Days 1-4

Oh my, where to begin on this post.

Travel for the most part went very well, and it was much easier getting around without a large group to check on every 30 seconds. Having said that though, I very much missed having a group going along with me. Nobody to sync movies with on the long flight, nobody to play play hackie-sack in airport terminals. So to Jana, Anthony, Paul, Denisse, Linda, Jeremy, Lexie, and Daniel...you were greatly missed, and still are.

For the most part, travel went well though. We arrived at BIMS in Johannesburg tired and hungry. The missionary, Suzanne, was very nice and had her hands full running the place. When we checked into our rooms, we meet some missionaries from Botswana who where rooming in the room next to us. After we talked from some time, we learned that one of them was a former pilot for Air LAM. I asked, "So why are you a former pilot with LAM?"

He said, "LAM tried to kill me. I've only crashed one airplane, and that was because of LAM"

I then told him we were flying on LAM tomorrow...then thanked him for the wonderful story. Nothing like a good near death crash story to increase your prayer life!

Before we went to bed, I asked Suzanne to give us a wake up call at 6:00am to make sure we would get to our flight on time. She agreed, but then she did a really odd thing. At around 2:30am she called our room to wake us up, thinking it was 6:00am. We couldn't see the clock, and our cell phones were still on U.S. time so we started to get ready to go. We got another call from her about 5 minutes later and she asked if she had called us. I said, "Yeah, you don't remember 5 minutes ago?"

She told me, "It's not 6:00am, it's 2:30 so go back to bed" she then hung up!

So when she called our room again, I asked if it was really 6:00am this time. She later explained that she had a dream that she was late giving us a wake up call, and in a half awake state she called us at 2:30am. She then sat there, wondering if she had dreamed that she called us...or if she really called us. haha. I told her I'm glad she took the chance and see if she really did.

From that point we only had minor problems at the airport...couldn't find tickets, our luggage was too heavy, late flights, etc but God worked through it all. I told Rick that if God wants us there, we'll be there so there wasn't much to worry about in my book.

From Johannesburg we flew to Maputo and meet the Jackson family. Steve and Carla completely missed my many Jackson 5 references. I still thought they were funny. They showed us a store called "Game", which was actually bought out by Wal*Mart and looks almost just like one. One our way back home we'll be staying the night with them in Maputo and getting to see the town a little bit more. For the people that were on the previous trip with me, the airport actually looks like one now...everything was new. Here in Mozambique there is a large Chinese influence on infrastructure; lots of new buildings made by the Chinese. I asked John how the government can afford it, and he said the Chinese don't take money they just trade for resources. So, the Chinese will offer to build a bridge, a road, or an airport for certain resources like pineapple, fish, but mainly lobster & shrimp.

Anyways...we arrived. John meet us in the airport with soda and samusha's, and after 3 days of airplane food...let me tell you, it was like heaven on earth. Once we got our luggage we quickly went home to the Dina's, had a later supper, then John and Wanne went through what the week will look like.

John gave me my material that I had written for the OT course, it came out to 128 pages front to back. He also gave me a Portuguese to English New Testament Bible. I gave John & Wanne a "I heart Laveen" license plate and a camouflage coffee thermos. The license plate is in a VERY prominent place :)

We then learned that Rick and myself would be split up and teaching at two different locations on Sunday. So, with that said we went to bed!

We woke VERY early, ate a amazing breakfast and met with Jim and Susan Otter in Nicodala. This was my first time actually meeting them both, I had only talked with Jim over the phone and have seen them on facebook. They are an amazing couple! From there we split up, John & Wanne took me to an older church plant called Kitengule. The church was rare because it actually had four walls, a tin roof, and concrete flooring. Although, to an American who has never seen concrete outside of the States...you could probably hardly tell the difference between a concrete floor and just regular dirt. One of the really neat things that I saw...well...actually I heard it first was the Africans using the floor like a shaker instrument by sliding their feet back and forth. It was really amazing...they do soo much with so very little here.

The service went well...lots of singing, the Sunday School classes each gave presentations (songs & scripture reading), John & Wanne got to lead a baby dedication, and I closed the service with a sermon from Nehemiah. There were a lot of children in the area, so after service John & I busted out the Frisbee which is a HUGE hit here. Once we got people playing, I took out a small Chinese toy that Tim had given me and played with some of the younger children. Those kids take you out also! They don't mess around! After we played around a lot it was time to eat. Freshly killed chicken (which I heard getting killed during the service), rice, and some very interesting potatoes with some sort of coconut sauce (mixed with oil, and chicken grease). It was all very good, and hey! I getta eat with my fingers and nobody will say anything! We need to get this going in the States, God gave us fingers...the world gave us silverware. Do not conform to the world! It's Biblical.

After we were done at the church, we drove back to the Dina's and rested. Jessica Reimersma (pretty sure I just killed her last name) and Sally invited us over for dinner. Jessica made pizza for everybody and it was very good! Loved hearing about all they are doing here and was glad to FINALLY meet them for the first time.

All in all, it has been an amazing past few days. I'm eager to see what God has in store tomorrow and cannot wait to get to know all the local pastors. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers, emails, and support!!

Things for me to remember...

* "McGager is right" -Pastor Rick Butterworth

* "If you want to know where a bathroom or kitchen is, ask a woman" -John Dina

* "So, am I swag?" -John Dina

* Flies bite you here...and draw blood!

* John's "lectures"

My favorite picture o' the day...

I gotta add...not my best work above, it was SUPER dusty in the church with horrible lighting. Pictures will also be much harder for me to get this time around because I'm doing the majority of talking.