The Elephants

When you think of Africa, what pops into your mind? I think for a lot of Americans, probably including me before I lived here, Africa means wildlife: giraffe, zebra, rhino, monkey, elephant. The reality is that day to day, living in Mozambique we rarely brush up against wildlife. We see lots of lizards and the occasional monkey, but it's not as though animals (other than goats, chickens, and dogs) are just roaming around the streets of our city. 

However, recently we had the rare treat of encountering wildlife right here in Northern Mozambique—not once but twice! The first was watching whales in Pemba Bay. One day our family was driving on the Marginal (the road that runs along the coast), and Harvey noticed that a car was stopped and someone was watching the water. We stopped as well, and we saw several whales breaching in the blue sea. 

A few days later, my teammate Amanda and I were having lunch at a restaurant on the beach (just down the road from the whale-watching spot), and we were treated once again to a whale show. At one point a whale jumped completely out of the water—such strength and beauty; it was a joy to see!

And last weekend managed to top the whale-watching as the most breathtaking animal sighting I've ever experienced in Mozambique. Sure, we've been on safari and spotted beautiful wildlife at game parks in South Africa, Kenya, and Zambia. But this time we were right here in our province of Cabo Delgado, just an hour or so outside of Pemba, in the middle of nowhere.

We had traveled to a town called Montepuez for Harvey and our teammate Jason to help facilitate a training for churches to minister to displaced peoples. The team leading the training was a mix of missionaries and local pastors and church leaders, and it was well attended—almost fifty people from various churches and denominations in the area.

We also had a fun weekend hanging out with some missionary families who live there. Two of the families have been in Mozambique since Harvey and I were here the first time (2004), and one of the couples we actually met way back then (when neither of us had kids yet), so it was a blessing to see them again after all this time and catch up! The kids played games (indoors and outdoors) and swam, and we had a brick-oven pizza night and worship. It was a sweet time of fellowship and we were shown amazing hospitality. All of this in the setting of Montepuez's towering inselbergs and small-town charm. (And the guest house where we stayed is on the grounds of a local farm, so we came home with some delicious veggies!)

But it was on a worn, pothole-filled tar road in Ancuabe that we experienced our first elephant sighting in Mozambique. I had my head buried in a book when Harvey exclaimed, "Guys, look!" And as I lifted my eyes from the pages in my lap, I scanned the road ahead to find elephants. Not just one or two elephants, but a herd of elephants crossing the road. As quickly as I could, I reached for my phone to capture the moment. We watched in awe as around twenty elephants, big and small, ran across the tar into the bush, a smoke of dust billowing around and behind them. It was a special few moments; none of us (even Asher) said a word. And then they disappeared into the grasses, branches, and trees.

We've spoken to several friends who have lived here for more than ten years, and none said they had ever seen elephants in the wild in Mozambique. Somehow, for some reason, God must have wanted us to catch a glimpse of them, because we just happened to be at the right spot at the right moment to witness this elephant crossing. I've been thanking Him ever since for the privilege.

So Africa is elephants, and it's whales. It's plains and bush and inselbergs. It's dusty roads and beaches and lush vegetation. It's planting and sowing. It's community, people giving of themselves to help and serve one another, walking together through hardship and tears. It's fellowship and friendship. Africa is all these and so many other beautiful things, and I am blessed to call it home for as long as God has me here.