Being in Mozambique

I traveled to a new country this week. It’s not a secret. I love traveling. Any chance to get another passport stamp and I’m excited. But there was a more important reason to traveling to this country at this time. I have been thinking about the future and praying about where I might be the best help as a teacher. I feel like my time in Zambia might be coming to an end. So if not Zambia…where?

Mozambique was as good an option as any.

(Beautiful Mozambican Scenery)

A team was going to Mozambique to visit some of our friends. They had been working in Zambia but moved to Mozambique recently to work there. There had been some challenges and tough situations, so a team was going to visit and encourage them. They invited me to go with them.I said yes to the opportunity to visit my friends, see a new country. If I could bless and encourage them while there, awesome. If I could see the place and pray about moving there, even better!

We were a car of 5 people, but two hopped off in Malawi. Yes, Malawi is on the way to Mozambique…sort of. Well, it’s the best road route to take. And when I say best, I mean it was still three full days of driving there…and three days driving back.

First night we stopped at the Zambian/Malawian border. First passport stamp. The second night we stayed at friends near the southern tip of Malawi. The third day we crossed into Mozambique. Stamp number 2.

When I compare Malawi and Zambia, there are many similarities. The language is similar, houses are similar, landscape is similar. The people are a bit more closed at first, and poverty and lack of development is an obvious difference, but all in all, they feel like cousins. When we arrived in Mozambique, it felt really different. Perhaps closer to the Zambian border you might see more similarities, but where we were, it definitely felt like we were a long way away.

The first thing I noticed was the buildings. Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese, not the British. There is a distinct difference in the building style. The language is Portuguese, not English. It was strange to be in a country again where English is really not spoken. There was also a… character difference. The people were polite, but not particularly friendly. There was a closed-ness about them. A suspicion. People walked by without greeting you. I’m not sure if it’s the effects of having so many years of civil war. I felt the same when I visited Sierra Leone.

I’m not saying that the people are not friendly and helpful. They are. But they are also guarded, particularly until they know you.

There were also signs of poverty and under development. Or development that had fallen to ruins during war. There was a lot of sadness.

We spent a week in Mozambique meeting with people, eating with people, visiting and encouraging. We heard a lot of stories, met many people and felt very welcomed by the time we left.

I was invited by several people to move there and work. But I am slowly learning that the need does not equal the call. It can, but most often it can’t. The fact is that there are dozen of places that ‘need’ me, that could use me, that I could work effectively in. But I’m not sure that is enough. There were no blazing lights, no physical signs saying, “no, don’t move to Mozambique”, but rather a deep sense of peace about not moving. That this was not the time.

But I am happy to have gone. I am glad to have seen the place, met the people. Each person there has a story and I am privileged to be able to have heard it first-hand.

I’m tempted to think that it was a waste of a trip for me. I didn’t do anything, I didn’t help in any work. I took someone’s bed, food and time. But if there is one thing Africa is teaching me, it’s the value and importance of being present. Of spending time with people. From my western perspective, I don’t feel like I am of value when I am not doing something. But I am learning that just being is valuable. Being a presence, being an encouragement, being an ear.

Mozambique, thank-you for showing me that to just be…is beautiful!