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: 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.

Lately

     Over the past few weeks I've kept myself busy on various projects. However, I find that serving, is the best way to keep my mind focused on the bigger picture, and keep it off 'lil old me'. Conveniently, I  didn't have to look very far in order to find places in which to serve. As I transition into my next season, I am grateful that God allowed me to play a part, albeit a very small part, in the lives of these lovely people.

     School Leavers Opportunity Training (SLOT), is an NGO focused on giving young, disadvantaged people, the necessary skills in order to contribute to society as a whole. SLOT offers a holistic program addressing the pressing issues associated with the youth of South Africa, today. I was privileged to be a part of their spiritual side of things, where I gave a class on the Holy Spirit. I took the liberty of demonstrating the active power of the Holy Spirit and many were healed; from headaches to body aches! It was a great blessing and I know that for some of these young people, it was a life-changing experience. Yes people, God heals outside of church and even where there is no keyboard in the background!

The 60 young people I had the honour of ministering to at SLOT

   NCF church is expanding rapidly in the region and I happen to be related to the person in charge of all thirteen of the music bands, that make up this colossal effort. They have seven different sites (and counting) in one city, but due to the explosion of sites, there was a shortage of musicians. I put my hand up to help them out and had such a lot of fun. Seeing people encounter the living God during worship, is enough to inspire anyone to make the most of their life. It also made me realise more, that church is not about a building or a mission statement, it's not even about a band or a tattoo-bearing charismatic speaker (with a past), it's about Jesus; His love for us and our response to that love.

NCF Church - doing good stuff

Cripple Boy WALKS!

     Incredible video of a little boy walking for the first time in his life! I was fortunate enough to be there, to be able to witness him being prayed for and being healed! This is a video of a video, as I did not have my camera on me when it happened, of him being paraded in front of everyone! Praise the Lord, He is good!!

Mission Argentina continued

The city of Lujan provided it's own unique challenges, but it also came with it's own unique opportunities! One of our main ministry focuses was with children, during the afternoons. The church we were working with had a school attached to it and so many of the children from the school would join us for afternoon activities. We averaged around 40 children every afternoon and I think they blessed us more than we could ever have blessed them. We would play games with them, do crafts, read them stories and pray with and for them! 



Some of the children in our afternoon program (Wegele)



Their hearts were open to the gospel and many of them dedicated their hearts to Christ and received His love with openness. Children are usually a good representation of what the situation is like at home, and we had a mixed bag. But one thing is for sure, that God's love and compassion for children stretches beyond any domestic situation, their faith is so pure and trust so sure that there is always hope for even the worst case!

Another adventure that our time in Lujan provided for was street evangelism. We broke up into groups of three or for, with an interpreter, and went about handing out fliers for the evening services and ministering and praying for people. An amazing statistic was that over ninety - percent  of the people we offered to pray for wanted prayer and allowed us to minister and prophesy over them - the soil was ready! 



One particular lady our group came across on the street, had just come from the doctor. She had just been diagnosed with clinical depression, complicated further by heart problems. When we started praying for her she had a severe headache as well (probably from the terrible diagnosis). As we started praying for her physical ailments her headache let up and she began to relax, sensing that her heart was beating properly again. However, it was when she accepted Jesus into her life, that a smile returned to her face. She seemed overjoyed that she was no longer carrying her burden alone and that someone actually loved her and cared for her.



The lady who got saved and offered us money! (Wegele)



 I am sometimes sceptical about the sincerity and honesty of healings and salvations, especially when working through translators, due largely to my previous experiences in China. So it wasn't until, out of great excitement, this lady started offering us money for the gift of life she had just received, that I was certain, even her depression had fled at the name of Jesus! Needless to say we didn't take  her money, but she made her point, she was changed!  

It takes more faith for someone to believe that their sins are forgiven and get born-again, than it does to receive a simple healing. I thus emphasise the salvations on this trip, not to puff up our accomplishments, but so that we can rejoice together that people are coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus everyday and we will see them again in eternity!

I hope these posts excite you as they do me, I hope you are encouraged to step out in faith in your environment and put God's word to the test, it hasn't failed yet! Remember He never sends the equipped, but He equips the sent ...

Look out for more pictures, videos and posts from Argentina and other great things happening all over!



The Basilica de Lujan (Wikipedia)