First Things Foundation

🇲🇿 In Mozambique, Field Worker Sarah Mather went to a large group Catholic baptism ceremony that also included a wedding. Pictures provided with individual captions:

Watching the marriage after the baptisms

The baptisms included everyone getting a sprinkling of water, a white headscarf, and a candle.

a cloth was wrapped around the couples hands as part of the ceremony

The newly baptised receiving their communion. The father places the wafer directly into their mouth after dipping it in the w**e.

Sister Ewelina gives communion to the rest of the congregation.

Blessing the wafers - the body of Christ

There is lots of singing throughout all parts of the service, led by the man in the cool outfit

After the money offering, there is also a procession of physical offering which is all food/crops. Today, this included many wrapped containers of food, a few bunches of plantain, and a live chicken.

I saw neighborhood members working on the paper chains for the three days leading up to the service. They are all made from used childrens school workbooks.

Some of the brothers and sisters at the luncheon afterwards.

“Relationships here are fueled by social currency. I knew bringing gifts back from America would be an important factor to reentering my friendships here after three weeks away. I brought back chocolates, hand fans, earrings, a cake mix, a book, a watch, among other things. But the most important gifts turned out to be a thick stack of photos I got printed in the states. Everyone in the village was thrilled to receive a printed photo of themselves or their children. For many, I imagine this may be their only physical photo. In return, I have received many gifts, all in the form of food; a lunch from my neighbors, a fish from my friends, and freshly roasted peanuts from a couple who could not stop thanking me for capturing their picture. I’ve also received many other meals not pictured. The transition back has been very difficult for me, but these interactions remind me of the connections I have worked hard to build over the last 9 months.”

-Field Worker Sarah Mather on the love language of food in Mozambique🇲🇿

We have a new project in Georgia, and we’re depending on your support to make it happen! Boria and his family have taken good care of our Field Worker Tyler Head, and now we’re investing in him so he can better support his community and his family with his agricultural expertise. Let’s get this man a tractor! 👏 🚜

Follow this link (or go to the “projects” page on our website) to learn more and to contribute directly to Tyler’s project: https://first-things.org/all-projects

Also check us out on YouTube to see the video update!

Will we see you at Art of Tamada in Greenville? Proceeds support First Things Foundation’s work abroad and at home.

Get tickets at ArtOfTamada.com.

Early-bird prices end tonight.

Shovels and Rope comes to Hampton Station on Saturday, Aug. 29, with special guest Carrie Manolakos and Greenville’s own Darby Wilcox.

Concert Only and Supra Concert Experience tickets are available.
Get tickets at https://artoftamada.com

Love this excerpt from Field Worker Tuba Kök’s latest blog. A very international Turkish girl hosts a Georgian Supra in Guatemala, invites some Americans too, and it’s a great time! There is so much that brings us all together. 🍽️ 🫂

“I hosted a modest mini no-w**e supra, more like a regular lunch really, with my gr**go compeñaros and neighbors. Supra, it turns out, is a tradition I had actually taken part in during an outdoor project in Georgia years ago, something I only remembered when I read the article about it on my welcome pack letter. Strangely, I may be mistaken but, supra and the Turkish word sofra (/sofˈɾa/) both seem to trace back to the same Arabic root, through Farsi, and sofra is precisely what brings the rich and the poor, the hungry and the full, to the same table.”

Read more of Tuba’s writing and check out blogs from all the Field Workers at first-things.org/blog

Field Workers and FTF Administration descended upon beautiful Fargo, ND from all around the world to spend time together at the yearly FTF Summit! This is where ideas become conversations which become actions in the field, and it’s also a chance for everyone to feel close after being separated by thousands of miles most of the year. It was a special week!

Announcing these incredible musical guests at Art of Tamada this year—prepare your ears for Shovels and Rope, Carrie Manolakos, and Darby Wilcox rocking the stage at Hampton Station and Keipi Restaurant in Greenville, SC on August 29th!

Early-bird pricing is available for concert-only tickets as well as for tickets that bundle the concert experience with a traditional Georgian toasting dinner with 5 courses—a Supra! Learn more about the event and get your tickets today at the link in the comments on this post.

This Greenville concert night benefits First Things Foundation and is presented by Keipi Restaurant, the Home of the American Supra. The concert is one part of Art of Tamada, a larger gathering built around the Supra: food, w**e, toasts, music, and the work of being guests and hosts.