Happy Christmas?

Christmas is a time of love, friendship, happiness, joy, peace and goodwill to all mankind. Or so we are meant to believe.
At times I wonder how happy it really is for some. Memories of bad Christmas, loss of loved ones, separation of families, there is a number of factors that can contribute. This is not meant to hit until you reach adulthood.

This year among all the joy I took this photo.

This is one girl from my friends dorm. There were times over Christmas morning she sat and just stared into space. There were moments of joy but the pain of separation was quite visible.

She came to the centre a number of months ago now. The police or social services brought her here as they felt she was not safe at home due to events which had taken place.

This was her first Christmas away from her family and it was clear how hard and different it was for her. I hope that this Christmas has replaced horrible memories with happy ones.

Christmas: Part 2

Having gone to bed at stupid o’clock, which was totally my own fault as I was chatting to home online and listening to the sound of chickens being chopped in the kitchen (which was very loud – the chopping not the chickens as thankfully they were dead) and up at 7 its fair to say I was a little tired. It was raining and cold so it really felt like Christmas day.

Why up so early? Well it’s simple, to see the kids with their stockings. Tracey’s dorm has eight 5-8 yr olds in it. Can you imagine the excitement? They had a sleep over in her room the night before and woke I am told at 6.15. I am glad I don’t feel called to be a dorm parent at this time of year, in fact any time of the year. I got to rack up at 7ish…. much more civilised. They each had a little “stocking” at their place on the breakfast table.



Walking through the door I was met with the screams of 8 very excited kids. "Look, look, look!" was being shouted at me from all around and of course at this time the sweets were all eaten and they hadn’t even received their Santa bag yet. It was the best way to start Christmas Day. From there I went to the Baby House, all the kids were waiting to get their presents.

The excitement there was even greater, and of course with more kids a little more chaos but it was excellent. Steve and Ros the centre directors go round each of the dorms and help hand out the gifts so this takes up the whole morning, they also have an entourage with them which makes for very full rooms with other long termers and visitors.
The nursery was lovely, sharing with the kids first Christmas. There was no big deal made about it, but for me this was something special.

Lucia's first Christmas.

Then came Christmas dinner. What a feast! The older guys had been up late last night decorating the church, and they did an amazing job.
Chicken, chips, rice, spaghetti, potato salad, salad. This was a feast for me and even more for the kids here.

Then came one of the other very special moments. We had asked that 100 kids from the Bocaria come up for lunch. When I say 100 there were a lot more. When they were leaving they were given a present as they left, to see their faces was just beautiful.

The long termers gathered in the evening for a party and food. Unknown to us the short termers had got together to do some carol singing for us- it was really very nice.

So with good friendship through the day, a phone call home and the company of many children, this all made for a great Christmas.

Christmas: Part 1

What a blessing it has been to be here for Christmas. If I am being honest as the day came closer I was getting a real homesick feeling, and thinking “what have I done!” But I think it’s fair to say it has to be one of my best Christmases. There is so much to tell, so will break it down. Also it felt like Christmas as we had winds, rains and sandstorms.

Christmas Eve:
Joy to the World – the CD is finished (at least my part is). Watch the Album Charts -this may go platinum. The critics love it! My phone is ringing off the hook with buyers and record companies all wanting a piece of it. Oh sorry, must have gone into a day dream there! Back to the real world. We are looking for somewhere to duplicate it.

I was planning to go on street ministry, as the CD dragged on a little it meant I didn’t get to go which for me I think was a blessing in disguise. At that stage I found myself thinking a lot about home and what they would be doing to prepare for Christmas, etc. and really missing people. The teams went out to hand out chicken dinners to street people. While they were there things got quite nasty for one of the teams and some of the street guys started to grab the food and turned on the team. They drove off in the truck but the mob followed mounting the truck and throwing rocks at them, hitting one of our guys. Thankfully he is ok. I think if I had gone with them and been there in the middle of it, with how I was feeling, I would have been on a plane out that night!

I am moving rooms so I started painting in the afternoon. The name of my paint is Irish Glory (I took it as a sign from God when I picked up the first swatch card and saw the name). So tonight my room is finished and I am starting to move stuff in. Photos will follow.

Christmas Eve was magical. There was a candlelight service. The service had various dorms and people participating. The highlight for me was the nativity play. This was acted out by Tracey’s Dorm (age 5) and the oldest kids in the Baby House (4/5ish). A few photos below. The girl’s dorm did really well too. Their rap was a real crowd pleaser.

After the service I got to help be Santa. I was so excited. I have never done this before and never did I think it would be for 38 kids! They were all sleeping as we were sneaking out their bags. I loved it, and was imagining their faces on Christmas morning. What a buzz! Now it felt like Christmas.

In the middle of the day, the centre received a special Christmas present. A new boy, aged we think 7, named Lucas. From what I can remember he was abandoned in the hospital. He is going to need a lot of love and care, but smiles and laughs and to be able to share a few minutes of his life was a joy on Christmas Eve.

One is not amused.

Since Sunday I have not been very well, I slept a lot yesterday which left me wide awake last night. I was still on the computer at 2.45 when we had a power cut! Normally when the power goes off here, which is almost a daily occurrence a generator will kick in. When the power went of last night.... NADA - nothing. Silence, no motors kicking in, no sound of the generator hum, no sound of my fan restarting up, no sound of the freezer coming back on. So I lay in the dark with only the light of my laptop.

Well as you can imagine, the day was 116 degrees, so the night wasn't particularly cold! The temp started to rise in my room. I was sweating and not amused at having no electricity and no generator and especially no fan. I think i eventually fell asleep about 5am!

What I will say for not having the sound of a fan constantly going is that I get to hear the sound of Mozambique at night and the birds starting in the morning. If it wasn't so hot it would have been nice.

This morning when I got up and by choice had a cold shower, I woke to the news that in fact there wasn't a power cut at all. Some of the boys had jumped the fence flipped the electricity switches OFF so they could steal some people's clothes! One was definitely NOT amused on hearing this. So this morning I am sleep deprived, still not feeling great, and also have a sore finger because I had a Malaria test!.

These are some of the joys of living with 300 kids, some of whom are yet to become reformed thieves and street boys, and a large community living on the other side of a wall which is nowhere near high enough to stop them jumping over.

Sadly theft here is really on the increase. Its silly things which are being taken now, food from fridges, water bottles, cartons of milk. I wonder how much is desperation to find a gift at Christmas.

Community Christmas

One mammoth feeding session down and the bigger one yet to come. Yesterday was the Christmas community lunch for children and adults from the various communities which we work in.

The kitchen were cooking chicken for about 300 people. Which turned into 450! This week on Street Ministry 250 take aways dinners will be prepared. Then they will cook for more on Chrstmas Day, about 750. To enable them to have Christmas Day done they stay up all night on Christmas Eve cooking, so spare a thought for these guys. The gas is still an issue. We think there is enough for the kitchen for 10 more days but the rest of the centre is out and we are looking at Jan now before there is any in the city. I do get challenged a lot to remember there is always enough!

Church yesterday had an interesting aroma to it. At one end there was the smell of chicken cooking…. Yummmm. At the other was the smell wafting in from the sewage hole still wide open from Wednesday. NICE! Thank goodness the sound desk was nearer the chicken end. Mind you sometimes the other smell made itself known. I was praying the fragrance of Jesus in…. clearly I am not as righteous as I had thought!.

Well church was its usual length, in 116 degrees the smell and the shouting from the preacher did not help me engage too much.

After the service was when the work began. What a mammoth task, but it has to be said it went like clockwork.

We had production lines passing the food out to everyone, no riots, people waiting patiently and a lovely atmosphere to the event. Not a morsel was left.

It really made me think what the feeding of the 5000 must have been like, it really was a privilege to be able to serve the poor in Jesus name.

I hope the photos will help you grasp a little of the day.

He put it all away


The production line



Saving the best will last.



All gone.

Homesick

So as the festive season draws near I am finding myself a little more homesick than I expected. I am NOT missing the commercialism or the umpteen pre Christmas Dinner dinners! But I am missing the little traditions which until now I thought I didn’t care about. The carols in Church, the cold (WHY I hear you all scream back), the sickening Christmas Hits, 9 Lessons and Carols from Kings while mum gets ready for Christmas day. (notice I did say Mum not me), the smell of a Pine tree. Ok should stop or I may just cry or puke!

This week however there have been a few things to help me get over my small homesick feeling and prove that this really is a small world after all.

The first thing which hit me and helped was hearing “This is the BBC World Service, broadcasting from Bush House”. Wait… I used to work there and archive the Focus on Africa programmes I have been listening to and know the floor that is being broadcast from! Now I am appreciating what at one point I had started to loathe archiving.

The second was hearing a Southern Irish accent. This week a lady from Athlone was on the base and her accent was beautiful and so felt like another part of home was with me. Her husband works at the Irish Embassy. Lovely to meet her.

Third – mail arriving from my Mummy and Daddy.

Finally today I saw a familiar face. Ehi, he was one of the short termers here with me in February this year. When we left in Feb I had a feeling that our paths would cross again, little did I know it would be this soon. It’s so nice to see a face from the past here. Also today I was chattin with someone who knows Holywood, Co.Down well and also knew a bit about Bangor. I know its something small but it all adds up to helping a gal get over a few emotional bumps.

So enough about me, what’s been going on here!

Thursday: I decided I would finish the CD, this meant I didn’t get to see many kids. I worked for hours on it, only to discover late in the evening none of the work was saved! Ok…. Let me just remember, Love, Joy, Peace, PATIENCE… that’s the one! Hummmmm,

Fri: I changed my schedule slightly so I could go to the Bocaria for the Adult Church and walking through the people living and working there. With a flat bed truck, we headed off. It was decided a long time back that for various reasons we wouldn’t give out food parcels this year at Christmas. We arrived at the dump and obviously word had got out that this would be the day for food. The crowd was unbelievable. It was clear most were there for only one thing.

It also became quickly apparent that they were not going to be happy once they discovered there were no food parcels, so plans had to change quickly. We stayed in church for a long time and scrapped any plans to walk through the people. Normally when food parcels are given out at Christmas the police are there to control the mob and gangs. We could see that some of the gang members were there waiting for trouble, its quite hard to relax when you know that at any moment things could go south and there would be a riot before you knew it.

Thankfully with wisdom and guidance the guy leading it ended the service and we started to walk away. My heart did break for the desperation of these people and at the same time there is an expectation that they are owed something from us for Christmas. It’s not easy here sometimes.

The flip side of this is that today I feel like a real girlie! I went and had a manicure done. Africa is the only place where I can successfully grow my nails... when you see the amount of gunk under them at the end of the day it’s certainly stops ME biting them!

So I found myself in the city today with time to spare and thought I would get one done. So I have silver nails tonight and very soft hands from a great massage. Who knows how long it will last here, I could really do with a Pedicure, but couldn’t face have someone look at my feet today – they were boggin’.

What a Stinkin' Day!

Well as most of you know this is Africa. And in Africa anything can happen. This last 24 hours, well in fact since Sunday has had quite a few challenges in it, not least of all a break in to my room, but nothing was taken thankfully. The mozzie guard cut but they didn’t get the door. I am slightly nervous that they will come back!

Second challenge is that the Church sound board which was caught innocently in a water fight on Sunday night cannot be brought back to life. It is fried! Thankfully I had the wit not to plug it in or I may have been toast! The thing to remember is that in England, this would be very bad. However, here its a disaster as they are not as easy to repair or replace! And I will be living by faith for a new one.

This afternoon however was a totally difference challenge! We had a sewage truck “fall” into a sewage hole. We think the land gave way, but see the photos. The smell was awful! And we really bless them as they kindly dumped all the sewage in the hole to make the truck lighter when trying to pull/dig it out!

Many of the long termers here had really wanted a swimming pool onsite… I somehow don’t think this I what they had in mind, but the Lord does work in mysterious ways!

Take out the trash day

It’s so cold today! Well that’s according to the Mozambicans. They are out in fleeces and woolly hats. It’s a mere 28 Celsius. So I am still in shorts and T shirt. This morning poured with rain, which I was very thankful to see. The Irish gal in me was screaming for rain! What a welcome sight it was. It also helped give me a perspective that we were in December and this is how it should feel.

The Christmas Party at the Bocaria was excellent. There must have been 350ish kids there. Singing and listening to the Nativity story. Please see the photos below (more will follow). There were a lot of good seeds planted today, now they need watering. Also never did I think I would do sound on the dump, but today it was needed!

I had a real blonde moment at the end when we were clearing up the rubbish from the party, I asked “Do we have a black bag to collect the rubbish to take back” The response was…. You are on the dump, just go outside and throw it there! I found this really bizarre, what I would have taken away would just end up back here!

Stopping for the One

Today I found myself stopping for one. One boy whose name I still don’t know was “trailed” into church by his sister? and friends. He was from the Bocaria. The reason for the trailing was the massive cut on his heel. His friends were trying to look after it by tying a very dirty rag around it. The kid was in agony, eyes dull and came and sat on my knee and just clung looking for that place of security and someone to protect his foot from his friends.

I eventually tracked down the medical on call person and took him to the clinic to see if there was anything we could do. The nurse firstly soaked his foot. The amount of sand in the wound was unbelievable and the rawness was horrible too.

This kid didn’t speak at all but yet he did all his communication with his eyes. He looked at me as I carried him to the clinic as if to say, “I don’t know where you are taking me but I do know you are trying to help.” Well I like to think that is what he was thinking.

While we were waiting, to try and distract him from the pain of cleaning the wound, the nurse gave him a biscuit. He devoured it. She then handed him the packet and a fizzy drink - he hardly took time to breath while eating, I got the feeling he hadn’t eaten much all week.

The sight of a kid so hungry really hit me hard. He did seem brighter once we were leaving. Food in his stomach, clean bandage on his heel and someone to say, you are worth helping. We did what we could today. We spoke to the girl who was caring for him to ask if they could bring him back to get the bandage changed tomorrow. Now we wait.

CD

I had a lovely conversation with a Pastor I met yesterday. His name is CD! I was wondering was it the Lord giving me a gentle push to remind me why I am really here! We were chatting for ages… I almost missed this opportunity as my mind was somewhere else when he said “Hello” to me. He is a Pastor of a church in the “bush” which he says is about a 5-6 hour drive away from the base here. He has been to Bible school here for 4 years and is now pastoring a church of 300+ people. He is married, has 2 children and another due in March. His vision is to see the heart of Mozambique change and the nation transformed, which is an interesting theme coming through this week.

We got chatting about me, where I was from and how long I was going to be here. He was very amused at the way I spoke. He couldn’t understand why, if I said I had come from London, I didn’t sound like the other English people he knew! Do you know how hard it is to explain to an African person the concept of Northern Ireland and why I spoke differently? We were there for some time.

He then went on to ask about my father. I was thinking, we have only just met! You have a wife, and I don’t think my father would give his blessing! What was it he really wanted to know? Was my father a believer and also my mother? When I told him both believed and my father was also a Pastor he said to me. Have you any idea how blessed you are. To have both parents, and both who believe.

Up to that point I hadn’t given it too much thought (sorry mum and dad). As we continued talking about Zimpeto and Mama Heidi and all the rest my mind started to think about the gift my parents are to me. Ok, let me be honest! There are times it’s fair to say they annoy me and there are even more times I am sure I annoy them. But as I looked around the kids on the centre, most of whom are orphans, others with a parent somewhere, either not able to care for them safely, or in jail, or else they have been abandoned, I started to realise that Pastor CD was right about how doubly blessed I was to have my parents, ones who take care for me and take an interest in my life and also have given me a safe stable home. I walked away from that encounter with a lot of joy in my heart. Oh and Mum and Dad, he wants to meet you!

Its been a few days since I have written and again with a few valid reasons.

The following are a few highlights from this week.

Monday evening was the 2nd anniversary of the youth service in the city. Som do Ceu (Sound of Heaven) was a real treat. Being able to worship in English also made a nice change. The old cinema auditorium was quite full of the youth of Maputo. We take a flat bed truck from here crammed full of kids. it really is a sight to see and a ride to experience but not for those who get cramp easily or have major back complaints.

During the first part of the week we have the Head of Iris Brasil here, which was really nice. Because of that we moved church to Tues night, so every day since I’ve felt like it should be Friday as church is normally on Thursday nights.

Wednesday I went swimming and took Carmina from the Baby House. She has some learning and physical disabilities so doesn’t get out as much as some of the other kids would do and I have really wanted to take her swimming as she loves water. Well, she loved the pool. Hearing her screams of excitement as we floated through the pool together was excellent.

The biggest news of the week is that we have measles here on the centre. Four of the girls have it and so we are praying for no spread to the younger kids.

I am here a month now and getting my head around the cultural differences and challenges of living in a developing country has been interesting! Currently my body is getting used to the change of water and food and reacting in all the usual and not so appropriate ways!

I am being taught a lot about not being such an independent woman especially when shopping. I know these guys make their money by the small tip they get for packing the car after shopping but I do struggle with it too as it makes me feel the colonial days have NOT gone away. At times I am very aware of my skin colour.

The bugs in the country and I are not getting along too well especially the cockroaches as they climb over me or up the walls beside my bed!

At the moment we are out of gas for cooking and hot showers: the main supplier in Maputo doesn’t know when they will have more in! This doesn’t only affect us but the kids so we are praying that the kitchen gas stays lit so they get hot food. Here’s where Heidi’s tag line “There’s always enough” needs to come into its own!

I have learned 3 magic words. If when driving you are stopped by the police who are threatening to fine you (I wasn’t the one driving) “Ministerio Arco Iris!” The whole demeanour of the traffic cop changes and suddenly you are allowed to drive away!

One thing I am thrilled to be missing about the Festive Season back home is that awful Kirsty McCall song. Fairytale of New York. It is strange hearing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" being played in 105F as I walk through the supermarket. Only in Africa.

Monday sees the Christmas Party at the Bocaria - I am very excited! I know it will be so hectic but surely it will be hard to beat.

Here I am to Worship

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came To the earth You created
All for love's sake became poor.

We sang this today on the Bocaria. This blew me away. I am standing in the church on the dump with the poorest children in Africa singing about the Light of the world stepping down into darkness. Surely this is some of the darkest darkness the song is talking about.

All for love’s sake became poor. This is Mozambique, these are some of the poorest kids, they are all important to God, these are the people he would have been sitting among worshiping with today.

So here I am to Worship, here I am to say, God this is all about you. Here I am to stop for the one and love, and hug and show them they matter.

These kids today know what it is to have Gods love, these kids are Princes and Princess of the Kingdom and I got to share this with 300 of them today.

One of the girls was standing in front of me just totally lost in worshiping, the kids around her were trying to distract her but she was lost in Gods presence today. Just an amazing sight. Some days here are hard and that’s ok but some days I feel I can’t believe I get to be a part of this.

Christmas is coming

To be honest with the heat of Mozambique I am finding it all to easy too forget that it’s December and we are 3 weeks away from Christmas.

A pleasant reminder as I walked through the sand this morning was hearing the Baby House singing Jingle Bells at 7.45 this morning. I am not sure they weren’t using it to say grace… not sure about the theology of that, but hey… they were so happy and that’s what counts.

Hanging out with the kids in the Baby House is a lot of fun. There are over 30 of the little bundles of joy. Most of whom are walking and a lot also talking or beginning to. They really are lovely. If you are looking for some peace and quiet this is NOT the place to go, if however you are looking for some rough and tumble play and laughing and dribbling this is exactly where you want to be. On my first visit, those who were babies are now 2.5 years old. It has been lovely over my trips to see them develop and grow.

Walking though the playground they are so happy digging in the sand, climbing on the slide and generally making a lot of noise.
The other thing I have to be aware of walking through the playing ground is to expect at any moment one of the slightly older kids to jump off a pole and expect me to catch them with no warning! It certainly stopped my heart the first few times it’s happened, but am getting a little more used to it now.

To be looking towards Christmas here does feel very strange. There are some Christmas lights and fake trees! What there are lots of, are freaky Pai Natal’s (Father Christmas). I feel like it is bad enough here without the pain of remembering Christmas with a freaky Santa. Of course here on the centre we tell the true story of Christmas.

Christmas came a lot closer this afternoon when I helped my friend's dorm put up their Christmas Tree. See the photos! It was a lot of fun with many little helpers.

I had another strange experience today when I was walking though the centre and saw one of the old kids wearing a t shirt I had donated on a previous trip! I didn’t like to tell him that firstly it was a girls T-shirt and secondly it was meant to be worn by a big girl!. That also explains where it was when I was looking to pack it! Oh well at least its being used.

Here are some photos of Lucia, the newest arrival in the nursery.

What a crate day!

A small update, not much happening as am working hard on CD. Almost done!

On Monday Kids Church had over 200 there. It was a little manic to say the least but we are expecting it to increase in the run up to Christmas.

Have you ever thought about how you would like to be buried? Well last night while driving I came across a new option.

Being buried under Coca Cola crates – Tons of them! Was out last night in the city and we were tailing a truck piled high with coke crates. Looking at it I did think – I wonder are they full or empty and what would happen if they fell off.
We had stopped at a junction to turn right onto the main road out of Mozambique when this car cut us up and moved in between us and the truck which at this stage was swerving round the corner to go up the slip road. Then there was this almighty crash and noise as all the crates started to fall off the truck and hit the car and local buses (Sharpas) around us… thankfully we were spared any damage because we were one car further back. The bus beside us was damaged and I hate to think of the noise for the people who were sitting in that little tin can as they clattered on top of them! It was a miracle we were not hit! All the way down the road we were the car behind! And now we were saved because of the impatience of another driver!

Driving in Mozambique is MAD and often by faith. Mum – if/when you come, the only way I am driving you is if you wear a blindfold and are heavily sedated.

Cars and vans often drive at night with no back lights and sometimes only one front light and often that is not working. People step out in front of cars day and night. Today my friend witnessed a mother with her baby tied to her front walk straight out in the car beside her. The mother got up quite quickly, but there was no noise from the baby so she doesn’t know if it survived.

Talking about survival the new Baby in the nursery Lucia is doing better. She is gaining weight and has a beautiful smile. It’s still early days and prayer is still needed.