Prasie the Lord I am in Mozambique

I am here in Maputo and it doesn’t feel like it has taken nearly as long as last time. It hasn’t taken as long as last time but it feels much shorter this time. Last night we were supposed to leave London at 9:30. We were sitting on the plane for a while before we left and I feel asleep and then I woke up just as they were finishing making some announcement that they had to take some part off the plane and go a switch it with another one. Then a while later I woke up and they were saying that we were waiting for a de-icer truck and London only has one so it was going to take 20 minutes for him to come. I am not sure what that was all about, because we never did get de-iced, but maybe if I was fully awake I would have heard all that he said. Anyways finally at 12 midnight we pulled away from the gate and got on our way. I hadn’t realized the flight was going to be 10.5 hours long. I made good use of the time and slept about 8 hours, probably the best long flight I have had yet. I usually can’t sleep that much.

We got into Johannesburg at 12:15pm and I thought my next flight left at 1:05. I looked at the board to see what gate it was departing from and it was A2. I went through security and then started running to my gate because I wasn’t going to miss to flight on one trip. I got to A2 all tired out and there was no one around, no one at the desk. I looked down the jet way and there wasn’t anyone. I wondered if boarding was already done. Then I saw another screen with flights and gates and I saw that they had changed the gate to A6. Off I went again running like a maniac starting to think that I was really going to miss my flight now, because the way the Jo’burg airport is setup there is a long ways between A2 and A6. I got to A6 at about 12:45 and the door was shut, I tried to open it and it was locked. There were a few people sitting there and they could see I was a little frantic. I asked them “Are you going to Maputo” and they said “Yes”. I asked if they were going on the 1:05 flight and then they said it leaves at 1:50. I was quite relived and went and found chair to sit down in and cool down. At 1:30 I had gone to the bathroom and on my way back I noticed the gate had been change again to A25. Off I went again running and lined up for boarding, after waiting for about 15 in line they told us they would be starting boarding for another 10 minutes. We probably didn’t leave till 2:30pm, but after missing one flight I wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again and thankfully it didn’t.

We arrived here in Maputo at 2:30pm. Went through passport check and then they take your passport away to put the visa in it. I sat there and watched the carrousel go around and around and around and around until I finally had to admit to myself that my bags just weren’t coming. I got my passport back with my visa and then went to the office to report my lost bags. That took quite sometime to get that all sorted out. There is a chance they might come this evening and be ready to fly with me in the morning to Lichinga. If they are not here by the time I fly then they will send them up when they do arrive. TIA (This is Africa) there is no sense in getting too excited about the lost luggage, thankfully I have a few other clothes with me in my carry on.

My taxi driver Orlando had so much patience while I did all this by the time we left to airport he had been waiting over 2 hours. He is a great guy he is the same one that picked me up last time. He knows a little English so we are able to carry on a bit of a conversation and I throw in a couple Spanish words once in a while and he understands. He was saying that it was a good thing I didn’t fly in yesterday because they had a really big rain storm here yesterday. There was a lot of evidence of it as we drove. There were drainage ditches just full of sand washed in my all the water. I also saw a street that had been washed away there was a ditch about 4 feet deep right through it. I guess many streets were right full and no taxis would have been able to get to the airport. Thankfully most of the water had subsided and Orlando was able to get me to the guest house where I am going to spend the night.

I just got settled into my room and took my first hot shower in a few days and my last one in, well let’s just say more then a few days. I haven’t been able to get the internet to work on my computer yet, so I am typing this up in faith that it will start working sometime tonight. I was just talking with someone here and they said that it has been very very hot here and yesterday they were complaining about it and then it started raining and now they are complaining about that. It is kind of humid now but it isn’t real hot right now.

Tomorrow morning will be an early one because Orlando will be around to pick me up at 4:30. The flight doesn’t leave till 6:55, but they want everyone there two hours early. I think I should get into Lichinga sometime before noon. It is only a three hour flight but we get fed three times, because we stop in two cities along the way, so every time more people get on they bring around the food and drinks again.

I am so happy to be here, even if my bags aren’t and I am pretty sure they will show up before I leave in four months. Thanks again to each one of you who have sent up prayers on my behalf and please don’t stop. It will probably be a few days till I will be able to post again, just so you know. I am sorry I cannot upload any picture at this time.

I definitely know that I am in a different country as I am typing I can hear the Muslims at prayer somewhere across town. Oh, if they could only see that they need to pray to Jesus and seek His forgiveness. How Satan has blinded them.