Wow, this is long overdue. So these planes and helicopters that dot the weeds on the very outskirts of the Maputo Airport – well they intersect with American history; particularly the Cold War. As some of you may realize, after gaining its independence from Portuguese colonial rule, Mozambique’s government was aligned with communism and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, both the USA and the USSR wanted to show each other their vast “firepower.” The story goes that the Soviets shipped some of their air fleet to Mozambique so that the American satellites would see these aircraft and think that the USSR had a large presence even in southern Africa. While it does look impressive from satellite images, the fact of the matter is that most (if not all) of these aircraft could even fly – they are just “shells” of their former self. (As I’m typing this I’m thinking that this story could preach – from a distance we look like we have it all together, but upon closer inspection we are hollow and don’t truly have the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives even though from all outwards appearance we do all the rights things, know all the words to the songs/hymns, etc.) One final thought on this Tuesday trivia – this is a great reminder why we should use the terms “developing world” country instead of “third world country” – during the Cold War many in America began to utilize the terms “first world” for those countries aligned with capitalism, “second world” for those aligned with communism, and “third world” for those countries (usually the very impoverished) who were not aligned with either. Over time the term “third world” began to simply be used for any poor country (whatever “poor” meant was defined by whoever was labeling the aforementioned country) – the problem is that many countries labeled “third world” (like Mozambique) may actually be “second world” countries and, even more, its quite diminutive to label countries “third world” (travel to some you think are “third world” and ask the people there what the think about the term) – “developing world” is much better and reminds us that all countries (even the poorest of the poor) are moving forward and developing (many overcoming immense obstacles along the way) or the term “majority world” is another positive term to use (because the fact of the matter is the “majority” [close to two-thirds] of the world’s nations and population live in “developing world” or “majority world” countries).
