The Road to Nampula

We are safe and sound in Nampula after a long, bumpy, middle-of-nowhere journey through the Niassa and Nampula districts. It was a 12+ hour drive on some of the worst "roads" you've ever seen. Actually, we're probably insane for even attempting such a journey, but the visits to churches were indescribably amazing, the company was astounding, and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world! Here are some highlights with more thoughts to come once I get some much deserved sleep:
The mountains in Malawi:








Cuamba UMC and a Bible delivery - Bibles from Morning Star UMC in Missouri:








Lurio UMC:








Malema UMC:








Macedonia UMC:












Beautiful Mozambique:








Stay tuned for stories to follow!

Location:Nampula,Mozambique

Hunger

A blog post just doesn't quite do the day justice, but I'm going to try to sum up the experience anyway.
After a 3 hour drive heading North from Blantyre over rough, dirt roads, we finally arrived at a small, open air clinic in a rural village called Chikweo. We got out of the car, and roughly twenty moms were waiting to have their children screened for severe malnutrition by the Project Peanut Butter crew. We had 3 new children who met the criteria for severe malnutrition, 3 that were returning for continued treatment for severe malnutrition, and 3 that required additional emergency care for other illnesses and needed to be driven to the hospital immediately. One child was so ill that he couldn't lift his head and could only barely open his eyes - he was suffering from paralysis of some sort but he has never had the luxury of seeing a doctor...until today. All of us sat misty-eyed and broken-hearted, speechless and prayerful.












What was truly magical about today was that those 3 children who returned for treatment were actually getting better. Since the last time they came to clinic, their charts showed that they were gaining weight, growing, eating regularly, and almost eligible to graduate from the program. Beside the frightened and desperate moms whose children were headed for the hospital in critical condition sat these moms who were smiling and thankful as they saw their children become healthier over the course of 6 weeks of treatment.












I couldn't stop thinking about all of the times back home that I've exclaimed to my friends and spouse, "man, I'm starving to death" or "I'm so hungry I could die", knowing full well that in a moment's notice, I could have all of the food that my heart desired and I would probably never know real hunger. How utterly heart wrenching to see kids today, quite literally, starving to death, while realizing the absurd, over abundance that pads my life.
And so how does one contain and process this information? What are we suppose to DO with this knowledge? I don't know really, but I guess the only answer to the question of what we do, is just to DO justice. Not just to think about justice, or talk about justice, or feel good about justice. But DO justice. DO something - just like the folks at Project Peanut Butter. Give, go, serve, love, fight, struggle, care, DO. Do justice, do justice, do justice. And love kindness. And walk humbly. And maybe, just maybe, we'll see more smiling and thankful moms.

Location:Kabula Hill,Blantyre,Malawi

Mystery

"...there is nothing but mystery in the word, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it."
--Sue Monk Kidd

It's fascinating how we can load up into a giant tin can, hurl ourselves across an ocean thousands of feet above the surface of the earth, and wake up, bleary-eyed, to a whole new land full of wonder and amazement. That's how we spent our day yesterday - thousands of feet above the world in great anticipation of the adventure that awaits us on the other side of the ocean.

Having arrived safely in South Africa last night, we are now preparing to board another plane headed for Malawi in order to visit Project Peanut Butter, a project focused on alleviating severe malnutrition in children in Africa. As we anticipate what awaits us on the other side of the giant tin can today, we assume a posture of openness, curiosity, and humility, trying to understand hunger and how to possibly address it in Mozambique. Our great task today and every day is to always be attuned to the mystery - the mystery of our faith ever-present in a world where some children just don't have enough to eat, the mystery of Christ incarnate behind hungry eyes and distended bellies, the mystery of action when it's more comfortable to be passive. We are praying for eyes to see and ears to hear this mystery as we begin our journey.

"...the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." --Colossians 1:26-27

p.s. We will be blogging during the entirety of the trip as internet access allows. I will be asking my wonderful and brilliant team members to be stepping in as guest bloggers here so that you all can hear many perspectives of this amazing, epic journey. Stay tuned for insight from all of us - Tim, Yvi, Linda, and myself!

Location:Rokewood Street,Kempton Park,South Africa

A Road Trip of Epic Proportions

In just over one week, myself and the new leadership team of the Mozambique Initiative (MI) will be crossing the ocean, heading back to Mozambique for the journey of a lifetime!  As many of you know, the MI has been extremely productive this year.  Examples of this include the completion of 12 safe water projects (with another 12 in process!), the funding and implementation of 10 sustainability projects, and the upcoming graduation of 15 seminary students. The team will be visiting many of these projects throughout the country, celebrating and documenting this work. This journey will begin with a brief stop in Malawi where we will visit Project Peanut Butter, as we search for solutions to malnutrition in Mozambique.  From Blantyre, Malawi, we will drive through the Niassa and Nampula Districts on a road trip of epic proportions.  As you can see from the map below, after Blantyre, we will be stopping at Cuamba UMC to see their sustainability project of raising chickens for meat that is in the works there.  Then we will heading over to Nampula to visit the Maratane Refugee Camp where we have been drilling a safe water well, and finally, we will drive over to the Island of Mozambique to see the historic beginnings of the country.

The new MI leadership team was voted in during Missouri Annual Conference in June of this year.  Since this time, we have been tasked with envisioning the future of the MI and brainstorming about this new chapter of ministry.  This visioning involves working closely with the leaders of the Mozambican conference, which is another major goal of this journey. During this important time, we plan to dream, vision, and build relationships with our partners in ministry in Mozambique in anticipation of some important growth and change in our ministry together. This will be a time of intentional, thoughtful work. The team will also begin to plan for an April 2013 itineration with Bishop Schnase of the Missouri Methodist Conference to solidify the next quadrennium of ministry in Mozambique.

We ask for your prayers for guidance, safety, creativity, successful brainstorming, brilliant ideas, and loads of fun as we work closely with our brothers and sisters in Mozambique for the next few weeks.  Stay tuned here for updates about the journey!

A Fluid Inheritance

Last month was a successful and brilliant month for the Mozambique Initiative (MI), as we completed a record number of clean water wells in Mozambique. One of these wells was placed at the Carolyn Belshe Orphanage, where kids who would otherwise have no family, food, water, or provisions, find home. This is cause for celebration!!

Due to the fancy footwork of those who came before me and to the generous donations of a number of churches across the state of Missouri, the MI Team was able to begin working with private drillers across the country to jump start this program a few years ago. Now, we quite literally save hundreds and even thousands of lives through these wells on a regular basis. The recent success of our safe water projects is largely attributed to the foundation of wisdom and a rich network of relationships that were built long before I took the position. I am elated to report that the next generation of people who are dedicated to God's work in Mozambique are harvesting the fruit of seeds that were planted long ago. Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me. Click the "Contact the Misfit" link above to find out how you can get in touch and contribute.

It's Peanut Butter (Jelly) Time!

The new leadership team of the Mozambique Initiative (MI) was voted in by Missouri United Methodists in June of this year during our Annual Conference meetings.  We have a completely stellar group of people who are stoked to begin a brand new chapter of this ministry!!  Since this time, we have been working feverishly  to dream big and envision what the next four years of our work in Mozambique should look like.

One of the interesting projects that is potentially on the horizon is a connection with Project Peanut Butter (PPB).  PPB is a local, St. Louis based organization started by a pediatrician and researcher at Wash U.  This guy cooked up an amazing new formula to treat severe malnutrition, and PPB is now saving lives all over Africa.  The stats are actually amazing.  In literally 4-6 weeks, 95% of children completely recover from severe malnutrition using this ready-to-use therapeutic food. The project plant is based in Malawi, Africa, which borders Mozambique.  

As you probably know, malnutrition is a huge issue in Mozambique.  And we see a great potential  connection between this local project and the needs related to hunger in Mozambique.  UNICEF estimates that 44% of children suffer form chronic malnutrition, and 18% of children under five are underweight in Mozambique.  The problems are worse in the Northern part of Mozambique, which is much less developed.

The MI leadership team will visit the PPB plant in October of this year during our upcoming visit, and will be in discussion with the PPB team about how we might start a program such as this in Mozambique.  We have meetings scheduled with the Ministry of Health in Mozambique to discuss our findings and talk about ways that this might be implemented.

What are your thoughts?  Are you as excited about this opportunity as I am?!?

You might want to "like" PPB on facebook and stay tuned to the MI on facebook about ways that you can help to foster this connection!

And also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8MDNFaGfT4