The Mozam' Beacon

WEBSITE UPDATED AFTER SEVEN STAGNANT MONTHS

We're proud to announce that mozambecks.org has been completely revised
and updated for the first time since February 2003. No longer does it beg for
your help in getting us to Mozambique by July. And you won't find the
address and phone number of the house we moved out of in March. Instead,
there are fresh pictures and things to read which are just gushing with
relevance.

Sorry for the delay. We've been, um, busy. But henceforth you can expect
the site to be updated once every much less than seven months. If you have a
technologically superior e-mail program, just click the following:

http://mozambecks.org

MINDING OUR OWN BUSYNESS

Since our arrival in Mozambique on August 13, we've not lacked for things to
do. In spite of the almost daily trips we've made into the capital city to
acquire the things we need to make our house livable, we have done a
respectable job of staying on task.

Mindy is studying Portuguese and working magic in decorating the house and
yard on a tight budget. Kevin is teaching on Galatians, Romans, and John's
gospel this semester in the Bible training center, trying to find oppor-
tunities to preach often in Mozambican churches, and stepping up his study of
the local tribal language, Tsonga, in hopes of having a fruitful evangelistic
outreach to the area children in the future.

BUYING A VEHICLE, WE ALMOST GOT TAKEN FOR A RIDE

As Mindy wrote last week, we'd been looking all over Maputo for a decent
double-cab 4x4 in our price range. We were quite enamored with one truck
and were on the verge of buying it when a fellow missionary suggested we wait
a few days for his arriving American visitors to look at it. All four of them
had some element of automotive expertise, and when they saw the vehicle, they
pointed out signs the vehicle had been severely damaged in an accident and
poorly put back together. We'd never have guessed by looking at it ourselves.

I don't even want to think about what kind of e-mail I'd be sending you if
they hadn't been there to help us. "Dear supporters, thank you for all the
money you donated for us to buy a vehicle. We spent it on a junky truck held
together by a fantastic paint job. We're sorry to say it collapsed on our way
back to the compound. Could you please send us another ten to fifteen
thousand dollars so we can try again?"

Yes, God was good to us. He provided men to give us wise counsel, and He
provided us with a very nice truck (I say with hopes that no major
malfunction will beset us this week; we did have a mechanic look at it before
we bought it). You can see the men and the truck on our website.

GLIMPSES OF LIFE IN MOZAMBIQUE

* We arrived here on August 13 and didn't see our first drop of rain until
September 5. Some nights have been chilly, but every day up until yesterday
has been gorgeous.

* Mindy wrote last week that I went with some other guys "out in the bush."
Well, sort of. We ended up staying in the front yard of a house being built
by a wealthy Muslim who was out of town. It was a short drive from there to
the church where we were having our meetings. We did sleep in tents and eat
African food though, if that counts for anything. (shrug)

Before leaving on the trip, I went in the house to use the restroom one last
time. I set my digital camera down in there, and forgot to take it with me. I
hope to have a plethora of pictures next time I go to a remote area.

* When we were here before, one of our requests of things for people to send
us was Maraschino cherries. We put some in a package and mailed it to
ourselves a few weeks ago because we both love them. They're now available
here, and taste just like they do at home. Mmm.

* In the US, they teach you that when driving you should keep your hands on
the wheel in the ten o'clock and two o'clock positions. Here, it's better to
keep them on two o'clock and horn.

* Mindy and I had a local carpenter build a bed for us. He hand-made the
queen-sized frame from a strong, red wood that we chose. If only he'd made
the supporting slats out of the same strong wood. Within a week, a board
snapped and the mattress sunk while Kevin was getting in bed.

CLOSING WORDS

If you're still reading this far down, thank you. Please help us pray for
more supporting churches and individuals. We came to help out here as quickly
as we could, figuring this would be "The Year We Scraped By," and the
scraping officially began when we bought the truck. Life is expensive here,
but we'll take the same approach that got us here: put out the word, and
trust in God.

Blessings in Jesus,
Kevin and Mindy