Pembury Baptist Church

Lyndsay Burgess is heading back to Mozambique this week, this time taking three students with her including Matt Conroy, PBC's Youth Ministry Intern, to take Kids Clubs and build a children's playground in the grounds of a newly planted church in the suburbs of Beira.  Read her own update of life since she returned, details of the present mission trip and requests for prayer below:

Hi!
 
I thought I would send a quick update to you all re the Mozambique situation in my life, and to say thank you for all the support you have all given me in various different ways since I returned home 6 months ago. The last few months have been hard, but very needed, in terms of processing all that happened during my time in Mozambique, and I am very aware that it is a process that is no where near finished yet, but I feel peaceful in that place. I have learnt a lot about myself, formed lots of new relationships, experienced emotions that I have never had before in certain situations, and I feel like I am looking at things from a different perspective now. My relationship with God has been completley turned upside down, and I have had to re-surrender things to him over and over again which has certainly not been the easiest of tasks, but at this point, I feel a lot more like Lyndsay again which is a good feeling.
 
Some of you know, that I have been given the chance to return to Mozambique this month, to take a team out and facilitate a short mission trip for them. I am taking 3 gap year students back to Beira to work with a church in the suburbs. The church was planted last summer by two of my close Mozambican friends, and we are going to help them build a playground in the grounds of the church for the children in the community. We will also run kids clubs, and help out with a conference that they are running as well. We will be there for a month and I'm hoping that both the team and the church will benefit from it in lots of different ways!!

In regards to myself, I am very excited about going back, but I feel really apprehensive as well. I'm very aware that the trip is going to be a completley different experience compared to last year, due to the fact that
 
1. I am responsible for orgainising everything for the team,
2. The people I was close to last year and who I could be vulnerable with won't be there.
3. Lots of changes will have taken place in terms of new people having arrived and people that I knew who have left,
4. The fact that I feel like I have forgotten all my Portuguese!
5. I won't have my house and all the things that I was used to before! Instead we will be staying at a Bible College a little way out of town with lots of Mozambicans and I have no doubt there will be lots of craziness and not much opportunity to rest!!
 
But despite all of this it will be amazing too. I can't wait to see how the team find it, and I look forward to being there to help them process stuff. If I think back to how I felt before I went to Mozambique the first time, I can relate to them so much, and I look forward to watching them grow and develop through this trip.
 
I am aware that next month will bring up lots of feelings in my heart in regards to whether I feel like God is calling me back to MOzambique or not, and I am hoping that once I come back I will be able to make a decision one way or another.
 
I would really appreciate your prayers over the next few weeks and I look forward to filling you in on what my plans are when I get back in June. Please pray specifically for our safety and that we all get on well as a team. Pray that I would be able to be sensitive to each of their individual needs, whilst making sure they are all ok practically. Also that I would be able to have opportunity to process my own stuff whilst I'm there, in the craziness of trying to see all my old friends, visit my clinic and spend time with Oasis, ensuring the team and their project is all going to plan and sorting out all my things that I left there before!!!
 
We leave on Wednesday and get back on the 9th June, so I will try and send an update whilst we're out there.  If not I hope you all have a good few weeks and look forward to seeing you all when I get home!
 
Lots of love
Lyndsay
xxx