NTM

Twelve hours in tightly packed train and five hours in a mini-van bus with nineteen people or 45 minutes in an airplane; which would you choose? We chose both. The former for the experience and the latter because we didn’t think we could handle the experience again. Here’s how it went.

Two colleagues and I (Michael) needed to go to a new location to help the missionaries get a jump start in their culture and language learning. So at four in the morning we arrived at the train station. It was dark and there were not many people standing outside. We soon realized why. They were all on board the train. It was packed with standing room only. A man who had been there since two in the morning decided he was going to sell us his seats. While we were getting settled someone stole my friend’s wallet including all of his documents. In desperation, we called out saying that we knew the money wouldn’t be there but we needed the documents back. When it became light we found the documents on the floor having been left in order by a very considerate thief. We took the opportunity to give testimony to God’s answer to prayer. After that our trip was long but fairly uneventful. We had a great time with the missionaries at their new work and afterwards were very thankful for the short flight home.

It was good to be with the family again and to pick up on where I had left off with building relationships and learning culture and language. Take last Sunday, for example. One of Jessica’s new friends, Isabela, invited us to attend another small church in town. The kids thought it was great to sit on the bamboo mat on the dirt floor with the other women. For once Jessica was comfortable because her feet could reach the floor. It was an interesting service, listening to the lady preacher speaking in Portuguese and a man standing right beside her translating into the local dialect. Janelle asked why they were standing up there and arguing. She didn’t understand that is the way they preach and the man was just trying to say it again in another language.

After church we went to a thatched restaurant/bar that Isabela’s husband owns and Jessica helped prepare lunch. It was a traditional Portuguese meal (not Mozambican) and Issabela was excited to teach us how to make it and for us to eat it. It is pretty much a thick bean soup with different types of meat served over rice. The ‘different types of meat’ included pig’s ears. Jessica, knowing what was being served, delicately picked out the beans for her and the kids and generously gave me the ears. Oh well, some furry pigs ears are worth it if eating them would help build stronger relationships.

We have asked you to be praying for our family to adjust to Mozambican culture and today we got a sneak peak at how the kids are picking it up.
The kids and I (Jessica) were trying to decide if the birthday party we had been invited to was going to be at 2 or 2:30. I was going to make a quick call to clarify the situation explaining that if the party was at 2:30 we didn’t want to show up half an hour early. Austin turned to Janelle and said “It’s better to show up late than early”. She heartily agreed with him. I had a good chuckle as I thought they were becoming good Mozambicans. They had not even realized that they had begun to pick up culture from those around them.

I thought of all the times we had gone to a Mozambican church since arriving. Before we leave home we are trying to get ready as fast as we can (as peacefully as possible) and then arrive at the church right on time or occasionally a little late. We then wait a good 20 or more minutes for enough people to start arriving to start the service. There was one social event I attended that started an hour and a half late.

We are so time oriented as Americans. We judge effectiveness on how efficient something is. We want to get the most amount done in the least time possible. We overload our senses and our daily lives. The Mozambican culture, generally speaking, is very relationship oriented. Relationships take priority over schedules. Michael has gotten to know several merchants in the area. He calls them the "fish man", the "chicken man", the "guava man", the "artist" and the "tailor". He tries to go out regularly to visit with them in their different environments.

The "fish man" has already invited him to go up north to meet his family and pick up a load of dried salted fish. The "chicken man" has introduced him to his family and taken him around town. The "artist" is working on a painting right now that he is doing on a piece of white cloth (they use this instead of canvas). The "tailor" took him to buy cloth for a pair of dress pants. He is learning a lot from these new relationships. Please pray for wisdom in these as there is certainly going to be a give and take aspect to them. We don’t want to just be taking but want to give in a culturally appropriate way that goes along with why we are here.

Michael has been asked to be the new NCLA coordinator (National Culture/Language Acquisition)for the mission here, when the man who is currently doing this goes on furlough. This involves helping equip the foreign missionaries with the necessary tools for learning culture and language as well as providing accountability. When we were first asked about doing this we wondered about how it fits into the vision that God has given us in being here. Our vision is to help equip the Mozambican church to reach out to the unreached people in their own country. We realized that this goes right along with it. We can challenge and help instill this same vision in the new missionaries that arrive. This next week Michael will be gone to visit a missionary work in a village about two days from here.

"Praise the Lord, all you nations, Praise him, all you people of the earth. For he loves us with unfailing love; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!" Psalm 117 NLT

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you…" Psalm 107:1-2 NLT

As we are studying Mozambican culture and Portuguese we are always looking for "Culture Events" that we can observe, ask questions about and eventually take part in. Usually we look for them outside of our home but today a good one came to us.

It started a week ago when the drain on our kitchen sink didn’t just back up, it welled up and spilled over until stinky water was all over our kitchen floor and running out the back door. We did our best to plug the sink and eventually it drained; sort of sudden like and I had hopes that the offending clog had let loose. I’m afraid it just dropped a ways and joined many others.

A few days later we noticed our neighbor next to us on the second floor of our small apartment building sweeping water from their apartment. Downstairs was also having trouble. The two apartments on the third floor seemed to be doing all right (except that it seemed to be their dirty dish water flooding our apartments). After a couple of other incidents over the weekend it was high time to call a plumber.

One was contacted Sunday afternoon and then again Monday but never showed up. As we waited one of our house workers spotted another plumber that he knew walking by on the street and asked him to take a look at our problem. He dug down to the clean out and sure enough it was completely packed with sludge. He named the high price of $20 to clean it out. While I was able and gladly willing to pay, I wanted to use it as an opportunity to learn how the Mozambicans would work this out.

A neighbor suggested we ask everyone to pitch in since it was a common problem for everyone. What an experience going from apartment to apartment, explaining the situation and asking if they were interested in helping fix the clogged drains. Our inquiries seemed to be met with enthusiasm and we gave the plumber the go-ahead. Four hours later the drain was working again.

Since then just about everyone has paid their $4 contribution. Far more important than the monetary help are the relationships we hope to continue building with our neighbors. As we get to know them and their way of doing things we look forward to deepening our ability to relate to and effectively communicate with the Mozambican people we came to reach with the gospel and challenge reach others.

How about you? What "problem" can you use to build relationships with those around you?

FAMILY HEALTH
With great sincerity we thank you for praying for us during this last month. Our transition has gone very well, especially considering that we got here in the rainy/hot/sick season. After we all took our turn in bed for a few days we have enjoyed fairly good health. Please continue to pray in this regard. Despite our best efforts it has proved very difficult to keep from getting bitten by mosquitoes, especially little Emily. We hear of many in the city who are suffering from Malaria and pray that God will be gracious toward us in this regard.

Socially we are slowly making friends. Africans tend to not be quite as open in the beginning, as Latins. The kids are starting to play outside of our apartment but not knowing Portuguese is an intimidating barrier for them.

While I was standing in the kitchen snacking on some chicken flavored potato chips (they were actually cheese and onion but I had chicken ones in the pantry as well) I was thinking about the opportunity that we barely decided to pass on. Goat meat is one of the cheapest meats you can buy here. Someone told me that it is common to buy a whole goat and then you take it home and slaughter it yourself. The only problem is that you are not allowed to lead the goat through the city. This means you have to tie it up and carry it or tie it to your bike.

I was envisioning Michael having this goat tied to his small motorcycle and driving through the city. I thought it would be a great picture but economics over ruled my desire for this photographic moment. We found out that it is cheaper to buy the goat meat cut up and cleaned than it is to buy the whole goat. The guys went and bought a 25 pound fish instead. 

I am learning to go to the small little shops and open air markets to get most of our food. We have to buy food each day because we have a small refrigerator as well as no car to carry it home with. A large outdoor market is about 10 blocks away in the heat and blazing sun. The food on average costs about as much as we paid  in Washington. I guess that in their winter which starts in April or May, the prices drop and there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Right now it is their summer and the heavy rains have wiped out a lot of the roads so it is hard for the produce to get through.

The other day we were talking with a cook and he was talking about how he learned to make granola. He was describing each ingredient and where he bought them and then started talking about the sesame seeds he puts into it.What  I understood was that you have to be careful when you buy them at the market because they may have diarrhea in them. I thought that maybe this was another way of saying people get diarrhea when they eat them. Then he started acting like he was running his hands through the sesame seeds and said again you need to be careful because of the diarrhea. I was trying to be open minded and thought o.k. maybe they use the bathroom and then run their hands through it on purpose. Who knows, they do things differently here. I became very suspicious that I was not understanding the main idea when he said “ In the villages they try to make it weigh more by adding diarrhea.”

I turned to Michael and mouthed “What?”

Michael said “Sand. He is talking about putting sand in the sesame seeds.” It all clicked into place and we had a good laugh over it. The only difference between what he said and what I heard him say were one or two letters.

WE MADE IT TO MOZAMBIQUE!!! We could sure feel God answering your prayers. An extra measure of grace was poured out on us as we traveled half way around the world in 4 days. God worked out the many quirks along the way. Most of the security agents were very patient and helpful as we got our entourage out of coats and shoes and passed all of those and our bags and stroller and computer and more bags and car seat and more bags through the many x-ray machines.

Not only did we arrive without loosing a single child but we got all of our luggage here as well and without paying any extra. Back when we got our tickets we were told that we couldn’t check our bags all the way from Seattle to Mozambique but that is what happened, at least to most of them. We were able to check the one bag that came out in Johannesburg back in along with some extra carry on luggage for our flight to Mozambique.
As we have compared stories with the other missionaries this was quite a miracle. From what we can tell, only a few things were broken and nothing was stolen.

Most of us are adjusting fairly quickly to the 10 hour time difference and summer instead of the snowy winter we left in Seattle. A couple of fans have helped ease our sweaty discomfort.

Please continue to pray for our adjustment. Then praise God for the countless ways he has blessed us, not the least of which is the privilege of serving Him in Africa and having friends like you to pray us through the challenges we face.

At times we feel as if we are on a mountain top and everything is great and going our way.  We have been experiencing such a time for the last week. 

The morning before leaving Seattle for our Christmas break we received our passports back with our entry visas for Mozambique stamped securely inside.   Praise the Lord!

With this off our minds we looked forward to a great two weeks together with family in Arizona visiting Michaels sister , brother-in-law and their new baby.  His parents are also here.  We are thoroughly enjoying our time together.  Yesterday we went to a national park in southern Arizona.  It was truly a mountain top experience.

All of this excitement also brings a bit of sadness. We do not know when God will allow us to get together with family again. Our kids will be so much bigger by the time we are due for anohter home assignment .  Our newborn nephew will be  just about ready to start school. 

We will definitely miss the times we have had with both sides of the family during this last year.  These treasured memories will encouage us as we head to Africa and  the years away from family.  We know that our future holds many mountain tops as well as dark , lonely valleys.  We also know that we have a faithful God who is carefully and wholeheartedly leading us along the path He has for us.  We find great joy and strength in this.  It is expressed in Psalms 95:4-7.

In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land. 
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

In preparing to leave for Mozambique we have been taking advantage of being able to sit under godly teaching.  This last Sunday we started a series on the marriage relationship and one of the focuses was our desires vs. our expectations.

God gives us healthy desires like hunger, thirst, desire for companionship, love, respect and the list goes on.  Many times we change those desires to expectations; believing that others owe us or that we deserve something.  This can have terrible consequences.

I was trying to think of practical ways that this plays out in my life.  It brought me back to my relationship with the Lord.  Most of us know that our marriage relationship reflects our relationship we have with our creator.

I desire to have a stable place to live.  I can only imagine what it is like to live in one place for more than two years at a time.  When I begin making that desire an expectation that I have of God; I become dissatisfied, grumpy filled with unthankfulness and can potentially miss an incredible blessing that the Lord has in store for me.

PS 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart." Do I truly know the heart of God?  Am I treating Him like He owes me something?  God desires that all men come to know Him.  What is that worth to me?

In being a missionary to those that are unreached with the gospel, I have had to give many of my desires to the Lord.  In return, He has blessed me in ways that I had not even imagined.

Dear Friends,

We have enjoyed our time on home assignment alot.  We have gotten to see many of you and had the privilage of visiting many churches throughout the U.S. 

We miss our friends that we are having to leave in Venezuela, especially considering that we may never have the opportunity to see them again.  We continue praying  for the people in the village where we worked before, that they will soon have the opportunity to hear the gospel.  A piece of our hearts remain with them.

Our bodies and spirtis have been able to rest and be refreshed.  We have  an incredible church here in Western Washington that has helped us grow to know the Lord even more. 

Now our time here is coming to an end.  God is directing us to the country of Mozambique, Africa.  Please pray for our family during this final month here in the U.S.  that we will be focused on Him and not overwhelmed with all the packing and little details involved in moving our family overseas. 

Once we get there, pray for our time of language and culture learning.  Pray also for the kids as they adjust to a new land and experience barriers in communication with those around them.  Pray that we, as parents, will have wisdom in helping them during this time of transition. 

MAPUTO, Mozambique: With hearts open to God’s will, missionaries Michael and Jessica Richardson saw two closed doors as His direction.

The Richardsons were part of a team that pioneered a work among the Shiriana people of Venezuela. But a Venezuelan government resolution ordered NTM missionaries out of tribal areas, so they had to move out. They explored ministering among the Shirianas across the border in Brazil, and this week found out that was not going to happen.

"There is no way for us to even visit the area, never mind work there," they wrote.

Their hearts ache as they think of the relationships they built with the Shirianas.

"We worked so hard preparing the soil of their hearts for the Gospel," they wrote. "We dreamed of planting, watering, and watching God grow new believers to maturity in Christ. Now we must trust that God will do His work in His time."

But their service to God is not done. Back in October, as it appeared the doors were closing on their ministry among the Shirianas, Michael suggested to Jessica the possibility of serving God in Mozambique.

"At that time her response was an emphatic, ‘I couldn’t go there!’ … A few weeks ago, Jessica came to me and said that the Lord had changed her heart: ‘If He leads us to Mozambique, I am willing to go.’"

After talking with missionaries who have served in Mozambique, and fasting, praying and seeking Godly counsel, the Richardsons believe the Lord is leading them to Africa.

Please pray for the Shirianas, who are now without a Gospel witness. Pray also for the Richardsons as they adjust to many changes — not only geographically, but in culture and language.