Thanksgiving in Mozambique

(Connie wants everyone to know this post is written by her husband : )).

Unlike Christmas or Easter, Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. For the rest of the world, including Mozambique, Thursday, November 24 was just another weekday. The team dug irrigation ditches. I (Garry, aka Dr. Morgan) taught my Islam course. Life at Volta a Biblia went on as normal - almost.

Late morning it began to rain - hard - and went on for the rest of the day. We discovered that puddles will even form in sand if it rains hard enough. The geese that roam the school compound thought they were in heaven. Laundry that had been hung out in the morning was quickly gathered and draped inside wherever there was space. It looked like a bleak afternoon.

Connie and I are staying in a house previously occupied by a South African  missionary family that returned home several years ago. A number of girls on the team came over to the house, wearing aprons they had purchased in South Africa. Connie pulled out a few surprise items she had picked up at a supermarket in South Africa before we left. Before long the aroma of oatmeal cookies wafted from the oven of our propane stove. Then the rest of the team came over and we had coffee, tea and cookies warm from the oven. While the rain pounded down outside, we sang praise songs and gave thanks to God. Then Willem was prodded into telling a few stories, like how Volta a Biblia began (he literally built it from the ground up while living in a tent) and how he proposed to Carol (after the Land Rover got stuck hood-deep in a mud hole).

It wasn't turkey and cranberry sauce, but we were truly thankful and I expect it will be one of the more memorable Thanksgiving days for many on the team.