To Mozambique

We headed out on the road to Mavotto, where the church was planted 3 years ago. Their biggest need is for CLEAN WATER. The community gets very sick during Nov/Dec because of bad water.

Elijah with kids under the caju (cashew nut) fruit tree.

Esther enjoyed the CUTE kids

We sit down as more and more people come so we can plan for the day of well digging and first cast a vision for using this blessing to bless others and see more churches planted.

Esther took this creative picture. In the hazy foreground you see Melissa's NIV Portuguese-English Bible and in the background the feet and mats we sit on (i.e. no chairs)

Hmmm. Choose your bathroom wisely!

No instruction necessary.

Ok. Here is one of the holes they pull "water" from to DRINK. Of course, any and all other animals in the area also drink here day and night.

To make bricks for the well we'll need a temporary water source to mix clay with water and put into a brick form before it's backed by a fire.

We'll dig a bigger hole that will collect this water we'll use temporarily before the real well is finished.

To make good brick that will last and not crumble after being backed we need to make them from the base of a termite nest in the ground.

Here we start digging at the base of a termite nest.

We found a better termite next closer to the well and of a harder substance.

We cut a 50 yard rope in several pieces to use living buckets of dirt out of the hand dug well.

Burning the plastic rope end so it doesn't come apart with use.

With coaching on team-work we fire up the troops for digging the well. Praise the Lord the well is started!

We stopped for lunch. Sitting on the straw mat, we roll some manioc "dough" in our fingers and dip it into the chicken or fish broth. Yum! The chicken is made first by setting it on top of burning grass to singe the outside before they boil it. It's a unique taste and VERY good.

The little salty fish are cooked whole and also taste good.

More instruction is necessary to get the well done well.

After several hours of a team of multiple people digging here is where we finished for the day. It became very hard clay/rock at the bottom.

Elijah and Esther begin setting up the tent. It will help protect us from mosquitoes and rats during the night.

The Makua children are impressed with this house.

The next morning we head out to another village - Namicuco - who also expressed the desire for a well. With VERY limited tools they started to dig and look how far they went. They'll do much better now with the heavy duty digging tools we brought them. They also have to walk 2 miles to get water from which pigs, goats, and cows drink from. Of course Sunday, there was also a baptism of 40+ people in this same water. A local deep well will help them greatly.

We stopped to greet the local chief and his wife and other government officials. As a gesture of love we also provided them a nice sleeping blanket, a lady's "dress", and brownies (which they had never eaten before). In the end we prayed for them. He and the government welcomed us to plant churches in his whole area, praise the Lord!

Elijah is learning how to play the drums and loving it. Another missionary family is letting him borrow this set for a month.

Esther is also enjoying piano lessons with her teach Angie and continues to surprise us with her God-given talen.

Tadaa! Esther's room.

The lego maniac at work. He makes some pretty amazing creations!

Antonio and I (Daniel) are working through each key story of the Bible to put dialog questions into Makua. We are also using them for the first time with 2 men we are evangelizing. These men work for an organization called - ANAMED - teaching rural villages how to have better health through sanitation and agriculture. They really want to be able to take God's Word to them too, but they themselves are just now coming to know God as He truly is.

Rabia asked Melissa to teach her how to make an American dessert. They're working on brownies.

Esther and Melissa mixing paint for the front room.

Every year there is very little rain from April to November. If a good strong rain comes in November, these insects appear, indicating that the ground is now wet enough and the time is right to plant the next harvest of manioc, peanuts, corn, etc..

They're called ACUTIA. God made them so pretty.

Some mornings we find a cute yittle yizard in the sink that can't get out so we help him along. The big ones (6 inches) run around on the walls and help clear out bugs that enter our house.

As I put on my slip-on shoe, something felt different. Yep! This big guy with big pinchers had found a place to rest

We thank God the tower is 99% complete and providing much water.

Squanto prepares for the Thanksgiving feast.

Elijah took this beautiful picture from our yard.

Melissa and Esther put up the tree and are really enjoying it.