Hello, Hello!

It’s been about a week since I’ve gotten a chance to update!! But I’m really enjoying the time away from technology.  It really limits distraction and keeps me at a minimal home-sickness.

It’s a beautiful day in Mozambique!! Our second week of class is over, I can’t believe it! The first week drug by, but this past week flew by!! Monday through Thursday we have class, and Friday’s are practical missions, which I start tomorrow. I’m working with Mercy Ministry which is an organization to help women of surrounding villages do work to help support themselves. We’re doing jewelry making with the mama’s, which is anywhere from younger women, to widows. I’m so excited! Needless to say, I’ll be coming home with amazing jewelry.

This week was a bit more challenging than the last. We’re getting into our schedules, so culture shock has really started to set in. I finally realized that I was tired and crashed at the beginning of this week. But now everyone is slowing down to the pace they can handle, and we’re all really begining to adjust.  I’m making very amazing and special friends, and I can’t wait to see how much we all grow together through these next two months. There are 160 single girls and 38 single guys in our school, so for the guys it’s a little bit more overwhelming than it is for us girls. That’s a lot of estrogen on the compound.

I do consider this my home though for the time being. My house has a communal fund where we buy groceries together with the money we’ve put in for the week. We have family night with our home, and we eat, talk and have so much fun! We worship all the time, which is amazing. It will never get old. We’re learning so many cool songs from the Mozambiquans. They sure love to dance. We sweated every bit of water out of our bodies last night dancing for hours with the bible students before service last night. It was incredible!!

As for me, I’m being completely emptied out. God is just taking me and dumping me out, so he can refill me with a newness I’ve never known. He’s purifying my heart and all my motives. The Staff at Iris are so pure hearted, and want so much to just love that it is spreading to everyone in the most contagious way. I expect to come home changed — definitely for the best.

I’m growing in patience and I’m even really learning how to be peaceful in such a confusing and scattered world. We’re all having to learn how to listen for God’s still voice in the loudness of all the business, and it’s quite the learning experience! Yet there’s so much grace here, so I’m very excited to have the opportunity to grow in a place where there is no judgement whatsoever. Just love. Simply loving between people.

Heidi has a phrase that has caught most of our hearts. “Go low, and go slow.” In everything of life, it’s the only way to go. If you want to be kindgom minded, just go lower and go slower. It’s something to chew on for all you folks!

My mind is so scattered, but I hope to post again this weekend with pictures from the past two weeks. I love you all and hope you are enjoying fall weather. Spring is coming to an end here and the heat is growing stronger with less of a ocean breeze. Keep me in your prayers!

Until next time, <3 christina.