We made it to Beira!

An update from Equip Mozambique! View this email in your browser Greetings from Mozambique! It feels great to be able to say that at last! Those of you who read our lastest newsletter will probably remember that we ended up extending our stay in Malta due to our inability to get Mozambican visas. Eventually, God opened a way for us to apply for visas through the Mozambican embassy in London. The embassy initially told us that they only work with residents of the United Kingdom; however, after a lot of prayer, we felt that we should apply there anyway. Jon flew to London and came back two days later with the visas! They are 30 day residency visas, meaning we have a month to get the ball rolling on our "green cards", or DIREs as they are called here. So many bags! Smooth Travel We had a wonderful time with Carla's family in Gozo, Malta. It was great to see some of the island's sights, help out with their ministry, and get involved with some local Christian groups. We even got to take a quick trip to Sicily with them aboard the YWAM ship, Next Wave, which was exciting. We want to thank everyone who was praying for smooth travels. We (and all of our suitcases) made it through to Beira without any major problems. We narrowly avoided some issues with the luggage, but everyone was very friendly and we were able to work it all out. The kids were great travelers, and we arrived very tired but intact in Beira on the afternoon of November 6th. Worship at Peniel Getting Established Now we're finally starting to get established in Mozambique! We are currently staying in a temporary apartment while we search for another place to rent. The people from Peniel, our new church, have been incredibly helpful and accommodating. They've helped with everything from picking us up at the airport, to wrangling all of our luggage up the stairs to our fourth-floor apartment, to providing transportation and helping us find a place to live. The church recently ended a 40-day period of fasting and prayer, and I (Janie) was amazed at everyone's cheerfulness and willingness to help, even when they hadn't eaten anything all day. Innocencio, one of the church members at Peniel, stops by every day to check on us. He has been a huge help with running errands, taking us on shopping trips, and helping us with whatever is going on at the time. He's also started learning English with Carla, and has been helping me add to my Portuguese vocabulary. Kyran is making friends with a 7-year-old neighbor, Dereke. He often comes to our door to ask if Kyran can come out and play with him. The two of them have enjoyed the game of Uno and sharing their toy cars with each other. Kyran and Jariel are slowly gaining confidence in speaking a few Portuguese phrases to people, and I'm sure they'll do much better with time! Chappa rides are cozy. Connections in Mozambique We have enjoyed getting re-acquainted with Mozambique. I've remembered how much I enjoy shopping in the little shops and open air markets, and we've all been savoring the variety of delicious fresh fruits that are available here. The kids are especially excited about the bananas! Since we don't have a car yet, we have been riding the “chappas”, which are the most common form of public transportation here. They are a little bigger than a minivan and frequently hold about twenty people. As you can imagine, everyone is very cozy! When we took our first chappa ride through Beira, my thought was, "Yep! We're definitely back in Mozambique now!" It has also been nice to connect with some old friends from the area, both missionaries and Mozambicans. Some of Jon and Carla's friends put in requests for computers and other electronics that are hard to get here. It's been great, after carrying these things around with us for the past few months, to finally get them into the hands of the people who've been waiting for them. Now our three main priorities are finding an apartment, continuing to build friendships here, and finalizing our one-year residencies. We have also been working on the website for downloading audio resources. You can find out more about that project here. Mosquito nets come in handy. Residencies Though we managed to get the visas that allowed us to enter the country, we still need to go through the immigration office for our residencies. Bernardo, one of the leaders at Peniel, has been helping Jon with this process. Fortunately, it looks like it will be much easier to get that done now that we're actually in the country.   Once again, we appreciate all of your prayers as we get established here in Beira. We're excited to find out what God will do with our time here and we look forward to sharing more of our testimonies with you. Shopping at an outdoor market Prayer Requests Please pray that we would soon be able to find a good place to live. That we would be able to build more friendships and make more connections with the congregation of Peniel and our community. There are a lot of different opportunities for ministry here! Pray that we would have wisdom about the ones with which God wants us to get involved. That we will be able to get our one-year residencies quickly and easily. Praises Praise God for a fruitful and restful time while we were 'shipwrecked' in Malta. That we were able to get our visas through the London embassy. For safe travels and that all of our bags made it to Beira. Great friendship and amazing support from the people at Peniel. Goodbye, Gozo! Our last ferry ride from Gozo to Malta.  Jon printed a map of Europe and Africa so the kids could plot our journey.  Arriving at Aeroporto Internacional da Beira! Watch our newest video HERE! Our temporary apartment (the whole top floor of the building).  Story time (in Portuguese). Facebook Website YouTube Email Donate Note: Donating through PayPal (through the button above) would not be tax-exempt, but tax-deductible donations can be made via a local church. Checks can be made to "Church Without Walls" with "Equip Mozambique" in the memo line and sent to:  Church Without Walls 10501 County Road 3010 Rolla, MO 65401 Jariel and a huge beaded elephant in the Johannesburg airport. "It's THIS big!" Thanks for reading, please remember us in your prayers!