Day 12

Today will mark our seventh full day of teaching...


Pastor Tchuse!!! Sadly, I do not know a whole lot about this pastor...other than he is a character. If you've meet him, it would be hard to forget him. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and a very caring heart.

Please, take a moment and pray for Pastor Tchuse (pronounced Chew-ze)

Well, back to the daily grind again! haha

After another wonderful breakfast, we were quickly out the door and on our way to the teaching center. Probably of all the days, I was the MOST tired this particular day...I don't know why though. Maybe because of Sunday, or just the whole trip is finally catching up to me...I dunno. The whole day was pretty rough.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Jim, Billy, and Jessica who came to hang out for the whole day...and I forgot to mention that Wanne had left the house with us as well. Basically, it was a nice change and all of them gave a little more energy to the day. The teaching is VASTLY beneficial to people like Jim, Billy, and Jessica who are working on their language development. They are able to hear how John translates our English into Portuguese...and they are also surrounded by Portuguese speakers.

When the service had started, I noticed that Pastor Orlando and Pastor Jaime were back...I was very glad to see them. You know the expression, "the elephant in the room"? Well in American culture, we ignore the elephant...in Africa, they address it right off the bat. After a song, Joâo asked both men to tell the group what had happened so that we would all know:

Pastor Orlando...talked to his in-laws, and to his wife. They are no longer planning on meeting a witch doctor. Praise God!

Pastor Jaime...his wife is fine, and is getting better! She has been out to see friends, and even swept around their home. Praise God!

After hearing all that God had done, Joâo wanted to sing "God is so good" but in all the languages that were represented in that room. I truly think that I will NEVER forget just how amazing it was...it was real worship. We sang it first in Chawbo, then in Senu, then in Lomwe, then in Portuguese, and then finally in English...had drums, the yambie, the whole deal.

After the song, it was my turn (how the heck do you follow that?!). I thanked the Pastors for the incredible worship, and told them that this was my first time singing that song in four different languages...turns out it was theirs also! haha. I was able to finish the book of Proverbs, and much to Wanne's embarrassment I used her as an example of "the excellent wife". Once we had concluded the book, the pastors had several questions and discussed a few things. At the end they said that this was a very good teaching. I then began teaching out of Ecclesiastes. We started pretty slow in this particular book, because it was hard for the Pastors to understand Solomon's extremely pessimistic view on life. Once we grasped the "why", and also understood the expression "like a vapor" we were able to move on. We spent a lot of time in Ecc. 3:1-8, a very well known passage. I talked about a time for joy, and a time for sorrow. We also spent a lot of time on Ecc. 4:9-12, which talked about true friendship and what it looks like. I shared how I once had a person in my life that I thought was a true friend, but then turned out not to be.

There was a point where I was talking about Solomon's grand test where he searches thousands of people to find a wise person. The text says that out of a thousand men, only one wise man was found and no women. Dino stopped me there and asked, "How should we interpret this verse? Does it mean to say that women are not wise?" I just about died laughing, especially because it was such a serious question. haha.

After this discussion, it was time for our break. It was nice having Jessica and Wanne around; we mostly relaxed and took it easy. Like I said earlier...for some reason I was super tired today, just not a lot of energy.

After the break Pastor Rick began teaching on goal setting, which is a new idea to these pastors. He did very well, and it created A LOT of discussion. In fact, even after lunch he taught the remainder of his major point so that the pastors where able to receive the teaching all in one day.

Lunch came...maza, beans, fish. Not gonna miss the beans, that's fore sure. haha. Jessica and I spent a lot of time playing with the kids from the nearby village.

After lunch, Rick went right back into his teaching and like I said before, he had the majority of the time. It was a vastly important point, so John wanted to make sure that everybody understood what was being said. Rick was able to finish his teaching on goal setting, and I was left with about 15 minutes to cover the last half of Ecclesiastes. Haha, let's just say I didn't get there.

Once we were finished, it was time to head home. The sunset was extra beautiful that evening, and John even slowed down enough for me to snap a couple pictures. Once home, I asked the night guard Calesteo (probably misspelled that) if he could make me a African shirt. This is the same guy who made my pants the previous year, so I knew this would be much easier for him. After a wonderful dinner, I was just plain ready for bed. I was out like a light!

Things to remember...

* John "rapping"...SUPER hurt.

* "There's a crazy guy" -John Dina

Favorite picture...