Two Days of Travel

So this is it: we have arrived in Nampula, Mozambique!  Already we have experienced God’s protection and blessing, and we thank you for your prayers!  Why do I say this?  Read on to find out!

On Tuesday, Hillary’s mom brought us to the airport in Minneapolis around 3:30 p.m., and we sailed through all the security/checking in stuff.  We grabbed a bite to eat and were hanging out by our gate, when we found out our flight was going to be delayed about one hour.  This had us a little worried, because we already thought we didn’t have much time in Chicago for our connecting flight.  So, after having to wait the hour (plus a little more) we were in the air headed for Chicago, with an estimated 12 minutes between when our flight landed and our next flight took off.

Needless to say, we were a little worried.  It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if we missed our connecting flight, because all our flights were booked at once, and the airline would have been responsible for getting us to our destination.  However, we had planned on meeting someone during our layover in London, and we really would have been disappointed had that not worked out.  So we land in Chicago and literally run through the terminal towards our next gate.  The cool part is, God worked it out that our next gate was only five gates away.  So there we are running awkwardly and we see the gate attendant at our gate calling up and down the hallway “London? Anyone for London?”  Frantically waving our tickets and shouting, we arrive breathlessly as they hurry us on the plane, three minutes before the scheduled take-off.  God was certainly on our side there.

Then came the seven-hour overnight flight to London.  Both of us were relatively keyed-up and sleep did not come easily, probably only two hours for each of us.  But when we arrived in London, we were incredibly blessed with a very nice visit with this friend who lives about 45 minutes from the airport.  She took us home to a “real, live English home” as Hillary calls it, where she served us lunch, let us play with her kids, and let us refresh ourselves.  This was a very nice blessing, and although we were a little tired, it was nice to break up our travels like that.  Refreshing for our souls, at least.

Afterwards, she took us back to Heathrow airport, and we spent over ten hours on our next flight (also overnight) to Johannesburg, South Africa.  That one was a doozy, to say the least.  Neither of us slept very well and were pretty out of it as we wandered around the airport.  Our last flight from Jo’burg to Nampula was actually quite nice, as we both slept most of it (about two hours).

Still, 48 hours of travel with only five hours of some kind of sleep and a few periods of upset tummies (not to mention a seven-hour time difference) left us rather incapable of most mental functions, and conversation with the various people and missionaries we met Thursday afternoon and evening was mostly one-sided, to say the least.  Hillary went so far as to say she felt inches from death.  But we slept like a rock Thursday night, and are now ready for the many adventures God has in store for us!  Thanks again for your prayers, helping us to arrive safe and sound in Mozambique!

~Mark

Six-Week Science Teacher

I've been waiting to post about what I'll be doing in Mozambique because I just wasn't sure. I received an e-mail from my contact in Moz about a month ago, listing a couple of possibilities, but I didn't see a point in posting all the possibilities when I might end up doing none of those things anyway.

However, on Friday night I received an e-mail from my contact at the school where I will be working. She said that she had been reading through my past experience and training and had just noticed that I had studied science. She said that the school had had a science teacher lined up for the 2012-2013 school year, but that person canceled unexpectedly. She thought maybe God had planned this just right, and would I like to teach science for the 6/7th grade and 8/9th grade class for the duration of my stay in Mozambique?

As many of my library coworkers will know, I love science and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to teach for six weeks! I definitely think that God orchestrated events to benefit the school and allow me to use something I'm passionate about! At this point I'm not too nervous about having only days to prepare for teaching, but maybe that will hit me when I get there. For now I'm just excited: excited to get to know the kids and minister to them in whatever ways they need and excited to teach science.

Please pray that:

• I'll be able to minister to the kids and love them in whatever ways they need right now
• the students I teach will learn lots of science and will learn about how amazing God is through science
• I do a fine job teaching, even with minimal prep starting up

Luggage Full of School Supplies

Mark and I were especially touched over the last couple months to hear from the church we had attended while living in southern Minnesota. They wanted to make us the missions focus for their summer Vacation Bible School.

When we agreed to this, they said that they would share with the kids about what we were going to do in Mozambique and that all the offering money collected during VBS would go toward our trip. We’re planning on visiting the church in the fall, sometime after coming home, to share with the kids about what we did while we were in Mozambique.

The money the kids collected during the week surprised and delighted us. The school where I will be working mentioned that whatever school supplies I could bring down with me would be helpful, as quality supplies are hard to come by where we’ll be. It seemed natural, then, when we realized that we would have enough money, to decide to bring an extra suitcase full of school supplies to the school where I will be working.

Feel free to watch the video that we sent to the VBS program at the church in Minnesota here. Be warned: we filmed this video at about 11:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening after a long and busy week.

We think this is a good use of the money for a few reasons: 1) the school in Mozambique would benefit from the supplies and 2) the children at the church in Minnesota will get to see a tangible way in which their offering money was used. We’re hoping and praying that seeing how God uses their offerings will cultivate in each child a generous heart and a passion for missionary work both in and outside of the U.S.

Here’s the school supplies in the suitcase, artistically arranged by Mark:

Please pray that this suitcase and all its contents make it safely to Mozambique!

Passport Photos Revealed

I wasn't really planning on publishing these passport photos, but Mark went to all the effort last night of scanning and cropping. So, here you go. Happy-Go-Lucky next to Killer Death Stare:

A Pile of Packing and Passport Photos

I chuckle every time I glance over at our little pile in the corner of things we plan to take to Mozambique with us. The pile itself isn’t entertaining. It’s the copies of our passports lying on top.

Mark squished our passports right next to each other to fit them both on one sheet. His passport is older; he got it back in 2006. My passport is band-spanking-new, because I hadn’t traveled outside of the country since getting married and changing my last name.

When Mark had his passport photo taken, apparently there were no facial expression requirements. Now, I know this about my husband: whenever there are no facial expression guidelines for him to follow for a photo, the facial expression he will assume will not be normal. His passport photo is no exception. His head is cocked slightly to the left and up, his eyes are slightly closed, and his mouth is hanging open in a wide lazy smile.

When I went in January to have my passport photo taken, I was told I couldn’t smile. I had to look serious. I remembered, from having my driver’s license photo taken two years ago that when I’m told I can’t smile and a picture is taken of me stoically staring at the camera, I’m bound to look drugged. So, being the quick thinker that I am, I made every effort to open my eyes wide in what I hoped was an alert and intelligent facial expression.

I’ve since realized I need to go stand in front of the mirror making facial expressions for at least 15 minutes a day because the result of my attempt to look ‘alert’ and ‘intelligent’ actually comes across as, “Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to kill you if you don’t let me into your country.”

So, our packing list that had been on paper is slowly materializing in the corner of our house, our places of employment are making plans to fill in the chinks while we’re gone, and our fridge is slowly emptying out.

We’re so excited to see all these plans finally turn into realities!

-Hillary

Financial Support

Mark and I are excited to announce that all of our necessary financial support has come in! We have been continually blessed and challenged by the sacrificial giving that's flooded in on our behalf. I know I have been brought to tears more than once as we've been made aware of who has supported us and how. We have felt God's affirmation of this trip over and over, as He has not even give me time to stress (and as many of you know-- that's saying something) over the money before it was there!

This isn't going to be a long post today, but I wanted to make sure to let you know that our support is raised. If you would still like to support us in our trip, you have a few options:

1) You can pray for us (and let us know you're praying for us)! Every prayer and word of encouragement means a great deal to us.
2) You can still choose to send money to support our work in Mozambique. At this point, extra money that is sent will go to aiding Wycliffe Bible Translators in their work or in support another mission in Mozambique.

Watch for a few more updates coming soon on:

• how you can pray for us in the one-month count-down to our trip
• what I might possibly be doing while Mark is immersed in ethnomusicology work
• why learning Portuguese is fun

Two Snapshots Into Mark's Head

Scary prospect, I know, but fear not.  We tend to fear what we do not understand, and since the purpose of this post is to promote understanding, specifically of what makes me (Mark) tick, I am hopefully reducing your fears.

Anyway, I have two videos that will help to give a picture to those who may be confused about what music can have to do with missions.  The first video has a neat story of the way an arts consultant changed the way a group of people viewed their own cultural music- turning something that was used in the traditional religions of that area into scripture songs.  The second gives a good idea of part of what an "arts consultant" does. 
http://www.wycliffe.org/Go/Careers/TypesofWork/LanguageWork/ArtsConsultation.aspx

These activities are likely ones in which I will get to participate on our trip, and if the phrase "geeked out" means anything to you, you'll know how I feel about this!
~Mark