Friday, March 5th

It was a peaceful morning in this quaint, almost forgotten place in the middle of Maputo. Breakfast was communal again and prior to that I had the pleasure of talking to a young man who regularly comes in for some wisdom from one of the elderly woman who run the 'Oasis'. He had become a "born again" Christian several years earlier and that obviously made a big impact on his life. Yet lately, he seems to have hit a struggling point. His church wants him to be only around mature Christians in order that his young faith is not challenged too much. But following that rule leaves him unable to be around his family, none of whom it seems are Christians. His mother's health is declining and he wishes to see her but doesn't know what to do.

I felt for him. I had a range of reactions and a boatload of opinions; yet I knew enough to keep fairly quiet and let him just talk. I had no idea of his real context, his personal space and the pressures that he was under. It was interesting to see him come to his own sense of how Jesus came to be with the sinners and not with only the like-minded. It was also sad to watch his intense struggle and I could not help but associate the rules of his faith community with those of the Pharisees around Jesus.

That was a bit of a heavy way to start the morning, especially before breakfast! Around the table this morning was a returning pair of missionaries from Texas who were likely in their 70's. The husband had been called to help set up some governance structures for the missionary based church in Mozambique. The wife was recovering from cancer treatments. They had also come back for the next year to celebrate an upcoming birth of a grandchild and the marriage of another child. Both the expectant mother and the groom-to-be were their adopted children from the orphanage that they worked with many, many years earlier. I had a pleasant breakfast talking to the woman about these upcoming events and how their biological children back in the USA felt about them.

After breakfast it was time to pack and get ready for Orlando, the taxi driver for the 'Oasis', to take me to the airport for my flight to Quilemane, north of Maputo along the coastline of the Indian Ocean. I was getting really excited. I would be met by Karen and Bill Butt who have been United Church overseas personnel in Quilemane for nearly 10 years. Karen and Bill are originally from London, ON but now work with the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM). I would be spending all of my time in Mozambique with them and I was glad to have the opportunity to be with ones who knew both the Mozambican and Canadian context and would help me make the connections I always thirst for. They also were fluent in Portuguese which means that they could interpret for me!

The anticipation of connecting was put on hold for about 1 hour as we had to wait for the airfield to be cleared. It seems that Prime Minister of Portugal had been visiting Mozambique and was now departing (the man with the red tie). Some of the local people were allowed onto the runway to show their support through song and dance. That was fun to watch even if it was from the boarding lounge!

One we got air bound, the flight northward provided a glimpse of this troubled landscape. Being a coastal area and having the large Zambizia River flow from the west means that much of the land is already susceptible to wetland conditions. This past January, central Mozambique was hit by torrential rains that caused a great deal of flooding, killing people, mostly children and destroying the main season crops. Roads and bridges were damaged as well as thousands of homes according to Reuters Services. This central area was hit again a few weeks ago. From the air, much of the land looked like a huge wetland with a series of large ponds and bogs..I found this recent image off the web that seems to depict what I saw from the low-flying airplane.

When I landed in Quilemane, Karen was there to greet me and take me to the offices of the Christian Council of Mozambique- Zambezia District, which is where her and Bill work out of. As we pulled into the complex, there to greet us with song and dance were a number of girls whose wide smiles and strong voices made for an amazing energy. We did a really cute name game in a circle where everyone did an action along with their name. The rest of us would repeat the name and the action. I was presented with a T-shirt, a wrap skirt and a maroon and light grey bracelet. Karen explained to me later that the two interwoven colours on the bracelet represent 2 people, 2 cultures, 2 countries that create something beautiful together. The girls make these as fundraiser items. I'm never good with this kind of attention but the enthusiasm of these girls just wrapped around me and quickly invited me into the space.

Karen's work has evolved largely around the development of an educational program for girls mostly in the rural area. Called PEDRA, (Portuguese acronym for Programa de Educacao da Rapariga, which means Program for the Education of Girls. It's also the Portuguese word for 'rock'. which is why it was chosen as the name, since the program aims to give girls a firm foundation and there are lots of Biblical contexts with the "Rock" image. The girls themselves apparently choose to call themselves "pedrinhas" which means "little rocks".) This model of community building and support for girls includes learning through games, dance and theatre, skill development, academic support and teaching/motivation for good lifestyle choices. Much of our time together will be visiting the various PEDRA communities so more will come for sure!

Bill's work involves the multi-faceted area of communications for the CCM. The first glimpse of this work was not what I expected. As we walked across the complex, the first office we came to was a recording studio!! Turns out that Bill was able to develop an all ready present hub of music and video production enthusiasts. Over time, he was able to develop the facilities for such production and put it to good use developing videos both for the various churches that make up the Christian Council of Mozambique and for the general public. The content of these videos were largely focused on the prevention of HIV/AIDS - more on this most pressing issue later. If you wish to see some of these videos, check out the links provided - you'll enjoy them and will begin to understand what is on the minds of these young people in Mozambique!

After a few introductions to the rest of the staff, we loaded up in the truck and went to Bill and Karen's home for a clean-up, supper and an early bed. En route we passed a large Catholic church which is the dominate historic Christian denomination. Shortly further down the road was a beautiful large Mosque to serve the growing Muslim population of Quilemane. With a population of over 21.7 million, the 1997 census reported that 24% are Roman Catholic, 22% are Protestant, 20% are Muslim, and one-third do not profess a religion or belief; however, religious leaders speculated that a significant proportion of this group practiced some form of indigenous religion.

As Bill talked about the governance of this country, I found it very interesting to note the similarities in the constitutions of Mozambique and Canada. The Mozambique government separates religion and state as we do in Canada and provides for religious freedom though it restricts religious instruction in public schools. These public schools provide the bulk of the education system though private, church associated schools are beginning to increase. That was one thing that I noticed right away in Quilemane compared to Uganda and Tanzania - there were far, far fewer small corner churches and associated nursery schools, middle schools etc. in Mozambique - noticeably fewer!

According to the US Embassy 2009 Report on Mozambique, the Law on Religious Freedom in Mozambique requires religious institutions and missionary organizations to register with the Ministry of Justice, reveal their principal sources of funding, and provide the names of at least 500 followers in good standing. No particular benefits or privileges are associated with registration, and there were no reports that the Government refused to register any religious group during the reporting period. However, the Government also appears very careful with the transparency and accountability of the NGO's (Non-government agencies like World Vision or Save the Children among thousands).

I've posted a link to an article on the history of the duality of evangelization and colonialization as it occurred in Mozambique. This is written by Elias Massicame for The Ecumenical Review, July 2001 and refers extensively to the work by Mozambican theologian Simao Chamango, in his book on the history of the churches in Mozambique. I have not read enough about this country to sense broad historic perspectives offered in this article.