Welcome Home !!!

Last night I had some time with my daughter and she told me…

“Get something on the blog, people are wondering what’s happened to you.”

That is a good way to put it,

What has happened to me?

Well, several things. First, I truly love my new job – it’s tailor made for my personality and I’m devouring every morsel of new information learned. But I’m so busy that I do not even check my personal emails at lunchtime and by the time I get home at night I don’t do anything but turn on my TV and stare.

But she is right. I have been home 22 days (I can’t believe it’s been that long). That’s over 3 weeks and I still do not know what to tell you about Africa.

Closure. I do not have closure about Africa. I have not processed it all or perhaps, “decompressed” is a better term.

Did I teach them how to make soap? Yes. I taught one of our interpreters and her husband and they promised me they will return to the community center and teach the women there. They also shared with me that they had been praying for several months for the Lord to show them what new product they could introduce in their “shop” to increase sales. They felt that it was homemade soap but no one would share with them how to do it because business competition is tough in Mozambique. The Lord brought us together – funny, I was so insecure about having something significant to share and at the same time God was hearing them asking for a teacher…… This is miracle #1.

Did I have anything to give? Yes. I was granted the opportunity to teach Bible Stories to the all of the children under 12. My interpreter was a young man, age 28 who did not have much patience for children and did not share my intensity for the incredible stories that I shared. So it was a true site to see the children look at me when I would dramatically tell them one line of my story, then they would all snap their little heads to look at Miquel for the words in their language to match my dramatic stomps and hand gestures, and then “snap” they would be looking back at me for the next action packed line. One by one, line by line this went on. Miquel was a good sport through the classes …….. This is miracle #2.

Did I have anything to share? Yes. Ernesto told me one Saturday night that I was going to preach the next morning. As terrifying a thought as this was, I went straight to my Bible and began to pray. I feel that the information “downloaded” into my mind and spilled onto the paper as I began to write notes for a sermon that I never dreamed I would be preaching. I think I blogged about this already. “The Story of Hope” was my title. They laughed as I told them (with Ernesto as my interpreter) that Lorraine was all spirit and fire and I was a book and a pencil. It was funny because it was true, I carried my journal with me everywhere, everyday. I preached Old Testament truths and believe that the Lord had me give them “the sincere MILK of the Word”. Then, I passed off the pulpit to Lorraine who took the milk and made it CHOCOLATE !!!!! I was amazed how spiritual the message that I had given was. What a tag team we made, I spelled it out in black and white and then she brought it to life. I never thought the Lord would use me to speak to people and that He would give someone the 2nd half of the message without us even discussing it……. This was miracle #3.

Did anything bad happen? Yes. Besides the obvious heartbreaking departure and leaving our beloved friends at the airport the day after Christmas and flying home (which was really good and bad at the same time) days before we prayed with a man whose nephew, age 8, died of Malaria in the hospital where we had one of our boys getting stitched up for being a typical boy and busting his head open. It was a harsh reality to face that a mosquito bite can result in death. We Americans were taking a pill each day to ward off Malaria from taking hold in our system as well as spraying ourselves constantly with “Repel” and sleeping under nets at night. Despite all the precautions I was bitten several times. But thankfully, no symptoms of Malaria.

I do not have closure regarding Africa. But I was overwhelmed with relief when I talked to the 1st American as I checked into customs at the Washington, DC airport. When he spoke to me in English, asked me why I’d been to Africa and then declared his Christianity by quoting scripture to me and preaching from the book of Acts – I almost cried. I had no idea how much I had missed “home”. It was not until about an hour later, waiting on the flight to Houston that I realized he had actually flirted with me. What? Yes. He asked me where my husband was in line and I told him that I did not have one then he said

“Texas. Well, I sure wish you didn’t live so far away. I wish you lived here.”

I don’t even remember responding to him. What did I say? Who knows? I wonder if he gets any dates that way? When I told Lorraine she asked my why I didn’t ask him to “facebook” – I just laughed.

For those of you wondering if he was handsome – the sad thing is that I don’t even remember what he looked like. A 20 hour flight can do that to you – can make you a little foggy in the head.

As I continue to miss the children I have decided to send emails to Ernesto and tell them stories – I have the first one written and will email it to him soon. He can read them to them. This first one is fiction, one I have made up myself. Some will be Bible Stories and some not – we will see where the “Story of Hope” travels.

Thank you for waiting and for reading – it’s good to be my American self back home, but do not misunderstand – there is the African in me now and she will be here forever.

Obrigado !!

(This means thank you in Portuguese).