Mozambique in Pictures



The children of Mozambique

Me playing soccer with the kids in one of the remote villages. Soccer is the international language of connection!



Our convoy into the isolated interior of Mozambique

 


Members of our team after ministering to an extended family in one of the villages. This village was initially against hearing the gospel, but we ended up having great success even in the face of opposition.

 

Attracting a crowd when arriving in a village to draw some water at their well - the only source of fresh water for miles around.

Setting up of the Jesus Film. The set-up consisted of a generator, an old-school film projector, four reels of film,  a white canvas screen and a pair of piercing loudspeakers - perfect!  

Team Mozam 2012 and some friends, in the middle of no-where, posing in front of a famous Baobab tree.

 

Our interpreter, Joao, and his family after returning from the bush. Two members of our team as well. Joao turned out to be one of the revelations of the trip - he is a man for the future.

Who said Mozam is ugly? Definitely not me!

 

Mozambique Mission 2012

We were invited by one of our ministry partners to take a team up to Mozambique to minister in the vacinity of the holiday town of Vilanculos. Our host is innitiating a missive scale farming project in the Mozambique interior, this project meant the involvement of many villages in the area that have otherwise been untouched by commercial development and economic opportunity of this magnitude. Our job was thus to come alongside the farmers, as they put together there arrangements with the villagers and bring the good news of God's unconditional love and grace to the people of the isolated Mozambique interior.

It was a great challenge just getting to the villages, it was a full days drive in sand and bush, with 4 x 4 vehicles, to get to the first village from Vilanculos. Afterwhich, our team of ten kicked on to a new village everyday. We were totaly self-sufficient, having enough food, water and fuel to last us for five days in the bush. There was no running water, no electricity and no mobile phone reception,  just us, the bush and the people God wanted us to minister to.

Our goal was clear and our approach simple: We wanted to start identifying potential leaders in the villages, who would fit the criteria to be trained further in the gospel and make a long-term impact in their own village. We did this by means of showing the Jesus Film in the local language of Tsonga, then preaching, praying and ministering to the villagers - crusade style. The Jesus Film was a hit and many people were healed, delivered and prospered through the ministering of God's love and grace.

We were also able to identify a few individuals who showed the potential of being willing to be trained and equipped. The most exciting of which turned out to be our interpreter, Joao, who bought whole-heartedly into the message that we shared and who's life was radically different by the time we left.

Litteraly hundreds of people commited their hearts to Jesus in the villages we ministerd at, they need to be discipled though. Our trip to Mozambique was never just going to be a once-off, we are going back to disciple these people and eventually raise up the local leaders to continue what God started there.

Praise God for His faithfulness, He is true to His word, that He wants no man to perish, but all to come to salvation. It is with this promise that we can continue making disciples of the nations and people-groups of this world, until there is no-one left to reach!

Zim in Pictures

Our entire team at Joel's house - he was able to stand by the time we left!



Team ministering at a village outside Marondera - Goggos church. Healing and deliverance were the order of the day as God demonstrated His power and love through the team.





One of the teams ministering to the family they met with everyday, in Borrowdale, Harare. Families like these formed the nucleus of the new church that was planted in the area.




A group of men listening to the preaching. The men sat seperately from the woman and children at this particular gathering.



Another team ministering to a family in Borrowdale. They visited this family everyday, discipling them into the word.




Children listening to every word of what was being said at Goggo's church



A child wrapped in traditional clothe against the cold winter afternoon - she wasn't going to miss out!



Bible are in short supply in the rural areas in Zim. Those that have them cherish them - we were able to bless people with a number of bibles in our time there!



Zim: A Good Report

I have just returned from ministry trips in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, both very different but both highly favoured and extremely effective.

Zimbabwe, a country full of the most friendly people in Africa. A country with a history of prosperity, but now only a remnant of what it once was. A country with beauty only matched by that of our own (South Africa). A country that soaks up spirituality like a parched Sponge Bob Square Pants. A country, still, with endless potential.

Having my roots in the country (my parents were born and raised there) and still having some family in the area, it felt more like a home-coming for me. I didn't come home empty handed though, instead we took up a team of fourteen world-changing missionaries, all equipped with the good news of God's unconditional love and grace and the ability to communicate it.

We immediately connected with our sister church, Charis Ministries, in the capital, Harare and travelled our first day to a rural farming village outside the town of Maronderas. Charis Ministries had recently planted a church there under the dynamic leadership of a former sangoma, turned pastor, Goggo.It was at this gathering that we saw some incredible healings and deliverance's on the back of the gospel being taught and testimonies being shared. The young church was extremely encouraged by us being there, as God proved faithful to His word by wielding His power through us, his willing hands!

After that, our week of ministry began in Harare. We worked mainly in Highfields, a township on the outskirts of the city and also in the neighbourhood close to where we were staying, in the greater Borrowdale area. Our strategy was a simple one: Find a house or houses who would be willing to be discipled for everyday in the week and disciple them. This worked wonderfully well as, by God's grace, all our teams were able to connect with several household in the area and work through the gospel with

them. By the end of the week every household was 1) Born-again 2) Baptized in the Holy Spirit (most spoke in tongues too) 3) Given their own bible (thanks to many of your generous donations) and 4) Connected to a local church where they will be taken care of and discipled further. On top of that, God showed His love to many of the people tangibly, by meeting their immediate needs of provision, healing and deliverance.

Joel's story: The one individual story I would like to tell is that of Joel. When we arrived in Harare Pastor Lameck told us that one of the church's ministry partners, Joel, had just been diagnosed with cancer and had undergone an operation to remove what they could. After visiting Joel initially, we decided it would be best to take a small team to his house everyday to pray for him, encourage him and take him through the word and show him that God wants him well. On our first few visits Joel was in a lot of pain, he would lie in bed, not moving and not speaking to us at all. After a day or two his countenance started to change as he started seeing himself as a healed man. By the Wednesday the doctors tests came back and reported that he was absolutely cancer free. Praise the Lord. By the time we had our last visit with Joel he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and was able to get out of bed and stand on his feet, with some help!

Joel's story is an incredible testimony of God's willingness to heal. There is no formula for healing, but there is always a positive outcome, a testimony, where Jesus gets the glory and others are able to overcome.

A church was planted due to the teams efforts and God's grace, in the community of Borrowdale. The effects of mission Zim 2012 are going to be felt for decades to come as Jesus establishes, strengthens and encourages His church in Zimbabwe.

See the photos and captions of some of the more outstanding moments of our time in Zim in the next post.