WELS Missions » Mozambique

Things are cookin’ again

cmeier — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:46:59 +0000

Earlier this week I got a new oven!!!! The apartment we moved into had a few furnishings and included a very old stove and oven. From the beginning I had trouble using the oven, but I figured it was my inability to convert the Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit. Well, after nearly three months of burning everything I put in the oven, we decided it was not me and it was the oven. The oven seemed to have one temperature….HOT!!! I had gotten to the point where I was cooking with the over door open and that was not safe with the three girls running around. So the new oven was installed on Monday and I have had great success with baking since then. It is too bad that two of our girls have had birthdays since we arrived and both of their cakes flopped. Both cakes cooked in about ten minutes rather than the 30 minutes the recipe recommended. Oh, well. Just another story to tell about their birthdays and being overseas.

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This past Thursday I had an answer to a prayer and for the first time I went to a moms and toddlers group. I had been looking for some other moms to meet with once in a while and finally found a few through the American Club in Porto (larger city next to Gaia). There were only two other ladies at the group this past Wednesday and they both are American. I guess there are a few other moms that join the group often, but none of them are Portuguese. I realize more and more each day that I have blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids and not have to work. (more…)

Gaia, Portugal - May 2

cmeier — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:07:54 +0000

We ended up at the Doctors office this week. Maria came down with a fever on Monday night and was complaining that her ear hurt. She did not sleep well Monday night and by Tuesday morning I knew she was not well. She saw the Dr. that afternoon who was very friendly and nice. I was pleasantly surprised at how kind she was. I guess I have had enough bad experiences with people being impatient with me when I am trying to speak in broken Portuguese that I was expecting another impatient and annoyed person. (more…)

Gaia, Portugal - April 27

cmeier — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:32:55 +0000

Things have been a bit easier now that we have internet. Bill has been slowly working on the course he is taking from MLC that he is six weeks behind on. This week he completed two assignments, so he is relieved to be making some progress. He is also happy to read the news again and get caught up on the Brewers.

I am also happy to have the internet and we have skyped with family and friends both weekends. It is great to have family see the girls and for everyone to see us. It helps us not miss everyone as much if we can see them. It is great to be able to keep in touch through so many different ways on the internet. I am also loving the gym next door to our house. I go about three times a week and wish I could go more often. Working out seems to be the only normal thing for me right now. Everything else still seems like a challenge and something I need to figure out.

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Gaia, Portugal - April 17

cmeier — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:17:52 +0000

Hello Again,

I am writing to tell everyone about my experience yesterday. We were suppose to have our internet installed yesterday, but it didn’t happen (we are not surprised). The installation man was suppose to come around 2pm and Bill decided to stay home so he could be there when the guy got there. I then had to pick up the girls from school, which I had never done before. I always rushed home from class so the baby sitter who is watching Maria can go home and get ready to go to night classes. So, Bill gave me directions on what bus to take home, but somehow I misunderstood him and we took the wrong bus. Elise and Audrey thought it was great fun to be on a bus and go a different route, but they never told me I was going the wrong way. I suspected we were on the wrong but after about five minutes, but told myself not to worry since this was new to me. Then we ended up crossing a huge bridge between Porto and Gaia, and I knew we were going the wrong way. We should have been close to home by then but instead we were going farther and farther away from home. I did not have a map with me so, I called Bill so he could look at a map and figure out what we should do. We ended up getting off the bus at the next stop and I started looking for a bus on the other side of the street that would take us back on the same route we just came on, but I couldn’t find a bus stop. So Bill saw on the map that we were about six blocks from the subway and he walked us through the streets until we got to the subway. The subway is very easy to use once you know where you want to go. So after figuring out where we wanted to go we were home in about thirty minutes. All in all it wasn’t a terrible experience, just a little nerve wracking to have no clue where you are. The worst part is that Elise and Audrey were getting hungry and needed to use the bathroom. But we eventually made it home about an hour and a half later then normal. Now I know how to use the bus and subway system better!

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Week 4 in Portugal

missions — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:27:53 +0000

Once a month Pastor Villares holds worship services with the church in Lisbon. We went along this past weekend and had a great time! We stopped part way and had traditional roast pig in a city along the way. In Lisbon we visited with some of the church members, went out for dinner and spent the evening seeing the city. It was very beautiful at night with all of the monuments lit up. After spending the evening in a hotel we stopped at a few key sights in Lisbon. The worship service was a 3pm Sunday afternoon and I had the pleasure of playing keyboard for it. On the return trip the Villares stopped to show us a recently built church to “Our Lady Fatima.” Apparently in 1917 the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in the country side. Since that time people can come to the now booming city, visit the enormous cathedral, crawl on their knees across a long court yard and say several prayers in order to receive forgiveness for past sins. All in all it was a great weekend. We are looking forward to visiting Lisbon again. (more…)

Bio: Cathy Meier

missions — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:36:08 +0000

I am Cathy Meier, the wife of Bill Meier, Lay Missionary to Mozambique. We arrived in Gaia, Portugal at the end of February ‘08 with our three daughters to learn Portuguese. We have been doing intense language classes and the girls are going to Portuguese school. I am originally from Watertown, WI, and graduated from Lakeside Lutheran High School in 1995. I graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran College with a Bachelors degree in Communication.

Bill and I were in Zomba, Malawi, for six years before we accepted the call to Mozambique. Being a missionary wife brings alot of challenges, but also many blessings. Times are often difficult, but it always brings me back to the Word and the promises the Lord has for us. It is very exciting to meet new people and see others who love the Lord and want to serve Him with their lives. It is also very exciting to see the mission work being done on a daily basis by our missionaries. There is so much work to do and they carry an incredible work load, but the Lord provides them with what they need to persevere.

Six Weeks Later - What Its Like

bmeier — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:48:16 +0000

We have been in Portugal for about six weeks and things are finally starting to settle down. Elise and Audrey are still going to school six hours each day and it appears they are picking up some Portuguese. We found a bus route that we can use to take them to and from school easily. It still takes about half an hour to go or come home (no direct routes), but at least they are not spending thirty minutes walking and getting exhausted. They both seem to like school and they are making some new friends.

Maria is doing great and has really taken to her baby sitter, Ana. She spends about four to five hours a day with Ana while Bill and I are in class. Ana is fluent in English but we have asked her to speak Portuguese with Maria. Ana thinks Maria is starting to understand. Soon she will be saying words in Portuguese that I won’t know and I will need to ask Ana what Maria is saying.

Bill is doing well and keeping very busy. He is a bit stressed because he is about six weeks behind on the MLC course he is taking on-line. Since we don’t have the internet he is not able to do his work. He is also having trouble finding the time to do the work. Apart from that he is busy running around town taking care of the work that needs to be done on our apartment (like getting the dishwasher fixed) and taking care of busy work that goes along with getting settled in a new country. We have most of our furniture now and a bank account, so things are starting to slow down.

This week we increased our Portuguese class time from two hours a day to three hours. It will be a big adjustment for me to be away from home for at least four hours a day (it takes half an hour to walk to class). We also have about 1-2 hours of homework each night, and we are supposed to make time each day to practice speaking on our own. Thankfully Bill is very helpful around the house and does much of the cleaning and is great with the kids. It is hard to know how much Portuguese we have learned to date, but time will tell. We obviously have learned something because we are slowly starting to communicate with people intown. Marta, our teacher, is a very good teacher and very patient.

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This past Saturday we spent the day at the beach. It was about 80 degrees and very strange weather for April. (Except for about five days, it has mostly rained since we got here.) Maria spent three hours shoveling sand into a bucket, Audrey spent three hours building sand castles and Elise spent three hours dodging the big waves. Most of the time I was holding a towel over Maria to keep her from getting too burnt and Bill spent most of his time watching Elise and Audrey to make sure they did not get swept away by a big wave. We were happy to find out that it is quite easy for us to get to the beach from our house. We take the subway for a short ride and then take a train the rest of the way to the beach. The beach is only two blocks from the train stop. We plan to spend many days at the beach in the future.

We have monthly bus/train/subway passes now which also makes life much more convenient than having to figure out the fare every time we go somewhere.

God’s Blessings,
Cathy

About Africa Missions

missions — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:00:00 +0000

WELS largest mission field is Africa, where it is working in partnership with five independent national synods that are currently ministering to about 64,000 souls with God’s Word.

In Zambia, in the south-central region of the continent, WELS missionaries have been operating since the early 1950s. 7 expatriate missionaries and 19 national pastors serve 32 established congregations of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA)—Zambia Synod, plus over 100 preaching stations numbering nearly 13,000 souls. A residential Seminary, located in the capital of (more…)

Week 2 - Gaia, Portugal

bmeier — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:10:31 +0000

WELS Missionaries Bill Meier and Jeff Enderle and their families are doing language training in Portugal in preparation for moving to Mozambique.

Well, we survived our first week in Gaia. We are now into week two and things are slowly falling into place. We still do not have a phone in our home or internet, but hopefully we will have that soon (2 weeks). Today we don’t have water from 2pm till 6pm, but at least we had a warning. In Malawi it would have gone off with no explanation.

Jeff and Angela Enderle arrived last Friday - they are the other family going to Mozambique with us. It is great to have them here with us and to have someone to speak freely with in English. They seem to be doing well and adjusting to life here. They do have a few frustrations with getting their personal items into the country. Please pray that they get their stuff soon.

The girls are doing great and sleeping through the night again. Elise and Audrey started school this week and really like it. They don’t however like the 30 minutes walk to and from school each day. It completely exhausts them. Bill is looking for a bus route we can take to and from school.

We started language lessons this week. Our language teacher, Marta, is great and fluent in five languages. She teaches at the university and is the daughter of the pastor here in Gaia. We have class Monday through Thursday for two hours a day. Bill and Jeff seem to be picking up the language quickly. The disadvantage for me is not being able to practice. Bill is spending alot of time walking the girls to and from school and at the inernet cafe or setting up a bank account or etc… Hopefully next week I will get out a bit more and get some practice.

I have figured out how to use my washing machine and my new dryer. It has made a huge difference for my happiness. The apartment is still very dirty, but I have come to realize that is just how it is going to be. Dust and dirty floors are going to be a part of my life for the next year - there are three construction sights around our apartment buildling. I try to wash the floors every day, but the dirt just appears again the next day.

Tomorrow is Audreys birthday and she is taking cake to school. It is also Fathers day and Bill is going to school with her for a few hours. Bill is also having a birthday this weekend - his 40th! Leave him a message here.

God’s Blessings,
Cathy

Language Training Begins

bmeier — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:38:00 +0000

We have had two days of classes so far. Everything is going well. The two greatest challenges right now are sorting out our banking situation, and the long walk to school for Elise and Audrey. It is a 20 minute walk for me by myself, and almost double when the girls are along. At least now I have an appreciation for walking to school ‘up hill both ways.’ This is a very hilly town. When it rains we take a cab.

Pastor Villares and his family have been awesome. He is a very busy man, but still is findng time to get things sorted out for us. He is a full-time university professor, plus the only pastor in the Lutheran Church of Portugal. I think he sleeps from about 2am to 6am each night–that´s it.

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Some of these photos are from our first Sunday service in Gaia. During the service the official and personal hand of blessed fellowship was extended to our families, in accordance with the fellowship established at this past years´ WELS Synod Convention.

Cathy