The PBF

When our son Zach was here, he and Liz visited the home of Gaspar and Veronica and their twin boys Santo and Santinho.

Zach was moved by their circumstances and the plight of a man who cannot provide enough for his family to eat.  Before he left he made arrangements to leave a little African legacy,  Zach left a little cash as the funding source for what we are calling the Quelimane Perpetual Bicycle Fund.  Gaspar has now entered into a contract to receive a new bicycle and begin using it as a taxi,  He will repay 25% of his earnings to the fund which will then provide funding for another bicycle.  A bike taxi in the city of Quelimane can earn about 150 meticais per day which is more than sufficient to pay for food and lodging for a family (though it is really hard work).  After repaying the PBF, he can then use the bike to find better and more appropriate long term employment.  Also, with the bike, he can bring his family to church rather than having to walk the 3 kilometers each way.  It seemed like a good idea and Gaspar, shown below with his new bike, was extremely pleased with the opportunity to find a way up and out.  Let's see how this noble idea actually works in practice now--reality will likely fall somewhere short of optimal is my guess, but we have hopes.

On Tuesday night, our new mission president, President Kretly and his wife arrived in Quelimane, making a brief stop on the way to Nampula in the far north.  They arrived in country two weeks ago and have been on the road ever since, driving to each city where missionaries reside in Mozambique, getting to know the missionaries, and local members.  An exhausting exercise to do while you are still jet lagged--particulary on the unbeleivably inhospitable roads of Mozambique.  Shown below is  our dinner together.  They will return on Sunday and spend a little more time getting to know Quelimane before they wind their way back down to Maputo.  The Kretlys hail from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and thus can both then communicate very well here.  They appear to be both reasonable and impressive folks and we will do our best to not alienate them too quickly.