Sorry for the month of silence on ministrygeek!  The trip was incredible, life changing.  I have decided to publish my travel journal here, and I am going to post it one day at time.  Each day one entry from my journal will appear here.  Mostly, it will be the chronological story of my journey, but there were times I got behind in my writing and felt compelled to write about something that had just happened even though it was out of sequence on paper.  If you miss one, you should find a link to it on the left.  Enjoy, and post comments!

I’ve missed posting music…  I can’t wait to put more up as soon as I can.  I may even post some in between Mozambique entries.

If you haven’t done so already, check out my pictures on my flickr page: click here.  I discovered that not all of them uploaded the first time around, so even if you looked before there may be new ones.  For time reasons, I’ll leave it to you to match up pictures with stories.

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22 October 2006, 2:03pm MOZ (7:03am in Kansas)

Malanga Guest House, Maputo.

Church this morning was amazing. Churches are organized differently here; closer to Wesley’s design, actually. This “church” is more what we would call a parish. It is made up of seven local churches (like a house church made up of ten to fifteen people who meet in homes) and eighteen classes. They all come together on Sunday to worship together.

Worship itself was very much like what I lovingly call “’50s church.” [By this I refer to the many mainline churches in the U.S. who are often criticized because their worship services look just like they did in the 50s and 60s even though the culture has rather drastically changed.] We learned later that the missionaries who started the church tradition here wouldn’t allow anything else. The hymnal is about sixty years old, and contains European hymns in Xitwa (the local language) [pronounced SHEETS-wa]. [A musing from later: I am tempted to be critical of the missionaries for banning such a rich local culture, but I have no idea what they were dealing with. Perhaps it was necessary to abolish local customs that were very, very much not compatible with Christianity.]

The service started off with a Psalm, a Call to Worship, and then a hymn (there was a prelude form the choir). Then was a call to confession using a translation of the same words we use, silent confession, and an assurance of forgiveness. After that was a rousing “Alleluia” song that clearly came out of the local culture– a first in the service, it was great! Guests were then welcomed, then our group was introduced.

There was then a greeting where people sang a local song while dancing around shaking hands. (I forgot a bit… along with the welcome six new members were recognized and a goodbye was said to one with a “goodbye” song I recognized [from our own culture]). An offering was taken in Western style while the choir sang. (The local way of doing it, as the group that went to the Liberdade church experienced, is for each local church to bring up their offering as a group, singing [and dancing!] a song they each picked ahead of time.

The scripture then was Matthew 22:1-14, the wedding banquet parable. The sermon, like the rest of the service, contained seamless switches between Portuguese and Xitwa. I have never felt like I understood this text, but the preacher (the widow of a UM pastor here who seems to be a pastor herself judging by the clergy collar) made excellent sense of it. The original invitees are easy to make sense of. But what about the ones off the street that didn’t have the right clothes and were then kicked out by teh one who invited them in?? We are all welcome at the party, even though we are not worthy. But if we want to stay at the party, then we must throw away our old clothes and put on new ones. We’re welcome as we are, but then we must leave behind the ways of the world and start living right and doing good works.

The service ended (after just shy of two hours) with the Doxology [to Old 100^th] (the Gloria Patri was sung earlier, by the way) and by singing Wesley’s “A Charge to Keep I Have” (I assume; it was that tune, anyway). There was a Benediction by the pastor between the Doxology and the hymn.

One other note: the old hymnals have the music printed above the words in solfege! [four part harmony solfege!] I may be able to get one before we leave.

After the service we went to what was kind-of the pastor’s church school room for a conversation with whoever wanted to come. As we got there, but before the members did, we got to catch the end fo the separate children’s worship. They were (loudly!) singing a song about how God makes us grow. It was fantastic!

The conversation was fantastic. With Larry translating, wa asked each other questions. Malanga is having growing pains with not enough space. Having multiple services is a foreign concept here. They asked us how we keep track of who is coming and they wanted to know how we kept people from coming to both!

This conversation is also where we learned that there are very few cultural practices in UM worship here because the missionaries wouldn’t allow it. Now I don’t want to judge the missionaries, perhaps they had good reasons, especially when you remember that some tribal customs are terribly oppressive and some spread AIDS (SIDA in Portuguese.) Still, you can’t help but notice how the people came alive during the parts of the service where they could sing their own music and dance a little bit.

[note on top of journal page; tension to balance: tradition (broad meaning) <--> culture]

How is this different than the last couple of generations in the American UMC who have been forced into the “’50s church” mold? How we come alive when our own culture is allowed to peek through the church that is stuck in our grandparent’s culture!

So, what does Mozambique have to say in the Emergent conversation? What does the Emergent conversation have to say to Mozambique? What do both of them have to say to the US UMC? To young adults?

Wow. I’m finally caught up with my journaling. Everyone else is sleeping; I’m afraid if I took a nap I would be able to sleep tonight.

Sorry for the month of silence on ministrygeek!  The trip was incredible, life changing.  I have decided to publish my travel journal here, and I am going to post it one day at time.  Each day one entry from my journal will appear here.  Mostly, it will be the chronological story of my journey, but there were times I got behind in my writing and felt compelled to write about something that had just happened even though it was out of sequence on paper.  If you miss one, you should find a link to it on the left.  Enjoy, and post comments!I’ve missed posting music…  I can’t wait to put more up as soon as I can.  I may even post some in between Mozambique entries.

If you haven’t done so already, check out my pictures on my flickr page: click here.  I discovered that not all of them uploaded the first time around, so even if you looked before there may be new ones.  For time reasons, I’ll leave it to you to match up pictures with stories.

—

22 October 2006, 7:18am Mozambique time (12:10am in Kansas)

Malanga church Guest House, Maputo, Mozambique

Wow. What a day. We spent last night in this guest house, which is the second floor of the parsonage next to Malanga UMC here in Maputo. [Guest houses are sort-of like a bed and breakfast here. The ones we saw were all run by the church and provide meals and a place to sleep for travelers.] We are going to attend church there in a couple of hours; apparently it is the “well-to-do” church here.

I will not be able to write much before the wonderful staff here serves breakfast, but I must at least start to tell the story of the last eighteen hours.

We finished our mammoth flight into Johannesburg at about 1:00pm local time. The time changes are confusing, but I think the flight was sixteen or eighteen hours or so [total]. I am glad I did exercises to keep my muscles working and my blood flowing. I will have to tell about the airline itself later. We had to hurry to make our short connecting flight to Maputo. I did have time to look through a Joburg airport )international section) store, and I was amazed at how much like the American stereotype everything was. They had colorful stuff, lions, zebras, tribal-looking stuff, etc. Is the stereotype more accurate than I suspected or was this shop just touristy? No doubt both. This place looked like a zoo gift shop [in the U.S.].

It was so exciting to go down the stairs of the plane and see the big letters spelling out “Maputo International Airport” in Portuguese. We were advised not to take pictures there, unfortunately. They checked our passports and did a couple of random baggage checks in customs (our people here paid them not to do more [I think]) and met our guide Naftal. He is such a neat person! He is the VIM director for the Conference and coordinates all the mission work. His vehicle has “VIM” spelled on the side in rivets so that no one can steal the truck and just rip the sign off [the rivets, even if removed, would leave “VIM” and a serial number spelled in holes].

He had parked in a no parking area outside the airport and the security officer had put a boot on it. We watched from a distance as they got into a big, loud, colorful argument, then the officer took off the boot. It is amazing how different cultures deal with conflict differently! A fight with an officer like that in America would have ended in handcuffs!

As we loaded all our bags into three vehicles, several non-uniformed guys showed up to help and started pressuring the students for tips. I think they knew better than to go to Larry [the co-leader of our trip who speaks fluent Portuguese and who has been here seven times before]. The pressure was high and a couple [of my fellow students] gave in. Larry was brilliant: he gave a group tip and let them fight over how to divide it. Chaos had reigned since we got off the plane.

The drive to the guest house was when it hit me. The drive itself was unnerving… I was on the passenger seat (left side) and the driver went fast [ignoring many traffic signs while swerving around the many van-like buses]!

Maputo is about the same size as K.C., but concentrated in about one third the area. The streets were lined with people of all ages, many of them were vendors with small stands set up. I noticed in many places there was a pole with car mufflers coming off o fit. Like a “muffler tree.” I later learned it means there is a muffler shop there. If there are tires, it is a tire shop.

When we got ot the guest house, several people helped us carry the bags up. The women put even very heavy, large suitcases [50 lbs.!] on their heads to carry them.

Several of us went out to the street to the market to take pictures and to experience it. So many people! Many were curious about us, many were apprehensive. We saw many small stands and vendors. Many of the women had what looked like Wal-Mart bags on their heads full of stuff. There was a man doing upholstery on the street; he let us take pictures and talk to him for a while. There was also a cellular phone repair and a bridal shop with a dress in the window. Once again we were approached and pressured by people wanting money.

After dinner, which was an incredible spread of rice, beef, and glass bottles of Fanta and Coke, by the way, we talked bout our day’s experience. It was a good “Saint Paul [School of Theology]” conversation, which is to say it turned very quickly to poverty. Many were moved by seeing so much poverty so closely.

I don’t know. Perhaps this is just my usual rebellion to this standard Saint Paul topic, but I wonder if what we have seen so far is really poverty. If we project American lifestyles onto the streets of Maputo, it is certainly poverty. To a culture of cars, that is to say, a culture of walking seems poor because we assume they walk because they can’t afford to drive. That much probably is true, but does it really make them poor? I saw no hungry faces, no exposed ribs. I’m sure they’re around somewhere, but I don’t think what we’ve seen so far is really poverty.

Larry says that the buildings look so rundown because they’re made with durable materials that will hold fast without repair. “Poor” or not, there is not much disposable income. So, if you don’t have to spend money to keep the roof over your head, why would you?

The guest house is nice. There are five or six rooms with several beds each. They each have a couple of good blankets, not that us Americans could possibly need them. The plumbing is from the Portuguese, I believe, and it is hard to maintain. We are lucky that it is working well right now. “Manual flushing” (pour water [into the toilet] from a bucket to wash it down) is not uncommon [as I understand]. Our shower is working now, but there is a bucket there that is used to wash yourself with a ladle when it is not. To save water, you only flush if it is “#2,” and you put toilet paper in a special trash can because the drainage plumbing can’t handle it.

Sorry for the month of silence on ministrygeek! The trip was incredible, life changing. I have decided to publish my travel journal here, and I am going to post it one day at time. Each day one entry from my journal will appear here. Mostly, it will be the chronological story of my journey, but there were times I got behind in my writing and felt compelled to write about something that had just happened even though it was out of sequence on paper. If you miss one, you should find a link to it on the left. Enjoy, and post comments!I’ve missed posting music… I can’t wait to put more up as soon as I can. I may even post some in between Mozambique entries.

If you haven’t done so already, check out my pictures on my flickr page: click here. I discovered that not all of them uploaded the first time around, so even if you looked before there may be new ones. For time reasons, I’ll leave it to you to match up pictures with stories.

—

20 October 2006, 20:40 (Senegal time)

Over the Atlantic Ocean between Washington D.C. & Dakar, Senegal.

The trip is now well under way. We are about half-way through the first leg of the long flight from D.C. To Johannesburg, which is something like eighteen hours total. [The plane stopped in Dakar, Senegal to refuel, though we were not allowed to leave the plane for security reasons.]

All my life I have wanted to travel, but I have not had the opportunity. It is wonderful; even the logistical parts such as navigating the airports. This is my first time out of the country. It is so strange to be identified by my passport and to have my driver’s license mean so little! It is slight scary, I suppose, but it is also wonderfully freeing. I have known for some time that the U.S., despite its economic prominence, is only a small part of the world. It feels so wonderful to be experiencing more of it not just on the internet, but in a physical way. And all of this is just form being around an international airport; there is so much more to come!

The plane has a wonderful (Linux-based!) entertainment system. Each seat has its own screen and a remote control for everything from movies to music to games and an in-flight camera mounted on the tail. I wanted to record two artists to look into later from the music part: Corinne Bailey Rae and a track (artist unlisted) from a trip-hop compilation called “Massive Attack.” The track is called “Teardrop” and is track four if that helps find it. I especially like that one. –I just went to the bathroom and found another great artist when I got back: Sharon Gas (album: Fragile). The first song, “Tea,” has a revealing take on modern religion: Get down off that cross and help me! Who among us in organized religion doesn’t need to hear that from time to time. I have heard their song [title illegible in journal] before.

As we prepare to pass over the great Mid-Atlantic Ridge(!), there is much turbulence. Hopefully it won’t interrupt my writing!

Before I left, at last Saturday’s Bible Study, the conversation turned to missionaries in times past. When you consider the nature of sea travel and the danger of early mission work, becoming a missionary was an incredibly serious commitment! You would have had to wrestle with your own mortality before you left, knowing full well you may never return, you may never get your familiar lifestyle back. You would have had to ask, “Am I prepared to die in Africa (or wherever)?”

After this discussion at the Bible study, Marilyn, never afraid to ask a hard question, asks, “are you prepared to not come home from Mozambique?”

Now my situation is much, much different than that of the missionaries of old. We have air travel, good security, a short trip, and are sticking to relatively safe areas. But still the question rings in my head, “Am I prepared to die in Mozambique?”

I honestly don’t know how to answer the question. At first the prospect scared me, but now my gut tells me that I am indeed prepared. I don’t want my family and friends to go through that, of course, but I do believe that I am prepared for whatever lies ahead on this trip even if it’s death or imprisonment. Ike I said, I can’t fully explain why I say that. I suspect it comes from a strong sense of providence in my life ever since my call [into pastoral ministry.] It’s given me a strong sense of trust and I think that trust would hold even in the face of death.

I am starting to feel a bit sleepy, which is a good (and surprising) thing given that it’s only 5:10pm in K.C. But 10:10pm in Senegal. So, I will end for now.

May God’s providence prove as trustworthy in the future as it always has in the past.

Sorry for the month of silence on ministrygeek! The trip was incredible, life changing. I have decided to publish my travel journal here, and I am going to post it one day at time. Each day one entry from my journal will appear here. Mostly, it will be the chronological story of my journey, but there were times I got behind in my writing and felt compelled to write about something that had just happened even though it was out of sequence on paper. If you miss one, you should find a link to it on the left. Enjoy, and post comments!

I’ve missed posting music… I can’t wait to put more up as soon as I can. I may even post some in between Mozambique entries.

If you haven’t done so already, check out my pictures on my flickr page: click here. I discovered that not all of them uploaded the first time around, so even if you looked before there may be new ones. For time reasons, I’ll leave it to you to match up pictures with stories.

—

10 October 2006, 9:45am

Kansas City, MO

I have decided to begin my Mozambique journal early, as the anticipation for the trip is beginning. We leave in nine days if my math is correct! I have most of the supplies I need, though I’m sure next week will still be hectic with last-minute preparations.

I never cease to be amazed how congregations come together to do great things when they are so motivated. I now have more cash in my possession [donated to give to Mozambique] than I am comfortable having in my apartment. I also have some school supplies and enough choir robes to hit the airline’s weight limit at least twice.

My understanding of Africa has already improved unmeasurable. This is embarrassing to admit, but the image of the entire continent in my mind before this was the one from stereotypes and cartoons (“Dr. Livingston, I presume?”) I am embarrassed by my ignorance, but I had no other information or frame of reference with which to imagine it, even though I was aware of my lack of understanding.

The class reading sand discussion have been illuminating, especially the Fuller book, “Scribbling the Cat.” They have filled in the gap in my understanding between the colonial times from which the stereotypes are unfairly and inaccurately drawn and the present. I am worried that my understanding is still stereotyped… One thing that has worried me since the beginning of the class is the tendency to apply the culture of one small area, say of Mozambique, and apply it to all of Africa. Africa is huge! It is even bigger than most people think since most flat map projections skew Africa to appear smaller than it really is [in relation to regions closer to the polls, regions such as Europe and North America]. We talked about native African religion in class. Can we really say, though, that that is true over the entire continent? I would like to learn more about how African cultures vary around the continent.

One last thought… If my understanding was so lacking only a few months ago, how common must those stereotypes be? How are we to expect such a wealthy nation as ours to share that well-being with a place and a people they don’t even have the tools to comprehend? This sounds like a goal for when we return.

Not much to say yet… We are in Washington DC right now at the Dulles airport Quality Inn. Our long flight to Johannesburg leaves tomorrow at 12:50pm, but we have to go through international check-in first. We had to wait outside of the airport in light rain for about 45 minutes due to a hotel reservation, but all is well now. Hopefully I can send more updates later!

For pictures (as I am abel to post them…) go to these addresses:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jslater316/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jslater316/sets/72157594325286708/

Okay, technically that’s T-minus 30 minutes to the van that goes to the Kansas City Airport… I’m so excited! We won’t actually get to Mozambique until very late tomorrow (if I do my time-zone math correctly). I am hoping to post updates here about how the trip is going, but internet access (not to mention electricity!) will be spotty at the very best, so I am not taking my laptop. The person leading the trip says we will likely find an “internet cafe” type place or two, so hopefully I can keep everyone updated.

If I am able, I will also upload pictures from the road and put them on my Flickr page. Here are two links, one to my main Flickr page and one to my Mozambique Immersion photo set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jslater316/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jslater316/sets/72157594325286708/

Thanks to everyone who is supporting us by prayer and gifts! Take care while I am away!

Blessings,

Jeff.

We had a bit of a tense meeting at my larger church this evening, but a one that ended up making some good progress. Appropriately, there was a thunderstorm during the meeting But, equally approriately, look what happened afterwards! (All I had was my Palm camera; sorry for the poor image quality…) It was the strongest, most bold, full arc rainbow I have ever seen; it was a double rainbow on the ends.