MOZAMBIQUE 2010 - Two Weddings in Assumane

Assumane, Mozambique
Friday, July 23, 2010
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Two Weddings in Assumane
Today marked the first wedding in the church of Assumane ever. There were actually two weddings. Jesse officiated the marriage of Joaquim and Lucia. I had the honor of officiating the marriage of Condeila and Anita. We have been able to see these beautiful believers blossom into men and women of God. It was the first time I have ever attempted to marry a couple in a language other than English, which was challenging. But despite my imperfect Portuguese, the ceremony was beautiful. Our little grass church building in Assumane was packed with friends, family and church members.
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After the ceremony, both couples rode off on 50cc motorbikes that were decorated. We followed them back to our house with friends and family in tow to have the reception, where there was more dancing, celebration and food. We all had a wonderful time together.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2010 - Trip Acrosss Africa DAY #22

Lichinga, Mozambique
Monday, July 19, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #22
It’s hard to believe that three weeks ago today we left on our journey to see more of this beautiful continent…AFRICA. We safely made it back to Lichinga by 3:30 pm this afternoon. We greeted our friends Jesse and Tanya as we arrived and had one of our favorite meals with them…burritos.
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Since my first missions trips to Kenya and Tanzania in the mid-nineties until now, I can say that I have truly been blessed to see and experience firsthand what many have never, and will never be able to. For this we are so thankful to our Creator, YHWH, who has hand-crafted every mountain, desert, river and sunset that we’ve seen on our journeys; who has set apart each wonderful language and culture that we have been able to hear and get to know. We drove nearly 10,000 kilometers across over six countries, each with their own unique beauty…Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Our experiences in these places are unforgettable. We have been able to shine the Light of Christ to different people that God brought our way in each of these places. We have immensely enjoyed the time that we’ve been able to spend together on this journey. I am so glad for the technology to be able to update our blog during this trip, sharing the stories and giving glimpses of it through pictures and videos.

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As you can see from the map, we have barely scratched the surface of taking the entirety of this enormous continent in. How many other wonders are out there? As we passed the various people on the streets of Africa; some carrying firewood on their heads…others riding their bicycles...faces changing from country to country, along with the scenery. I think about the fact that each one of them have a story. What are each of their stories? It would take forever to hear each of them. None of their stories are the same. Many of their stories are void of the only One who can truly bring them hope and give them love. Yet some have received that hope and love through the Savior, Jesus Christ…all because people just like you and me were willing to give up everything familiar and comfortable and tell them about God’s Son. I think about the sacrifices that the missionaries of old made to bring the gospel to them. Most missionaries to Africa in the early 1900’s packed their belongings in a coffin, as over 90% of these missionaries died within the first two years of service because of sickness and disease. They didn’t have vaccinations, or 4X4 vehicles to travel in, or ATM cards to withdraw funds from bank accounts. “Thank you Jesus, for the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us to bring your gospel to this continent. Would You please raise up an army of Spirit-filled Christ-followers in these last days to continue to the work and to win Africa for Christ? Jesus…a personal, hand-holding relationship with You alone is the answer that will end the poverty, end the injustices, end the human trafficking, end AIDS and end the hopelessness and despair in Africa…one broken spirit surrendered to You at a time.”
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Christian Young

MALAWI 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #21

Blantyre, Malawi
Sunday, July 18, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #21
Wow! We have a lot of dirty laundry. The last time we were able to do some laundry was when we were at the Backpacker’s Lodge in Windhoek, Namibia, which was over a week ago now. And let me tell you, a teenager’s dirty socks stink really badly. =)

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Made it in great time to Blantyre, Malawi from Tete, Mozambique today. Headed out from Tete around 7:30 am and got through the border and into Blantyre by noon. We were hoping to have lunch at a really good Indian food restaurant in the Shop-right complex, but they were closed on Sundays. =( No worries. We ate at another place next to that restaurant. Shop-right was closed, too, so we’ll be stopping by to pick up a few things (that are not available in Lichinga) before we head out in the morning. We were also able to catch a couple of movies at the movie theatre, which we haven’t been able to do together for a long time. God has been so good to us on this journey. Tomorrow we will make it into Lichinga by the afternoon, Lord willing.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #20

Tete, Mozambique
Saturday, July 17, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #20
Travel day today. Were originally thinking of staying another day or two in Zimbabwe and going to the Chimanimani National Park to do some hiking. But we got our fill of hiking at the ruins yesterday, and were behind a couple of days due to the car problems we were having (as well as the cost of staying in Zimbabwe for two more days). So from Great Zimbabwe ruins this morning, we drove four hours into Harare, and then another three hours to the Mozambique border (which went really smooth as we are residents of Mozambique). Then we made for the city of Tete, which is the center of the Tete province of Mozambique and sits right on the Zambezi River. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Mozambican roads to Tete were all paved (as we are used to the gravel road drives, dodging obstacles). Tomorrow morning we will make for Blantyre, Malawi, and stay the night there.

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For all of you who were praying for the mechanics of our Nissan Terrano, THANK YOU SO MUCH. After having the injectors replaced and the diesel pump cleaned and rebuilt, we have had no problems whatsoever. In fact, it is running even better than when we first bought it. God is so good!
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Christian Young

ZIMBABWE 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #19

Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Friday, July 16, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #19
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ZIMBABWE 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #18

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Thursday, July 15, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #18
Car problems went from bad to worse this morning as we ventured toward the Zimbabwe border. We crawled at around 65 km/hour all the way to the border, with it floored and a trail of white smoke blowing from our Nissan Terrano. At this point, I figured that our injectors were probably jammed up due to the bad fuel, which we presume was most likely some gasoline that was put into our tank back in Namibia. I started wondering if we would even make it into Zimbabwe.
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We pulled over just before the border and turned off the motor. When we started it again, it had a little more horsepower and enabled us to make it through the Zimbabwe border (which took the longest of any we’ve been through in Africa as of yet) and another 120 km to the city of Bulawayo, which is a big city and we figured we could find a mechanic there.

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As we came into Bulawayo, we spotted a small mechanic’s shop claiming to specialize in diesel motors, injectors and pumps. We ventured in and asked how much it would cost. It was an outrageous amount compared to other African countries at $540.00 U.S. to get all we needed done. They no longer use the Zimbabwe dollar here anymore, but use the U.S. dollar or South African Rand. I bartered with the mechanics with our second GPS as we didn’t have the cash to pay for the repairs and ended up only paying $240.00 U.S. in cash (that GPS was supposed to go to Jesse and Tanya to continue to use in Africa and beyond…sorry guys, I’ll have to try to score another one sometime).
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I ended up wrenching on our car with the mechanics all day long, as the others mainly hung out in the car waiting. I really don’t ever trust the mechanics here in Africa, as what I have found most of the time is that they will beat things with hammers when they can’t get something off, and I usually know auto-mechanics better than they do. They didn’t mind me working with them, and they actually knew what they were doing. They have old, ancient pump and injector test benches, and wired our injectors and pump up to them. All of the injectors were clogged and the pump was as well. They rebuilt the pump and put new nozzles in the injectors. I made another 5 new friends with these mechanics and we were all chums by the end of the day.

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We put the whole thing back together, started it up and had a smooth running diesel motor. Praise God! I still want to go over everything tomorrow morning to make sure everything has been tightened correctly. SO…Lord willing, we’ll be off to Great Zimbabwe ruins tomorrow and then head back to Mozambique. We don’t want to spend much time in Zimbabwe as prices for everything here are plain ridiculous! Thank you for all your prayers. I know that the Lord has truly answered them.
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Christian Young

BOTSWANA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #17

Francistown, Botswana
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #17
Travel day again. We had breakfast at the Sedia Hotel in Maun and said goodbye to some really cool friends we have made over the past few days here. Thought that the new diesel filter I bought in town would do the trick and that all the bad fuel had finally flushed out of the tank. Another no-can-do. About an hour into our trip we started losing horsepower again. We were hoping to be in Zimbabwe today, but we decided to stay overnight in Francistown, about an hour or so away from the Zimbabwe border. I found a place that sold diesel filters here and bought two of them, but am not sure if it will do any good. Please pray for us, that we make it back to Mozambique safely and without any more car problems. Thank you guys so much. Will change the filter again in the morning and head for Zimbabwe. I think we should make it to the Great Zimbabwe ruins by tomorrow afternoon.
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Christian Young

BOTSWANA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #16

Maun, Botswana
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #16
I woke up this morning feeling really tired. But at the moment I remembered that I was going on a dug-out canoe with my dad, I was up and ready to go. We ate breakfast at the restaurant in the wonderful hotel we are now staying at, and then we set off in a Land Cruiser to the spot where the mokoros (traditional dug-out canoes) were “anchored” (well not really, dug-out canoes don’t have anchors).
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When we got to the spot that the mokoros were, we got into one, and were ready for an adventure. But then things really got adventurous when our navigator told us that the boat had a leak and we might sink. Fortunately, the guy knew what he was doing and had experience behind him…he only had to [bail out the water with a] bucket sometimes.

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The Okavango Delta was absolutely beautiful! The calm blue waters with the tranquil, peaceful sound of nothing surrounding you was absolutely fantastic. We stopped for a lunch break and then we set off again. When we got closer to the station where all the “mokoros” were at, our navigator saw some zebras and we stopped to take some pictures. We got to the station and I was glad I got to experience the tranquility [of a mokoro trip] on the peaceful Okavango Delta.

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Jonas Young

BOTSWANA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #15

Maun, Botswana
Monday, July 12, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #15
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Our chalet at the Sedia Hotel in Maun, Botswana

 

BOTSWANA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #14

Maun, Botswana
Sunday, July 11, 2010
.Trip Across Africa DAY #14This morning we slept in real late, taking our time to get up and do the daily morning routine. We didn’t know, but God had a plan set out for us this morning.
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We started driving into the town of Maun and we heard a church service going on across the street. We went inside to hear an on-fire preacher giving an on-fire message. The people in that service were all lovely, Spirit-filled people who welcomed us warmly.
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After the service, we went and ate at a hotel that had a restaurant and an internet café. Dad checked some emails and then we ate some lunch. Now we’re back in our chalet that we are staying in tonight and are about to watch the World Cup finals. It’s not South Africa, but Botswana is close enough.
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Jonas Young

BOTSWANA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #13

Maun, Botswana
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #13
Drove across Namibia and into Botswana across the Kalahari Desert today. Still had bad fuel in our tank and I decided to drive until the car ran out of gas, and change the diesel filter (again, after the mechanic wouldn’t drain the tank for me a couple of days ago). So we sputtered at about 80km per hour to a town where the vehicle conveniently ran out of fuel at the gas station. With the new diesel and filter, it seemed to run good, for a while at least.
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Crossed the border fine and hassle-free. About a couple of hours into Botswana, I started losing power again and the vehicle was hesitating and had little horsepower. We think somebody accidentally put some unleaded into the tank, after smelling the fuel in the filter earlier. Am all out of filters now. Will try to figure something out here in Botswana. I’m sure it we will get our Nissan Terrano running strong in the next couple of days.
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We are staying at the Crocodile Camp right on the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We arrived at night after the long drive, so we haven’t been able to get a really good view yet. Looking forward to our time in Botswana. Tomorrow, we will just relax near the delta, and spend time with God individually, and together. Catch up more soon.
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Christian Young

NAMIBIA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #12

Sossusvlei, Namibia
Friday, July 9, 2010
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Trip Across Africa DAY #12
One time, in Namibia we wanted to go to Namibia’s dunes. We were going from Windhoek. It was very early. Daddy woke me up. We were leaving. As we were going there was a lot of mountains. Lots of caves there, too. It took hours and hours. We finally saw some sand dunes, and drove around. We arrived there. We got out of the car. We each slowly climbed higher and higher. Dad slid down. We watched and laughed. It was great. It was so much fun.
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Justine Young

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We had traveled around four and a half hours to get to the sand dunes of the Namib desert. Then we saw the large hills of sand.
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When we came out of the car, I watched the sand blow off the “Dune 45,” the [closest] dune you can climb. It was hot on flat ground, but when I slowly climbed up the red sand dune, I felt colder and colder. Soon, wind was whipping my feet and when I put my hand low to where it almost touched the ground, I felt dirt blowing around. Then we climbed down the thick sand, jumped in the car and hit the trail.
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Jordan Young

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[Today] we started off early in the morning to the Namib desert of Namibia. As we left Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, we had one of the most scenic drives anyone could ever have.
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We drove on a great road through the rolling hills; with golden grass dotted with sparse, green shrubbery. On our beautiful drive, a not-so-beautiful thing started happening to our engine. The day before we took our truck to a mechanic to get checked. The engine was cutting out while we were driving and we were pretty sure we got bad fuel when we were in Etosha National Park in Northern Namibia.
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We went in faith all the way to the sand dunes as we felt it was cutting out again. All of the sudden we went over a hill and in the distance there were the great, red sand dunes of the Namib desert!
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We got to the park entrance, paid the entry fee, and went on our way. We read in our Lonely Planet Africa book that there was a dune called, “Dune 45” that was accessible to hike on. We took the opportunity and hiked part of the way up, but it was too difficult for us to climb all the way to the top as it was windy. It took us ‘till about 11:00pm to get back to Windhoek because our car was hesitating [and we got a flat tire].

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Jonas Young