What fun it is to serve the Lord! He is always gracious and has such a sense of humor…..the latter shown to us at the local 8-lane bowling alley here in Maputo. Many of the boys in our camarata (dorm) have never seen a bowling alley, much less hold a bowling ball in their hands. I told the boys we were going on a field trip during the July holidays – and the night before I gave out new socks! Here in the bowing alley, you can bowl in socks, rubber-soled street shoes or barefoot. At least the boys would have new clean socks – and when we arrived, they opted for shoes also. As you can see from the picture, the boys all stood up and cheered one another on!!
A good time was had by all, and, who says you have to stick your fingers in the ball??! I encouraged the boys to go again – and dropped the hint that it was a great place to take a date – and the more, the merrier. I am sure we will be going again during the Nov-Jan school holidays.
In August, one of our Brazilian missionaries exchanged ‘I do’s’ with one of our Mozambican young men here in the center. Agostino, in his early 20s, has been a Christian role model for the boys and also in our transportation dept. as a driver for us. Clara, in her early 20s, has been with us two years, and they are a ‘match made in Heaven’. Agostino and I have been close friends ever since I came here and he showed me so much of Maputo and its history – now he is married! The Brazilian custom is to become engaged at the engagement party, and this was what they did so we missionary family could be a part of the happy occasion. Instead of the rings being placed on the left hand, the engagement rings are placed on the right hand ring finger. At the wedding, the rings are then placed on the left hand ring finger.
The All Africa Games (Olympics) are now in progress in Maputo. The stadium is a 20 minute walk from our center, and some of the venues are free, while other venues are about $2-$5 a ticket. I have only attended the Moz girls basketball game so far – will post pictures next blog. Swimming has proven to be of great interest – maybe because it has been 90F-105F since the games began. Of course, soccer (futbol) is packing out the stadium, as is basketball. So as not to be biased, I do have to say that Mozambique is not medalling well at all. We still have some time…games are not over until Sept. 18th.
As for me, I am preparing to visit America – family and friends – for the first time in 2 years and 8 months. God has provided for me to visit family in Texas and Mississippi, plus friends in Mississippi and Texas! I am quite excited to spend Thanksgiving with family and be brought back to this ‘century’ in the latest and greatest ‘stuff’ in the U.S.
