TIA: This is Africa

For those who follow this blog regularly... I’m sure you’re more than a little confused. Didn’t I say I was going to Mozambique? Didn’t I raise all this fuss about support and prayer because I was going to the land of Moz?

Didn’t I?

The clear and easy answer to those questions is YES!

Yes. I fully intended to be in Moz by now... but I’m not.

In fact, I landed in Johannesburg almost two weeks ago and have been here ever since.

The kindly and most hospitable crew at Calvary Chapel Johannesburg has welcomed me into their guest room. And here I have been resting, hanging with the locals, and slowly getting my affairs in order for Mozambique.

“Why the delay?” you ask.

Good question. Reasonable question. But one that is not so simple to explain.

Well, actually it is quite simple.

This is Africa.

When I say TIA (This is Africa), I don’t say it with a sneer; I say it with a sly smile and a quick shake of the head.

Let me explain.

My ride into Moz depends on my directors, Roy and Trish. And although they are deceptively white they are most assuredly not Westerners. I suspect if you took a Brillo pad to their skin, you’d find a brilliantly gorgeous black underneath.

They are Africans. Pure and simple.

So when we arranged to have them come to Jo’burg to pick me up, I was thinking like a Westerner. They were not.

The first day we met up, they told me they wanted to stick around Jo’burg for a few days to get refreshed, and I smiled to myself. For I knew that a few days to them might be more like a few weeks.

I was right.

One week turned into two. And soon it will be three full weeks before I arrive in the ever elusive land of Moz.

At first I was disappointed by the delay --the let down, the dashed expectations, the expense, etc. But I don’t feel that way now.

To be honest, I’m relieved.

I left the States very tired --the constant goodbyes, the relentless repacking, the last-minute details. But now after a time just sitting at His feet in the early morning sun and sipping on coffee in the late-afternoon heat, I’m rested.

Praise Him!

I’m told, however, that we’ll be heading to Mozambique sometime this weekend. So please pray for traveling mercies. The roads are better in Zimbabwe, so we’ll head that way first, then dart over into Mozambique.

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Also... thank you so much for praying for my bags and my ticket reimbursement. My bags made it here safely within a day or so. And I was finally able to sort out my ticket reimbursement just this week!

What a relief!