It's good to be 'home'

After an eventful week I am back home, safe and sound in Lichinga! The great news is, my visa has been approved- I am now able to stay in Mozambique til January next year!!!

I’m in awe of how God has worked through this whole situation. While I was worrying and lacking in faith and confidence that this would work out, God was working His plan.  In a very cool way! He showed me the strength of unity and the reality of what being a part of the body of Christ means. I am so grateful to Riverton (and beyond) for praying for me in this situation with the visa. The prayers did not go unheard!

I’m learning that it’s not all about me either. I really let myself believe the lies that I must not belong here and that this opportunity is being taken away from me because I don’t deserve it/am not good enough.  Such silliness! Ultimately, God can use anyone to do His will. The fact is, He has provided me with this opportunity, and I have no need to doubt that. I can be confident knowing that while I may not be perfect for this task here, God will equip me and give me the strength to handle whatever these next 6 months may bring. (And I am praying that involves some sort of fast Portuguese language acquisition skill or something!!)

So if I’d not been accepted into Mozambique again would my outlook be different? Man, I hope not. Thank God it wasn’t in His will (at this point). But I am learning through this that God actually truly and deeply loves us and has a plan for each one of us. If this had been the end of the Lichinga plan- well, it would just be the start of another phase of life, seeing where God leads...

 but i don't need to worry about that, because YAY i have a visa :) 

So going back to what I’ve been up to this past week….well, on Monday we found out I could possibly still get a visa. On Thursday I was on a plane and met up with my cousin and her husband who live near where I had to go. They very kindly let me stay at theirs on short moments notice. The next day my parents flew in- the first time they’d been back to their home country in 20 years! It was such a blessing being surrounded by loving family during this time. The visa business was sorted very quickly on the Friday and I was then able to enjoy a bit of an unexpected holiday with family (including an Aunt, Uncle and my other cousin) who had made the trek up to see my parents and I. We had a great time, saw lion cubs at an animal park, went to the local game reserve, did a bit of shopping, and mostly caught up on the past 20 years.

I then flew back yesterday and spent a night in Maputo. The people I stayed with were fantastic and it was an encouragement to hear the ministries they’re involved in.

Today I flew into Lichinga, and was greeted very warmly by Kath, Syd, Jack and Tilly. It was so nice to see their happy friendly faces again and before too long (about halfway through the car trip when a motorcyclist almost decided to get killed by oncoming traffic) I felt back at ‘home’. Almost like I’d never left…

So that’s it folks! That’s one challenge…now for the next adventure J Thank you for being on this journey with me.

A sign the Cranes made me a couple of weekends ago for a fellowship service. A small act that had a big impact!- thanks guys!

In South Africa, searching for Rhino... 

Catching up with my dad on the Gautrain. 

An ostrich leading the way...

One of the six lions we "found".... at the lion park

Mom and her brother Donald catching up after 20 years of being apart! That smile didn't leave her face the whole time she was on the trip!

Miracles do happen!

Yesterday Jonno came over with the best news ever.. It seems that i can get a visa hopefully!! From being pretty much without hope to now having this option is awesome. Its incredible... We're on a high here right now :) Thank you God!!!!

God is awesome!! Thank you everyone for praying :) the support shown has been overwhelming!
its not set in stone yet about my visa soo i'd still really appreciate the prayers that this will get sorted and i can return to Mozambique next week!
I've been reflecting on the unity that has been shown through this and i'll definitely share in another post soon (im writing this one while children nap so have to be quick!)

Ciao for now!

Quick update

So...

It turns out that to get a visa, you need Immigrations approval in Mozambique first, and so far that's not happening... 

This whole process is really showing me how much i want to stay here. I really really really hope this all works out! 

My current visa expires on the 18th July. (wed week). All we can do now is wait and see if immigration changes their mind... I'm praying they do!

Thanks everyone for your prayers! We all so appreciate it and know God will work in all of this, someway, somehow.

Skippin' the country...

Two posts in one week! This is unusual for me....but it's because it's an unusual time!

Today we just found out my visa application has been rejected in Lichinga!!! Eeep...with the visa i am currently on expiring very soon, and with no chance to renew it here, this means i have to leave the country...pretty soon (like a few days time type of soon..)

But....Jonno has been absolutely incredible in visiting the embassy and using some pretty helpful connections and so all is not without hope! There are a few options we're trying out at this time..
this is Africa and hey, i'm sure i can maybe learn something in all this???

I'm certainly a bit scared. What if i get rejected at the border and can't return into Mozambique? I want to trust God completely, but i can't help but feel slightly discouraged...the feeling that i'm not wanted in the country i'm in is not a nice one. It's not personal i keep getting reminded. What i need to do is trust that God's hand will be over all of this.
From my last post, you may be thinking- what's the big deal? You talked about being lonely, and this could mean you get to go home, back to your family and friends in Perth very soon!
But this in itself is already showing me how much i want to stay here. I have craft plans with the kids, a bad taste christmas outfit to think about, some chicken mince in the freezer that i have grand plans for... and above all of that, i have a desire to be of whatever use i can be to this team here. I've been so blessed by them (unbelievably so) and have learnt so much from them in just two months. I've been able to experience God in a completely new way here and i don't want that to end. There is a need here, especially at this time when new families are arriving and language learning is a priority. God put me here for a purpose and i want to see that through.

Alrighty, let the adventures begin i guess! I say with hope that my next post will bring good news!

Here are some prayer/praise points...

- That i'll get a longer term visa (preferably the 6 month multi entry one!)
- Praise God for the Cranes, Houstons and Beecks for fighting for me to stay... i'm humbled and grateful for their love and support (and positivity)!

Thanks for reading :) and thanks SO much for your prayers and support!

Silly Sally

The other day I did a stupid thing.

It was Friday night, I’d just had a lovely African dinner with the Beecks, our guard Andre, and Asedi- a Malawian friend who has been involved with Global Interaction for years. It was 8pm and I was ready for bed. 

Buuuut it was 8pm on a Friday night. 

Every part of me is ingrained to stay up late on a Friday night, and there was no way I was going to let this be any different… So instead of watching some tv show or good movie, I decided to put on a slideshow of my friends on my laptop….with emotion evoking music. Silly Sally…. I spent about two hours watching my beautiful friends and family’s faces flash on my screen- new friends I’ve made here, and many friends from home. If you ever want to feel lonely, sad and at the same time incredibly blessed, definitely do this…. 

Reflecting on this time i spent makes me feel a bit selfish for having a pity party...Actually, really selfish. I wasted a whole night upset and feeling alone when i'm actually so lucky to have friends and family supporting me...and i get to see you all again one day soon (really soon if my visa doesn't work out :S)  I so love my friends and I’m so grateful to have an amazing bunch of people around me (both in Perth and here in Moz). I'm so very blessed God has brought me here and is continuing to give me the strength to face each day. I feel doubly blessed to be able to get to know the people on this team better. They've become dear friends to me and i'm grateful for the time spent with them.

I’m having a blast here. It’s a challenging experience and full on at times, but to be in the presence of these people on this team and to be learning so much daily from them and from God in this capacity is such a rewarding thing. It’s cool. Seriously. I feel so out of my depth, so lacking in everything and seriously silly at times but I think that’s ok. It’s good to be out of your comfort zone. I would recommend this very much… I really would!

One example of being out of my comfort zone just happened earlier today. I was walking home through the village and saw about 20 girls dancing and playing outside a Church. They saw me and getting caught up in the enthusiasm I decided to join them in their dancing. They thought it was the funniest thing ever – a little, not completely coordinated white girl trying to keep up with these energetic young girls! I love dancing, it was nice to be able to communicate with these girls when we don’t speak the same language! It did get a bit full on though, when they decided the dancing wasn’t as fun as playing with my ‘long’ hair. Somehow I ended up in the middle of these girls (there now seemed to be double the number at least) they were pulling on my hair, touching my skin…it got a bit intense… don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being the centre of attention… it was just a …different experience… Eventually I worked my way out of the group and continued on my walk home.. T.I.A. Next time, I’ll tie my hair up.

One thing I’ve been learning here is … how to cook! I’m nowhere near awesome yet…but luckily the people around me are great cooks! I’ve joked that I have cooking lessons with Hannah every weekend… She always seems to be teaching me new things in the kitchen. Yesterday we even baked an apple pie…from scratch!!!!! No tins or pre mixes for us! (although the helpful hints from Heather probably helped dramatically..) I’ve come some way since my cocoa powder biscuit incident in the first few weeks I was here. (That’s for you Cam- it had to get a mention at some point!) Who knew cocoa powder isn't the same as drinking chocolate? And incase you're wondering, putting more cocoa then the recipe calls for will not make the final product more chocolatey and yummy...what it will do is make it feel like you have just eaten a pile of bitter sand. Yep. the things you learn in Africa.

Thanks for reading and supporting! I’m very grateful to you all!!

The epic Apple Pie 

Cooking dinner