The Lake

When we found out that our kids' annual post-Christmas MK camp in South Africa was canceled this year because of COVID, we had a decision to make. For the past two years, that camp was our reason to travel to SA after Christmas as a family—four long days on grueling Mozambican roads to get to the promised land: cool, hilly, green, modern Johannesburg. Since camp was canceled, we would not be given funds to travel, and a road trip to SA at our own expense would be difficult, especially considering the costs of COVID tests that we would need to cross the border (not to mention the added time it would take to get the test near the border and wait for the results).

What would we do? Forget vacation this year, knowing that in just a few more months we will travel to America for our Stateside Assignment? But it was a year of canceled travel plans, and although I was able to leave Pemba a couple times (to South Africa for my surgery last February and to the U.S. to visit my parents at Thanksgiving), Harvey had taken no vacation and felt eager to get away from Pemba for a break from work and ministry.

Since borders are so tricky right now, we wondered whether there was somewhere in country we could go to enjoy cooler weather and a different landscape. Harvey began asking around, and we settled on the city of Lichinga, the capital of our neighboring province of Niassa (to the west). We also made plans to go to Lake Niassa (also known as Lake Malawi) and stay for a few days at a lake house owned by some missionaries in that area. This checked all of our boxes: cooler weather, change of scenery, quiet and restful.

It was quite a different vacation from what Johannesburg would have been, but it was just what we needed. Lichinga feels small compared to Pemba or Nampula (the other cities we know well), and there are few attractions. We stayed in a modest guest house with tight quarters, a shared kitchen, and no WiFi. It wasn't luxurious, except in the sense that we had privacy and felt free to rest and relax as much as we wanted, with no pressures to go out and see or do things.

But we did do a few things. We read. We played games together and exercised together. The kids played with the resident kitten. For a little excitement, we went to find an old crashed airplane in a field and had a picnic nearby. 

We drove out to the home of some colleagues, in the middle of nowhere, and although they are in the States right now, they invited us to come play on their land, jump on their trampoline, and see their cows and chickens. 

We went to dinner at the only nice restaurant in town (where they actually turned the heater on for us! A heater in Mozambique!). We celebrated New Year's with burgers from a mysterious restaurant that we heard about but never could find (thankfully they delivered). We met a few missionaries who showed us generous hospitality, inviting us into their homes for meals, dessert, tea, and coffee.

And then we headed to the lake. Lichinga is about eight hours from Pemba, and the lake is about two hours from Lichinga. The drive through the country is absolutely stunning, with its mountains, valleys, and plantations. So much green. It was hard to believe we were in Mozambique. It's not that far from Malawi, and it reminded us of Malawi. But Mozambique is massive, and it's not all coastline. It might be true that we enjoyed the scenic drives as much as we enjoyed our time in Lichinga and at the lake (might be—if not for the brutal roads).

Our days at the lake were lazy. We swam and played in the water, but other than that we did a lot of sitting and lying around and enjoying the cool rain and the beautiful lake and mountain views.

One day, on the way to a waterfall hike, our trusty Land Cruiser got stuck in the black mud. Thankfully she's a tough beast, and Harvey was able to pull her out by attaching the winch to a tree trunk. I think the kids enjoyed the adventure (maybe Harvey a little bit too)—even more than the hike itself.

God's creation is grand and breathtaking. And so few people get the opportunity to see the remote and vast terrain of northern Mozambique. I couldn't help feeling privileged that He allowed our family to witness such unspoiled, majestic beauty. Privileged, and extremely grateful.

So we might not have gotten to take our annual trip to Johannesburg. But maybe God knew that we needed something different this year. Something almost opposite of what we thought we needed. Isn't that just how He works sometimes? We thought we needed civilization; He knew we needed simple. We thought we needed restaurants; He knew we needed rest. We thought we needed friend time; He knew we needed family time. We thought we needed luxury; He knew we needed the lake.