Pre-school / Escolinha

A few weeks back we had the pre-school graduation. This is the first year we have done pre-school at the center. When we look back, it is amazing how far these kids have come from. We have about 60 kids that are part of the program. After they are finished with the courses with us, they will go into the public school and will be ready for first grade. There is no pre-school system here in Mozambique. The only way a child attends a pre-school is if they pay for it which is a very difficult thing to do in such an impoverished area. So opening the doors and giving these kids these foundational learning skills, they will be much more successful in their primary school years. We have awesome teachers that are not only teaching them but also showing God's love to these precious kids. The parents of these kids were so excited to see their kids and see all the work they did throughout the year.

Church Dinner

Last week in our Wednesday night service, we set up tables and had dinner together. We don´t have too many tables so we used the pre school tables. It was great just to be able to sit around the tables and eat together. No long sermon, just a quick reminder that God loves it when we are in unity. Sometimes we are so caught up in our own problems and issues that we forget to look around us and see our fellow brother in Christ, that just needs a friend to be with. I used the verse one of Psalm 133. I can imagine God expressing this with a sence of admiration, relief, excitement, and love when He says this. If I were to put it in today´s language, I think God would be saying it like this: "Man, it is so awesome to see my people living in unity."

A helping hand/Uma ajudinha

Some sections of the dirt road are very difficult to get through sometimes. Big trucks, little trucks, big cars, small cars, can all be victims of the deep sand. Thank for 4wd. On my way to church or on way out and in between, we try to be a good Samaritan.

As vezes é muito difícil passar por algumas partes das ruas a caminho da igreja. Caminhões grandes e pequenos, carros grandes e pequenos, todos podem ser vítimas do areial. Graças a Deus por tração nas quatro. Muitas vezes indo e voltando da igreja nós tentamos ser como o bom Samaritano.

Lunch with leaders

Had lunch with our leaders today. It was great just to be with them. Some have been with us since the very beginning; some have joined us recently. We are doing life together. Great people all with very different personalities and strengths. I thank God for them. I pray that God will bless them as they have embarked this journey with us. Training up leaders, pouring into their lives and letting God flow through them. It's been awesome to see them growing in Christ and seeing God use them. Please be praying for them that they will draw closer to God and remain in Him.

Xai Xai (pronounced shy shy)

We have started a new carepoint in Mozambique. God has opened the doors for us to reach out to more people here. Xai Xai is about 3 hours north of us. It's also a great place to live because it's about 5 minutes from the beach. Some nice beaches too. The community we are in has great need. There are so many orphaned children there. Also a recent study done by Unicef showed that 41% of Mozambican children suffer from chronic malnutrition. It is a sad statistic but also a great opportunity for us to reach out to a hurting world. We are now feeding about 200 children in that area. That puts us at feeding about 450 children in Mozambique. Children's Cup is doing an awesome job in Swaziland and we are now here. It is just the beginning. Please pray for us. The harvest is great...

I guess she's not part of the 41%

the cooks

Women´s Life group

We´ve been having a women´s life group for about three months now. It has been a blessing. They call the group Virtuous Women. Carol is doing an awesome job with it and more and more women are seeing the importance of coming together and learning more their value as women. Right now they are studying the women of the Bible. This past Thursday afternoon, twenty women showed up. They do so much all day long yet they still make time to come to the life group. They have put a choir together and today they sang for the first time during the offering. It´s so great to see women empowered to fulfill God´s dreams for them. I think of the Live the Dream Conference. It is impacting so many women back in the U.S. But the impact is so great that the women here have been blessed by it. I wish I had recorded a video of the group, but i picture will have to do.

Watoto Conference

I had an awesome time at the Watoto Conference. It was great to be there with friends and pastors. I learned so much while there. God spoke to me through their ministry and I left refreshed, encouraged, and ready to take on the world. They have such an awesome ministry. One simply truth that I was reminded of there is that there is nothing too big that God can´t handle. If He wants to do it, He will do it. I just want to be in on what He´s doing. I believe God has great things for Mozambique. One day Mozambique will no longer be known as a country in poverty and death, but a country of blessings and prosperity because of God´s church. A people passionate about God, reaching out to the hurting, and serving one another in love. I pray that I will ready myself for God´s full measure for my life.

I´m also really excited about 40:SAP. The more we fight against the enemy the more he will fight back. This is a time when we need seek God and He will give us the battleplans to be victorious. I´ve shared this with the church and they are excited about this opportunity to pray and fast. I had a young man call me today to ask if it was ok to drink tea or was it considered a food and he could not drink tea. Kind of funny but it shows his passion to do the right thing. He may not know much about fasting but he feels he needs to do it.

Water Baptism

We had an awesome service this past Sunday. For the very first time in the short history of Healing Place Church Mozambique we baptized 13 young people. It was awesome to have the church gathered around the tank as we baptized these great young people that have decided to show all that they will follow Christ with their whole lives. Some of them did not have family members present, but it was encouraging to them to know they were part of God's family in that place. I would ask if there was any family present and all those watching would start clapping and cheering. I'm excited to see what God will continue to do in the lives of those that were baptized. They were the first of many that now want to do the same. They all want to be fully committed followers of Jesus.

Emptying the tank after service. Kids love water.

Encouragement

The work here is a huge blessing, but sometimes little things stand out to me and I am encouraged by them. Saturday was youth service. We had a great time together. We did four weeks of games, bible trivia, verse search, etc. Yesterday was the last day and the day to give out the prizes. One of the things that encouraged me was a young lady that memorized 30 verses. She quoted all the verses in front of everyone. She also memorized all the books of the Bible. Simple task but a huge accomplishment. There were others that memorized verses and the books of the Bible, which just put the cherry on top for me.

The other awesome moment for me was this morning in service. A man in the church brought his offering in a peculiar way. He grows vegetables so an offering he brought a bag full of vegetables and placed it on stage. He was giving the first fruits of his labor.

We all have something to give. We just need to make it available for God.

Church

I was in the picture taking mood the other day and wanted to share some moments with you. Sometimes i need to take a step back and see the great things that God is doing. Here are some random pictures of different things in the church.

Two year anniversary

Two years ago our lives changed. We became one and began this great journey together. It has been an adventure that I could have never imagined; full of new experiences, joy, and happiness. Sure there are it's ups and downs, but life together with my wonderful wife has been a huge gift from God to me. I always hear people say that their wives are their better halves. Well, now I know what they mean. My wife is definitely my better half and don't know how she puts up with me.

We also received some wonderful news the other day. We found out that she is pregnant. Talk about an anniversary gift.

It has been an amazing two years. God has blessed us beyond measure and I'm excited to see what else He has for us.

Jesus is our greatest gift

I'm a few days late in posting this but I need to show this awesome day we had at church. June 1st was Children's Day. I don't know the story behind it but it's a day they celebrate here in Mozambique and I know they do it in Brazil but on October 12th. We had over 300 kids at service that morning. The kids know we always do something special for them whenever we can so they once again figured us out and invited everybody they knew. Carol taught them about the greatest gift they could ever receive, Jesus. The thing that encourages me so much is that all the hard work that goes into working with kids is worth it, because God is planting in them an eternal seed that will one day grow and produce fruit that will fill this nation with the Gospel of Jesus.