We are required to count our aircraft parts inventory by the end of November. This means the week of Thanksgiving we needed to get all the parts counted and adjustments made. The inventory count requires going through tubs and tubs of aircraft parts, counting each screw, grommet, o-ring, and nut. We comb through shelves of filters, tire tubes, hoses, belts, bearings, and radio parts to get an accurate list of what parts we have on hand. This is extremely important for timely aircraft maintenance as the mechanics need to know if the parts they need are in stock and where to find them. It gives us a chance to put parts back in their proper place if they were mistakenly placed in the wrong tub.

This year we recruited some teenagers from other mission groups along with several hangar staff to help with the count. In one day we made it through most of the parts, and I spent much of the next day making the adjustments in our system to reflect what we counted.

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we shared a pizza lunch with our staff at the hangar and took a moment to do a different type of counting. We shared with our Mozambican colleagues what this American holiday is about and then, as a team, we counted blessings and shared what we were thankful for this year. It was a chance to take inventory of another type. We were thankful for the new baby added to our team, new co-workers, health, and for our families. We discussed some of the struggles our program has had over the past year but were reminded to not let them overshadow the victories. In this case, our blessings inventory came with an adjustment as well, an attitude adjustment in which we can give thanks to God in all circumstances.

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After Kenneth hit, we provided a shuttle service from Pemba to the islands of Ibo and Matemo, islands that were particularly hard-hit by the cyclone. The goal was to use our Cessna Caravan to get aid workers to and from the islands and deliver aid supplies. While at dinner one evening we came into contact with a local organization, IKURU, wanting a way to transport food and supplies to Ibo for distribution to those affected by the cyclone. We began to coordinate with them, and each day they would bring family kits of food and supplies for us to transport. Every time we had empty space on the plane, or enough to do a full cargo load, we would deliver the goods to Ibo where they had someone on the other side responsible for distribution.

We later learned it was not just one organization, but a group of organizations and individuals all volunteering in different ways to help victims of the cyclone. On our last night in Pemba we went to dinner at a local restaurant and discovered they were doing a fundraising event that evening. We got to meet some of the individuals on the other end of the family kits that arrived at the airport: those raising funds, buying supplies, and packaging the kits. That night they had a Jazz band playing as part of the fundraiser and were selling stickers that said “Unidos Por Cabo Delgado” or “United for Cabo Delgado” (the province where the cyclone hit.) When they came up to our table, they saw the MAF logos on our shirts and were so excited to see us. They expressed great thanks for all our help in transporting the food to Ibo and gave us each a sticker.

Although disasters such as these are terrible, it is wonderful to see people come together using their various tools and gifting to help those in need.

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Although I have lived in Mozambique for six years now, I was reminded of these facts while going to driver’s education. Up until this point, we have been using our international driver’s licenses with little problem, but we’ve recently learned that we need to get a local driver’s license. This requires quite a bit of paperwork at various governmental offices and we are grateful we have Diniz, our office administrator, to help us through the process. We’ll need to pass the written exam before we can do the driving portion.

I have spent several mornings at a local driving school taking practice exams. The test is in Portuguese and I’ve discovered it has quite a bit of vocabulary that I have never used before. I’ve devoted quite a bit of time to staring at the questions, trying to figure out what they mean. Sometimes the questions make complete sense but I have trouble discerning the differences between the answer choices. I have passed all but one practice test, but Google translate has been my friend, and that will not be an option on test day. Most of the questions have been logical driving theory questions, but a few have caught me off guard. For example, I missed the rule about rickshaws. I thought riquexo meant rich person, which clearly couldn’t be the right answer! Looks like I need a few more practice tests!

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Though labeled an Africa Region conference, there were also folks from the United States, Europe, Indonesia, and Central Asia who came to learn, collaborate, and commiserate. While there were discussions about the challenges that each location faces, there was also a sharing of ideas and solutions. There were experts leading sessions in complex subjects mixing with new IT specialists still struggling to understand the problems they need to solve. It was refreshing to hear about what other programs are doing and how they use technology to further God’s kingdom. While discussions about servers and networking would normally be boring to a non-IT person like myself, it was clear that the work of these specialists is imperative for the success of our organization. Without it, there are serious gaps in communication, security, resource sharing, and efficiency.

The theme of the conference was taken from the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, where the question was asked “Who is my neighbor?” In this case, IT specialists from across the globe were neighbors, helping each other out. Likewise, as they return to the MAF programs where they serve, their colleagues are their neighbors.

Here in Mozambique, Dave is a pilot/mechanic, but countless times in a week he is interrupted with IT questions. “Why can’t I print?” “How come the Common Drive doesn’t show up?” “Why is this program giving me this error message?” His help allows the rest of us to be able to do the work we need to do. In turn, IT helps our MAF program be a good neighbor to the people living in Mozambique. God uses preachers, teachers, pilots, mechanics, and IT specialists to serve Him across the globe.

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I usually ride in to the hangar with my husband, Dave. That means that when he has an early flight, unless I can find another ride, I go in early as well. I don’t particularly enjoy arriving a couple of hours early, but on this particular morning, we had an unusual flight booked and I was excited to see how it would go. When we arrived, there were already a couple of trucks waiting for us at our hanger. They were loaded with chickens. Lots of chickens. Chicks to be exact. There were boxes and boxes, each containing 100 chicks. All of the seats had been removed from our Caravan and Dave had done the calculations to determine how many boxes could fit based on space and weight limitations.

Before long, the boxes were unloaded from the truck and I was helping weigh them as Dave and the other pilots were busy loading them on the airplane. The sound of thousands of “cheeps” echoed in the hangar. After some quick math and careful positioning, we managed to fit 18,400 baby chicks onto the Caravan. The boxes reached the ceiling, and the pods down below were loaded as well. We were concerned about how well the chickens would do if it got cold when the plane got up to altitude, but apparently 18,400 chicks put off a lot of heat. When Dave got in the plane, the windshield had actually fogged up from their body heat. It was not only warm but noisy as well. Even with a noise-cancelling headset, he heard chirping the entire flight.

When he returned from the flight with the plane empty, my next task was the sniff test. Having been in the plane so long, he could no longer tell if the chickens had left an unpleasant odor. Fortunately, after they removed the plastic liner and vacuumed it out, our next passengers would never detect a hint of our feathered passengers. So the question is, why would chickens cross a road when they can get a lift on an MAF airplane?

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Another example of this has haunted me since Sunday. After church we gave a woman a ride to the hospital. She is the wife of one of the guards that used to work for us. They were the first couple to have a wedding at our small mission church, which was cause for great celebration. She had surgery about a year ago and again more recently, but now doctors are saying there is nothing more they can do for her. Too weak to walk on her own, our pastor helped the woman get from her house to our car as there was no path wide enough to drive a car to her house. As we left the hospital we were hopeful that the staff could at least alleviate some of her pain.

When I experience things like this, it helps me remember to not become callous to the suffering around me. I can see how the medical flights we do are meaningful and how life-changing they can be to the individual. When I think of my family members who have had surgeries recently, I am reminded to be thankful for the treatment they have available. And as I see those whose faith remains strong in spite of suffering, it reminds me that I cannot associate God’s goodness with an easy life. An easy life is not promised to any of us, no matter where we live.

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Time after time I was amazed at the team’s level of thought that had gone into being prepared for some of the worst imaginable scenarios. We went through the various “go kits” that allow someone to get out the door quickly with the necessities for basic living and to organize a response as soon as feet hit the ground. I was able to receive some hands-on experience with the communications equipment available to keep a response moving forward when cellular towers and internet service is down. We examined past responses and how partnerships were formed, chaos was turned into order, and amazing things were accomplished. We also discussed what lessons were learned so that things could be improved upon for the next time. Always there was the caveat: just because something worked a certain way in one situation does not mean it will work that way in the next. Because of this, the Disaster Response team has gone far beyond the motto, “Always Be Prepared,” and stressed the importance of always being flexible. In day-to-day life, we like to have a Plan B, but in disaster response one must be okay with moving on to Plan C, Plan D, etc. I learned that it is not always about having the right answers, but being able to ask the right questions and change course as necessary.

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Right now I work at the hangar several days a week doing accounting. I like how it helps me stay connected with our staff, the work that MAF does, and the customers we fly. On occasion, at our local church, I am asked to share during the sermon time. I have made it a priority to be available to share God’s Word when given the opportunity. Likewise, God has allowed me to use my passion for martial arts. There are not very many extracurricular activities for kids here and I have been able to organize Taekwondo classes for expat kids, and Mozambican kids, as well as self-defense classes for women and girls. The challenge for me is to not place too much emphasis on what my job title is, but to focus on what God is doing and see how I can join Him.

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Our first week ever in Mozambique a man approached us with something for sale in a sack. When we looked in the sack, we discovered a live animal, a pangolin, curled up in a ball. It looked like an armadillo on steroids. Fast forward to the present and we have had two experiences with pangolins in the last month. A small Husky airplane has flown in from Niassa, a wildlife reserve in the northwest of Mozambique, with pangolins that had been confiscated from people who were trying to sell them. The pilot asked if he could park his plane in our hangar to keep it cool so the conditions would be better for transporting the animal back to the Reserve. Once the pangolin is deemed healthy, it’s released back into the wild.

We have since learned that pangolins are extremely endangered and among the most highly trafficked and highly protected animals in the world. Here in Mozambique, pangolins are often trafficked to Asia where their scales are thought to have medicinal value, much like the horns of rhinos. I happened to be at the hangar when they were loading the pangolin into the plane to make its journey to Niassa and was able to get a closer look. It was nice to see one of God’s unique creatures finding its way back into the wild.

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When studying a particularly challenging passage of Scripture, have you ever looked it up in multiple versions to help you understand? What a privilege it is to have access to different versions of the Bible at our fingertips. Similarly, I have an English-Portuguese Bible that I use here in Mozambique. When the pastor reads a passage I follow along in Portuguese and then read it again in English to make sure I understand. Not knowing the nuances of the language, oftentimes I am struck by the Portuguese word that was used, making me consider the passage in a different light. This is a good thing, but just reading God’s Word in Portuguese is difficult and cumbersome for me. I may even misinterpret the meaning until I check it in English.

Having this experience has deepened my appreciation for Bible translation projects. There are 43 languages spoken in Mozambique and many people, especially those living in rural settings, don’t speak Portuguese, the trade language. I recently had the privilege of attending the Takwane Bible Dedication in the city of Mocuba. MAF used our brand new Caravan to transport several missionary families who had a part in the translation project to the dedication. This celebration was the culmination of almost 20 years of work to research, complete, and publish the translation. At one point during the celebration, a passage was read from the newly minted Bible, and although I could not understand what was being said, there was a thrill in listening to God’s Word in yet another language. I know that just as I sometimes struggle to understand Scripture in Portuguese and gain a much deeper understanding when I read it in English, there will be people who come to know Christ, or deepen their relationship with Him, as a result of hearing and reading God’s Word in their heart language.

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