Yes, we moved into the renovated AIM cottage at the end of November, just 2 1/2 weeks before leaving for Malawi holidays.  Prior to that had been some busy weeks of helping finish the house, including a week spent waxing the tinted cement floors in coat after coat of homemade wax.  The Mozambican guy who helped me just shook his head and joined me in complaining about the blisters on our knees.  We left for Malawi with the beds and mosquito nets set up, pots in the pantry and plates in the cupboard.  On our return, the rest of the containers had to be unpacked and last week we could boast that every box had been unpacked, sorted, and contents shuttled to their ultimate destination (which for many items is “out”).  There still remain some holes in the walls to be patched, paint to be touched up, some painting still to be done, windows to be washed, and various other small tasks, which we are busily working on before we start language school next month to learn the local tribal language.  Projects like making a bunk bed mosquito net for the boys’ bed are being done as quickly as possible.

What a joy to have a house to spread out in and stay in for awhile.  At various points in our wanderings over the past 2 1/2 years, I’ve stored my clothes in cardboard boxes, suitcases, baskets, dressers, closets and simply in big piles, but now they are put away!  Many overseas missionaries tend to move from house to house depending on rents, availability, medical issues and travel, and a host of other issues.  You wouldn’t believe the musical furniture game that goes on here in Nampula among expats.  I knew one family that had someone else’s couch for a couple of years, and then was using someone else’s when the first family returned, while they waited for their couch to come in a container from the USA.  I think you have to write your name in marker under furniture to get it back.  But now I have my furniture back again, and it is nice to feel settled for awhile.

We are enjoying our new digs, and while it is not where we had planned to live when we left Nampula in 2010, we are thankful for God’s provision for us.  A big drawback is the 1 hour each way trip for the kids to school each day, but they seem to be coping well and taking it in stride, and enjoy talking with their friends on the ride.  When they come home, there is lots of space to run around and stretch out.   Wow, are we thankful that our season of moving from place to place seems to be over. Now, we can focus on more important things and enjoy our home as a haven of rest.  -C

As usual, we had our Christmas holidays in the neighboring country of Malawi.

Many of the missionaries here drive down to South Africa for bi-annual holidays, but we just can’t afford the $1200 it costs for gas to go there and back!  And to be honest, who wants to drive for 4 days to get to your vacation?  I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how far it is!  Of course, South Africa is a totally different world that Moz; it is practically like visiting America down there, with big malls, movies, restaurants and shops, good mechanics and I could go on and on.  However, we were introduced to Malawi by some dear friends back in 2007 and have gone back every year since.  It is only 12 hours drive (which we always spread over 2 days) over mostly good roads.  They finished one part of the road this year, which left only 4 hours of very bumpy dirt track to cover.

Blantyre is a city which isn’t much bigger than Nampula, but is definitely more developed, with more internet cafes, businesses (and local industry) and an amazing number of Western Union offices (which I discovered when we needed cash to pay for car repairs).  Of particular interest to us is always the grocery store (same size as a smaller US one) with treats that we can’t get in Nampula, or at more reasonable prices, and the store where you can buy toys, electronics, housewares, sporting goods, etc.  Kind of like an upscale Kmart, but smaller.  It was funny this year to watch Toby in the toy department.  When we first started going, 6 years ago, he tried so hard to find something affordable in that department, and each year departed with SOMETHING in hand.  Now he just stands in front of the action figures and complains loudly how ridiculous the prices are (he can look on amazon now and find American-style prices). Ah, my little bargain hunter.  He and Ben boycotted the store this year because “these prices are crazy!”  The name-brand action figures were $40 apiece this year, and were not a big draw for my boys.  Sheesh.

Combined within our trip are always doctor’s appointments, and this year three of us got to have our needs attended to.  Toby saw the ear, nose and throat doctor again, who pronounced him fluid-free.  Wow, we were happy that we don’t have to make arrangements to go to South Africa for tubes.  I saw the orthopedic surgeon, as usual, who gave me the bad news that my deformed tailbone will always be thus and I’ll have to sit on a special cushion the rest of my life.  A cortisone injection in the spot has helped a lot, though.  Kevin saw the same orthopedic surgeon and got the good news that his knee was operable, and he had arthroscopic surgery on December 31st.  He walked out of the hospital and spent the next 2 weeks with his knee propped up most of the time, with ice on it.  I don’t know how I managed to get the car all packed, drove us all back to Mozambique, and get the car unpacked, but I did it!  God must have helped me and I had some little helpers too, who unpacked in Nampula quickly when told that Christmas presents could only be opened once the car was unpacked!  Kevin should be running by March, which is great news.  I was grateful for new glasses too, from the Lion’s Hospital at a great price.

One of our favorite things about going to Malawi is eating out in the big city.  We don’t bother to eat out, outside the city because the food is no better and not much cheaper than in Mozambique.  But in Blantyre, there are cheap fast food restaurants!  I know that doesn’t sound great to most first-world people, but since we rarely eat out at home in Nampula, eating out every day at a fast-food is a major treat and the boys LOVE it.  Fried chicken and french fries or pizza are their favorites, and Kevin and I like the hamburgers, chicken burgers, and pizza.  We always gain a little weight in Malawi, which is quickly sweated off when we return to 95 degrees plus in Nampula with 100% humidity.

But mostly we like to go for the week we spend relaxing at the lake.  It is quiet and there is a cook and dishwasher (same person) who makes things easy for all of us.  We are blessed to often go with friends and have time for talks and encouragement, and play in the water and enjoy the sunshine.  It is basic accommodation, but we are thankful that we have a place the kids can remember when they grow up as our “Christmas place” where we can make the holiday special. We sure enjoy a break from the heat too.  Now, back to work! – C

We are living in the rondavel, which is what South Africans call a little round house, since September 24th, and it sure is cozy!  Inside, it is about 20 feet across, in all directions, and that contains our double bed, a bunk bed, 2 portable closets, desk, 2 dressers, table and chairs, lazy boy chair, stove, counters, and the kitchen sink!  We all can be standing up at the same time, but not moving around too much.  One great advantage is that I can cook while sitting down at the table.

We anticipate we’ll be here another couple of weeks, and haven’t started painting inside the house yet.  We are thankful for this little place, which you can see is very close to the house under renovation, and that even though there is no running water, we are coping just fine.  The boys are gone at school all day, and have a big yard to play in when they return.  Our dogs are thrilled to have us living on the property with them (they’ve been here with just the guard for over a year) and we are enjoying our times together as a family with no tv and lots of togetherness!  – C

Despite receiving no pay or renumeration at all (they even have to buy their own books), the six monitors have labored faithfully for 4 years teaching and leading the TEE classes in Nampula.  Therefore, we were thrilled when a generous supporter donated the money for new bikes for all of them (thank you Joseph and Pauline!).  I wish you could have seen their faces when Kevin announced it.  They all went to the store together that very morning to pick out the bikes, and Kevin bought them the next week.  Two of the monitors showed up an hour early to our house to pick up their bikes, they were so excited.  Kevin arrived with the bikes and mechanic, who had to “finish” the bikes by greasing and adjusting the chain, pumping up the tires, and doing various other things to get them roadworthy, and the monitors sat around for hours waiting for their new bikes.  They are not pink, as they appear in the photos, but green.  They have a protective plastic on them which is pink.

Why is a bike a big deal?  Well, cars are not an option for folks here.  Just to put gas in the car once a month is equal to the entire salary of a normal worker.  Purchasing a car is the unattainable dream, and even the cheapest motorbike costs four months salary.  So, most people walk or take the public taxi, and they spend a LOT of time getting from place to place.  A bike cuts down on that transport time considerably, and is free to use!  You’d be surprised at how few people here actually have bikes, and most of the ones we see are used for “work”, hauling wood or charcoal or market goods.

We hope that these bikes will last a good long time and will not be stolen.  One of the monitors, Castello, was attacked by thieves on the very first night he had the bike, and he managed to fend them off by using the bike to swing at them.  Crazy stuff. -Cami

The new Rapale International School has moved to its permanent site, about 45 minutes from where we live, and is outside of Nampula.  The first photo is of the boys on their first day of school, in their cute uniforms, and the other photos were all taken by Kevin on the “open house” day the week before school started.  There used to be an MK school here in Nampula, on the SIL compound, but now this is the school where we all send our kids, and we are grateful for the commitment of the directors (Zimbabweans) and teachers (a mix of Zimbabweans and missionary/volunteer teachers) to giving our kids a great education in English.  Of course, Portuguese is the national language here and so most schools are in that language, though there are a few English language schools around, which we feel don’t come close to the quality of this school.  The school is still under construction, but the first phase is ready for the kids and they are enjoying it!  Ben has about 14 kids in his first-grade class, from Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mozambique, America, Germany and I don’t know where else.  Toby has 9 kids in his fourth and fifth grade class plus 3 short-term students in from the bush.  There are Dutch, Belgium, South African and Portuguese students, plus probably some other countries I don’t know about!  I haven’t been able to go out to the school since the road is too bad for my back, but hope to visit later this year.

Our biggest problem is transport, since the fuel costs plus time to transport (1 1/2 hours round-trip, twice a day) are too much for us to handle.  So, a group of us have hired a local taxi, pictured, to transport 16 kids and teachers every day.  These are the local taxis that go around town, traveling a set route (indicated by the color strip across the windshield) and dropping off wherever along the route you say “exit” (saida).  It costs only 20 cents for a ride anywhere along the route, and as long as you don’t mind being packed hip to hip with up to 20 other people plus their packages (and even a chicken or two), it is a great way to travel around town.  Of course, our kids have a private ride to and from school, but our driver will be opting out at the end of the first month because the road is too hard on his minivan. So, we’ll have to find someone else.  Even with all the kids in the van, it costs us almost $100 per month for the transport for our two kids, and those costs will probably increase quite a bit once drivers realize how hard the road is on their vehicles!!

Ben is loving first grade so far, which is a relief to us, and Toby is a great student.  The house sure is a lot quieter these days, as the kids are gone from 6:30 to 3:15 every day… – Cami

We are seeing progress on the house renovations and hope to see a cement floor poured inside this week (on top of the old one) and a roof put on next week. . . but that is optimistic.  New possible move-in date is August.  We look forward to unpacking the container we packed in May of 2010 and seeing what is salvageable and what has been eaten by the rats. – C

Last week, Kevin went to pick up another load of the rice from our “machamba”, or garden, on the other side of town.  He hired one of the monitors to do the work (and it is hard work, cultivating rice!).  He brought him a chicken as a thank you gift for all of his work, and when he arrived, he found that the monitor had brought Kevin a chicken also as a thank you gift!  So, they ceremoniously exchanged chickens, and this is the one that came back home with Kevin.  We thought about who we could give it to, but knowing that it would cause problems if we gave it to one person and not another, in the end Kevin put it in another missionary’s car as a joke, and made it someone else’s problem.  Meanwhile, the kids enjoyed playing with it for a few minutes, and the one-year old who was visiting at our house thought it was great.

Do you send a thank-you note for receiving a chicken?  Or an egg? – C

Recently, Kevin and I were horrified to read in the news that a kidnapping ring in Maputo, the capital city, has kidnapped 15 people in the last year.  There was a kidnapping a couple of years ago here in Nampula, of a rich child whose father refused to pay a debt, but the money was paid and the child returned.  We hope that this kind of crime does not spread north anytime soon.

The kind of crime we deal with here is mostly of the petty variety.  Pieces are stolen off of cars (which is why every piece of our cars is glued or screwed down!), cell phones ripped out of your hand on the street, items are stolen through windows (between the burglar bars), or things laying out in yards disappear.  We constantly have to be on our guard when we go into town, to keep doors locked and valuables out of view.  Every time I exit the car and lock it, I test all the doors since street children like to stand beside the car and hold the handle up when you hit “lock” and then steal things out of the car after you walk away.  My purse and phone are guarded carefully, and I watch who is around me.  At home, all our windows and doors have bars, and we lock up anything outside before going to bed or going away for the day.

However, these days we are watching the seriousness of crime increase.  When we first arrived, the violent crime that we heard about was groups of men with machetes ambushing people walking at night, and demanding their money and cell phones.  This mostly happened in the poor neighborhoods or on pathways.  As time goes by, there have been more reports of muggings of people on foot at dusk (of two foreigners that we know), with some violence but only enough to bruise the victim.   More and more people on motorcycles are becoming victims of attacks, with men holding cords across the road to knock riders off or thrusting a stick into the spokes to stop the bike, then stealing their bike.  At the end of our own road, and even in front of our own gate, people are being knocked off their bikes.  I’m sure that if they resist, violence results.  We are so thankful that we have the little car now, and Kevin rarely rides the bike anymore.  A colleague of ours in another city faced several men with machetes late one night after he returned home from taking someone to the hospital in his car.  They wanted the car and tried to hack at him with the machetes.  Miraculously, he escaped with only a few minor cuts.

A type of crime that seems to come in waves here is home invasion.  Of course, there are robberies when people are not at home, but gangs of men seem to come into town from time to time and begin breaking into homes at night.  We actually know missionaries who were robbed while they were sleeping, but we also know a family who suffered from an attempted home invasion recently.  7 men with machetes began shouting and banging on the metal bars of the screen door, demanding money.  With a crowbar, they began working on breaking the lock.  The shouts of a neighbor eventually chased them away, just before Kevin and another missionary showed up in a truck, and another missionary brought the police just 10 minutes after that.  However, if they had been able to get into the house, doubtless someone would have been injured.  Friends of ours on the coast were injured when their home was invaded last year.  Other missionaries in a town 5 hours from here escaped unharmed after an invasion a few months ago.

I must confess that we are not fearless as we contemplate these situations.  We know that although God protects our souls, he does not always protect our bodies.  During our last term, we had frequent break-in attempts at our rental house.  Thankfully, the construction of the house was so solid that no one ever succeeded.  Doubtless the presence of our dogs and guard also protected us.  Our Mozambican sisters and brothers are victims of crime (mostly petty theft) much more frequently than we are, but we are bigger targets due to our possessions (computers, tv, cars).  How do we respond?  How do know when someone genuinely needs help and when someone is trying to trick us to gain entrance?  How do we teach the kids to be safe without making them paranoid?  How do we sleep well at night when we are listening for noises outside the house?   These are all questions we face, and we appreciate your prayers as we work out our own answers.  Of course we would never wish for violence of any kind to be visited upon our family.  However, we do feel that this is where God wants us, and must trust Him with His plan for us.  Although that sounds super-spiritual, it is the only real answer that makes sense.  It seems like a crazy world sometimes, and we know that it is not just crazy here!  – C

Well, our oldest finally hit double-digits a few weeks ago.  He celebrated with a few friends by eating pizza (homemade of course) and watching the new movie “Tintin”.  This was a big deal for Toby, because he has been reading the Tintin cartoon books since was 7 years old, and is a huge fan.  He also got his first watch, and now we can actually tell him when to be home and he sometimes remembers.

Toby has had big changes since last year.  He celebrated his last birthday at a big video arcade, and was being homeschooled at the time.  After that, he spent 2 months “on the road” visiting people and staying with his Ohio grandparents, then spent a month with his Connecticut grandparents, then moved back to Mozambique.  In South Africa en route, he enjoyed his last meal at McDonalds for the next 4 years, but was so happy to be back in Moz a few days later, that it was quickly forgotten.  He is in 4th grade, with just one other child in his grade, and shares the classroom and teacher with four 3rd graders.   We’ve been living in a small guesthouse on a compound, so he’s had nonstop playmates and it is hard to keep him in the house when other kids are around.

Toby loves to read just as much as I do, which we are very thankful for.  He can be found with a book in his hand every morning, evening, and any time in between.  He also enjoys playing soccer, Tae Kwon Do (thanks to a new missionary who teaches it), building with Legos, and any outdoor game that involves friends.  He likes the nature and history movies that Kevin and I want to watch, but especially loves watching Mythbusters and Top Gear.  Star Wars continues to be an interest, but as the years go by it is waning. He is a fearless snorkeler and we only wish we could get to the beach more frequently!

We see evidence that Toby is turning into a young man, with his thoughtful comments about things.  He and I were watching the movie “The Hiding Place” recently and when a bitter woman questioned Corrie Ten Boom’s sister about why her God had put her in the prison camp, Toby said to the screen “It’s for you”.  He has taken on a lot of responsibility this year with washing the dinner dishes every night, and taken a big burden off of me.  He is taking more responsibility for his homework and often does it without any comment from us, though of course when there are friends around it is more of a struggle!  He is an entertaining and thoughtful companion and we enjoy spending time with him and just talking.   He is less interested in playing with his little brother this year, though sometimes the two of them do still make enormous set-ups in their room and play with them.

This year in September he and Ben will begin traveling out to the International School almost an hour away, and will have to wear uniforms!  Things will change a lot with the doubling of the school size and we’ll be moving into our temporary home close by where we live now, while still waiting to build a house nearer the school.  He will continue with his Portuguese tutor and we look forward to watching him grow in every way! – C