts of Maputo. Traffic was now typical city traffic, heavy and slow moving. We made it along the main road and finally to the turn off to the Uate’s house. We pulled up in front and unloaded all of Mama Uate’s the things that we easily accessible. We went inside where her family had a lovely dinner prepared for us. I am not sure we really wanted to eat that much at that time of night, but we did enjoy the chicken and rice, fried potatoes and meat curry. I think we were there only 30 or 40 minutes, and then it was only 5 kilometers more to get home. Finally, at 10:30pm, we passed through the gates of the Seminary and made our way up the drive to our gate. We were home! We had traveled 8000 kilometers (5000 miles), visited nearly 100 of our former students, seen places we had only thought we might see, and done some things we never thought we would do, and now we were home again. It was a marvelous trip. Thank the Lord.

Greetings again from Mozambique! The busy-ness of everyday life has kept me from working on the story of the trip north. There are two more installments to go. Here is installment No. 7.

Installment 7 of THE JOURNEY: Our Trip to Northern Mozambique – 23 June to 16 July, 2009

Wednesday, July 8th – We had an early morning wake-up call this morning – around 4am – and by 5:15am we were heading out the door for our trip to the district assembly at Moma. This would be an overnight trip as the distance was about 250 kilometers (160 miles) over terrible dirt roads. We headed southeast out of Nampula and then turned off on the road south and then the fun began. The road was full of potholes and corrugations that made the trip one of constant bumping and jostling as we made our way along. About the fastest we could manage was about 25 miles per hour. The sun came up as we made our way along and we eventually came to the town of Nametil. There we met the district superintendent’s wife and continued on another 150 or so kilometers to the site of the district assembly, just south of the village of Metil.

As we continued, we crossed over a long, single lane bridge that looked rather worse for the wear. The route we were following passed through fairly densely populated areas but the road continued to get more and more narrow as we proceeded south. We passed homesteads with cassava plants growing in the fields, and corn and beans peanuts. There were also substantial stands of tall trees along the way. Along the road, the grass got higher and higher and since there obviously was not much traffic on this route, the road seemed to be a bit smoother than earlier. Still, we could not travel at much more than about 40km per hour because we never knew when we would come upon a substantial pothole. Finally, around 9:30am we came to the little village of Metil. Metil was a sorry looking little village. Along the main road were number of concrete buildings that obviously dated from the colonial period. None of them had any glass windows and all looked like they had not seen paint in ages. Interspersed among them were tall palm trees and other broad-leafed trees. From the looks of things, it had once been a lovely and thriving village, and there were still lots of people around, but poverty was plainly visible here. We thought that we had arrived at the venue for our assembly, but we still had about 20 kilometers more to go.

We continued out of the village along the dirt road, though not too dense forested areas. Here and there were clearings along the road where people had built their houses and planted gardens. We curved around through the trees and activity seemed to increase along the road. There were more and more people moving about, and people on bicycles were headed somewhere, and then we came upon a big clearing. There against the trees was a mud-brick church with thatched roof, and off to the side a large shelter had been erected with poles and reeds and palm leaves arranged for a roof. As we drove into the clearing, several hundred people emerged from the surrounding trees and the shelter and began singing and dancing to welcome us. The district superintendent, Rev. José Amisse, one of our graduates from 1995, came to meet us – and his wife – and he was quickly joined by the only other trained pastor, António Caivano, also one of our graduates from 2004.

We were graciously welcomed to the district assembly, but before we could do anything at all, we had to be served a meal. We were ushered into the church building where a table had been prepared and spread with plates and cups and pans of food. There were beans, porridge, and chicken stew all ready to feed to the visitors. We enjoyed the food and the fellowship, but were all too aware that time was fleeting and we needed to get the assembly underway. Eventually, we adjourned our time of fellowship and headed to the shelter for the assembly. The head table was prepared with chairs and we took our places. The rest of the shelter was prepared with grass mats and at least 200 people crowded into the shelter and took their places seated on the mats on the floor.

We started with a service of praise and the people raised their voices in celebration. Some could not remain seated and had to get up to dance and rejoice. The service lasted about an hour and then we proceeded to the business of the assembly. Reports from the district superintendent and other district officers indicated that there were 115 churches on this district and they had experienced 15% growth over the past year! I was reminded that when José Amisse arrived in Moma after graduating from the Seminary in 1995, there was no district here and there was only the one church in Moma, a largely Moslem town here on the south coast of Nampula Province. Lay pastors gave their reports and the celebrations continued. This assembly was a great contrast to the others we attended. On the other districts, those who lived nearby came out to attend, but here in Moma church members came from all over the district. Whereas on the other districts the assembly was a time for doing the church business, here in Moma we got the impression that the assembly was a time for a district-wide celebration, and people came dressed in their finest to take part. It was a great experience for us all.

The assembly find wound up around 3pm and we were again ushered back to the church building for yet another meal. The menu was the same as before, but everything was prepared fresh. No leftovers here! After eating our fill, it was time to say our good-byes and prepare for the rest of the trip on to the town of Moma, about 40 kilometers on to the south. But on the way, we were going to stop and see a new church building under construction.

It was close to 4pm before we finally pulled away from the church and headed down the narrow lane through the trees. We followed the district superintendent on his motorbike as he led the way to the new church. It was not too far – maybe three kilometers – to the place where we turned off the road. I must confess, I had doubts about where he was leading us because we were primarily following tracks through the grass and gardens of cassava plants. Back into the bush we went, through fields and past homesteads. Finally we came to a school building and a large cleared area with small houses neatly arranged among a grove of eucalyptus trees. Here we parked the truck and got out to walk the remaining 200 meters to the church building site. The people were building the church themselves and making the blocks and when finished, it would be a nice, substantial building. We rejoiced in what the Lord was helping them to do, and then headed back to the truck to continue our trip on to Moma.

By the time we got back out to the main road it was starting to get dark. Night falls quickly in Mozambique in July and soon we were picking our way along the single lane road with high beams on. Occasionally someone on a bicycle would emerge from the shadows and pass us going the other way, or we would overtake someone making his way in the direction we were heading, taking momentary advantage of the beam of light our headlights shown up the road. We would never have known that there were houses along the road except for the cook fires that we saw burning in front of houses that we passed by in the dark. It started raining lightly as we continued on our way. The road we were following crossed a couple of shallow streams with rocky fords and it seemed we were getting farther and farther from civilization (we were far enough from civilization as it was!) when the road began to climb higher and it got wider and then it was no longer a track but a proper roadway. We were able to increase our speed to about 50km per hour and then we were entering into the town of Moma. By now it was raining quite steadily.

I asked Bonifácio if the superintendent had arranged for our accommodation here in town and he said that he had not. But that was no concern because there were several places in town and we would go to the place where they had stayed the year before. We made our way up the main street and then turned off to the left onto one of the side streets. Just a short way down the street, we pulled up in front of what looked to us like a little shop, come snack bar. Bonifácio mentioned that this was where they had stayed the year before. To us, it looked like another case of “condições minimas” ( minimal conditions). After a few minutes he came back to the truck to tell us that they only had two rooms available. The owner said that there were some other places down the road and that we could check there, so off we went. We found the place, and Bonifácio went in again. They only had one room available. After a brief discussion, we decided that he would stay there, and we would go back and take the other two rooms for Mama Uate and ourselves. So, we turned around and headed back to the first place. However, when we got there, one of the rooms had already been occupied for the night in our absence. By now it was 8pm, raining hard, we only had two rooms available, and those were not the greatest. I said to Bonifácio, “I know where there are some nice comfortable beds, and one of them you can share with your wife, and if we leave now, we can be there by midnight!” He didn’t need much convincing and so we set off for Nampula, stopping along the way to retrieve his suitcase and inform the owners where he had planned to stay that he would not be staying after all.

We headed down the road out of town, making sure not to go back the way we had come. After about fifteen minutes, we drove out of the rain and the road surface was dry. The first 30 kilometers or so the road was in fairly good condition, but then it deteriorated quickly and we had to reduce our speed. Traffic was very light and we made good progress. At one point, another vehicle came over a rise with high beams turned on and not matter how much flashing I did, he refused to dim his lights. We just nicely passed him when we saw right in front of us rocks across the road blocking the way. The low-level bridge was out and there was a detour around it. We stopped abruptly and had to back up to the detour to get around the obstacle. Just a few seconds more and we would have been in the middle of it! Thank the Lord for His protection!

From there on, the trip seemed to never end. We passed through the village of Chalaua and joined the road we had followed in the morning. Up and down hills, through and around potholes, we continued on the journey. We crossed the single lane bridge again, this time going the other way. It did not look any better at night than it did during the day! Finally, we arrived in the town of Nametil – only 75 kilometers to go to Nampula! Now the road was wider and there was more traffic. We could follow the tracks made by other vehicles but it seemed that no matter which tracks we followed, there were always potholes and corrugations to deal with. After about an hour, we began to see the glow in the sky from the lights of Nampula but it took us another good half hour before we finally came to the intersection where we would turn to go into the city. At midnight, on the dot, we pulled up to the gate of Bonifácio and Busi’s driveway. The guard opened the gate, we pulled up to the front of the garage, switched off the engine, and heaved a huge sigh of relief! We made it! We were back! Praise the Lord!

Thursday, July 9th – According to the original schedule, we were to have been in Moma this morning and would have visited pastors and churches on the way back to Nampula. But we were already IN Nampula and so there was nothing special on the schedule for us to do today. Also, we didn’t realize how tired we had become. Either we had been traveling or in meetings, or both, since we left Maputo sixteen days earlier. This was our first day with nothing specific that we had to do. Consequently, this became a rest day for us, and much needed it was, too! We spent the day reading, resting, drinking tea, enjoying visiting with Busi and the kids, and generally just doing nothing.

Late in the afternoon Bonifácio took us to visit the offices of SIL – better known as Wycliffe Translators in the USA. Bonifácio works part time with them on several translation projects in the Macua language which is Bonifácio’s mother language. The director of their work here in Mozambique is John Isseminger who we knew when we were doing Portuguese language study in Lisbon back in 1991. They were in Maputo in the early 1990’s when we arrived in Mozambique. Soon after that they were transferred to the north where the major part of Wycliffe’s work is being done today.

After that visit, we headed back to the house for a bite of supper. In spite of all the rest we had today, we were ready to go to sleep when bedtime arrived. The rest would be needed because tomorrow we had another district assembly to attend, though the drive there was only about an hour away.

Friday, July 10th – Today’s district assembly was about an hour’s drive north of Nampula in the village of Mecuburi. We left Nampula around 8am after a nice breakfast, and headed first to Rapale and then turned north for about another 60 kilometers. We arrived in Mecuburi around 9:30am and found the church people all gathered and ready for the assembly. The crowd was considerably smaller than at Moma on Wednesday, but this district was also smaller, and there had been some problems with the leadership. The former district superintendent’s wife had been ill for some time and had died about four months ago. He had left the district and the leadership had been passed to a recent Seminary graduate, Dionísio Varque.

The assembly was well organized and we had the usual service and sermon and heard the usual reports. The assembly was held in the church that I can best describe as an “open plan” building. Basically, the church had everything but walls and windows. It had been built with a steel structure with pillars, trusses and the traditional corrugated steel sheeting for a roof. The floor was cemented and the cement block walls had been built up to a level of about 5 feet. The rest of the space between the wall and the roof was all open. It was great for lighting and it also permitted a steady breeze.

After the assembly, we were served a traditional meal. Once again it was chicken with rice, millet porridge, and beans. It is simple fare, but it is filling and also satisfying. Once the meal was finished, we made our way back to the truck that was parked around the front of the old mud-brick church under a grove of trees. Some of the people were still eating their meal, but the crowd gathered to give us a farewell. We could not believe our eyes when people began to bring things for us to take with us – sacks of rice, sacks of beans, peanuts, bunches of bananas, pumpkins, cassava roots, and various other gifts of produce. It nearly filled the back of the truck! We were humbled by the generosity of these good people who, by worldly standards, have so little, and yet they were giving us so much. We received their gifts graciously and “with both hands” (the traditional way of showing respect and thankfulness in African culture). After a few words of thanks and a parting prayer, we gave our farewells and climbed into the truck for our return trip to Nampula. This time we were back in Nampula before dark arriving around 5pm or so.

Saturday, July 11th – Today was to be the last of our district assemblies. It was also to be the closest requiring the shortest travel time. It was for the Nampula Central District and it was being held in the Nampula Central Church, just a five minute drive from Bonifácio and Busi’s house! We arrived at the church around 8:30am and the assembly started at 9am. Bonifácio is the district superintendent of this district as well as being the area coordinator for the three northern-most provinces so he was busy getting ready for the meeting while we were able to visit with former students who are pastoring there on that district. We also got to see some of the children of these former students, but now they are all grown up. It kind of made us feel old to see these kids who we know as 5 or 6 or 7 year olds, now in their early 20’s. It was also a blessing to see them taking an active part in the life of the church.

The assembly was chaired by one of the other district superintendents, Rev. Gervasio Raimundo. He was one of my first students when we came to Maputo back in 1992. The assembly followed the general format for all assemblies – worship service, greetings of visitors, reports of district officials, elections, and then reports of the pastors. Nampula Central District is one of the smaller districts in northern Mozambique so there were not so many pastors’ reports to hear as on other districts. It was a good assembly, though, and we enjoyed learning about all that is taking place there. Being a city district, things were much more formal and organized and less spontaneous. The assembly finished up around 3pm and as is the custom, we had a time of food and fellowship to finish the day. It was about 5pm or so that we returned to Bonifácio and Busi’s house to relax and prepare for Sunday’s activities. It was also time to celebrate the birthday of Bonifácio and Busi’s second daughter, Paula, who was 7 today. We had a little party and she received some gifts and we had a nice time together before the day came to an end and we headed to bed.

Sunday, July 12th - We were up early this morning and around 8:30am headed back to Nampula Central Church for Sunday School and the morning service. I was the preacher for the morning service in addition to bringing greetings from the Seminary. We had a good time in the Sunday School class and then the service began at 10am. There were a number of special songs from various persons, and an especially good presentation by the young people of the church. The sermon was from the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, and there was a good response at the close of the message.

After greeting everyone after the service, we returned to Bonifácio and Busi’s house to change clothes and to go out for lunch to celebrate Paula’s birthday with a missionary family from another mission. We went to a nice place a bit outside of Nampula where there is also a swimming pool. It was quite warm today and the kids enjoyed going in the pool while the adults enjoyed visiting in the shade of the thatched shelter that comprised the main part of the restaurant. It is actually more than a restaurant. They also have cottages and motel type rooms available and they host conferences and parties such as wedding receptions. These kinds of places are fairly common here in Mozambique. We had a lovely time together, and then John Isseminger came to meet Bonifácio. They were traveling together to Zambezia Province where they were going to do a translation workshop for several days. We bid farewell to Bonifácio and thanked him for all his help during our time in the north, and then he and John were off. Soon after they left, we too left the restaurant and returned to the house. The rest of the afternoon and evening we spent sorting through all the things we had been given along the way, got the bulk of our things packed in the back of the truck, packed up our suitcases and got our personal stuff organized, and then relaxed for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we’d turn the pick-up south an