Harderwyk

Last week we flew a team from Harderwyk Church in the US, up to Chimoio in Moz, and as there were eight passengers, we did the flight jointly with ZUMAT, who used their recently acquired Piper Seneca.

We camped at the SAM Ministries mission site where Mercy Air are also building a remote base.

There were many things to do. The ladies spent a few days painting an orphanage whilst the boys put a roof on one of the Mercy Air buildings...

...as well as on a clinic, which had been built two years ago but had been waiting since then for its roof.

Even as they were working, people came to inquire when the clinic would be open - the need is so great there.

The team visited one of the local SAM workers who looks after the cattle and sheep for the mission. His name is Domingo and he lives a very simple life with his family and wife of 30 years, a few kilometers walk away.

He shared some maize he had grown and explained that when his stomach was empty he considered that he was poor, but when his stomach was full, he was rich.

As we left, he gave us a bunch of bananas and carried them back across the river for us.

SAM Ministries had built a school a few years back and still provide food for the students. We visited and helped out a little one lunch time.

They seemed pretty chuffed to see us.

At the mission, each morning starts at 06:30 with breakfast, and then devotions at 07:00.

In the evening the generator goes off at 21:00 which coincides nicely with the need to go to bed.
As it was hot and sweaty 24 hrs a day, and often rained heavily at night, some opted to sleep in a mosquito net tent in an open kitchen.

Lots of interesting creepy crawlies to keep us on our toes. This guy pitched up one evening whilst we were eating. He is a little smaller than your hand.

The team had bought some 'Talking Bibles' in Portugese - basically an MP3 player with the Bible on it. They presented some of these to a Pastor who regularly travels many 100 km at a time visiting churches that have been planted in the Zambezi region.
Before leaving on the Sunday we went to a local church. Some of the kids were fascinated by our presence finding any little hole in the wall to look through.

For the flight home we had a spare seat and were able to bring Bero back to South Africa where he had been offered free surgery. Bero had been badly burned as a child and had very restricted use of his arms and hands. Here we are getting out of the plane back at Mercy Air.

We take another team up to the same place at the end of March.

Thanks

Mercy Air team