My First Week in Mozambique

It doesn't feel like I arrived in Beira a week ago, but it's true. The majority of my time is spent either in my Portuguese classes or studying and doing home work. I actually have one teacher not three like I think I had mentioned in my last letter. My teacher Chissico is excellent. It is very evident that he has taught many people before. He is very good at explaining things but most importantly he doesn't crowd my brain with a lot of other things, like how to say the same phrase in six different verb tenses. He sticks to the specific things we are studying right then. This helps me very much. I am so thankful for your prayers. I am understanding what I am being taught and I am having fun learning and I know this is an answer to so many peoples prayers. I am so excited about the prospects of being able to someday in the not too distant future be able to communicate in Portuguese.

Already as I ride in taxis and read signs I am picking out phrases and I am starting to understand things as I recall different verb tenses I have learned and the language starts to make sense. After months of looking at signs with just letters on them and hearing people say words that meant nothing it all start to take shape.
Internet has been a little bit more of an issue then i had first thought it might, The internet cafe I went to when I was here in April no longer allows you to connect your own computer. I really wanted to be able to do this so that i can down load my emails and be able to read them when I am off line. My teacher has been very generous to let me use the internet at the school the last few days but I didn't want to keep tying up their line.

I found a shopping centre that has wireless internet. I went to log on and I found out I needed to set up and account. I found a phone number and called someone down in Maputo about setting up an account and they told me I needed to talk to someone in an store here in Beira. I went there and they said that they could set up an account because the obis wasn't there and he wouldn't be back till Thursday. That was Monday when I first went. On Thursday I went back and the boss was not in so I sat and waited. Finally the boss called and told one of the guys from the store to go with me to the mall and help me get set up for the internet there. As he and I walked over to the mall we got talking. He started asking me why I was here in Mozambique and what I do. I shared with him that I am a missionary and I have come to share with people about the Lord Jesus. To tell them about the new life He has given me and the new life that is available to everyone. He found it interesting.

I was blessed with a new computer before I left and I now have a Mac. As I opened it up Felix this guy that came with me had many questions about it and wanted to know if I could teach him how to work the Mac operating system. Mac computers are not very well know here in Mozambique. Felix helped me get connected to the internet and we talked for about and hour a little bit about macs but then mostly about Felix. He is from Malawi he doesn't speak Portuguese and he is here working trying to make some money working at this computer store so that he can send money back to Malawi to help support his siblings and his nieces and nephews of his three siblings who have passed away. It was about 3pm and he needed to get back to work, but he wanted to come back and learn more about how to use mac. We agree that I would wait around in town and he would come back at 5pm after he was done work. Just so you know I don't really know much about Macs but God is just using this little bit I do know for me to build a friendship with Felix. I spent the next couple hours doing my portuguese homework. Finally at 6pm I called Felix to see where he was and he said he was coming and arrived a few minutes later. It showed him a few programs and a little bit of what they do for about half and hour and then for the next hour and a half he was asking more questions about me. He would say"Andrew so what exactly do you mean when you say you are a missionary, what will you do here?" I then shared my testimony with him and explained what it meant to be a Christian. He has had a christian back ground and understands somethings and seems to be a very well living young man. I just feels he needs to live and do his best here and whatever happens happens.

Please keep Felix in your prayers as we exchanged phone numbers and I am sure we will get together more over the next few weeks. I never would have guess and I still do know what all God wants to bring out of this situation of me trying to get connected to the internet. God is working in peoples lives all around us and He just uses common everyday things to bring us into contact with people. Felix is really searching and he has a love for the Lord and knows He is in control, but he is just not sure how he fits into God's plan.

I guess I havenʼt have enough time on buses lately so Friday morning at 6:30 I rode a bus three and a half hours to Chimoio. This is the fourth largest city in Mozambique just a little smaller then Beira.I am here in Chimoio to visit Marc & Andrea Pavkov and their their two sons Micah and Nate. I got to know them when I us to work with Teen Missions. They are now serving with a different ministry as well and I just wanted to come visit them and see what they are doing

here.

Friday afternoon there was a meeting with a lot of the other missionaries that are working here in Chimoio as well. There are missionaries from Brazil, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, and the US. I enjoy meeting other missionaries who are working in the same country as God has
called me to.

Last night for the first time I was dreaming some in Portuguese. I had people speaking Portuguese and I saw some written as well and I could understand it.Thank you to each of you for the part you play in the work here. Thanks so much for your prayers for my language studies they are being answered.

I have been surviving on PB&J sandwiches for most of my time in Beira. It is just that I don't have a fridge so I can't keep things for long and if I want to cook something I have to heat it with charcoal. It seems kind of pointless to go to all the work of getting charcoal burning (which isn't the easiest thing to do) to cook a meal for one person, but I think I am going.

P.S. Sorry I don't have many pictures I will try to do better in this area in the future.