Mills writes on November 1st.........

It's been a while since I have written to ya'll with prayer requests and praises, but I know that your faithful prayers continued and I am blessed by them.

Gabe and I made our way South in Mozambique via public transport and hitch-hiking; this experience is 100's of stories in and of itself. We roade in 3 pick-up trucks, 4 minibuses, 2-18 wheelers (once inside and once on the back), one Land Rover, and PLENTY of walking. We ended up, without planning, at a place called Braia de Tofo, or just Tofo, about 20 k's outside of Inhambane.

After coming down out of the mountains of Mozambique Gabe and I took a bit of time to rest and recover; our bodies were a bit battered and sickly. Fortunately for us, Mozambique has gorgeous beaches... The South of Mozambique is becoming more and more touristy and we were able to find a nice, cheap, backpackers to stay in for 12 days. Living right on the beach has its benefits, namely the fresh seafood daily. (It is actually cheaper than chicken!)

As you may very well be able to imagine, Tofo is a hotspot for backpackers which often leads to a party; every night where we stayed. Gabe being older and wiser was quick to help set up accountability for us with alcohol. The decision to abstain from drunkenness no doubt gave us the opportunity to answer many people's questions as to why. We met one Christian the entire time we were there, who was from Manchester, England. He was also getting some R &R after missions in Mozambique. Gabe and I were able to meet up with him this past Sunday in Cape Town, and he came to church with us. All the exposure to those who don't know our Jesus was a bit of a shock. The ministry to them is so wildly different than the ministry adapted for in Chiconono.

While in Tofo we had the opportunity to dive with whale sharks! Whale sharks are extremely rare, and only found in a few areas around the world. They are most prominent in southern Mozambique. We went out one day and in 2 hours saw 24 whale sharks and 3 manta rays, a very successful trip! While beaching the boat we had an accident and the boat flipped, causing everyone to be thrown off. We had made friends with a German guy named Paul, and when Paul was thrown from the boat he hit the prop from the engine. He was cut on the right side of his chest and across his calf and knee. We rushed him to the hospital (if you can call it that), where he received limited medical attention. After battling over 2 weeks with his insurance company Paul made it to Cape Town yesterday. He is recovering well, and Gabe and I are going to go visit him this week. I'd appreciate any prayers you could send his way, I will be sure to tell him about them. Paul isn't a Christian, but we have a God who is mighty to save. In spite of Paul's ill treatmet in the hospital he remained content and joyful, always mindful that it could have been worse; which really encouraged me. I think that at times I seemed more frustrated than he.

Gabe and I are back in Cape Town now. We had originally made plans to drive to Victoria Falls, but Gabe was called back into work, so those plans changed. I am now hoping that when my mom and dad come in November that we will be able to make the trip.

I would appreciate your prayers concerning my time in Cape Town now. Via Christ Church Devotionals and the Holy Spirit the Lord has been challenging me to "number my days". I am hoping that my time in Cape Town would not be my own, and that I would be able to properly re-adapt to the ministry I need to be involved in here. When in Columbia, I became very comfortable with approaching people and seasoned at diverting the conversation towards eternal matters. However, after living in a country with another language I could only stumble through, I am having to re-adapt into those habits. I appreciate your prayers in this, and thank you for the encouragement they bring.

It is a bit of a shock coming back to Gabe's church and becoming involved there. Our participation in Bible Studies and Youth Group is oddly foreign to me. Where I once was lacking in outside Christian encouragement, I now have plenty. I took for granted the systems we have in place to keep us encouraged and uplifted.

Please be praying that I make the most of the opportunities the Lord puts before me, and simply that I would have the sight to see them.

For freedom,

Mills

Update From Mills on October 19th.......

Mills has not had internet or SMS access for several weeks. Below are to recent communication from him. He is heading south from Mozambique to Cape Town. Thank you all for your prayers.

Dad,

Hey Sorry this is going to be short and no pictures....

I am in Inhambane right now, and it turns out Gabe and I will be leaving Sunday Morning not Friday, today.

I wanted to let yall know though. The internet is too slow to send pictures or anything, but within the week I will be in the Cape so I will be able to from there.

Love yall so much, and I will try and give you a call before we make our last push south on Sunday.

Mills

Psalm 119:9-11 "How can a young man keep his way pure, by living according to your Word. I seek you with all my heart, do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

Hey dad,

Sorry I have been so out of touch lately. Just know I woke up from a quick nap to type to you. This morning we went to gather firewood which turned out to be a bit longer than we expected. I don't know if mom told you about our dam building on Monday, but it went alright. We didn't get the water level any higher yet, but that had to do with only two locals showing up to help. Anyways Gabe had an old injury in his back start up again and was in bed for the rest of the day. He is better now, but
with very limited mobility. So it was Normand, Francisco, Paulino and I to get firewood. We use iron wood because of the good quality for burning, but it is darn heavy and I was already beat from throwing rocks into the dam. I just looked at the clock and realized that I slept a good hour and a half immediately following our late lunch.

We got to the SLC and then on the 8th of October catch a ride with one of the families to Cuamba, and then take a train to Nampula. Then we make our way south. Other than that I have no idea. If you were looking for our places of sleeping and all we haven't a clue. All we know is that I have to be out of the country by the 22nd of October because of my visa.

I really doubt I will get internet over the 2 weeks, but it is possible to have in Maputo, but it depends on where we stay. I should have cell service fairly often so I will text as we go, but who knows how that will go?

I am pretty much all packed and I feel quite ridiculous with all the things I have. My bag is nearly full and I haven't put my clothes in yet....

Also Gabe and I had the idea to carry our case of cokes down as we go. People carry goods on the chapas so it won't be a problem. Then we will have drinks, and refill it when it is empty. I am contemplating bringing the case home, it would make for a good story.

Alright Dad, Love you and I will try and get an SMS to you when on our way to Gurue.

Oh yeah I had a HUGE mantikenya in my foot. Henriette said that in English it is a chigger, but who knows for sure. Anyways this thing was about the size of an eraser of a pencil on the side of my foot. The good thing is it totally kills the skin and you can't feel a thing when you dig it out.

Until.... who knows when. Thats the way I like it.

Love Mills

Mills writes on September 30th........

I know I have been out of touch now, and I am really sorry. Our schedule has been really packed with tons and tons of last minute projects and then when we have time to sit down, we are taking with the Saindons. I have been trying to make the most out of each of these last days with the local boys, with playing and swimming with them.

We are in a way ready for the SLC. Today Gabe and I will sit down and talk more on it. It's funny most of the YL games would be perfect except they waste food! Duck, Duck Egg, and flower bomb fights are offensive because of the wasted food. We are working around that, but I think it will be fun. We are getting a lot of advice from all of the missionaries that are attending. Haha!

Church was good today, Gabe finished the book of James which was a real blessing to the church. It is our last Sunday here and we said a few words each and then the church kinda said some things back. We were both really touched by Aubi and what he had to say. He just said he can't find any way to say it, but that he was blessed so much by our time. He just kept repeating that he couldn't find a way to say it. I was really really humbled when he cried, especially because of what it means in this
culture. He and his family said that they really feel like they were losing part of their own. It is never good leaving a place where you get attached.

Tomorrow we are building a dam in the river to raise the level so that we can pump water into Chiconono. We built a huge cage to lay and stack rocks in. We will drain the existing and broken dam and then bust out the bed rock to make way for the new. Then we will carefully go in and fill this HUGE 10 by 2 meter cage. It is about as tall as me, and we want to fill it with rocks. We are telling the locals to all bring rocks to help. I will try and take some pictures and things.

Oh yeah today after church I asked if we could take pictures of all of us, I think they turned out well. I gotta run.

Mills wrote on September 23rd..........

Hey momma,

We went down to one of the rivers this morning after church to swim and Henriette prepared a picnic for us. After we swam for a bit we sat down and ate. Someone said, "I smell smoke".... Then I said, "There is a lot of ash in the air right now....." We looked on the other side of the Land Rover and we saw a HUGE fire raging towards us with the wind. Henriette switched into instinctive mother mode and we all started running to throw the things in the back of the car. We cleaned up in about 25 seconds
and started rolling on the bush-path we made from the dirt road. In the rush we couldn't find the path we made and started trailblazing with the fire blazing behind us. I jumped on the roof rack to direct us through the tall grass that was soon to be consumed by the fire. Then Normand had to jump out to break down little trees that were in our way, and Henriette started driving. While in her instinctive mother mode she blazed a non-existent trail much faster than any of us could have. It was quite
funny seeing her handle the large vehicle; she is maybe 5'3 and might weigh 105 lbs.

I gotta run so I can go catfish with the local boys down in the river. They get pretty excited if you catch anything, but the biggest we get is maybe 3 inches. Nevertheless impressive with sticks, string, tiny piece of metal for a hook, and termites...

Love you Momma
Mills

Mills in Lichinga

Mills sent this picture on Thursday September 13th. He was preparing to leave Lichinga to return to Chiconono. Mills and Gabe had gone into town with a team from the Radio Mission to work out issues with a fine imposed upon the station for having locals volunteer at the station.
Many of you have prayed for the Lord to work through this on their behalf and the prayers were answered. The fine was lowered significantly and locals will be able to continue to work with them.
We give all the glory to God!

New Pictures and message from Mills on September 14th.........

Our trip back was fine, not comfortable, but we are used to the public transport now. Ha we are actually experts. As we were loading up in the market we were telling some of the locals how to sit so we could fit more people. The people all around the edges have to hang their legs off the edges and then someone puts their backs against them. Then about 20 people cram in the middle.

It was nice getting to talk to ya'll. Glad Parker is feeling better. I think you should post that picture on the blog.

I'll work on getting pictures of the locals to send to you next week. It is one of those things I am realizing more and more that I need to do. When I got to Lichinga I realized I didn't have many pictures with me or Gabe in them. To get pictures with both of us, we have to ask someone to take the picture. That is really funny because they aren't used to being able to see the picture right after. You really should see how they react. I'll be looking forward to seeing some pictures whenever it happens.

I started today making a list of all the verses I have memorized. That way I can actually keep them memorized. It has been cool, but also challenging because now I want to memorize more, so that is good.

Love you,
Mills

Gabe wrote in a newsletter........

Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The past month in Chiconono has been a memorable time for so many reason's. It started off with me getting Malaria again, which once again was very unpleasant. This time though I had Mills in the house to look after me. But two days later when I just started to recover Mills got the Malaria too. So we where both very sick guys trying to look after each other.

Then shortly after our Malaria we were presented with a fine for our Radio Station of 29 314 Meticas (approximately R8200). The Mozambiquen labor office fined us this sum of money because we have volunteer workers and their labor laws do not believe in such a thing as volunteer work. So they fined us for disobeying their laws as well as for exploiting the Mozambiquen locals (our volunteers). This is in many ways a very difficult situation for the Radio Station as everything about Radio Chiuanjota
is based on volunteer work and a work for the surrounding communities. We have tried explain that the Radio Station is non-profit in every way possible and that we don't even have sufficient funds to be on air properly. So to pay the fine and to have to start paying our presenters salaries is a huge impossibility at the moment. But as to this date they will not annul the fine and we have until the 13th of September to pay it. Please pray with us for God's Guidance and Wisdom and that through this
fine people will see Jesus through our lives in the way we approach this whole situation.
Already through this trial we have seen God's plan, because as a group of Christian's we are having to unite in many ways that maybe would not be happen if we weren't going through this trial. Importantly we are also looking to God and not letting circumstances get us down, there are times when we are frustrated because we are trying to do a good work for the Yao communities in North Mozambique. And we are rewarded with a fine from their own Government.
A verse that has been true to me at this time is from 2 Timothy 2 :8-9 "Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and I have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained."
I definitely don't think our fine is as much of a hardship as Paul's, he suffered and was chained like a criminal for preaching the Gospel. But what encourages me are these word; "BUT THE WORDS OF GOD CANNOT BE CHAINED." The Gospel message is going out through this radio station, and hardships will come because of that. But it is encouraging to know that the words of God will not stop reaching out even if the radio station was to close down. The words of God will still reach out, trials might hinder
our work as humans but God always has a greater plan and works trials out for his good work.

One of my greatest African experiences took place the other day when Mills and myself had to return from to Chiconono from Lichinga. We got a lift to Lichinga with Theo a fellow missionary but had to return to Chiconono by local transport. Mills and myself arrived at the truck/taxi rank early to ensure us a good seat or rather just 'a seat'. When we arrived there we were warmly welcomed by the driver of the truck and some of the passengers. They grabbed our bags and quickly put them on the truck.
We waited two & a half hours before the truck started, by this time we had a load of 45 people, crates of coke, cases of Black Label Beer, containers of local beer made from sugar cane, bags of maze, containers of Diesel, bags, fresh fish and even a chicken. We were packed tight and set for the road, the truck had a flat bed that was 3 meters long and 2.2 meters wide. Picture 45 of us on the truck along with all that cargo/luggage. I was sitting near the front with my legs hanging over the end and
holding on for dear life. Mills sat near the back with his legs getting crushed with bodies all over it. The truck was so packed with bodies that I could not see Mills whilst we were driving. And when we started to drive we still picked up a few more passengers as the rule in Mozambique is; always space for one more!
When we set off we took all the back roads, bouncy and slow was our drive until the truck stopped and the driver got out and we all hopped off the truck. At first Mills and myself didn't know what was gong on with our limited communication, we were guessing there were traffic cops up ahead. Our guess was right, so we had to sit and bask in the sun until the cops left. With very little water and food it was a long wait in the sun, we waited 5 hours in total. In these five hours our driver started
drinking the Black Labels from the truck, so five hours later he was not talking the gibberish I was used to he had a bit of a slur and a continuous grin. But the time came when the cops left and we could return on our journey, everyone managed to squeeze into their original seating place and off we set.
When we got to the tar road I was worried as I didn't know how straight our driver would drive. And as my head was pushed down by all the arms and hands holding onto the Cab of the truck behind my head I had no choice but to look at the tar road or bushes racing past me. Whilst our driver was driving he continued to drink his Black Label Beers, I don't think there was a moment in the entire trip where his hand might have been without a tin of Beer with beer in it.
Our drive home was 105km long and took us 11 hours in total including the the long stop in the sun, even though our driver had at least 11 afri-can tins (450 ml) of beer he got us home safely. Mills and myself both had too much sun and got home with red arms, red necks, red faces and red knees. We enjoyed the drive and made friends with many people on the back of the truck, for many if not for all of them it was the first time white men had traveled home the way the have to.

The memories in Chiconono continue in the past eventful month as no longer were we where home in our village when a fire broke out. It was a Sunday morning and by far one of the windiest mornings we have had when two boy's in the far off village set the grass/brush on flames. We thought that we were to be ok because the fire had a river to cross, but with the grass being so dry and the wind being so strong it was moments after church when we all had to work together to protect the thatched roofed
homes in the village. We worked hard and breathed in a lot of smoke, but as a community/village we worked together and protected the homes. For Mills and myself it was adventurous and exciting to a degree, but for the locals it happens once a year although some did say that this year was one of the worst.

During all this we have continued to try get the fine annulled but without any success, but to make things worse. On a beautiful Tuesday night whilst Mills and myself were sleeping some people got onto the roof of the Radio Station and stole five of the Radio Station's Solar Panels. The Solar Panels were very valuable to the radio station but now unfortunately have new owners. So please pray for us that we might find these thieves, that we will continue to love them and also that we will become the
righteous owners of our Solar Panels again.

This is my last month here in Chiconono until Mills and myself start our journey home, the month already feels like it is almost over and that the Saindons are almost here. It hard to believe that I have spent 6 months here already, but they say time fly's when you are having fun. My time here has been awesome and through everything it has been a time for me see how intimate God is when you look to him for much needed intimacy.
During the first week of October Mills and myself will be helping out at the SIM Spiritual Life Camp for all the SIM missionaries in Mozambique. Mills and myself will be helping with the missionary kids, we will be having times of spiritual input, games and activities with the kids. Please pray for wisdom for Mills and myself that we will be used by God to impact their life's.

Thank you for all your ongoing prayers and support. Thank you also for emails which really lighten up my days to hear news from home.
God Bless
From Gabriel