Happy St Patricks Day!

It is time to catch you up on our lives.  We have thoroughly enjoyed having Joanna with us this past week.  She arrived last Thursday with a sore knee, some other ailments and some hair-raising stories for this mom, but it seems she is almost as good as new now.  We sent her off to Beira yesterday to join the Zion team.  They will be there for one week and then come to Maputo the 24^th.  We have been busy coordinating activities for the team here and it seems it is all coming together. 

Monday night we were invited by some Malawian friends to their home for supper.  We work with the mom and she informed us during the day that we were going out to eat.  We arrived at their home, had some appetizers and waited for all the family to congregate.  When we arrived at the restaurant we were ushered into a room with about 20 other people seated in a U shape.  Then we found out that it was another extended family whose daughter was having a birthday as was the daughter of the family that invited us.  We dined on clams, calamari, fish and prawns until 10 p.m. and caught a glimpse of the lives of the well-educated, wealthier folks in Mozambique.  It was a nice evening, just different than we had thought it would be.  We’re learning to take surprises in stride. 

This week we made a quick trip to Chokwe and Xai-Xai.  We took the opportunity to spend a night at the beach with Joanna and it was very relaxing.  This beach is at the end of the road and it feels like a dune buggy track through the sand for the last 15 minutes.  The beach is basically deserted and pretty clean although the currents can be strong so we didn’t actually swim much.  Joanna and Steve are dealing with some sunburn which will of course turn into beautiful tans soon.  Joanna commented that this has been probably the only time in her life that I am browner than she is!  I’m sure by the time she leaves Moz this will not be the case. 

On the way north we had another encounter with a policeman.  Having a car with South African plates really makes a difference on how much we are stopped.  This time he noticed that I didn’t have on a seat belt (in the back seat) so he started yelling about that and saying, “That will be 1 million.”  We explained that we thought only the front seat riders needed to buckle up.  “No,” he said, “that is only in S Africa.  In Mozambique everyone needs a seat belt.”  We didn’t mention the fact that no one wears one in chapas, but we were quite sure he was just looking for an excuse to pocket some extra cash.  Steve kept talking, the policeman saw that all the car papers and our papers were in order and eventually let us go.  Whew, another one without having to pay! 

The chicken houses are all done in Manhica, our latest town.  It was amazing how fast they got them done, because a group of pastors helped with the construction.  It was hard to keep enough construction materials in place because they were moving so fast!  It kept Steve hopping last week.

Steve also preached on Sunday at MICF and we had guests Sunday overnight who are returning tonight, so it has been busy.  Steve’s head is spinning a bit right now as his job description is mushrooming.  He has been given responsibility to oversee two people—the ag guy and the American investment guy.  Plus, he has been asked to oversee all of Southern Africa (all of Moz and Malawi) ag/trade operations which is a much broader job than just micro-enterprise projects.  It means giving some of the things we have been doing to other people to oversee since we obviously can’t do everything.  Hopefully that can be put in place in the next few months.

March seems to be flying by and we with it.  Summer is coming to an end and with it we are getting some cooler temperatures.  We haven’t used the AC for several weeks, but Joanna thought it was very hot and humid.  Compared to Europe it is.  Paris is about 32 and we are about 85-90.  We saw the Penners in the Maputo airport as they came in from Germany and took the same flight to Beira as Joanna.  (they are a couple who are missionaries from Zion Chapel who have been pastoring there for 20 years)  They are visiting a gal from their church who working in Dondo.