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But here in a place where the people I grew to love did not have enough food, my own needs faded like the imprint of waves on the sand, quickly receding into the bright sea. The Africans were not happy in their poverty. At the same time, it was obvious to me that material goods were not the only answer, because neither had I been happy in my Western materialistic life.

As Christians, we believe we can offer the greatest hope through evangelistic outreaches. Hoping to entice the villagers to consider the gospel, we took a generator, sound system, and projector into the bush to show the Jesus film. During the screening, though, 15 young men seemed more interested in me as they crowded around to teach me their tribal language. They delighted in listening to the way the Makua words awkwardly wrapped themselves around my tongue, and they forgot entirely about the film playing behind them.

It was then I realized that a different type of evangelism was going on. As we sat in the open cab of a pickup truck under the bright African stars with the sounds of the Jesus film behind us, we did the same things Jesus did. We talked, laughed, and joked. I broke off a piece of my granola bar for them.

One man taught me the word to decline unwelcome advances: "Akintuna," meaning "I don't want it."

He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed it away as he said the word. The young men were showing me they would not disrespect me, as well as how to gain respect in their culture.

That one word became a gift to me. Later, in a different village, when a man asked me to come home with him, I responded in his language: "Akintuna." He laughed in surprise and held up his hands in surrender.

In the Jesus film, Jesus multiplied bread so the hungry had more than enough, and he watched with pleasure as his disciples pulled in a large catch of fish from the sea. The ones surrounding me—the poor, the hungry, the sick—understand and believe Jesus' message. They are eager to receive friendship. Here the gospel is applicable, and it really is Good News: bread for the hungry, healing for the sick, love for the unlovely.

Some time later, Fatima attended our church in the coarse sand under a green and white tent, not because of something the ministry had given her or because of a film we had shown, but because I spent time sitting with her in the dirt.

"Minha amiga," she called to me with a slight, shy smile. The cake she wanted to make me before I left for a trip meant more to me than any degree, car, or retirement plan ever could.

I wonder if we in the West sometimes focus on the wrong things. As one East African proverb puts it: "I pointed out to you the stars, but all you saw was the tip of my finger."

I came to Mozambique looking for hope and found that in Africa, as in America, hope begins in relationship, the giving of ourselves. Even the poor have something to give—and we all have a great deal to gain.

Cassandra Zinchini is doing postgraduate work in development studies at the University of London and writing a book on the rural poor.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other Christianity Today articles on Mozambique include:

Prison Ministry in Mozambique | Missionary says women suffer grave injustices. (August 7, 2000)

Now You Must Forgive Mozambique its Debts Methodist Bishop Tells West | Economic situation 'has gone from precarious to catastrophic' after flooding. (March 1, 2000)

World Relief Continues Rescues in Mozambique Commits to Rebuilding Region (February 1, 2000)

Mozambique: Flooded Nation Seeks Debt Relief (April 24, 2000)

Swapping Guns for Sewing Machines (May 19, 1997)

The BBC's country profile of Mozambique has a timeline and links to recent news.

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January 2007, Vol. 51, No. 1