It’s 9:03 pm. I’m sucking on a Green Apple Jolly Ranger and drinking tea. We had tuna noodle casserole for dinner, I took a deep smell and then looked at Nunu and said…”This is what America smells like bro!”

This afternoon, we all got together for a final debrief before heading towards home tomorrow. Amanda, once again was thoughtful, even taking time to put an awesome slideshow together and played it for us so our memories would be jogged for the reflection time.

She asked us several questions but one still has me thinking.

“What’s one thing you’ve learned?”

I think I’ve learned a dozen little things, not just about foreign missions but about international travel, parenting, husbanding, staying in someones home for two weeks, going with the flow, relying on Gods word for insight, seeing the beauty in things that don’t seem beautiful at first…as Bill would say, ” we could increase the list ad infinitum.”

So far though, albeit very fresh and not having had much time to breath here goes…

I’ve learned about the beauty in the long game.

As a first world brat, I find that many of my problems can be solved and several of my desires can be satisfied by simply opening my wallet and throwing cash at a thing. Before we left for Moz I had a very direct conversation with Robert the pool guy. I said…”Robert, I don’t want you to spend all summer again chasing one little thing after another and then finally coming to the conclusion that we needed a new pump all along. Please do whatever you need to do to get this pool crystal clear and working properly by the time we get back and let me know how much I owe you.” See what a brat I can be! But seriously, you can throw cash at a swimming pool and it will get crystal clear, relatively quickly.

Problem: Green Pool.

Solution: Hand my open wallet to Robert the pool guy.

Result: Crystal clear pool.

Here’s another one…

Problem: John has an enormous bald spot that makes him self conscious.

Solution: $40,000.00

Result: ACTUAL HAIR THAT GROWS!

It’s absolutely amazing what money can do.

It’s equally amazing what money CAN”T do.

Things like investing in the lives of women and children in a small town in Mozambique, hoping and praying for opportunities to to share the Gospel along the way and believing that these little boys will grow into men that love Christ and share his love with others.

Way better than fixing swimming pools and bald spots!

Thing is, all the money in the world doesn’t get it…just time.

The long game is beautiful…

I’ve been watching a few of my favorite people play it for the past couple weeks. Little by slow, they build, they teach, they learn, they pray, they invest, they wait…they repeat.

The long game takes faith…

This adventure is nothing short of crazy without faith. These people are poor, relative to American standards but let me tell you, they are seemingly less miserable than most people in line at Starbucks for sure. They could teach us a thing or two about contentment to be sure. The only thing of real substance that this diligent trio has to offer the people of Muxura, is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now please don’t hear that at the wrong volume. The Good News is, in my view, best preached with actions not bullhorns. It’s heard “little by slow”, one day at a time. The Gospel shines through as Amanda learns Portuguese and Emakhuwa so she can better connect and come alongside the women. It shines through as Nunu walks the dirt roads of the village checking in on everyone and showing compassion as they hurt. It shines through as Latino pours into these kids so that they do well in school. See, in this predominantly Muslim village, Amanda and Nunu and Latino are The Jesus People of Muxura and look what the Jesus People are becoming famous for…connecting, teaching, loving, investing…I think all of us “Jesus People” would do well to be famous in our neighborhoods for such things.

It’s all about the long game…

I’m sure there is more to this wonderful story, just not tonight:)

By the way, thank you for coming along on this journey with us. It’s has been a joy to dig deep at the end of the day and extract the story for you. It has helped me to be more reflective and more open to what God is doing inside me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

In a few days, Nunu is going to be a quest blogger here so that you get a chance to hear from him in person. It has been an absolute joy getting to know this guy and I’m excited for you to hear from him.

See you tomorrow,

John

PS. Here are a bunch of pics from the last couple days, scroll over them and they are captioned. Enjoy:)