Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Outreach in the Bush Bush
Remember how I asked you to pray for Jason's bush outreach? Well he ended up having some extra company because our whole family went!! Oh yes, we did. God really surprised me in the way he changed my heart from having no desire to go to the “bush bush” to burning with passion to get out there. Some friends on base offered to keep Josiah and Annette, but we really felt God called us as a family. Besides, they have toddlers and kids in the bush bush too, super cute I might add! (:
To help my thoughts be more coherent and minimize rambling I will summarize our outreach in bullet points
-We drove about three hours in the back of a covered truck on paved roads and dirt road which turned into deeply pot- holed dirt roads. The pastor told us to pray that no elephants would be blocking the road.
-We didn't see any elephants, but our truck did hit a pig in the road. We went back to the village to apologize to the owner who settled the matter by selling the pig to us for 3,500 metz ($100). So the next day for lunch we had roadkill, I mean pork
-At dusk we arrived at a Muslim village that had never before been visited by a team from Iris. Our Mozambican “brothers” (our team consisted of 20 Harvest Students and 20 Mozambican Bible School Students) asked the village people to lead us to the chief's house. The chief welcomed us graciously and permitted our team to camp in his yard under a massive mango tree.
-After setting up our tent in the dark I began getting Annette ready for bed (diaper, jammies, etc) as I glanced out the tent window my gaze was met with 40 black eyes just outside my tent, silently watching my every move. (: The rest of the weekend everything we did was curiously observed.
-Jason went to the evangelism meeting where we showed the Jesus film on a giant screen and the Gospel was shared. 40 people gave their lives to Jesus that night. Alleluia!
We managed to sleep in until 5 am. Upon crawling out of our tent we were greeted with a fleet of village kids ready to play. We taught them a few games including duck- duck- goose and mango toss. The children are quite shy, which made Josiah and Annette much more confident. Annette loved to shake hands, give hugs, and generally get really close into people's space. A few younger kids cried in terror at the sight of our white skin (:
-We ate rolls and tea for breakfast, but were mindful of the village people all around just watching us eat. Mozambicans usually only eat only one meal at the end of the day.
-After breakfast we ran a program for a couple hundred children that were rounded up from the village. We played games, sang songs (very energetically!) had a drama, passed out bread, and taught them about Jesus. Annette and Josiah hung out and danced along with the kids.
-I joined some mamas in their daily chores; getting water from the well, pounding maize with a tall stick and sifting the rocks out of the rice and beans. It is fun how the work is done in community.
-There was a meeting with the men who gave their lives to Jesus the night before, one of whom is the village chief!!! A man was chosen to pastor (God has previously given Jason some prophetic words that this man was to be the pastor) and will be coming to Pemba to attend Bible School in the spring. Next the chief donated land for a church to the built. Our team purchased bamboo and the construction was started that afternoon! And right in front of our eyes a church was planted in a remote village called Kule!!
-In the afternoon we went from hut- to- hut praying for the sick, sharing the gospel and inviting people to the evangelism event that evening. People in the village speak Mackua so our Portuguese is not useful. Everything must be translated through an interpreter which made communication a big challenge.
-That night there was a full moon and around midnight we heard drumming, singing and dancing outside our tent. This continued on until 4:30 am when I surrendered the notion of sleep and crawled out of my tent. There I saw a big crowd of women jubilantly dancing and singing. Our translator told me that the women have been celebrating all night a girl's rite of passage into womanhood. Apparently the girl started her period yesterday, according to Mozambican tradition they conducted a female circumcision (horrible). The girl was then left at home while all the woman danced around spreading the word to the village that the girl is now a woman. They focused their celebration in our yard because they wanted to be sure that the chief heard the news (pretty sure he did!) The worse part is this girl is now “open for business” sexually. Truly horrid.
-In the morning we gave away some clothes we had along. We asked Josiah if he wanted to give away his Ultraman t-shirt (his favorite). After some consideration he decided he wanted to. We put it on a little boy his size and they were best friends after that, playing until it as time to say farewell and load up onto the truck.
-We arrived back at base around noon to the very good news that the water was on (the well issues have been resolved) and the most deeply appreciated shower of my life.
It was an incredible cultural experience and really a blessing to get to participate together as a family. Heidi Baker has been teaching us the importance of going “low and slow” into a new culture, and who better to do that than a child?
I was so impressed to see the passion, organization and effectiveness with which the Mozambican pastors reached this village. They made sure to say farewell to all the new believers before we left, with the promise of sending a discipleship team to them in the next month. The new Christian's pleaded, “please don't forget about us”. From this experience we could understand how Iris Ministries has established over 10,000 churches across Mozambique. Currently at Pemba there are 300 pastors from across the country being trained and equipped to pastor in their local villages. A lot of the teaching involves breaking off syncrotism (a blend of traditional spirit- worship with Islam or Christianity) and teaching people to follow the one true Way. In the villages people go to the witch doctor to receive healing or place curses over people. When they see Spirit- filled pastors performing miracles and healings (on our trip one person was healed of a tumor on her eye and another person's sight was restored) they see a greater power out- poured and cannot deny the cross.
To help my thoughts be more coherent and minimize rambling I will summarize our outreach in bullet points
-We drove about three hours in the back of a covered truck on paved roads and dirt road which turned into deeply pot- holed dirt roads. The pastor told us to pray that no elephants would be blocking the road.
-We didn't see any elephants, but our truck did hit a pig in the road. We went back to the village to apologize to the owner who settled the matter by selling the pig to us for 3,500 metz ($100). So the next day for lunch we had roadkill, I mean pork
-At dusk we arrived at a Muslim village that had never before been visited by a team from Iris. Our Mozambican “brothers” (our team consisted of 20 Harvest Students and 20 Mozambican Bible School Students) asked the village people to lead us to the chief's house. The chief welcomed us graciously and permitted our team to camp in his yard under a massive mango tree.
-After setting up our tent in the dark I began getting Annette ready for bed (diaper, jammies, etc) as I glanced out the tent window my gaze was met with 40 black eyes just outside my tent, silently watching my every move. (: The rest of the weekend everything we did was curiously observed.
-Jason went to the evangelism meeting where we showed the Jesus film on a giant screen and the Gospel was shared. 40 people gave their lives to Jesus that night. Alleluia!
We managed to sleep in until 5 am. Upon crawling out of our tent we were greeted with a fleet of village kids ready to play. We taught them a few games including duck- duck- goose and mango toss. The children are quite shy, which made Josiah and Annette much more confident. Annette loved to shake hands, give hugs, and generally get really close into people's space. A few younger kids cried in terror at the sight of our white skin (:
-We ate rolls and tea for breakfast, but were mindful of the village people all around just watching us eat. Mozambicans usually only eat only one meal at the end of the day.
-After breakfast we ran a program for a couple hundred children that were rounded up from the village. We played games, sang songs (very energetically!) had a drama, passed out bread, and taught them about Jesus. Annette and Josiah hung out and danced along with the kids.
-I joined some mamas in their daily chores; getting water from the well, pounding maize with a tall stick and sifting the rocks out of the rice and beans. It is fun how the work is done in community.
-There was a meeting with the men who gave their lives to Jesus the night before, one of whom is the village chief!!! A man was chosen to pastor (God has previously given Jason some prophetic words that this man was to be the pastor) and will be coming to Pemba to attend Bible School in the spring. Next the chief donated land for a church to the built. Our team purchased bamboo and the construction was started that afternoon! And right in front of our eyes a church was planted in a remote village called Kule!!
-In the afternoon we went from hut- to- hut praying for the sick, sharing the gospel and inviting people to the evangelism event that evening. People in the village speak Mackua so our Portuguese is not useful. Everything must be translated through an interpreter which made communication a big challenge.
-That night there was a full moon and around midnight we heard drumming, singing and dancing outside our tent. This continued on until 4:30 am when I surrendered the notion of sleep and crawled out of my tent. There I saw a big crowd of women jubilantly dancing and singing. Our translator told me that the women have been celebrating all night a girl's rite of passage into womanhood. Apparently the girl started her period yesterday, according to Mozambican tradition they conducted a female circumcision (horrible). The girl was then left at home while all the woman danced around spreading the word to the village that the girl is now a woman. They focused their celebration in our yard because they wanted to be sure that the chief heard the news (pretty sure he did!) The worse part is this girl is now “open for business” sexually. Truly horrid.
-In the morning we gave away some clothes we had along. We asked Josiah if he wanted to give away his Ultraman t-shirt (his favorite). After some consideration he decided he wanted to. We put it on a little boy his size and they were best friends after that, playing until it as time to say farewell and load up onto the truck.
-We arrived back at base around noon to the very good news that the water was on (the well issues have been resolved) and the most deeply appreciated shower of my life.
It was an incredible cultural experience and really a blessing to get to participate together as a family. Heidi Baker has been teaching us the importance of going “low and slow” into a new culture, and who better to do that than a child?
I was so impressed to see the passion, organization and effectiveness with which the Mozambican pastors reached this village. They made sure to say farewell to all the new believers before we left, with the promise of sending a discipleship team to them in the next month. The new Christian's pleaded, “please don't forget about us”. From this experience we could understand how Iris Ministries has established over 10,000 churches across Mozambique. Currently at Pemba there are 300 pastors from across the country being trained and equipped to pastor in their local villages. A lot of the teaching involves breaking off syncrotism (a blend of traditional spirit- worship with Islam or Christianity) and teaching people to follow the one true Way. In the villages people go to the witch doctor to receive healing or place curses over people. When they see Spirit- filled pastors performing miracles and healings (on our trip one person was healed of a tumor on her eye and another person's sight was restored) they see a greater power out- poured and cannot deny the cross.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Our Week in Bullet Points
- Annette has insomnia induced by the Larium (malaria medicine) she is on. It has been progressively getting worse and resulting in very fitful sleep ): One night she was WIDE awake from 9pm- 2am (putting her more at risk of being bit by a nasty mosquito) so we had to make a change. The only other drug option is Malarone which is not available in Pemba and costs several hundred dollars. I spoke with a nurse on base who GAVE us 2 months worth of donated Malarone!! Better nights to come!! Thank you Lord for taking care of us!!
-Water became a huge issue this week. For the last month the water or electricity has been out periodically for up to a day at a time. No big deal. The water has now been out for seven days which is starting to feel like a big deal. We try to recycle our water at least three times, for example we will fill a small bucket, bath both the children, mop the floor with it, then use it to flush the toilet. This week all clothes washing was halted, we had to use pit toilets and water was restricted for drinking only. Appartenlty our water filter can filter pee- but we haven't been that desperate- yet (: The problem is actually effecting the whole Pemba region, but hopefully will be resolved soon. Access to clean drinking water is such a costly and consuming challenge for developing countries. It is a good experience to feel squeezed of what has always been a taken- for- granted abundant resource. My solution-drink Coke (: I am actually embarrassed at how much soda our kids have drunk here. But, hay it's Africa and it's like 120 degrees.
- One of our malnourished babies from Meize Milk Clinic died this Tuesday.
-God is showing me how important the joy of the Lord is. And He is giving me opportunities in which to practice being joyful (see above three bullet points)
- We went snorkeling last Saturday with a group of friends. Supposedly we were going to “swim with the dolphins” instead we swam with the (wait for it). . .. jellyfish!! Schools of hundreds and hundreds of jellyfish. It was the most creepy snorkeling ever. I didn't even want to put my mask in the water because all I saw were dozens of translucent, light- blue blobs swimming towards me. When they started stinging and brushing their blobby jelly against me I was done. But we had a great time and laughed tons. We still haven't seen any dolphins but have watched many whales just off shore. Magnificent!
- Me “Josiah why are you so dirty?”
Josiah “Ummm. . . .maybe from the dirt”
- My Mozambican friend Aisha (a cleaning lady on base) invited us to visit her home in the village. She told us it was a 30 minute walk, but we ended up walking through village alleys for an hour and half in the intense heat before arriving to her mud hut. I love walking through the village calling out greetings, “Salamat! Muhavo?” and observing everyone going about their daily life. We had a great visit and got to meet Aisha's family and neighbors. Tomorrow we are going back and she is preparing a Mozambican supper for us! Because Aisha only speaks Portuguese it is a great opportunity for us to practice and learn (fortunately the language is a lot like Spanish). She is such a beautiful, strong, warm- hearted woman.
-Jason is leaving on Thursday for a two night outreach in the “bush bush”. Please keep him in your prayers as he goes to share the love of Jesus to a remote tribe.
Sorry for no photos this week, the connection is too slow ):
I hope all of you blog- friends are doing well. We are feeling really out of touch with people and have only about 20 minutes a week on- line. So although we aren't doing a great job replying to emails, we do read them and cherish them. Please drop us a comment or email and let us know how you are doing. Also, if you have anything we can pray for please let us know. Several hours a day at school here are spent in prayer and intercession, so we would love to lift you up. We miss you all, love you all and look forward to seeing you face to face!!
-Water became a huge issue this week. For the last month the water or electricity has been out periodically for up to a day at a time. No big deal. The water has now been out for seven days which is starting to feel like a big deal. We try to recycle our water at least three times, for example we will fill a small bucket, bath both the children, mop the floor with it, then use it to flush the toilet. This week all clothes washing was halted, we had to use pit toilets and water was restricted for drinking only. Appartenlty our water filter can filter pee- but we haven't been that desperate- yet (: The problem is actually effecting the whole Pemba region, but hopefully will be resolved soon. Access to clean drinking water is such a costly and consuming challenge for developing countries. It is a good experience to feel squeezed of what has always been a taken- for- granted abundant resource. My solution-drink Coke (: I am actually embarrassed at how much soda our kids have drunk here. But, hay it's Africa and it's like 120 degrees.
- One of our malnourished babies from Meize Milk Clinic died this Tuesday.
-God is showing me how important the joy of the Lord is. And He is giving me opportunities in which to practice being joyful (see above three bullet points)
- We went snorkeling last Saturday with a group of friends. Supposedly we were going to “swim with the dolphins” instead we swam with the (wait for it). . .. jellyfish!! Schools of hundreds and hundreds of jellyfish. It was the most creepy snorkeling ever. I didn't even want to put my mask in the water because all I saw were dozens of translucent, light- blue blobs swimming towards me. When they started stinging and brushing their blobby jelly against me I was done. But we had a great time and laughed tons. We still haven't seen any dolphins but have watched many whales just off shore. Magnificent!
- Me “Josiah why are you so dirty?”
Josiah “Ummm. . . .maybe from the dirt”
- My Mozambican friend Aisha (a cleaning lady on base) invited us to visit her home in the village. She told us it was a 30 minute walk, but we ended up walking through village alleys for an hour and half in the intense heat before arriving to her mud hut. I love walking through the village calling out greetings, “Salamat! Muhavo?” and observing everyone going about their daily life. We had a great visit and got to meet Aisha's family and neighbors. Tomorrow we are going back and she is preparing a Mozambican supper for us! Because Aisha only speaks Portuguese it is a great opportunity for us to practice and learn (fortunately the language is a lot like Spanish). She is such a beautiful, strong, warm- hearted woman.
-Jason is leaving on Thursday for a two night outreach in the “bush bush”. Please keep him in your prayers as he goes to share the love of Jesus to a remote tribe.
Sorry for no photos this week, the connection is too slow ):
I hope all of you blog- friends are doing well. We are feeling really out of touch with people and have only about 20 minutes a week on- line. So although we aren't doing a great job replying to emails, we do read them and cherish them. Please drop us a comment or email and let us know how you are doing. Also, if you have anything we can pray for please let us know. Several hours a day at school here are spent in prayer and intercession, so we would love to lift you up. We miss you all, love you all and look forward to seeing you face to face!!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Crazy God Stuff and a Worm Story
The weeks are really starting to pick up speed now as we get into a routinue with school, ministry and hanging out with new friends. God has been teaching and showing us some really amazing things. Here is a glimpse of what is going on. . .
Josiah's Dream
It has been incredible to see Josiah's faith grow in our time here. This was certainly not our expectation in “dragging him along” but God loves to do more than we can ask or imagine. Annette fell down the other day when they were playing outside and I overheard him comforting her than touch her knee and pray, “pain be gone in Jesus name”. Last week he told us he had a dream where he went to heaven with Jesus. We asked him what he did and he answered that he went fishing with Jesus. He said they caught lots of fish and had two pieces of bread. Then they brought the fish and bread “down here” and gave them out to everybody. “To the black people, white people, everybody, there was lots of food for everybody”. It is amazing how easy it is for Josiah to have childlike faith, since he is a child! His dream was an encouraging reminder to us of God's abundant resources.
Quotes from Class
All fruitfulness flows out of intimacy with God.
How do we make God happy? By trusting him.
We are totally bankrupt apart from God.
The only way forward in the Christian life is lower still.
We are here to thrill God and if we miss that, we miss the point.
Life always comes from the Spirit.
There is no misery when you know who you are. You can run into dark places when full of joy.
Joy is not overrated.
Go low and slow.
If we lay down our lives for Jesus in service, but don't enjoy him, we have failed completely.
Out of reckless abandonment comes exhilarating joy.
Kanita
Last Friday Jason asked God if he should go on the afternoon village outreach. He heard God say “yes”. Then he asked God, who should I look for? God told Jason “find a girl named Anita who is deaf and pray for her”. So Jason, with Annette in his backpack, headed into the village with a team from Harvest School. They began asking people in the village if they knew a deaf girl named Anita. Eventually some kids led them to a hut where a girl named Kanita lived. Kanita is eight years old and deaf. The team prayed for Kanita and God opened her ears!! A big smile spread across her face as they tested her hearing whispering the word “Jesush” and she repeated. The team ministered some more to the family and invited them to church.
Sunday morning we were greeted by a beaming Kanita and her sisters. She ran up to Jason, giving him a big hug and even bigger smile. All we could do was tell her over and over how much God loves her. We had an extra fun African dance party that morning and it was beautiful to watch Kanita dance to the music she could hear!! After church we celebrated with chicken and coke at the beach. Alleluia!
The crazy thing is this type of miracle is common here!! The last weekend outreach team saw two deaf people healed and cataracts fall off the eyes of nearly blind people. We cry out, “more Lord!”
Worm Story
Both of the kids have had some funky Africa skin rashes. This week Annette developed two zit- looking bumps that we thought were possibly spider bites. After five days they weren't improving and we had the doctor take a look. He told us they were worms that had crawled under her skin. He stuck a needle in and before our eyes pulled a worm out. The other bump wasn't “ripe” yet so we waited a few more days for the worm to come to the surface. When he opened this one up we were shocked at the size of the worm that poked up from the hole!! He said it was the biggest worm he had ever removed (don't go wild in your imagination it was probably ½ long, but still in my baby- ewww!) Here we are outside the clinic, you can see the red bump on her back where the worm was hiding. This is Africa baby!
Josiah's Dream
It has been incredible to see Josiah's faith grow in our time here. This was certainly not our expectation in “dragging him along” but God loves to do more than we can ask or imagine. Annette fell down the other day when they were playing outside and I overheard him comforting her than touch her knee and pray, “pain be gone in Jesus name”. Last week he told us he had a dream where he went to heaven with Jesus. We asked him what he did and he answered that he went fishing with Jesus. He said they caught lots of fish and had two pieces of bread. Then they brought the fish and bread “down here” and gave them out to everybody. “To the black people, white people, everybody, there was lots of food for everybody”. It is amazing how easy it is for Josiah to have childlike faith, since he is a child! His dream was an encouraging reminder to us of God's abundant resources.
Quotes from Class
All fruitfulness flows out of intimacy with God.
How do we make God happy? By trusting him.
We are totally bankrupt apart from God.
The only way forward in the Christian life is lower still.
We are here to thrill God and if we miss that, we miss the point.
Life always comes from the Spirit.
There is no misery when you know who you are. You can run into dark places when full of joy.
Joy is not overrated.
Go low and slow.
If we lay down our lives for Jesus in service, but don't enjoy him, we have failed completely.
Out of reckless abandonment comes exhilarating joy.
Kanita
Last Friday Jason asked God if he should go on the afternoon village outreach. He heard God say “yes”. Then he asked God, who should I look for? God told Jason “find a girl named Anita who is deaf and pray for her”. So Jason, with Annette in his backpack, headed into the village with a team from Harvest School. They began asking people in the village if they knew a deaf girl named Anita. Eventually some kids led them to a hut where a girl named Kanita lived. Kanita is eight years old and deaf. The team prayed for Kanita and God opened her ears!! A big smile spread across her face as they tested her hearing whispering the word “Jesush” and she repeated. The team ministered some more to the family and invited them to church.
Sunday morning we were greeted by a beaming Kanita and her sisters. She ran up to Jason, giving him a big hug and even bigger smile. All we could do was tell her over and over how much God loves her. We had an extra fun African dance party that morning and it was beautiful to watch Kanita dance to the music she could hear!! After church we celebrated with chicken and coke at the beach. Alleluia!
The crazy thing is this type of miracle is common here!! The last weekend outreach team saw two deaf people healed and cataracts fall off the eyes of nearly blind people. We cry out, “more Lord!”
Worm Story
Both of the kids have had some funky Africa skin rashes. This week Annette developed two zit- looking bumps that we thought were possibly spider bites. After five days they weren't improving and we had the doctor take a look. He told us they were worms that had crawled under her skin. He stuck a needle in and before our eyes pulled a worm out. The other bump wasn't “ripe” yet so we waited a few more days for the worm to come to the surface. When he opened this one up we were shocked at the size of the worm that poked up from the hole!! He said it was the biggest worm he had ever removed (don't go wild in your imagination it was probably ½ long, but still in my baby- ewww!) Here we are outside the clinic, you can see the red bump on her back where the worm was hiding. This is Africa baby!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Meize Milk Clinic
On Fridays I drive out to a village outside of Pemba called Meize. Meize is my happy place. Every week 40 precious babies gather under the mango tree for a Milk Clinic run by Iris. The purpose of the clinic is to distribute formula to babies who cannot breast feed exclusively, because their mother has died or is HIV positive, or she does not have enough milk for whatever reason. Buying formula would be completely unaffordable and out of the question for these families. At the clinic we hang a scale from the mango tree and weigh the babies to chart their growth. Then Bridget (the missionary nurse) determines the formula and rice to be allocated to each baby.
One woman came to us last week with a two week old baby. The woman said she had no breast milk (she didn't) and the baby had lost 40% of its birth weight. Bridget asked the woman how many children she had. She told us that she had six babies, and had lost six babies. Each one of her babies had died. Six pregnancies, six labors, six funerals. It was the most amazing moment to watch the smile spread across her face as she was given a bottle and three tins of milk. Hope. Without the milk she would more than likely have had a seventh funeral that week.
This past week was really intense for me and I was flooded with a wave of nausea as we faced several emaciated babies covered in sores with blank, listless stares. My heart especially went out to the caregivers, fathers and sisters, who have just buried their wife/mother and now are fighting for the life of their baby. We have been talking in Mission School this week about what Good News means to the poor. Certainly to these families Good News can look like a tin of milk.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled"
Saturday, October 15, 2011
A Day at Harvest Mission School
5:00- Sun- up! Outside our compound walls mamas are cooking or carrying water and children are laughing while we, inside, are desperately trying to convince Josiah and Annette that the day has not begun.
6:00- Jason or Christine go for a run on the beach with a friend (it is not safe to go out alone).
6:30- a bell rings and we go to collect our breakfast of rolls, to which we add bananas, peanut butter, coffee, vitamins and malaria tablets
7:00- dressed and out to play! The student compound has these amazing 2,000 year old trees which are perfect for swings.
8:00- Class starts! There are over 300 students in the mission school representing 25 countries. We are crammed in the student hut where we sit on ground. The morning usually has two worship sessions and two teaching sessions. The teaching ranges from understanding our identity in Christ to lessons in cross- cultural communication. Sometimes we have combined class in the church with the Mozambican Bible Students. Josiah and Annette come to class with us and we do our best to entertain them using crayons, sticks, bottlecaps, food, movies etc. We bring Annette's pack 'n play and she naps in the nearby prayer hut. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Josiah gets to go to a special class for kids where he learns scripture, Bible stories, games, and how to hear God's voice.
1:00- Class is over. Lunch in the dinning hall is either rice and beans or beans and rice (: We like it, but I think you can tell from this picture it is getting a little old.
1:30- 5:30- In the afternoon we sometimes have meetings with our small group or language learning classes (Portuguese). On Wednesday Jason ministers in the Pemba prison. Friday afternoons Christine helps run a baby clinic in a nearby village. Two of our favorite activities are hanging out at the beach (just in front of our compound) or the village (just behind our compound). Isn't Mozambique beautiful and full of treasure!?!
6:00- Dinner in the dinning hall is usually rice with either fish, spinach or cabbage on top. On Tuesdays we have “family time” with our amazing house mates from Australia and the UK. This week we cooked chicken stew, yum!
7:00- Dirty, dirty kids bathed and snuggled under their mosquito nets to bed. There are optional evening sessions of prayer, worship, speakers or African dance parties (love it!!!) Other nights we hang out on the porch talking with people we've met here. There are 8 families and 18 kids, in fact the there are 4 three year old for Josiah to play with!!
9:00- Feels very late and we usually crash early but not without thanking God for the incredible privilege to be in Africa and to get to know Him better. I took this photo of a sunset here on the mission base (called Village of Joy). Isn't that horse majestic posing there?!
For those of you who aren't familiar with Iris Ministries you can learn more about them from their website. Heidi and Rolland have been missionaries for 32 years and have stood fearlessly in one of the world's poorest countries through civil war, floods and famine. They have seen massive revival sweep the nation including many miracles such as healing of the blind and deaf, food multiplication and the dead being raised (crazy). They have been teaching us that fruitfulness flows out of intimacy with God. The message of Iris is simple but powerful- love the one in front of you.
Challenges:
1. Ants. Our bed was completely invaded our first night by thousands of biting ants and we still have an ongoing battle with them.
2. Workmanship. Things here just break easily so it feels like we keep rebuilding. For a week there was a sewage leak outside our door and twice our bed has completely collapsed! This is Africa baby!
3. Prices. Western items, such as toilet paper, shampoo, peanut butter are so inflated. A package of toilet paper is $20, a liter of milk is $5 and you don't even want to know how much cheese costs.
4. Rambunctious Kids. The village kids are so precious, but quite aggressive. We have to careful because some of them will yank at our kid's limbs or grab their blonde hair. ):
Joys:
1. House. We have one of the best houses on the compound with the fewest number of people and an incredible ocean breeze blowing into our room
2. Laundry Lady. The families have access to a beautiful laundry lady who twice a week hand washes all of our clothes, so I only have to wash Annette's diaper.
3. Infinite Babysitters. Jason and I could go out every night of the week (we don't) because so many people have offered to watch the kids. There are a lot of young, single girls at the school so that is amazing.
4. Health Care. I had to laugh when we got here because health care was one of my greatest fears and we probably have better health care here on the base then we will anywhere else this year. There are 25 doctors or nurses in the Mission School, including our housemate Mollie who is a doctor!! Someone is always on call and can respond quickly with loving care, prayer and medicine if necessary. The kids have both already had colds and eye- infections. Josiah vomited one night and Annette is raging a fever at the moment- please pray, doubtful that it is malaria. But, God has really given us a peace that we can trust Him and that he can take care of us. Alleluia!!
6:00- Jason or Christine go for a run on the beach with a friend (it is not safe to go out alone).
6:30- a bell rings and we go to collect our breakfast of rolls, to which we add bananas, peanut butter, coffee, vitamins and malaria tablets
7:00- dressed and out to play! The student compound has these amazing 2,000 year old trees which are perfect for swings.
8:00- Class starts! There are over 300 students in the mission school representing 25 countries. We are crammed in the student hut where we sit on ground. The morning usually has two worship sessions and two teaching sessions. The teaching ranges from understanding our identity in Christ to lessons in cross- cultural communication. Sometimes we have combined class in the church with the Mozambican Bible Students. Josiah and Annette come to class with us and we do our best to entertain them using crayons, sticks, bottlecaps, food, movies etc. We bring Annette's pack 'n play and she naps in the nearby prayer hut. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Josiah gets to go to a special class for kids where he learns scripture, Bible stories, games, and how to hear God's voice.
1:00- Class is over. Lunch in the dinning hall is either rice and beans or beans and rice (: We like it, but I think you can tell from this picture it is getting a little old.
1:30- 5:30- In the afternoon we sometimes have meetings with our small group or language learning classes (Portuguese). On Wednesday Jason ministers in the Pemba prison. Friday afternoons Christine helps run a baby clinic in a nearby village. Two of our favorite activities are hanging out at the beach (just in front of our compound) or the village (just behind our compound). Isn't Mozambique beautiful and full of treasure!?!
6:00- Dinner in the dinning hall is usually rice with either fish, spinach or cabbage on top. On Tuesdays we have “family time” with our amazing house mates from Australia and the UK. This week we cooked chicken stew, yum!
7:00- Dirty, dirty kids bathed and snuggled under their mosquito nets to bed. There are optional evening sessions of prayer, worship, speakers or African dance parties (love it!!!) Other nights we hang out on the porch talking with people we've met here. There are 8 families and 18 kids, in fact the there are 4 three year old for Josiah to play with!!
9:00- Feels very late and we usually crash early but not without thanking God for the incredible privilege to be in Africa and to get to know Him better. I took this photo of a sunset here on the mission base (called Village of Joy). Isn't that horse majestic posing there?!
For those of you who aren't familiar with Iris Ministries you can learn more about them from their website. Heidi and Rolland have been missionaries for 32 years and have stood fearlessly in one of the world's poorest countries through civil war, floods and famine. They have seen massive revival sweep the nation including many miracles such as healing of the blind and deaf, food multiplication and the dead being raised (crazy). They have been teaching us that fruitfulness flows out of intimacy with God. The message of Iris is simple but powerful- love the one in front of you.
Challenges:
1. Ants. Our bed was completely invaded our first night by thousands of biting ants and we still have an ongoing battle with them.
2. Workmanship. Things here just break easily so it feels like we keep rebuilding. For a week there was a sewage leak outside our door and twice our bed has completely collapsed! This is Africa baby!
3. Prices. Western items, such as toilet paper, shampoo, peanut butter are so inflated. A package of toilet paper is $20, a liter of milk is $5 and you don't even want to know how much cheese costs.
4. Rambunctious Kids. The village kids are so precious, but quite aggressive. We have to careful because some of them will yank at our kid's limbs or grab their blonde hair. ):
Joys:
1. House. We have one of the best houses on the compound with the fewest number of people and an incredible ocean breeze blowing into our room
2. Laundry Lady. The families have access to a beautiful laundry lady who twice a week hand washes all of our clothes, so I only have to wash Annette's diaper.
3. Infinite Babysitters. Jason and I could go out every night of the week (we don't) because so many people have offered to watch the kids. There are a lot of young, single girls at the school so that is amazing.
4. Health Care. I had to laugh when we got here because health care was one of my greatest fears and we probably have better health care here on the base then we will anywhere else this year. There are 25 doctors or nurses in the Mission School, including our housemate Mollie who is a doctor!! Someone is always on call and can respond quickly with loving care, prayer and medicine if necessary. The kids have both already had colds and eye- infections. Josiah vomited one night and Annette is raging a fever at the moment- please pray, doubtful that it is malaria. But, God has really given us a peace that we can trust Him and that he can take care of us. Alleluia!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
update pemba
We have been in Pemba now for nearly 2 weeks and are thriving. It was nice having already been in Africa for 3 weeks we felt like we could hit the ground running. The Iris base in Pemba is the headquarters for the ministry and is a beehive of activity. It is really amazing what goes on. They are constantly growing not just in the base but in northern Mozambique as well. For instance they just broke ground on a hospital on the 10th and are building a baby house for the 30+ children under 3 at the same time. Heidi and Rolland flew in taught a week of classes and are now spanning the globe again going to conferences in Norway. It has been amazing to hear from these guys speak about their perspective while going 100 mph!! Just in the last 10 days these events give testimony to ministry in Africa and continual revival.
1) One of Heidi's adopted sons accidentally hit a boy, escaped a mob trying to kill him, and was held in the police station. While in the station the other prisoners started rioting shouting that he is a murderer and should be in with them. While at first terrified, in the power of the Spirit he told the chief of police to let him in. The chief refused exclaiming that the mob would kill him. He responded with "Greater is He that is in me than the rouser of the mob." He proceeded to enter the jail, quieted the mob, preached the gospel, calling on them to repent. Within 30 minutes 40 prisoners gave their lives to the Lord. The rest of the night was spent in worship.
2) 18 year old was taken up into a vision of heaven for 3 hours
3) Rolland was at the verge of death after Christine and I had just seen him running on the beach.
4) A diamond fell in the midst of people while they worshiped.
5) Witchcraft was found in the vehicle of the base leaders vehicles.
The reality of the spiritual is very real both in the Kingdom of light and darkness.
The greatest experiences we've had though have been worshiping African style, hearing about living from a place of love, and ministering with and to other students.
Josiah and Annette have been doing great. Josiah is at home with the children, sticks and dirt. Annette goes with the flow and melts the hearts of visitors and Africans alike.
Christine will be going on weekly outreaches to a nearby village to help with the babies and mothers's breastfeeding. Jason will be going to the local prison and ministering every Wednesday.
When there is no class we have taken advantage of going to the beach and the village. We saw whales breaching just 400meters off shore!! Josiah likes to poke the jellyfish with his sticks and Annette enjoys clanging the shells together.
Christine will hopefully be able to upload photos soon.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
1) One of Heidi's adopted sons accidentally hit a boy, escaped a mob trying to kill him, and was held in the police station. While in the station the other prisoners started rioting shouting that he is a murderer and should be in with them. While at first terrified, in the power of the Spirit he told the chief of police to let him in. The chief refused exclaiming that the mob would kill him. He responded with "Greater is He that is in me than the rouser of the mob." He proceeded to enter the jail, quieted the mob, preached the gospel, calling on them to repent. Within 30 minutes 40 prisoners gave their lives to the Lord. The rest of the night was spent in worship.
2) 18 year old was taken up into a vision of heaven for 3 hours
3) Rolland was at the verge of death after Christine and I had just seen him running on the beach.
4) A diamond fell in the midst of people while they worshiped.
5) Witchcraft was found in the vehicle of the base leaders vehicles.
The reality of the spiritual is very real both in the Kingdom of light and darkness.
The greatest experiences we've had though have been worshiping African style, hearing about living from a place of love, and ministering with and to other students.
Josiah and Annette have been doing great. Josiah is at home with the children, sticks and dirt. Annette goes with the flow and melts the hearts of visitors and Africans alike.
Christine will be going on weekly outreaches to a nearby village to help with the babies and mothers's breastfeeding. Jason will be going to the local prison and ministering every Wednesday.
When there is no class we have taken advantage of going to the beach and the village. We saw whales breaching just 400meters off shore!! Josiah likes to poke the jellyfish with his sticks and Annette enjoys clanging the shells together.
Christine will hopefully be able to upload photos soon.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
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