We went to Beira today, trying to get a couple things. However, even trying to get to the store is sometimes a challenge - this time it was because there is very little fuel in our area. The shortage has been happening since the beginning of the month. When we went to Malawi, we waited in line for 2.5 hours to get fuel in Tete, and even then we only got it because we were so luck and had God on our side. There was absolutely no fuel in our region yesterday, but we were able to get some just before going into town.
Then came the adventure of getting cash for pay day. Today was payday, but we had no money on base. We are trying to set up bank accounts with our workers so we can pay them through the bank, but we've been trying for 4 months and are still waiting on paperwork, so until those get set up we are still paying in cash. In addition, we ran out of checks and have to wait at least 2 weeks until we can get more. We stopped by at 9:30 and they weren't open yet, so we stopped by at 10:30. We were there until 11:15 filling out forms, then we had to go exchange the US dollars from the bank into Mozambican meticais. That took until 11:50, and all the stores close at 12 until 2 for lunch. However innefficient that sounds, at least we were able to get what we needed. Jeff, one of the other missionaries that works with us, spent the entire time going from shop to shop looking for one plumbing part but could not find it...
In other news, Pastor Jose (the national director) seems to have really helped our base out. He was only here for 3 days, but ever since, people are far more grateful and they complain less. Praise Jesus!
