Our first well dedication

Today was our first well dedication. We went to the village of Chimondzo. Before we went to the village we got to meet the staff of World Hope International here in Mozambique. They are giving us the privilege of going to visit the Cattle project. So, look forward to reading about that tomorrow!

Now back to today!

When we drove up to the village, I could see women running to gather near us to start singing and dancing and just welcoming us. The smiles on their faces gave me such a wonderful feeling that God was definitely present in this small village. When we stepped out of the car, we were greeted by the leaders of Chimondzo with handshakes and smiles of thanks. We were then seated in front of the village. The leaders introduced themselves to us along with the people who were in charge of taking care of the well in making sure that the well continues to provide clean water. We also had the chance of introducing ourselves to them, and giving them thanks for having us there to celebrate what God has done in this community. Some of the villagers stood up and thanked us for helping to provide for the well. After one lady thanked us, she started to sing and dance and motioned us to come join her in dancing as well. Our group had so much fun dancing and laughing with the community.  Soon after, we were separated into three different groups. Allen, Zac, and Danielle went with the children. Todd and Dennis went with the men. Tiffany and I went with the women.

With the children, they were able to play games and pass out candy. Zac drew animals in the sand with a stick, and the kids were able to tell them what they were. The men shared their testimonies and their walk with Jesus. When we arrived at the village, Todd told me that Tiffany and I would be separated with the women. I felt very uncomfortable about the situation I was about to be put in, but I remembered about the meeting we had last night. We talked about how we needed to step out of our comfort zone so that God could work through us. So, I knew this was God’s way of telling me to just go with it. When we got separated to talk with the women, our translator, Isa, was able to help us with what we should start out talking about. We first asked them about their life, and how the well has changed their life. They told us that they had to travel about 5 hours to get water, and that the village has become a closer community. We soon were able to share with them about our testimonies. Sharing my testimony is not something I do very often, and sharing with these women was definitely a stretch for both of us considering the language barrier that we had. Both of our testimonies included how prayer was an important part of our lives. I remember telling them that we should always continue to keep asking, keep searching, keep knocking because He will answer and provide for our needs. A couple of the women stood up and thanked us for helping to provide for the well. They then broke out into song and dance again, and Tiffany and I joined them. They also asked us to show them one of our dances.
Tiffany: What is a simple dance we can show them? The electric slide?
Danni: I know! The chicken dance!
So, yes friends and family. The ladies of Chimondzo know how to do the chicken dance. It was a lot of fun, and the ladies really enjoyed learning something new. Once we showed them a new dance, they also asked us to sing some of our songs. We sang “How Great is our God” and “Amazing Grace”. Fortunately, it felt very comfortable and we managed to stay in tune! We had the joy and privilege to also pray over some individual prayers. Most of the ladies that were able to come up asked for us to pray over their body pains such as body aches, chest pains, shoulder pains, and much more. After a while we ended up gathering as one group and praying over the whole group.

When everyone was done with their groups, we reformed in the center of the village and were told we’d be dedicating the well. The people of the village chose me to cut the ceremonial cord! This was an awesome moment where we were able to witness the gratitude and joy that they had longed to share with us. Afterwards, we were able to to sing two of our songs that we sing in America. We sang "Our God is an Awesome God" and "Hallelujah". They seemed to have really enjoyed that!

Then, we were treated with lunch provided by the villagers: goat guts, papaya, cassava, rice and cool refreshing orange Fanta from the bottle. We all shared our thanks to the villagers and were saddened by limited time together.  

-Danni