6 Weeks in

A brief update. Am in an internet cafe in Maputo. Don dropped me off while he goes and gets supplies for the base. It has been a rollercoaster time here in Mozambique. I feel it has been emotionally more challenging than last time. I got back yesterday from a two day outreach where I was the only westerner. Me, 7 Iris young men who had grown up in their childrens centre and Pastor Wingy. It was an interesting time with many healed and saved yet I found it tough and was glad to return to Boane (the base I am staying at). I think I will just about get used to being here before I have to return back to the UK. If you are reading this and are the praying kind then please do pray for me. Anyways said it was brief!!

Another slow afternoon at work. The sun shines through the automatic doors. The fax machine whirrs behind me bringing in an anonymous fax from a marketing company. Typical, mundane, 9-5. The good news is I leave in a weeks time. Jetting off to sunnier climbs, namely Mozambique.
As I sit here, a customer advisor with currently no customers to advise I reflect on a topsy -turvy year, one filled with the craziness of life. Occasionally it feels a privelidge, occasionally it feels like a slog. When I think of the 101 things that need doing before I leave for Mozambique I can't help but yearn for the slower pace of life in Africa. Did God really create us to be this busy?! It is perhaps a overstated stereotype when we talk about things like African time. But surely relationships are more important than deadlines, than tasks, than getting "the job done." It is an underlying attitude where people care more about who you are than what you do. That is part of the appeal of Africa to me, but is also something I wish we could import over here. It was a genuine shock to the system returning last year from Mozambique to a world of busyness and meetings. Feeling like I was watching from the sidelines as people rushed through their lives. Eventually of course I was sucked into the race and learned to get use to it again. Though with an underlying sense of mourning the loss of what I had experienced before. It is harder to shape culture than to be shaped by it it seems.
My hope this year is that whatever it is I learn out in Mozambique I am able to translate it into English and not lose my sanity in the process. It is usually harder coming back than going and this year things seem even more open ended than last year. The way ahead seems as unclear as ever but I will go ahead as far as I can see...

New Blog

So my old blog http://tom.missionblogs.com seems to be struggling so have decided to start a new one. A week and a half to go before going out to Mozambique again. This time with a group of 8 of us going. Once the team return I will be staying out there for a month and a half hopefully helping out at one of Iris's bases. Watch out for updates...