It is good to be back in touch after a longer than usual break. We were in the UK for most of April. We had a relaxing week in a holiday cottage in the beautiful Wye valley where I grew up. My Mum lives nearby, and some of Gregory's family came over from Ireland for a few days, so we had opportunity for a family reunion on both sides. We also made use of the opportunity to keep our boys in touch with home culture; the high point of which was a visit to the Roman baths at Bath.

Following that week we were able to attend the Elim Bible week at Minehead, and then the conference for Elim missionaries held in Cardiff. It is impossible to overstate how much we enjoyed and benefited from the latter. It was fantastic to catch up with missionary friends some of whom we had not seen for several years. It was wonderful also to meet missionaries whom we have prayed for over the years, but have never before had opportunity to meet. There was a great sense of unity and common purpose. The ministry from various NLT members was also excellent. It was refreshing to spend time in God's presence and let him work in our own hearts. Our boys were also delighted. Before living in Zimbabwe their best friends were the Walker children (now in Cambodia), and in Zimbabwe their best friends were the Saunders children... for the first time ever all three families were together!  We hardly saw our boys from morning to night.

All good things must come to an end, and so we flew back to Maputo for a frantic 5 days of packing up the house, cancelling bills and contracts and saying goodbye to friends. We found a reliable man to transport the boxes containing most of our personal goods; we SQUASHED the essential items into the car around the children and on the roof, and set off for Tete. We spent 11 hours in the car the first day, and 9 the second day. It was quite a test of everyone's endurance, but well worth it for the benefit of gaining a much better idea of what Mozambique is really like. The lasting impressions are of miles of coconut palm groves, more miles of totally uninhabited bush (if you break down there it is impossible even to know where you are, let alone inform anybody!), houses made of bamboo canes and palm leaves, and too many enormous pot holes. We are all agreed it is not a journey we intend to make more often than absolutely necessary. This month's cartoon gives an overview of our travels.

We broke the journey and spent 10 days in Zimbabwe. It was lovely to catch up with friends there, and we were made extremely welcome. When we left Zimbabwe in 2004 we left our furniture and household things in the home of Pastor Mhlanga who has graciously stored them for us for the past 2 years; and we left our dog with Pastor Munembe who has done a fantastic job of looking after her. We have now started the process of applying for our goods to be released from Zimbabwe so that we can bring them to Mozambique and establish our home here. And we picked up the dog and travelled with her up to Tete.

And so it is that we have finally arrived in the place of God's calling, 18 long years after we first heard him say that he wanted us to serve him in Mozambique!
Our arrival here has been greatly eased by an SIL couple, Mikael and Jeni Bister. It was they who had taken our application for our DIREs, which were ready and waiting for us when we arrived!!! They had found us temporary accommodation in the home of some missionaries on furlough, have shown us the shops, the markets, and where to go to pay our household bills! For some time they have been keeping their ears open for houses available to rent (There is no such thing as an estate agent in this part of the country!), and just 3 days ago we came to a verbal agreement to rent one of the houses they had found. It is very spacious and will provide adequate room for office space, home schooling and guest accommodation in addition to living space. The landlord is a member of the Assemblies of God church, and actually agreed to reduce the rent to what we could afford because we are here to do the Lord's work!

So what about the church? The Elim churches have been patiently awaiting  our arrival the whole time we have been studying in  Maputo, and this week we made contact with two of the senior leaders who immediately came to see us. The Elim congregation closest to Tete is in Moatize, just 10 miles away, and we went there on Sunday. There was a great sense of joy and excitement, and of unity in the Spirit. The style of the meeting was very similar to that in the rural churches in Zimbabwe and so we felt quite at home, even though the worship was in an unfamiliar language. Gregory's sermon (which he preached in Portuguese and was translated into Nyungwe) was extremely well received. All in all we were quite overwhelmed by the welcome we received. We have agreed with the leaders that they will take us this week to meet the local  officials at the department of religious affairs, so that we can operate freely in the district. Next Sunday we will be ministering at the church at Samoa, and thereafter... who knows?

Please make a note of our new contact details. The mobile phone number is unchanged, but we have a new Mozambique postal address and will no longer have access to the Maputo or South Africa addresses.
 

Please Pray

Thank God that our residence application has been accepted and that everything came together in the end Thank God for our house Thank God for the many friends who have done so much for us here in Mozambique and in Zimbabwe Praise God for the Elim churches which the Lord has established here Pray that we will get permission to bring our furniture from Zimbabwe Pray that we will soon feel at home, and make friends; the boys are particularly in need of playmates Pray that we will get into the routine of home schooling Pray that we will continue to make good relationships with the churches and will know how best we can serve them and build them up

Grace to you

Sharon and Gregory Kane

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Sharon's 'Joke of the Month'

*Opposites*