Isaac and Carol

Kids Servolution Day

2010-11-09T06:06:00.006-04:00

It doesn't matter how old you are or how small, you can help some one. Carol took a group of kids all around the community helping widows in need. It was a great day. Water is a major issue in these parts and we want to do all we can to help those who do not have access to clean water. So the kinds gathered anything they could use to carry water to different houses. It was amazing to see so many kids helping and reaching those in need. It's not how big or important you are that determines your success, it's how big your heart is toward those less fortunate that produces fruit that will last. I've learned so much from these kids. Their prayers are powerful and effective. Carol does an amazing job with these kids and one day they will grow up and continue to change the nation in a greater way.

HP Women Serve

2010-10-24T14:07:00.004-04:00

Carol did an awesome job leading the women's group on a servolution day. We will never neglect the widows in our community. We will do all we can to help them and show God's love in every way possible. Most of the time the grandmothers are abandoned and alone. So we went to their houses to wash and clean their homes. The smile on their faces when the team arrives to help is unforgettable.

Serving Mozambique style

2010-06-20T01:13:00.003-04:00

Been a while since we last posted but I could not let this one go by without sharing it. We took a day last month and helped out two families by building them typical Mozambique houses. We divided into two groups and worked hard all day. One lady we built for was a grandmother who's house was about to fall over. The wind and rain went straight through the walls. Now she has a small house with a floor. The other lady we built a house for was a widow. She is nearly blind and can hardly walk. She was living on the ground and her roof was a tarp. We were able to build a place of her own with a cement floor. I thank God for all the volunteers who made this all possible. It's such a blessing to us to see so many people who have so little doing so much to so many. God is changing hearts and lives through serving one another. Serving some one means a whole lot more when you're going through it yourself.

Baby Esther Joy

2010-05-03T12:49:00.003-04:00

On April 19th at 4:43pm Esther was born. She has been a great blessing to us already. Carol is doing well and recovering from surgery. At first our first, Elena, did not like the idea of sharing us with some one else; but now she has warmed up to it and even kisses Esther and tries to get her to stop crying. She's big sister now. It's also been a huge blessing to have my parents here during this time to help with the baby and with everything else that needs to be done. It's also been special to us to be able to spend time with them, something we haven't done in a while.

Thank You Lord

2010-03-18T13:18:00.003-04:00

We have finally moved to the new house. It's not completely finished but it's livable. We can do things as we go. I get up in the morning and open the door as cool morning air rushes into the house. I hear the birds singing along as they go about their day. God has blessed with this place. Before, I thought I lived in my car from the long commutes to and from church. Now we are ten minutes away and only because of the bad roads. I can go on and on about the blessings of being here. In summary, thank you Lord. All I can do to show my gratitude is serve Him more and more each day.

House Update

2009-11-29T12:32:00.002-04:00

Just a few pictures of the house construction. We have just finished digging the well. Where we are there is no public water so have to have our own water source. Also insures quality and constant supply. So excited about to be where we are now. just about ready to move in. Thank you Lord!

Criancas

2009-11-18T01:28:00.004-04:00

Carol has done an awesome job with the kids. Every Sunday she works with around 300 kids all at once. It's amazing how much these kids have learned during children's church. Carol also does an awesome job building a team to help her with all these kids. She has embraced the young leaders and has poured herself into them teaching and discipling them to live Godly lives and be young leaders. This past Saturday, these young leaders spent the day together. They were so excited to go to the city and the beach that they were waiting for the van very early. I doubt they slept much. They went to the natural history museum in maputo. They had never been to a museum; then after that, they headed to the beach where they could just be kids. After it all Carol asked them what they thought about their day in the city and they all said they loved the KFC chicken. Of everything they did the whole day, they loved the fried chicken. Easy to please, makes my job easier and so much fun.

Widows

2009-11-11T05:42:00.001-04:00

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Parable of the rats

2009-10-25T00:04:00.002-04:00

Every two weeks I meet with some people in the church for some teaching. Each time we talk about different topics and lately we've been talking about evangelism so I gave them and assignment. They were to write their testimony and hand it in to me.

This person went on to explain how her life was before Christ. Then she began to explain of the time when she gave her life to Christ. It was when I spoke on 'Hope' and used the story in the Bible of the rats that were put in a bucket of water with a lid on top. The rats died quickly because it was dark and they had no hope. Then another set of rats were put in a bucket but this time there was a small hole where light came in and the rats took much longer to drown because they had hope of surviving. She went on to say that she gave her life to Christ because she was hopeless and saw that she could only have hope in Jesus.

What can we learn from this:

1. God works in mysterious ways.
2. As a pastor, make sure you express very clearly what is scripture and what is not.
3. Don't start adding pages to the Bible.

Wheels

2009-10-08T01:45:00.003-04:00

We have been blessed with a van. This has been a great asset to the work going on here. It's four wheel drive so we don't end up stuck in the middle of nowhere. The area where the church has a lot of sand and can get stuck very easily. But I'm loving the fact that we can pick up some widows and widowers that cannot walk to church. As summer comes around it becomes harder to walk to church because of the heat and people would rather stay home. We want to do everything we can for people to come and see God's love for them. It's also exciting to see the young people tell me that we need to go pick up so and so that can't walk to church. They are being evangelists. They are seeing the needs in the community and trying to do something about it. They are being the church. Taking care of those rejected and neglected by others. Lord give us the strength and endurance to be your hands and feet to the lost.

I love this picture. Putting a smile on the face that has gone through so much. most of these elderly would not be in church because they are too weak to walk.

Pastoring

2009-09-29T16:07:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday was awesome for me. It was a great service. The "I have a friend" series has been very impacting on the people here. People go through many things in life that are the same no matter where you live in the world. After service a man came to talk to me. He took me aside and began to express what was in his heart and what he was going through. This man is 61 years old and he said to me, "Pastor Isaac, what should I do?" This is very rare in this culture. An older man, asking the advice of a younger person. Even the fact that he's coming to me telling me about his personal life... it was an awesome moment for me. It was humbling. I hear myself preach every week and the only reason I don't leave the room is because I'm attached to myself (if that makes any sense). I was humbled and encouraged at what God is doing in these people's lives. The man went on to tell me how he was praying for me, that God would give me strength to keep helping people. Again, it's not very often we get thanked in such a sincere way. I don't know if the rest of the church went home with anything I said that morning, but I was encouraged that at least one left changed. I have to admit, it is not easy to be here. The battle is hard, but it's moments like these that God sends our way to strengthen and encourage us.

Xai Xai Construction

2009-09-11T12:49:00.002-04:00

We as Children's Cup have been working with about 200 kids in Xai Xai for a little over a year now. The work there is going great. We are working on the second phase of the carepoint which is to build the facilities. We are excited about this because we have been trying to build for quite some time but found that Xai Xai is a little different than where we are now. Doubly exciting is that this facility will also be a church. Reaching the people through physical help and healing them spiritually through the church. As Children's Cup we reach out to kids, but the parents need to see and feel God's love also. Having a church and carepoint at the same location is the perfect partnership; a lot of work, but a great way to reach kids and adults spiritually and physically.

The 3 Challenge

2009-08-27T01:17:00.002-04:00

Pastor Ben Rodgers from HPC Swaziland brought a group of young people across the border to spend some time with us. We enjoyed having them over here and they taught us so much and I believe they impacted the young people here to keep going and not give up. Despite the language barrier, they connected by showing love and serving in every way possible.

Pastor Ben brought an awesome message Sunday morning and challenged all of us to serve, put others first, and not to say one thing and do another. He challenged us to reach out to 3 people this week. Do something for some one outside your family. Serve in whatever way possible. Here are some stories I'm being told.

Miro (15): I went to an old lady's house and ask her if I could clean her yard. Then I told her that I was from the church and she explained to me that her leg was hurting. So I prayed for her and invited her to church. She offered me money for the work I did but I refused because I just wanted to help.

Rosalina (55): Helped elderly ladies clean their yards and took care of other things around the house. Funny story because she sent word to Carol that she would not be able to go to the women's group because she was helping people. :)

Leonardo (14): Helped an old man clean his yard. Invited him to church but the old man cannot walk too far so I told him we could pick him up with the new van the church has. He was excited about that.

So many stories coming in of people simply serving. People serving people with what they have. Poverty does not exclude people from following Christ's example.

House

2009-08-11T15:27:00.003-04:00

We've been waiting for this a long time and I'm so excited about building our new home. We still have a ways to go to be living in it but it's still exciting to see how much we've done. The building materials we use here are a little different than what's usually used in the U.S. for housing. This week, we should be finished with the walls. The roofing is next. After putting in electrical conduits and water pipes we plaster the walls and get them ready for paint. We look forward to living closer to the church and in a place with a yard and some piece and quiet. I'll be loving the fact that I will not have to drive so much every week.

VBS Super Saturday

2009-08-07T02:46:00.004-04:00

Great team of 12 people came from Healing Place to do a Super Saturday here. It's always fun to have teams visit and get to know people. I'm always encouraged by the stories they tell of their experiences here and how God is speaking to their hearts in so many ways. We had over 600 kids come to the Super Saturday. There were kids coming from all over the place. They had a blast with the worship, craft, fun jumps, and a great Bible story. I'm always amazed at how God gives us such great opportunities to reach so many. I'll never forget what a very wise lady once told me, "Throw out the biggest net you can, and let God do the rest." Never turn away kids; always do more to reach more. God only give us opportunities to allow Him to work through us. The team did an awesome job. Thank you all that gave and prayed.

HIV Series

2009-07-19T12:38:00.003-04:00

Today was the last weekend on the HIV Series we've been going through at Healing Place Church Mozambique Swaziland. Swaziland will go on through the middle of August. We really felt it was an issue that could not go without mention. The whole world speaks about it and advertises it yet the church stays silent while people die daily. Just about every week we hear of death of a loved one in the church primarily from HIV/AIDS even though the people may not know that as the true cause. We showed them the truth. We expressed the danger. We warned of the actions people take against those that are positive. We showed what HPC's stand is and how we need to reach out and love those living with such a horrible illness. But most of all, God's love endures forever. God wants to give them hope, God wants to reach out to them, God wants them as their own. Jesus forgave all sins. Jesus wants all to come to Him.

HUB Team

2009-06-29T11:07:00.002-04:00

The Hub team was the first team to come to mozambique this year. We had such an awesome time together. The people in the group were great. They just poured out everything they had into whatever needed to be done to get the job done. I was really looking forward to having them here because they did a major face lift on the facilities. the church looks great and they did an awesome job mixing concrete and building the sidewalks around the church. They also did leadership training that has also changed the dynamics of our services. A huge thank you to them. Great team, great people, great service for the Kingdom.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-18T15:22:00.002-04:00

Easter Sunday was awesome. It was so great to see so many families at service and be together to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. He Lives!!! We have hope, we have life, we have life in abundance because He Lives. After service we took pictures of all the families. It's very rare to see families together here. Even in church families usually don't sit together so it's really hard to know who's actually related. So it was good to see the families taking pictures together. After all was over I just felt like God was glorified and His Kingdom expanded.

Servolution Day 7

2009-04-09T17:31:00.005-04:00

We had never done this before and did not know what to expect. We filled a 500 gallon tank of water and just drove around the community just filling their water tanks with good clean water. Some people did not want it and others were just confused about what we were doing. It's not every day you see a bunch of people driving around giving away water. We had a lot of fun and I think the volunteers were able to see what it means to just give.

Servolution Day 6

2009-04-09T17:30:00.001-04:00

I don't have any pictures of Day 6 but I can sure talk about it. We gave away small gift bags. It had in it a pound of sure, tea, kool-aid powder, and a bar of soap. I used it as an illustration for the Wednesday night service. All these things are good but none are good without water. (sugar is good without water but on it's own it not good for much) I went on to say that we are nothing with the Living Water. We had a full house at Wednesday service and used the opportunity to speak the truth and share the Gospel to all. Each person went home with a small bag of the illustration items.

Servolution Day 5

2009-04-09T17:24:00.004-04:00

This was one of my favorite days. I'm not a woman but I thought it was really cool. We have been having women's Bible study for about 8 months now. We have been averaging about 25 women on Tuesdays. So for servolution we kicked it up a notch and did a chick night flow. We were expecting more women but not 150. They played musical chairs, painted fingernails, and heard a great Word. The food wasn't enough but we were able to divide it up so everyone could have something. Huge blessing to see so many women and had the chance to reach out to them.

Servolution Day 4

2009-04-09T17:21:00.003-04:00

Monday night we rented two busses and bussed about 100 people to an event in the city. The church is located outside the city so going into the city is a treat. The Iris Ministries orphanage close to the church puts on a youth event every monday night. So we decided to once again join up with them and bless those that could come with great worship and a great message. They really enjoyed their time at Sound of Heaven youth event.

Servolution Day 3

2009-04-09T17:14:00.005-04:00

got a little excited with the charcoal...

Charcoal is a precious fuel in this community. It's much better than normal firewood so it's only used by those that can afford it. So we thought it would be a good idea to give some away. The place where we bought the charcoal from was really excited because it's not everyday that some one buys 1500 lbs of it. So before service as the people were arriving at church we started separating it into small bags. I was so encouraged by all that helped. They were in their Sunday clothes messing with charcoal. Then we divided into four groups and went in four directions just giving away charcoal. One cool story was a house that a group went to. A young girl was splitting wood with an ax to be able to make a fire to cook lunch. We arrived just in time and the girl got excited that she didn't have to split anymore wood. The father came out and hugged the man that brought the charcoal and asked them what church it was that was doing this. We had a full house and everyone helped distribute the charcoal. Over 150 volunteers. At Wednesday night service there were about 20 people that came to church because of the charcoal drive.

Servolution Day 2

2009-04-09T17:06:00.006-04:00

We joined up with a great church on saturday to do a youth outreach. All the youth and visitors from HPC Mozambique went over to the Iris Ministries orphanage church and just had a great time together. We got competitive and played against them in soccer. We got beat pretty badly. But I loved the fact that we were able to get together as a body of believers and show everyone that we can have fun as Christians in a world where sin seems to be the only "fun" they know. We had an awesome service. Great time of worship. After everything, we ate together. Eating is becoming our trend. Building relationships, building lives, building God's kingdom.

Servolution Day 1

2009-04-09T16:59:00.005-04:00

Friday night dinner and a movie. I was amazed at the response of the people with this event. the place was full 30 minutes before start time. that is huge in a culture that everything is at least 30 minutes late. We showed a great movie that shared the gospel in a simple but powerful way. Then we ate together. I love being able to serve people with food. We will do all we can to reach their souls but not forget their physical needs. I was so amazed at all the volunteers. They just saw the need and served it up. Thank you Lord.

Baby Elena

2009-03-04T05:34:00.004-04:00

Peaceful sleep

After her first bath

they finally meet

Right after giving birth.

Yesterday baby Elena was born. She is healthy and Carol is doing well also. The whole thing went very well. The doctors and nurses did an awesome job. Here are some pictures of the baby and mom. I will post more when I have better internet.

Baby Dedication

2009-02-24T15:11:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I had the privilege of dedicating a baby of a wonderful family in the church. They have been such a blessing and it's so great to see a father and mother deciding to teach their child in the way she should go. It's about the next generation and it's awesome to see this generation come to that realization and deciding to do something about it. To raise up a child in God's ways and love them with all their hearts as Jesus would.

Initiative

2009-01-29T17:12:00.003-04:00

Today I had a meeting with some of the ladies in the church. They wanted to give me a report of what they had done while we were away. So they gave their report of how the guard's brother past away and they helped with the funeral and did what they could even to the point of giving some money and food to help the family. Then another man in the church passed away. The way they do things here, since he attended church with us we were responsible for the funeral. We weren't here so we couldn't help much. Again these ladies took initiative and did what they could to help that family. Even some of the other leaders stepped up and represented the church. And then another lady past away who was also part of the church. These ladies once again showed God's love to the family by washing the body, carrying the casket and praying in the funeral.

I was so encouraged to hear such a report. To hear of all they did just because they saw a family in need; they stepped up and did all they could. No strings attached. We hear of death just about every week and to be a part of a church that will reach out to hurting families and show them God's love... that's God. The ladies went on to share with me about how peoplein the community were so impressed at how much a church cared for and loved on those that lost loved ones. They showed the community what God is all about and what HPC is all about. Reaching out to the lost and hurting.

Kids playing with water

2009-01-27T16:22:00.001-04:00

it was nice and hot today. like the old saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention." I didn't invent anything but we sure made a few kids happy when we put a sprinkler head up in a tree...

joberg airport

2009-01-19T15:20:00.001-04:00

sitting at the Johannesburg airport waiting to jump on the plane to get home. this was after traveling for 18 hours and now waiting for another six to jump on another plane. life don't get better than that.

in plane in dakar

2009-01-19T05:37:00.001-04:00

We had such an awesome time in Baton Rouge during the holidays. I was great to see old friends, and spend time with the family. It was also a time of refreshing for us both. God blessed us so much during our time there. Now we are back in Mozambique, getting used to the time change and the heat. We traveled for about 30 hours. Very tiring but we arrived safely. here are some videos of our travels.

Pre-school / Escolinha

2008-11-12T02:45:00.011-04:00

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

2008-10-30T02:06:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-20T02:18:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-18T14:03:00.003-04:00

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)

2008-10-17T15:40:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-12T10:20:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-06T14:30:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-12T13:59:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-10T12:21:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-07T15:03:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-15T12:15:00.005-04:00

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

2008-06-01T12:36:00.007-04:00

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.

Children's Cup School / Escolinha

2008-06-01T12:05:00.005-04:00

One of the parts of a Children's Cup program is to offer pre-school to the young children. We have had a rough time trying to get it started, but we have finally done it. We have been going for about a month now. It is so exciting to see the little kids coloring, and learning the letters. Most kids don't have the opportunity to attend a pre-school so they go into first grade without knowing anything. We are grateful for the opportunity to offer at least a few kids the a good pre-school education. Who knows, maybe in the future God will let us build and start a K - 12 school. We currently have 60 kids in school.

One Year of Blessings/Um ano de bênçãos

2008-05-24T05:00:00.016-04:00

This past week we celebrated the one year anniversary of the church. It's been a year full of blessings. God has done great things in the one year we have been worshiping together. Part of the HPSM students came to celebrate this time with us. They did an awesome job in everything. Our Sunday service was packed with over 5oo people. The team did a great job serving and loving the people. Then throughout the week, we had leadership training, water station, and mural painting. We also gave away shirts and flip-flops. I want to thank HPC for training such great leaders and a huge thank you to the team the poured their hearts out into the work here. You guys are awesome.
Na semana passada, nós celebramos o aniversário de um ano da igreja. Foi um ano repleto de bênçãos. Deus fez grandes coisas neste um ano em que temos adorado juntos. Parte dos estudantes do HPSM vieram participar da celebração conosco. Eles fizeram um ótimo trabalho em tudo. Nosso culto de domingo estava lotado, mais de 500 pessoas. A equipe foi tremenda em servindo e amando as pessoas. E durante a semana, tivemos treinamento de líderes, construção de bebedouros, e pintura da salinha das crianças. Também demos camisas e chinelos. Quero agradecer HPC (Igreja Healing Place) por treinar grandes líderes e também a equipe por derramarem dos seus corações no trabalho aqui. Vocês são D +

The men that made the water station.

Painting their shirts.

Kids in line for food after service.

An awesome team.

The smile and excitement on their faces as they received their new pair of flip-flops.

Rodrigo

2008-04-30T18:04:00.004-04:00

Rodrigo is Carol's brother. He came back with us after our short visit to Brazil. It has been great having him with us not only to have family nearby but he has been a huge help to us at the church. He is teaching guitar to some of the leaders in the church. It will give a major boost to our worship. Rodrigo will be staying with us till the end of this month. When these guys learn everything they can, they will teach the others how to play the guitar. Developing leaders....
Rodrigo é irmão da Carol. Ele voltou com a gente, depois da nossa rápida visita ao Brasil. Tem sido muito bom te-lo aqui conosco, não somente porque é bom ter família por perto, mas porque ele também tem sido uma grande ajuda pra nós na igreja. Ele está dando aula de violão para alguns dos líderes da igreja. Vai ajudar muito no ministério de louvor. O Rodrigo vai ficar conosco até o final deste mês. Quando esses caras aprenderem tudo que eles puderem, então eles irão ensinar outros como tocar violão também. Desenvolvendo líderes...

Helping a Widow / Ajudando a uma viúva

2008-04-23T05:54:00.003-04:00

I wish I had a before and after picture, but I will try to describe to you the living condition this family was in. This lady is one of the cooks at the care point and a major help in the church. The window they are standing in front of is a room they were not using because it had no roof. So her whole family was living in the other room. The roof of the other room (where the door is) was flat. it had no incline to it. So when it rained the water would go straight into the house. To make things worse, she had so many blocks on the roof that it was alsmost caving in. They use the blocks to hold the roof down because they can't afford nails. They also had no floor. Healing Place Church Mozambique was able to build up the walls to make, put a roof on her whole house and put in a concrete floor.

Queria monstrar uma foto do antes e depois, mas não tenho, então vou tentar descrever para vocês as condições em que esta família estava. Esta senhora é uma das cozinheiras do nosso centro e uma grande ajuda para nós na igreja. A janela que está atrás deles era de um quarto que eles não estavam usando porque não tinha telhado. Por causa disso, a família inteira estava morando no outro quartinho. O telhado desse outro quartinho( onde vemos a porta) era reto, sem nenhuma inclinação. Então quando chovia a água ia direto pra dentro da casa. Para piorar a situação ela tinha tantos tijolos em cima do telhado que já estava pretes a cair de vez. Eles usam tijolos para segurar o telhado quando não conseguem comprar pregos. E também a casa não tinha chão. A Igreja Healing Place em Moçambique pode construir as paredes, colocar teto na casa toda e colocar um chão de cimento.

Easter Weekend/ Final de Semana de Páscoa

2008-03-25T15:59:00.005-04:00

We had an awesome Easter Weekend. God did great things in the church this past weekend. We once again showed the Jesus Film on Good Friday. The church quickly filled to standing room only. There were over 500 people in there. They were able to see the life of Jesus and understand the true meaning of Easter.

Despite the rain, Easter Sunday was a move of God. Pastor Luke Walters was with us and shared a great message. He was a great encouragement to us. I believe the church here is moving to a new level with God. They are beginning to understand and are beginning to see the hope that is in Christ. I thank God every day for the leaders that He has brought to us. And it's been amazing to build relationships and walk the journey of the cross with them.

Please continue to pray for us and the ministry here.

Nós tivemos um super final de semana de Páscoa. Deus fez grandes coisas. Mostramos novamente o filme de Jesus na sexta-feira santa. Eles puderam ver a vida de Jesus e entender o verdadeiro significado da Páscoa.

Apesar da chuva, houve um mover de Deus no Domingo de Páscoa. O pastor Luke Walters esteve conosco e compartilhou um poderosa mensagem. Ele foi um grande encorajamento para nós. Creio que a igreja está indo a um novo nível em Deus. Eles estão começando a entender e a ver a esperança que está em Cristo. A cada dia agradeço a Deus pela liderança que Ele tem nos dado. Tem sido maravilhoso construir relacionamentos e caminhar a jornada da cruz com eles.

Por favor continue a orar por nós e pelo ministério aqui.

Visiting Family/ Visitando a família

2008-03-23T12:58:00.009-04:00

God blessed us with a short trip to Brazil. It had been quite some time since we had seen our parents. It was refreshing and encouraging to spend some time with them. We also enjoyed a much needed rest. Thank God that our families are doing well. We were able to tell of the blessed work God is doing here and show them the pictures of Africa.

We were in a plane for a total of 15 1/2 hours. It's about the same flight time as going to the U.S. But it's one of those things we don't do everyday so it's tiring. Well worth it. None of our bags were lost. It was a smooth trip.

While we were away, our leadership team did an awesome job making sure everything went on. Great pastor friends of ours preached on Sunday services. Patrick Conti came from Swaziland with his interns and spent a week here working. It's awesome to know that after a year we are able to leave for a few weeks and people will step up to the plate and keep things going. I thank God for sending them to us.

Deus nos abençoou com uma rápida visita ao Brasil. Já fazia um bom tempo desde a último vez que estivemos com nossos pais. Foi renovador e encorajante passar tempo com eles. Também aproveitamos o tempo para um descanso merecido. Graças a Deus, estava tudo bem com nossas famílias. Nós pudemos contar sobre o trabalho abençoado que Deus tem feito aqui e também mostrar nossas fotos da África.

Estivemos no avião durane 15 horas e meia no total. É quase igual a viagem para os EUA. Não é algo que fazemos sempre, então é bem cansativo. Mas vale a pena. Nenhuma das nossas babagens sumiu. Foi uma boa viagem.

Enquanto estivemos fora, nossa equipe de liderança fez um ótimo trabalho. Nossos amigos pastores pregaram nos cultos de Domingo. Patrick veio da Suazilandia com os alunos de missões dele pra ficar uma semana trabalhando aqui. É muito bom ver que já depois de um ano que estamos aqui, foi possível sair por algumas semanas, e mesmo estando fora o trabalho continuou a andar.

Back to School / De volta as aulas

2008-02-22T14:09:00.005-04:00

Earlier this month school started up. Thanks to Mission of Mercy we were able to give each child a back-pack and some school supplies. They were so excited to have a new back- pack because most of them use plastic bags to carry their books and notebooks to school.

As aulas começaram no início deste mês. Graças a "Mission of Mercy" nós demos a cada criança uma mochila com material escolar. Elas ficaram muito contentes com a mochilas novas, já que maioria delas levava os livros e cadernos em sacos plásticos.

On this day a year ago/ Neste dia um ano atrás

2008-01-29T15:08:00.000-04:00

January 27th marks the day we first arrived in Africa. I still remember it like it was yesterday, because it feels like it was only a short time ago. I remember getting off the small plane in Swaziland; not knowing what to expect and not know what to do. Thankfully as we were going through customs Ben Rodgers showed up. What a relief to see a familiar face. We had such a warm welcome by all the missionaries that just happened to be at his house that evening. And so our great adventure in Africa began.

Vinte e sete de Janeiro marca o dia em que primeiro chegamos a África. Lembro- me como se fosse ontem, pois parece que foi a tão pouco tempo atrás. Lembro saindo do aviãozinho na Suazilandia; sem saber o que esperar e nem o que fazer. Graças a Deus quando estávamos passando pela alfândega Ben Rodgers apareceu. Foi um alívio ver um rosto familiar. Fomos muito bem-vindos por todos os missionários que por concidência estavam na casa dele aquela tarde. E assim começava nossa grande aventura na África.

Discipleship/ Discipulado

2008-01-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

I am so excited about the discipleship program we've started this month. We have a simple booklet we are following with the basics of Christianity. It is so important to know the basics; to build a strong Biblical base from which to build His church. So Carol has 9 young ladies she is teaching and I have 7 young men. Today, us guys, had our second meeting and I was so fired up to see them catching on and understanding salvation, God's love, grace and mercy. I'm excited to see what God will do with these young people. I believe God will use them mightily in this country. Please keep them in prayer that they may soak in the Word, and be transformed by it for the glory of God.

Estou super empolgado sobre o programa de discipulado que começamos neste mês. Temos um livro bem simples contendo a base do Cristianismo. É tão importante ter a base, saber o comecinho, para poder construir uma forte base Bíblica e assim construir Sua igreja. A Carol está ensinando 9 mulheres jovens e eu 7 homens. Hoje, nós os homens, tivemos nossa segunda reunião e eu fiquei muito animado em ve-los entendendo sobre salvação, amor de Deus, graça e misericórdia. Estou entusiasmado para ver o que Deus fará na vida desses jovens. Creio que Deus os usará grandemente neste país. Por favor ore por eles, para que possam aborver a palavra de Deus, sendo assim transformados por ela para a glória de Deus.

Looking at 2007 (part 3)

2008-01-17T14:15:00.001-04:00

Time has flown by. There are still many lives to be reached. Many are lost. Many have been impacted. Many have been given hope. God is faithful. God loves the people of Mozambique. God knows the needs and situation of every individual. He's taking care of them all.

Tempo passou voando. Ainda ha muitas almas para serem alcançadas. Muitos estão perdidos. Muitos tem sido impactados. Muitos receberam esperança. Deus é fiel. Deus ama as pessoas de Moçambique. Deus conhece as necessidades e a situação de cada um. Ele está cuidando de todos eles.

Looking at 2007 (Part 2)/Olhando p 2007

2008-01-13T15:35:00.000-04:00

Looking back at 2007 (part 1)/Olhando para 2007

2008-01-04T15:46:00.000-04:00

I was looking through some pictures of the time we've been here. 2007 was an amazing year for us. A time of great change, learning, hardships, and blessings. It's been a great journey for Carol and I. To see how much has been done in a year only God can do.
Estava olhando algumas fotos do tempo que estamos aqui. 2007 foi um ano tremendo para nós. Um tempo de grandes mudanças, aprendizagem dificuldades, e muitas bênçãos. Tem sido uma maravilhosa jornada para Carol e eu. Ver tudo o que foi feito em um ano, só pode ter sido Deus.

Happy New Year from Us/Feliz Ano Novo

2007-12-27T15:40:00.001-04:00

Hope you had an awesome Christmas. This was our first Christmas and new year in Africa. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. It is such an honor for us to be here. Thank you for taking time out of your day to visit this site and see what amazing things God is doing in this place. We pray that God will bless you even more in this new year.
Espero que tenham tinho um Natal maravilhoso. Este foi o nosso primeiro Natal e Ano Novo na África. Muito obrigado pelas suas orações e apoio. É uma grande honra para nós estarmos aqui. Obrigado por tirar um tempinho do seu dia para visitar nosso site e ver as grandes coisas que Deus está fazendo neste lugar. Nós oramos para que Deus venha abençoar vocês ainda mais neste Ano Novo.

Some of the leaders in the church. We took them out to lunch and then to the mall. They had a blast.
Alguns dos líderes da igreja. Levamos eles para almoçar fora e depois para o shopping. Eles amaram.

The cooks at the care point. We also took them out to lunch and the mall. It was a new experience for them. They are an awesome group of ladies.

As cozinheiras do centro. Também levamos elas para almoçar fora e para o shopping. Foi uma experiência nova para todas elas. São um grupo de senhoras muito especiais.

20 cents/20 centavos

2007-12-26T16:31:00.000-04:00

I want to share this note with you. It was written by an 11 year old boy. I've told the people that if they have a need or prayer request, they can write it down and put it in the offering. The coin that was wrapped in the note is worth about 20 cents. It's not much but it can buy a loaf a bread here. Instead, he gave it as an offering. Every time I see him helping at church and just talking to him, I am encouraged. I am humbled by his caring heart for those around him and his family. Here's what the letter says. I translated it as literally as possible.

Quero compartilhar esta carta com você. Foi escrita por um menino de onze anos. Eu disse as pessoas da igreja que quando eles tiverem alguma nescessidade e pedido de oração, eles poderiam escrever e colocar na caixa de oferta. A moeda que estava enorolada no papel da cartinha vale uns 20 centavos. Não é muito, mas aqui dá pra comprar um pão. Em vez disso, ele deu como oferta. Todas as vezes que vejo ele ajudando na igreja e quando converso com ele, eu fico encorajado. Fico tocado com o coração dele, de sempre se preocupar com a família e com aqueles que estão perto dele.

Your Excellence Mr. Pastor

1. First of all I would like to greet Mr. Pastor.

2. Mr. Pastor, I bring to you my worries.

3. Mr. Pastor, my worry is that my father is disabled.

4. My father does not speak, and does not walk, so my older brothers took my daddy to my brothers in the city.

5. We are now suffering, me along with my mother and [younger] brothers.

6. My mother does not work and she is also ill, and my [older] brothers have kicked us out of the house; even this next year I don't know if I will continue school because I will not have money to continue school.

Christmas Service/Culto de Natal

2007-12-24T09:14:00.000-04:00

This is our first Christmas here. We have been enjoying it very much even though we don't have any relatives here. We have our church family here and this past Sunday we had a great party together.
Este é o nosso primeiro Natal aqui. Tem sido muito bom mesmo não estando perto dos nossos familiares. Temos nossa família da igreja aqui e no Domingo passado tivemos uma grande festa juntos.

Christmas Party/Festa de Natal

2007-12-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

We had a wild Christmas party on the 6th. There were over 500 kids there. Celebration Church in Texas sent a team to help us out. We had a bunch a games, gifts and food for them. The day before the party we gave away clothes. A great gift for them because they have very little clothes. That was prelude to the big day. We arrived at the Care Point about 9:30 that morning and there already about 50 kids there. A few minutes later there were a whole lot more. The kids had a blast and so did we during this day of fun and games. It's very fulfilling to see them with huge smiles because of their new clothes and toys. One thing that stood out to me was that every time I would put on some children's songs over the sound system, they would stop playing, crowd around the music and dance and sing along with it. These kids are growing in the way of the Lord. I thank God for all who have made this party and the project possible. Those that have sponsored these kids and have shown your love to them. They are getting a chance to a better future and you have played a part in that.
Tivemos uma super festa de Natal no dia 6. Haviam mais de 500 crianças. A igreja Celebration, em Texas, enviou uma equipe para nos ajudar. Tivemos muitos jogos, presentes e comida para as criançada. No dia anterior a festa distribuimos roupas. Foi um ótimo presente para elas, pois elas não tem muita roupa. Foi a preparação para o grande dia. Nós chegamos no Centro lá pelas 9 e 30 da manhã e já haviam umas 50 crianças lá. Minutos depois chegaram muito mais. As crianças se divertiram muito, assim como nós também. É muito gratificante ver a crianças com um sorriso gigante por causa das roupas novas e os brinquedos. Uma coisa que me chamou antenção foi que toda vez que eu colocava música de criança, elas paravam de brincar, se amontoavam perto do som e começavam a dançar e cantar as músicas. Estas crianças estão crescendo no caminho de Deus. Eu agradeço ao Senhor por todos aqueles que fizeram com que esta festa e este projeto acontecessem. Aqueles que tem patrocinado estas crianças e demostrado amor a elas. Elas estão recebendo uma oportunidade para terem um futuro melhor e você faz parte disto.

38 to 18

2007-11-08T17:01:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week we had the hottest day since I've been here. We've been here about nine months now and we are getting into the summer here. It was 38 degrees Celsius which is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Then all of a sudden it rained that night and the next day it was cool and got down to 18 C (64 F) that evening. Talk about a roller coaster ride in the weather. Never a dull moment.

A little R & R/ Um pouco de descanso

2007-10-29T15:58:00.000-04:00

I tried getting a picture of the little blue plant. It looks better in real time.

Tentei tirar foto de uma plantinha azul. Da pra ver melhor ao vivo.

Mozambique has a lot of needs and hardships. But it is also a great place to get away and rest. Earlier this month we took a little trip up to Xai Xai to a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean. The water was perfect and the beach was all to ourselves. We had a wonderful time.
Em Moçambique existe muita carência e dificuldade. Mas ao mesmo tempo pode ser um lugar muito bom para descanso. No começo deste mês, fizemos uma viagem para Xai-Xai, uma praia linda no Oceano Índico. A água estava perfeita e tivemos a praia só pra nós. Foi maravilhoso.

New things/Novidades

2007-10-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

Been a while since my last post. There have been great new things going on. We are excited about what God is doing here. When Carol and I think about it and see all that God is doing we are just in awe of His greatness, His love, grace, and His blessings being poured out on the people here.

Já faz um bom tempo desde a última vez que escrevi. Temos muitas novidades. Estamos muito empolgados com o que Deus está fazendo aqui. Quando a Carol e eu pensamos sobre tudo isso e vemos o que Deus tem feito ficamos atônitos com a Sua grandeza, Seu amor, graça e as bençãos que Ele tem derramado sobre seu povo.

We finally have the roof on the veranda.
Finalmente temos telhado na varanda.

Now the kids can be out of the sun and in a clean area to eat and have Sunday school. We are averaging about 250 on a weekend service. The kids are fast learners and are learning a lot about God's Word. God is changing the lives of the next generation.

Agora as crianças tem um lugar na sombra, uma area limpa onde podem comer e ter o culto delas. Temos cerca de 250 crianças que vem ao culto aos Domingos. Elas são muito espertas e estão aprendendo muito sobre a palavra de Deus. Ele está mudando as vidas da geração futura.

We now have the young people in the church leading worship. Before Carol was leading it. Now she teaches them songs and they lead worship. They also teach us new songs in their own language. They are stepping up into leadership positions.

Agora são os jovens da igreja que estão dirigindo o louvor. Antes era a Carol. Ela ensina as músicas e eles dirigem. Eles também nos ensinam músicas do seu próprio dialeto. Eles já estão tomando posições de liderança.

This is a picture of a Sunday service. This is a great encouragement to me. After worship the kids go to their class and the adults and young people stay in the church. This is encouraging to me because the adults are coming to church. They are hungry for the Word. They want to taste of God's goodness and more and more people are coming to God's house. Also if you notice in this picture there is a fan on the wall. That has been a huge blessing to all of us. We plan to install more also. We've been having electricity for about two months now. Every time I go to the church and see the lights and all I'm amazed at the favor of God in this place. As I look back on it, out of the blue, they started putting in light poles and wiring. And now we have electricity.

Esta é uma foto do culto de Domingo, e é um gramde encorajamento para mim. Depois do louvor as crianças vão para a classe delas e os adultos e jovens ficam na igreja. Fico encorajado pois os adultos estão vindo a igreja. Eles estão com fome da palavra. Eles querem experimentar da bondade de Deus,e mais e mais estão vindo a casa de Deus. Também voce pode notar nesta foto, que tem um ventilador na parede. É uma grande benção para nós, e queremos instalar outros mais. Já fazem dois meses que temos energia elétrica. Cada vez que vou a igreja e vejo as luzes e tudo mais, fico impressionado com o favor de Deus sobre este lugar. Lembro que derepente, sem mais nem menos, começaram a instalar a fiação e os postes. E agora temos energia.

This house belongs to one of the cooks at the care point. Her roof was caving in because she had several bricks on top of it to hold it down. She couldn't afford nails and wood to make a decent roof. The church has given her the wood and nails to make a better roof for her house. Two guys that work at the church have fixed her roof for her. The other section still needs to be finished but now she has a good roof that won't get blown off. We hope to always be able to help those in need. I strongly believe that the church is established to reach both the spiritual and physical needs of the people.

Esta casa é de uma das cozinheiras do centro.O telhado da casa dela estava caindo porque ela tinha colocado muitos tijolos em cima para segurar o teto, pois ela não tinha dinheiro pra comprar pregos e madeira para ter um telhado decente.A igreja deu a ela madeira e pregos para que a casa dela pudesse ter um telhado melhor. Dois homens que trabalham na igreja concertaram o telhado. O outro lado ainda precisa ser terminado, mas pelo menos agora ela tem um telhado melhor que não vai ser levado pelo vento. Esperamos sempre poder ajudar aos nescessitados. Eu acredito fortemente que a igreja foi estabelecida para ajudar ambas necessidades, a espiritual e a física.

Go Global

2007-09-09T16:53:00.000-04:00

We just had the privilege of hosting a Go Global team. The team made up of people from HPC and Life Church in Tennessee. They built a playground for kids at the church. We had a great time with them, getting to know them and just hanging out together. It was truly a refreshing time for both Carol and I. There were some great adventures along the way just to keep it lively. A truck pulled out in front of me as we were going to the church. I couldn't stop in time and hit him. Thank God no one was hurt. It was my first car accident in Africa. Well, that's if you don't count the cow incident a while back.
This team not only helped us in the ministry but also blessed us personally. We were encouraged and strengthened by them. Thank you so much Go Global team. Here are some great links to see more of the trip. Team Mozambique and Kelley Scott

Tivemos o previlégio, de recentemente ter conosco, uma equipe do Go Global; composta por pessoas do HPC e do Life Church em Tenesse. Eles construíram um parquinho para as crianças da igreja. Tivemos um tempo super legal juntos. Foi realmente renovador e encorajante para Carol e para mim. Tivemos tambem grandes aventuras ao longo do caminho. Umas das vezes quando íamos a igreja um caminhão atravessou em nossa frente, não houve tempo para frear e batemos no caminhão. Graças a Deus ninguém se machucou. Foi nosso promeiro acidente na Africa. Bem, isso se não contar com o incidente da vaca um tempinho atrás.
Esta equipe não somente nos ajudou no ministério, como também nos abençoou pessoalmente. Fomos encorajados e fortalecidos neste tempo. Muito obrigada equipe do Go Global. Aqui vão outros links se quiserem ver mais fotos da viagem. Team Mozambique and Kelley Scott

Children's Team/Equipe de Crianças

2007-08-20T15:16:00.000-04:00

We have had the honor of having the children's team from HPC with us for a week. We had a great time together and were able to do so much of the kids in the church neighborhood. An interesting thing happened during that week. When we were planning everything I informed them that there would be at the most 300 kids each day because they would be in school. Well, only a few days before the team arrives we find out that there is a national census and that all kids are off from school during those days. Long story short, we had almost 300 on the first day. The team had a blast and so did the kids. We have not been here long and we have already seen great change in the kids that come to the church. They are learning more and more about God. The team also did leadership training with some young people and adults that have been involved. They were blessed to have people come from so far to love on them and show them they are special and are leaders. God is doing great things with the kids but also transforming the lives of the adults that are open and hungry for God.

Tivemos a honra de ter conosco, por uma semana, a equipe do HPC (healing place church) que trabalha com crianças. Foi um tempo super legal onde pudemos fazer muitas atividades com as crianças que vivem perto da igreja. Algo interessante aconteceu naquela semana. Quando estávamos planejando o evento, eu passei pra eles que haveriam no máximo 300 crianças cada dia, por causa das aulas. Bem, poucos dias antes da equipe chegar, descobrimos que haveria um rescenceamento nacional e as crianças não iriam ter aula naquela semana. Pra encurtar a história, tivemos quase 300 criancas logo no primeiro dia do nosso EBF (escola bíblica de férias). A equipe se divertiu muito, tanto quanto as crianças. Ainda não estamos aqui a muito tempo e já temos visto uma grande mudança na vida das crianças que estão vindo a igreja. Elas estão aprendendo mais e mais sobre Deus. A equipe tambem fez um treinamento com algums jovens e adultos que tem se envolvido na igreja. Foi uma grande benção pra eles ter pessoas vindo de tão longe para lhes dar amor e mostrar o quanto eles são especiais e que um dia eles também poderão se tornar líderes. Deus esta fazendo grandes coisas nas vidas das crianças. E tambem tem transformado as vidas dos adultos e todos aqueles que estão com o coração aberto e com fome por Deus.

Leadership Training

2007-08-02T12:17:00.001-04:00

I thought this was the cutest thing and wanted to share the moment. We are training up leaders from a very early age.
On a more serious note, the kids in this community are truly blessed to have a place where they can come and feel safe and loved. And the best part of it all, they get to feel God's love for them and learn to be men and women of God. God loves them with all His heart.

Isso é muito bonitinho e quero compartilhar este momento com voces. Estamos treinando líderes que ainda tem pouca idade, crianças.

Um outro recado importante, as crianças desta comunidade são abençoadas por terem um lugar especial, onde elas se sentem seguras e amadas. E a melhor parte é que elas podem sentir o amor que Deus tem por elas, e se tornarem homens e mulheres de Deus. Deus a ama com todo seu coração.

Leadership Training/Treinamento de Liderança

2007-07-30T10:14:00.001-04:00

Sunday Service/ Culto de Domingo

2007-07-22T08:53:00.000-04:00

We eat together...
Nós comemos juntos...

We worship together...
Nós adoramos juntos...

We pray together...
Nós oramos juntos...

After worship the kids go and have children's church. We are just about finished with their new area.

Depois do louvor as crianças vão ter o seu próprio culto infantil. Já estamos quase terminados com a nova área das crianças.

Here's a glimpse some things we do here at HPC Mozambique. Same God, same Spirit, one body, but on a different continent. The people are hungry for the Word. They want to be free from the bondage of sin. They want their hearts to be healed. God has been using this church to reach this community.

Aqui está um pouquinho das coisas que fazemos aqui no HPC Moçambique. Mesmo Deus, mesmo Espírito, um só corpo, porém num continente diferente. As pessoas estão com fome da palavra de Deus. Elas querem se libertar da escravidão do pecado. Elas querem receber cura em seus corações. Deus está usando esta igreja para alcançar esta comunidade.

Bible verses/Versículos da Bíblia

2007-07-09T15:30:00.000-04:00

About 150 kids come to church every Sunday. Some are there even before we get there. They are always excited to be in church. One of the things that's been making them very excited are the Bibles that some are getting. If they memorize and quote five verses they get a cool Bible. This past Sunday I had one of kids that received a Bible come to the front and say all five verses. I picked him out of the crowd and he did not miss a word. Several of them have received theirs.

São mais ou menos umas 150 crianças que participam aos domingos na igreja. Muitas até chegam lá bem antes de nós. Elas estão sempre empolgadas de estarem na igreja. E uma das coisas que tem deixado as crianças super animadas ultimamente são as bíblias que algumas estão recebendo. Quando uma criança memoriza cinco versículos, ela ganha uma Bíblia super legal. No domingo passado eu pedi a uns dos meninos, que recebeu Bíblia ,para vir até a frente e dizer os cinco versículos. Eu escolhi ele do meio da multidão e ele não errou nem uma palavra. Muitas crianças já receberam a sua.

The Cow/ A vaca

2007-06-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

This past Friday I made a quick trip to Swaziland to drop off Ben Rodger's truck. I wanted to be back to Mozambique the same day so Carol wouldn't be home by herself. So, Machalela (co-worker) and I got on a bus to come back to Mozambique. It was past 4pm already. As we waited in the bus for more people to get on we decided to go look for a faster way to return. To make a long story short, we paid a little more for a van to take us. There were four of us in the van. Usually these vans travel either full or packed. So we headed home excited of the fact that we would get to Maputo way before that bus ever would. By 5:30pm it was dark already. I had a back seat all to myself. Machalela was in the front with the driver and the other guy in the seat in from of mine. The headlights on the van didn't shine too far in front of us. We were probably going about 55 mph. All of a sudden a cow was crossing the road and we hit it smack in the middle. The windshield flew out, I slammed into the seat in front of me and we came to an abrupt stop. We didn't even have time to get out the way. (In Swaziland there are a lot of cows and no fences.) Machalela hurt his legs a little. He had put on his seat belt so that help some. The front end of the van was smashed in. The driver was stuck and bleeding. Me and the other guy were just a little sore. We were close to a small town so the police and ambulance came soon and were able to take the driver to the hospital.
A few minutes later the bus we thought was going to take a long time to get to Maputo stopped at the accident scene and gave us a ride home. It did take a while to get us home but I was happy to get home.

What I learned from this incident:
1. God saved us.
2. Death can come without warning.
3. Sometimes the quickest way is not the best way.
4. Pray at all times.
5. The devil is always trying to destroy God's plan for our lives.

Na sexta-feira passada, eu fiz uma rápida viagem para a Suazilandia para devolver a camionete do Ben Rogers. Eu queria voltar a Moçambique no mesmo dia para que a Carol não ficasse em casa sozinha. Então, o Machalela (que trabalha com a gente), e eu pegamos o ônibus para voltar a Moçambique. Eram depois das quatro da tarde. Enquanto esperavamos dentro do ônibus para mais pessoas entrarem, decidimos procurar outra maneira mais rápida para viajarmos. Para encurtar a história, pagamos um pouco mais para uma van nos levar. Éramos quatro dentro da van. Geralmente essas vans ou viajam cheias ou lotadas. Então nós fomos a caminho de casa muito empolgados, pois chegaríamos em Maputo muito antes do que aquele ônibus. Lá pelas cinco e meia já estava escuro. Eu tinha o banco de trás todo pra mim. Machalela estava no banco da frente com o motorista, e o outro cara no banco a minha frente. A luz dos faróis da van não estavam chegando muito longe a nossa frente. Provavelmente estávamos indo a uns 110km/h, quando de repente uma vaca atravessa a estrada e a gente bate nela de cheio. O para-brisas voou longe, eu me bati forte no banco a minha frente, e a van parou bruscamente. Nem tivemos tempo de desviar ( na Suazilandia existem muitas vacas na estrada e não existem cercas). O Machalela machucou um pouco as pernas. Ele tinha colocado o cinto de segurança, o que ajudou um pouco. A frente da van ficou toda amassada. O motorista estava preso e sangrando. Eu e o outro cara estávamos só um pouco doloridos. Estávamos perto de uma cidadezinha, então a polícia e a ambulância chegaram rápido para levarem o motorista para o hospital. Alguns minutos depois o ônibus que nós pensávamos que iria demorar um tempão para chegar em Maputo parou no local do acidente e nos deu carona para a casa. A verdade é que demoramos sim para chegar em casa, mas eu estava feliz em poder chegar em casa.

O que eu aprendi com este acidente:
1. Deus nos salva.
2. A morte pode chegar sem avisar.
3. Nem sempre o caminho mais rápido é o melhor caminho.
4. Orar em todo tempo.
5. O diabo está sempre tentando destruir os planos de Deus para nossas vidas.

New Space/ Novo Espaço

2007-06-19T15:17:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I have mentioned this before but there are a lot of kids that come to the Care Point and attend service on Sunday morning. This past weekend we had a great service and as usual a lot of kids came. Usually about 150 kids come to service. This past weekend there were 195. Carol leads worship for service and after worship she goes outside with the kids and I stay with the teens and adults for the message. She does an awesome job with them. But they have no classroom so they've been having children's church under the trees. So we have started building this classroom so the kids can have a great place to learn more about God. Every time as we are headed to the house Carol tells me of how great the kids are and how they learn so quickly. Of course it's not easy to keep so many kids quiet for too long but it's great to be able to plant good seeds in their lives. Soon we will be finished with the new children's church. And during the week it will serve as an area for the kids to sit and eat their meals.

Não estou certo se mencionei isso antes, mas tem muitas crianças que vem ao Centro e que também participam conosco nos cultos de Domingo de manhã. O culto da semana passada foi uma benção e como sempre muitas crianças vieram. São geralmente 150 crianças aos Domingos. No último final de semana tivemos 195. A Carol lidera o louvor e logo após o louvor ela sai com as crianças e eu fico dentro do prédio com os adolescentes e adultos para compartilhar a palavra. Ela está fazendo um ótimo trabalho com as crianças. Mas eles ainda não tem uma salinha. O culto das crianças aos Domingos é embaixo das árvores. Por isso nós começamos a construir uma sala de aula para que as crianças tenham um lugar super especial onde poderão aprender mais sobre o amor de Deus. Sempre no caminho da igreja de volta pra casa, a Carol me conta de como as crianças são tão especiais e de como elas aprendem tudo tão rápido. Claro que não é fácil fazer com aquele monte de crianças fiquem quietinhas por muito tempo, mas é maravilhoso poder plantar uma boa semente na vida delas. Logo logo terminaremos a igreja nova das crianças. Durante a semana essa nova área será o local onde elas poderão sentar e ter suas refeições.

Children's Day/Dia das Crianças

2007-06-10T06:16:00.000-04:00

On June first it was Children's Day. The kids get a break from school. So to make the day special we made the meal extra special and had some fun things for them to do. There were over 300 kids there. Carol and Celeste did an awesome job with them. Celeste is the lady that's over everything going on throughout the week. The cooks also did an amazing job. It has been great getting to know them more and be a part of their day-to-day.

No dia primeiro de Junho foi o dia as crianças. Eles não tiveram aula. E pra fazer o dia deles especial nós fizemos um almoço extra especial e tivemos muitas coisas super legais para eles fazerem. A Carol e a Celeste fizeram um ótimo trabalho fazendo a festinha para as crianças. Celeste é a moça que trabalho no projeto das crianças durante a semana. A cozinheiras também fizeram um ótimo trabalho. Tem sido uma benção poder conhecer a cada uma delas mais, fazdendo parte do dia-a-dia delas.

Back to Health/Saúde restaurada

2007-06-03T14:38:00.000-04:00

On the last post I spoke about a young boy that was in the hospital for about a month. I don't know much about medical stuff but from what I was told he was in pretty bad shape. But thank God he is better now. This past week we saw him again at home. His mom was back at the care point helping cook for the kids. The boy is doing well and the parents are happy to be home again with him. They live really close to the church and we have been able to reach out to them as much as we can.

Da última vez eu falei sobre um garotinho que estava no hospital por mais ou menos um mês. Não sabemos muito sobre o resultado médico, só sabemos que ele estava muito grave. Mas graças a Deus ele esta bem melhor agora. Já vimos ele novamente, agora em casa. A mãe dele está de volta ao centro ajudando a cozinhar para as crianças. A criança está bem melhor e os pais estão muito felizes por terem ele de volta em casa. Eles moram bem pertinho da igreja e temos tentado alcança-los o tanto quanto podemos.

Being a Healing Place for a Hurting World/Sendo um lugar de cura para um mundo ferido

2007-05-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

Last week we visited a 6 year old kid in the hospital. We don’t know what he had but he wasn’t doing well. His mom is one of the cooks at the carepoint. On our way to the hospital we picked up his dad to go with us. Carol prayed with him and gave the mom some money to buy medicine and food during their stay there. On Sunday the father of this kid shows up at church. At the end of service he stands up and tells me and everyone in the church that his son is doing better and should be getting out of the hospital this week. It was great to see him there and seeing him stand up to say that. It was his first time at church. A friend of ours has told us that he was opposed to the being there and now he went to the church he was fighting against. God is good.

We also visited a young lady that was in the hospital. We think she had a stroke. She was doing much better when we saw her but it was great to be able to visit some one and show them that we care about them. All of us could not go in to see her so she made an effort to go out to the waiting area to see us. She couldn't even walk normally. We stood there in the middle of the crowd and prayed with her for her complete recovery.

Na semana passada nós visitamos uma criança, de 6 anos de idade, no hospital. Não sabemos qual o problema com ela mas o menino não estava nada bem. A mãe dele é uma das cozinheiras do centro. No caminho para o hospital nós pegamos o pai dele para ir conosco. A Carol orou com ele e deu um pouco de dinheiro para a mãe comprar remédios e comida para o tempo que ficassem no hospital. No Domingo o pai da criança apareceu na igreja. No final do culto ele se levantou e disse a todos na igreja que o filho dele estava muito melhor, e que esta semana estaria saindo do hospital. Foi muito bom ve-lo na igreja dizendo isso. Foi a primeira vez dele na igreja. Um amigo nosso nos contou que logo no começo ele se opos a igreja, mas agora estava lá dando testemunho. Deus é bom.

Nós também visitamos uma jovem que estava no hospital. Achamos que ela teve um derrame. Ela já estava bem melhor última vez que a vimos. É sempre bom poder visitarmos alguém e mostrar que nos preocupamos com ela. Todos náo pudiamos entrar para ve-la, então ela fez um esforço e foi lá fora para nos ver na área de espera. Ela nem conseguia caminhar direito. Nós ficamos parados no meio da multidão e oramos com ela pela sua restauração completa.

God is good!!! Deus 'e bom!!!!!

2007-05-03T09:08:00.000-04:00

This past week was awesome. Elevate from Healing Place Church was here to help with the building, work with the kids, and help with the weekend event. They were a great team and were a major asset to everything going on here in Mozambique. Each day there were approximately 200 kids at the site. The Elevate team was able to spend some time with them and show them love. On Sunday we had a huge celebration and invited the whole community to come and be a part. We had a packed house. I would like to thank all of you who played a part in making everything happen here: Healing Place Church, Pastor Jay Miller, Joe Martin, Lee Domingue, Pastor Scott Bledsoe, Children's Cup, Mission of Mercy, Vicky Melancon. And also a huge thanks to Pastor Nathan Keller and Pastor Chuck Colson. They came a few days after Elevate and spent some time with us. And most of all I thank God for everything He has been doing and will do in Mozambique. I thank God for His protection, His blessings, and His presence here. I am humbled and privileged to be part of such an awesome ministry.

A semana passada foi incrivel. "Elevate" , uma equipe da Igreja Lugar de Cura, esteve aqui para nos ajudar na construcao do predio, no trabalho com as criancas, e tambem para nos ajudar com o evento do final de semana. Eles foram uma equipe maravilhosa e uma super ajuda em tudo que esteve acontecendo aqui em Mocambique. Cada dia haviam aproximadamente 200 criancas no local da igreja. A equipe do elevate teve bastante tempo pra brincar e dar amor para as criancas. No domingo tivemos uma grande festa. Toda a comunidade foi convidada para fazer parte do evento. Tivemos casa cheia. Quero agradecer a todos aqueles que de alguma forma nos ajudaram para que tudo acontecesse aqui: Healing Place Church, Pastor Jay Miller, Joe Martin, Lee Domingue, Pastor Scott Bledsoe, Children's Cup, Mission of Mercy, Vicky Melancon. E tambem agradeco muito ao Pastor Nathan Keller e Pastor Chuck Colson. Eles chegaram aqui alguns dias depois do Elevate, pra ficar uns dias conosco. E mais que tudo agradeco a Deus por tudo o que Ele tem feito e vai fazer em Mocambique. Agradeco a Deus pela sua protecao, bencaos, e a Sua presenca em nosso meio. Me sinto honrado e privilegiado por fazer parte de um ministerio tao tremendo!!!

Easter Sunday/Domingo de Pascoa

2007-04-11T12:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning began very wet. It has been raining all morning. Again, people travel on foot here so I was very worried about if people were going to come to service or not. When we arrived, there were a few people there already. As we were setting up for service the people started coming in even with the rain. I’m starting to sympathize with Pastor Timmy Straight having to set up and break down for service every Sunday. But the rain also made the hot coffee and cookies very enjoyable to that arrived on time. Carol and I have been teaching songs in Portuguese to them but we have also been learning some of their songs in Shangan. It’s awesome to see them smile in appreciation of us trying to sing their songs. Or they may be laughing at the way we are saying things. I’m glad God says, “Make a joyful noise…” In the end we had about 100 people at service. And we celebrated easter with some juice and sandwiches. The kids sure loved that. We usually have the kids go outside with Carol so they can have their own service but with the rain, we were one big happy family. We don’t have a sound system yet so I spoke very loudly to beat the sound of the rain on the aluminum roof. Lord willing next weekend we will have a sound system.

Comecamos Domingo de manha com muita chuva. E como aqui o unico meio de transporte na comunidade e a pe, fiquei preocupado caso as pessoas viriam ao culto ou nao. Quando chegamos na igreja, ja havaim algumas pessoas la esperando por nos. A medida que comecamos a organizar tudo para o culto as pessoas comecaram a chegar, mesmo com toda aquela chuva. Estou me sentindo como o Pr Timmy Straight, tendo que montar e desmontar tudo para a igreja cada domingo. Aqueles que chegaram na hora, puderam aproveitar um cafezinho quente com biscoitos. Carol e eu temos ensinado algumas musicas em Portugues, mas tambem temos aprendido outras em Shangan. E incrivel ver o sorriso deles quando tentamos cantar as musicas no seu dialeto. Talvez estejam rindo da gente tentando falar seu idioma. Estou feliz Deus disse," Facam barulho de alegria..." No final do culto haviam umas 100 pessoas. Celebramos a Pascoa com suco e sanduiches. Claro que as criancas amaram. Geralmente as criancas tem classe fora da igreja com a Carol. Mas por causa da chuva, ficamos todos dentro como uma grande familia feliz. Ainda nao temos sistema de som, entao tive que falar muito alto pra tentar ganhar do barulho da chuva batento no telhado de aluminio. Se Deus quiser, semana que vem teremos sistema de som.

Jesus Film/Filme de Jesus

2007-04-11T05:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday night, April 7th, we showed the Jesus film at the church. We arrived at the church around 4pm to set everything up. Before the movie we put on a DVD of a Brazilian singer. The people were amazed with the huge projection on the wall. Many of them have never seen that before.
On a side note, when we picked out the colors for the church we did not consider using a projector; but God knew it and we picked a color that worked perfectly to use the wall as a screen.
There were over 200 people there to watch the movie. It was a blessing to see so many there. The movie was translated into their native tongue so they were excited about that. I believe God is moving in their hearts and they are slowly seeing what God has for them.
And yet on another side note, it was very windy and cold that night.

An hour after the movie it started to rain. Everyone walks to where ever they need to go so it was plenty of time for them to get home safely. God is good.

Sabado a noite, 7 de Abril, mostramos o filme de Jesus na igreja. Chegamos na igreja la pelas 4 da tarde pra montar tudo. Antes do filme colocamos um DVD de uma cantora gospel brasileira. As pessoas ficaram admiradas com o tamanho da imagem progetada na parede. Muitos deles nunca tinham visto antes.

Uma pequena observacao e que quando escolhemos as cores para a igreja nao haviamos pensado em usar o projetor, mas Deus sabia e gracas a Ele escolhemos uma cor perfeita para usar como tela para o projetor.

Haviam mais de 200 pessoas para assistirem o filme. Foi uma bencao ver tantas pessoas na igreja. O filme estava traduzido para o dialeto deles. Todos ficaram muito impolgados com isso. Eu creio que Deus esta tocando em seus coracoes e que aos poucos estao vendo o que Deus tem para cada um deles.

Outra observacao e que naquela noite estava muito frio e ventando muito. Uma hora apos o termino do filme comecou a chover. Todos tinham que caminhar de volta para suas casas, mas o tempo foi suficiente pra ninguem se molhar na chuva. Deus e muito bom.

First Service/Primeiro Culto

2007-03-23T07:17:00.000-04:00

Pastor Rob Ketterling speaking with a translator.

Pastor Rob Ketterling pregando com um tradutor.

Ketterling team singing.
Equipe de Americanos cantando.

This past weekend, we had our first service at the church. We are doing a few services before the launch to learn how things work in Mozambique. Then on April 29th is when we are going to have a big celebration thanking God for this new church.
There was a medical team with Mission of Mercy and a team with Pastor Rob Ketterling. They played a huge role in putting this first service together. We had an awesome time there. The people took a while to get to church but once they were there, there were about 250 people. Most of them were children. We had 100 chairs that were quickly filled so some of the kids sat on the floor. It was amazing to see so many people on our first service. The lack of chairs was a good problem and having children's church will already have to be done. The people in that area don't know us well and we are slowly building relationships; and for them to be there for a service was just confirmation to me that they were there because God brought them. This is only the beginning. We will continue to have services from here on out. The building still has work to be done and we hope to finish it by the big celebration.
Na semana passada, tivemos nosso primeiro culto na nova igreja. Estamos fazendo alguns cultos antes da abertura oficial da igreja, pra poder ver como tudo funciona aqui em Moçambique. Então, no dia 29 de Abril é quando vamos ter uma grande celebração em agradecimento à Deus pela nova igreja.
Tivemos uma equipe médica de Misson of Mercy e também uma equipe com o Pr. Rob Ketterling. Eles foram essenciais para que este primeiro culto acontecesse. Foi uma bênção nosso tempo lá. As pessoas demoraram um pouco para aparecer, mas uma vez que começaram a chegar encheram a igreja. Haviam umas 250 pessoas lá, sendo que a maioria eram crianças. Nós tínhamos apenas 100 cadeiras que foram ocupadas rapidamente. Muitas crianças tiveram que sentar no chão. Estávamos maravilhados com o tanto de pessoas que vieram ao nosso primeiro culto. A falta de cadeiras foi um bom problema e também já precisamos começar com a classe especial para as crianças. As pessoas daquela comunidade ainda não nos conhecem muito bem, estamos aos poucos desenvolvendo relacionamentos com eles; por isso o fato dessas pessoas todas estarem lá para o culto foi uma confirmação pra mim de que elas estavam lá porque Deus tocou no seus corações para que viessem. Isto é só o começo. Vamos continuar tendo cultos de agora em diante. Ainda há muito que se fazer para o término da construção do prédio da igreja, e queremos fazer o possível para que esteja tudo pronto para o dia da grande celebração.

Church Road/Rua da Igreja

2007-02-27T05:14:00.000-04:00

Some of the kids playing...

Algumas das crianças brincando...

Painting the inside of the church
Pintando dentro da igreja

This is the road leading to the church.
Esta é a rua que leva a igreja.

New paint job on the church.
Nova pintura da igreja.

View from the side
Lado da igreja

On one of the days we were there we visited some the houses around the church. There are some amazing people all around the church. We stopped a talked to a man and his wife who were sitting outside their house in the shade of a big tree. A cool breeze was blowing during the later part of the afternoon. After a few minutes the man tells us an interest thing. He points toward the road that runs in front of the church and says that the road is known as the Church Road. The people in the community are using the church as a reference. I pray that God will use that place and it will be a reference for their spiritual journey.

Um dos dias que estivemos lá, visitamos algumas casas perto da igreja. Tem pessoas muito especiais que moram naquela área. Paramos para conversar com um homem e sua esposa que estavam sentados a sombra de uma árvore na frente da casa. Havia um vento muito gostoso que soprava no finalzinho da tarde. Após alguns minutos aquele homem nos conta algo muito interessante. Ele aponta na direção da rua que passa na frente da igreja e diz que agora é conhecida com a Rua da Igreja. As pessoas da comunidade estão usando a igreja como um ponto de referência. Oro para que Deus use aquele lugar e que seja uma referência para jornada espiritual daquela comunidade.

God wants them as His own/Deus quer cada um deles para si

2007-02-08T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of the kids singing at the Care Point in Mozambique:
Aqui está um video das crianças do Centro de Cuidados, em Moçambique, cantando.

Yesterday we went to Mozambique again. Had a great time there. Carol helped get the profiles for the kids that are participating in the care point. There were about 80 children there. They don't have much. Many of the things we have experienced growing up, they could never even imagine. But God loves them and wants them as His own. They are precious children. I've only been there twice. Only this past time did I have a chance to be with the kids. God has used them to speak to me and tell me that those children are His children and that He will do anything to have them in His arms. I pray that God will give us the strength to do all we can to change the lives of those kids for His honor and glory.
Ontem nós fomos novamente a Moçambique. Foi muito legal. A Carol ajudou com os formulários para as crianças que estão participando do Centro de Cuidados. Haviam mais ou menos 80 crianças. Eles são muito carentes. Muitas das coisas que nós experimentamos a medida que crescíamos, eles nunca nem podiam imaginar que existem. Mas Deus os ama e quer cada um deles para si. Eles são crianças muito preciosas. Só estivemos lá duas vezes, e apenas nesta última vez tive oportunidade de estar com as crianças. Deus tem usado a vida deles para falar ao meu coração que eles são as crianças dEle e que Ele fará qualquer coisa para te-los em seus braços de amor. Oro para que Deus nos de força para fazermos o possível para mudarmos a vida desses pequeninos para a Sua honra e glória.

First Visit to Mozambique/Primeira visita a Moçambique

2007-02-01T05:58:00.000-04:00

Carol and I on the shore of the Indian Ocean.

Carol e eu as margens do Oceano Índico.

Ben Rodgers, myself, and Mukulu. Ben has been the most vital person in this project. He is awesome.
Ben Rogers, eu, e Mukulu. Ben tem sido vital neste projeto. Ele é muito legal.

Carol and Celeste. Celeste is the teacher for the Care Point. She knows how to speak Portuguese, English, and Shangan (the local language).

Carol e Celeste. Celeste é a professora do Centro de Cuidado das Crianças. Ela sabe falar, Português, Inglês e Shangan ( o dialeto da comunidade local).

Some of the kids that came over when we arrived.

Algumas das crianças que vieram quando nós chegamos.

We are standing to the back of the building so this gives a little perspective as to how big it is inside.
Estamos em pé na parte de trás do predio, pra você perceber como é grande o predio por dentro.

Just need some windows and we could start using the building with only some details to be worked on.

Só precisa algumas janelas e já podemos usar o predio mesmo com alguns detalhes faltando.

The flag on the building represents that is it finished and it will only be taken down after a big party. This is according to the builder, Mukulu. He is very excited to be at the finish line.

A bandeira no predio representa que o trababalho está terminado e só vai ser retirada depois que houver um grande festa. De acordo com o construtor, Mukulu. Ele está super animado por estar na reta final da construção.

The Bathroom Building. The big hole is for a septic tank that will be made soon.

O predio dos banheiros. O buracão é onde em breve será construida a fossa.

Carol and I with the builder, Mukulu. Great guy.

Carol e eu com o construtor, Mukulu. Cara muito bacana

We had a great time on our first visit to the church/care point in Mozambique. Ben and Susan Rodgers took us there. We were really excited to finally see the building project that has been talked about for so long and now we finally saw it with our own eyes. We are expecting God to do amazing things in that place. To see a building like this in this area, we can definitely say that it is a God thing. It is His work and all honor and glory goes to Him. There are going to be hardships we will face, but God's plans will be accomplished.

Tivemos um tempo maravilhoso em nossa primeira visita à igreja/centro de crianças em Moçambique.O Ben e a Susan Rodgers nos levaram até lá. Nós estávamos muito impolgados por finalmente podermos ver com nossos proprios olhos, o predio de que tanto temos falado. Estamos na expectativa para Deus fazer grandes coisas neste lugar. Ver um predio como este nesta area, com certeza pode-se dizer que é algo de Deus. É o trabalho do Senhor, e toda honra e glória pertence somente a Ele. Sei que haverão momentos dificeis, porém os planos de Deus serão realizados.

In Swaziland, Africa/ Em Suaziliândia,África

2007-01-30T10:01:00.000-04:00

Carol with Ben Rodgers' kids at their house. We will be staying with them till we move to Mozambique.

Carol com os filhos do Ben Roger na casa deles. Vamos morar com eles até nos mudarmos para Moçambique.

In Washington D.C. When the airline said we could not fly that day, we went to a hotel for the night. As soon as we stepped out of the airport it started to snow. I had never seen snow before. God wanted to show me snow. It was beautiful till I couldn't feel anything from being so cold.

Em Washington D.C. Quando a companhia aerea nos disse que não poderiamos viajar naquele dia, fomos passar a noite num hotel . Assim que a gente saiu do aeroporto começou a nevar. Eu nunca tinha visto neve antes. Deus queria me mostrar neve. Achei lindo até o ponto que já não podia sentir nada porque estava quase congelando.

We had to take all our luggage from the airport to the hotel and back. Not a fun task, but to have all our belongings in seven suitcases made us work hard to get them moved.
It was a wild trip but we finally made it here. We left Thursday morning to the N.O. airport and tried checking in. The lady at the counter said we couldn’t go because Carol needed a visa. I didn’t know that. Of all the homework I did on traveling to Swaziland I failed to notice that she needed a visa as a Brazilian. Anyway, she said she could send us to Washington D.C. and let South African Airlines decide if they would send us to Africa or not. They didn’t let us get on the plane so we checked into a hotel and went after getting a visa the next day, Friday. To make a long story short, we miraculously got a Swazi visa in about 30 minutes, which usually takes 48 hours. So we got on the plane for the 15 hour flight. Very long but I managed to sleep a little. I had an empty seat next to me. We were at the end of the plane, right next to the bathroom. But we survived. Everything went smoothly all the way here to Swaziland. We were missing a bag when we arrived but it was because of the tiny plane we came on from Johannesburg to Swaziland that wouldn’t fit all our bags. But we got it the next day. So here we are at Ben Rodgers’ house trying to get over the jet lag and getting used to the completely different environment. We visited some of the carepoints yesterday and tomorrow, Wednesday, we hope to go to Mozambique to look at the building.

Tivemos que levar toda nossa bagagem pro hotel e depois de volta pro aeroporto. Não foi lá muito divertido, mas todos nossos pertences estavam naquelas sete malas. Tivemos que suar pra transportar toda nossa bagagem. Nossa viagem foi uma aventura muito doida , mas fianalmente estamos aqui. Saimos quinta de manhã para o aeroporto de Nova Orleans para fazer o check in. A moça da companhia aerea disse que a gente não podia viajar porque a Carol precisava de um visto. Eu não fazia ideia disso, apesar de toda a pesquisa que eu fiz sobre viajando pra Suazilandia eu falhei em ver que ela precisava de um visto, pois ela é tem um passaporte do Brasil. A moça acabou dizendo que ela podia nos mandar até Washington D.C. e deixar que a Companhia Aerea da Africa do Sul decidisse se iam nos deixar ir pra Africa ou não. Eles não deixaram a gente entar no avião, então nós fomos pra um hotel e conseguimos viajar no próximo dia, depois de pegar o visto, na sexta feira. Para encurtar a historia, por um milagre, nós conseguimos um visto pra Suazilandia em 30 minutos, e geralmente demora 48 horas. Graças a Deus conseguimos chek in para o voo de 15 horas. Apesar de muito longo, consegui dormir um pouquinho. A gente tinha acentos vazios do nosso lado. A gente estava bem no final do avião, bem pertinho dos banheiros. Mesmo assim, a gente sobreviveu!! Tudo foi bem até na viagem pra Suazilandia. Ficou faltando uma de nossas malas, mas era porque o avião que viemos de Johannesburg pra cá era tão pequeno que não coube toda nossa bagagem. Mas no proximo dia nossa mala chegou. E aqui estamos, na casa do Ben Roger tentando vencer o enjoo da drastica mudança de fuso horario e se acostumando com ambiente totalmente diferente do nosso. Ontem nós visitamos alguns dos centros de cuidados de crianças, e amanhã, quarta-feira, esperamos ir para Moçambique visitar o predio da igreja.

Two Weeks Today/ Duas semanas hoje

2007-01-11T18:31:00.000-04:00

Today makes two weeks till we leave to Africa. I don't know how to express all we've been feeling and experiencing during this time. Anxious, nervous, little bit of fear, excitement, joy, can't wait to get there... So many questions going through my head. So many unknowns... So much to do... Such a huge task... There's no way I can do this. Through it all, I rest on God's promises. His grace is sufficient for me.
Hoje faltam duas semanas ate nossa viagem para Africa. Eu nao sei nem como expressar tudo o que estamos sentindo e vivendo durante esse tempo em nossas vidas. Ansiedade, nervosismo, um pouquinho de medo, muita impolgacao, alegria, mal posso esperar pra chegar la... Tantas perguntas na minha cabeca. Tantas coisas desconhecidas... Tanto pra fazer... Que desafio... Sera que eu consigo??? So sei, que em tudo, eu descanso nas promessas do Senhor. Sua graca e suficiente para mim.

Medical Unit

2007-01-02T16:10:00.000-04:00

Nathanael

2007-01-02T16:05:00.000-04:00

This is our fifth nephew, Nathanael. My sister Elizabeth had her first baby.
Esse é o nosso quinto sobrinho, Nathanael. É o primeiro bebê da minha irmã.

Update on Mozambique Church/ Foto Recente da Igreja em Mocambique

2006-12-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

The church building is coming along. The roof they are working on is over the classrooms. Soon they will be working on the big roof over the sanctuary.
O predio da igreja esta ficando pronto. O telhado que eles estao colocando esta sobre as salas de aulas. Em breve irao colocar o telhado sobre o santuario.

HE WILL OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN/ ELE ABRIRA AS JANELAS DOS CEUS

2006-12-14T21:31:00.000-04:00

God is awesome. God is good. God is amazing. God is wonderful. Today was an awesome day for us. Today God gave us the money to buy a truck in Africa. When I look at what God has been doing for us lately, I don't know how to thank Him for His goodness. Just looking at the support that has been raised. It is amazing how God has just opened the windows of heaven upon the work to be done in Mozambique. It is simply another confirmation to what God is doing and is going to do there. And now today God has blessed us with the funds to buy a truck there. I'm simply thankful for the person that has heard and obeyed God's voice. I am thankful for all those that see God's hand working in Africa and have been led by the Spirit to support the ministry there. I am humbled at what God is doing in our lives and it is such an awesome privilege to be a part of God's work.
Deus eh tremendo. Deus eh bom. Deus eh incrivel. Deus eh maravilhoso. Hoje foi um grande dia para nos. Hoje Deus nos deu o dinheiro para comprarmos uma caminhonete na Africa. Quando eu olho pra tudo que Deus esta fazendo ao nosso redor, nao sei nem como agradece-lo pela sua bondade. Basta olhar para todo patrocinio que jah conseguimos. Eh incrivel como Deus tem aberto as janelas do ceu e derramado bencaos sobre o trabalho que esta por ser feito em Mocambique. Eh apenas outra confirmacao do que Deus esta fazendo e ira fazer lah. E hoje Deus nos abencoou com o dinheiro para comprar uma camionete. Estou muito grato por esta pessoa ter escutado e obedecido a voz de Deus. Estou muito grato por todos aqueles que veem a mao de Deus agindo na Africa e que tem sido guiado pelo Espirito para apoiarem esse ministerio. Me sinto muito honrado pelo que Deus esta fazendo em nossas vidas e eh um grande privilegio fazer parte da obra de Deus

God moments/ Momentos especiais

2006-12-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

We just got back from dinner with an awesome family. The relatives of Terry Melancon, Jr. who was killed this past year. It was amazing to hear his story from his family and what a great person he was. They are a family that is in love with Christ and have experienced and seen God through all of what happened. The church building in Mozambique will be dedicated to him. Meeting this family makes me feel so humbled and privileged to be part of such a great work. His testimony will be heard across the Atlantic and I believe it will draw people to Christ. He lived life with a purpose.
Acabamos de voltar de um jantar com uma familia maravilhosa. Os parentes de Terry Melancon Jr., um policial que foi assassinado ano passado. Foi incrivel escutar a historia dele e saber que pessoa maravilhosa ele era. Eles sao uma familia apaixonada por Cristo e tem experimentado e visto Deus atraves de tudo que aconteceu. O predio da igreja em Mocambique sera dedicado a ele. Conhecendo essa familia me fez sentir tao privilegiado em poder fazer parte deste lindo trabalho. O testemunho da vida dele sera escutado atraves do Atlantico e eu creio que levara pessoas a Cristo. Ele viveu a vida dele com um proposito.

2006-11-29T22:26:00.000-04:00

My dad is the president of the Amazon Inland Mission. He has been working in the Amazon for over 20 years. God has been doing awesome things through the mission. One of the biggest breakthroughs this year was the purchase of this boat. It is an answer to prayer. This boat will be a great asset to the mission. It will enable my parents to stay in the villages longer, transport more equipment, and get to the villages more efficiently. The boat still needs an engine and we are praying to be able to get it soon. My parents are getting here tomorrow from Brazil. My sister will be having a baby soon so they wanted to be here for that and get back in contact with friends and family. We are looking forward to them being here because our family has not had a Christmas together for quite some time. And I will be able to see them again before we leave to Mozambique.
Meu pai e o presidente da Missao Amazon Inland. Ha 20 anos ele tem trabalhado na Amazonia. Deus tem feito grandes coisas atraves desta missao. Uma das maiores conquistas deste ano foi a compra de um barco. Foi resposta de muita oracao. Este barco sera uma grande bencao pra o trabalho missionario. Ira permitir que meus pais passem mais tempo nas vilas, transportem mais equipamentos, e que cheguem a elas com mais eficiencia. Meus pais chegam amanha do Brasil. Logo minha irma vai ter nenen e eles querem estar aqui para ela, e tambem para estarem em contato com amigos e familia. Estamos muito contentes com a chegada deles, especialmente porque nossa familia nao tem passado Natal juntos por um bom tempo. E poderei reve-los antes de partirmos para Mocambique.

Progress in Mozambique

2006-11-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

This building is looking really good. Pretty soon the roof will be on.
Este predio esta ficando muito bom. Brevemente irao colocar o telhado.

Trip to Danville/Viagem para Danville

2006-11-09T18:31:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month we made a trip to Danville, California. We had an awesome time there with HPC Danville. It was great getting to know the people there and helping them reach out to their community. After a great weekend with the church, we were blessed to stay another whole week in Danville. We told them we had only been married a few months and they blessed us with a wonderful honeymoon. It was way more than we ever expected. When we first got married we didn't really have a honeymoon, but God blessed us with a whole week in a wonderful place. God is good.

No comeco deste mes, fizemos uma viagem para Danville, California. Tivemos um tempo maravilhoso com a igreja de la. Estamos muitos felizes por ter conhecidos as pessoas da igreja de Danville e tambem por ter os ajudado numa programacao especial para alcancar a sua comunidade. Depois de um final de semana super legal, fomos abencoados para ficar mais uma semana toda la. Contamos pra eles que estavamos casados por apenas alguns meses. Ficaram impressionados e decidiram nos abencoar nos dando nossa lua de mel. Foi muito mais do que a gente esperava, ou mesmo do que tivessemos planejado antes. Na verdade nao tivemos uma lua de mel de verdade quando nos casamos. Mas agora foi o tempo e Deus nos abencoou com uma semana inteira num lugar lindo e maravilhoso. Deus e' bom.

some pictures of HPC Nkobe in Mozambique/ Algumas fotos em Nkobe - Moçambique

2006-10-22T15:16:00.000-04:00

Great things happening/ Grandes coisas acontecendo

2006-10-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

We've been here in the U.S. for almost a month now. So much has happened since we have came here. God has just been blessing and opening doors. Everything that is going on is over and above what I ever expected to happen. Sometimes when I think of it all, I just look up and smile and thank God for all He's doing. A few days ago I met a very nice man and we started talking about some of my dental needs. He said he would look into it for me. I saw him again last night at Life University and he said that "it's definitely gonna happen." God's been taking care of all our needs.

We are really excited about Mozambique. We should be going to Africa on the third week of January. We are just soaking in what we need to learn before going.

Já faz quase um mês que estamos aqui nos Estados Unidos. Muitas coisas tem acontecido desde que chegamos aqui. Deus tem nos abençoado e aberto muitas portas . Tudo o que está acontecendo é muito além do que eu esperava um dia acontecer. Quando eu penso sobre tudo isso, eu só olho para o céu e agradeço a Deus com um grande sorriso por tudo que Ele está fazendo. Alguns dias atrás conheci um cara muito legal. Conversamos sobre a minha necessidade de assistência dentária, e ele ficou de vericar para mim. Ontem a noite encontrei com ele na igreja e ele disse que com certeza conseguiria para mim. Com certeza, Deus tem cuidado de todas nossas necessidades.
Estamos muito entusiasmados com a viagem para Moçambique. E' bem provável que iremos pra África na terceira semana de janeiro. No momento estamos nos preparando e aprendendo tudo que precisamos saber antes de ir.

In the U.S./ Nos EUA

2006-10-12T13:54:00.000-04:00

Lots of big change has been going on lately. We are now in Baton Rouge. The trip up here was great. God did awesome things for us just to get up here. My wife is Brazilian and usually have a hard time at immigration. She has a tourist visa and they usually give only 3 months stay. We did not have to say a thing to the officer and he gave her a 6 months visa. Then when we go to check in at American Airlines the guy says that the bags can only be 50 lbs each. We had four bags at almost 70 lbs each. God is good though and he let us through no charge. God has blessed our stay here. A couple from HPC has let us use their car and we really appreciate the hospitality of everyone.

In a few months, we will be going to Mozambique, Africa. God has directed us there to work as missionaries with a new HPC project there along with Children's Cup and other ministries. We are so priviledged to be a part of such an awesome ministry. We thank God every day for choosing to use us to do His work.

Muitas mudanças tem acontecido em nossas vidas ultimamente. Agora estamos morando em Baton Rouge, Luisiana. Nossa viagem foi ótima, e Deus fez maravilhas para que chegássemos até aqui. Minha esposa é brasileira, o que geralmente dificulta na imigração. Ela tem um visto de turista e normamente eles dão apenas três meses pra ela ficar no país. Nós nem tivemos que falar nada e o oficial de imigração deu um visto de seis meses. Depois, quando fomos fazer o check in na American Airlines o cara nos diz que cada mala só pode pesar 24 kg, e a gente tinha quatro malas com 32kg cada. Mas Deus é bom e o cara nos permitiu passar sem ter que pagar nada. Deus tem abençoado nossa estadia aqui. Um casal da igreja (HPC - Healing Place Church) nos emprestou um carro pra gente usar durante todo tempo que ficarmos aqui. Temos apreciado muito a hospitalidade de todos aqui.
Em alguns meses, estaremos indo para Moçambique, África. Deus tem nos direcionado para irmos e trabalhar como missionários com um projeto novo da igreja juntamente com Children's Cup (uma ONG que trabalha com crianças carentes) e outros ministérios. Nos sentimos privilegiados por fazer parte desse grande ministério. Agradecemos a Deus todos os dias por escolher nos usar para fazer a Sua obra.

2006-08-10T14:01:00.000-04:00

It’s been a very long time since I last wrote. It’s been crazy down here. I got married on July 15th and since then it has been a wonderful experience. God has many things in store for us and we are excited about our married life. Sure, it takes getting used to sharing the same tube of tooth paste. She squeezes it in the middle and I squeeze it from the back. But life would be boring if we did everything the same.

We are back in Manaus now living in a little apartment. It’s on the third floor so anything we bring to the apartment is like working out. The other day we bought a small refrigerator. She and I carried it all the way up. By the time I got to the door, I didn’t want a refrigerator anymore. Then we plugged it in and noticed that it was empty. So we went grocery shopping. By the time we got all the bags up to the third floor, I didn’t want to eat anymore.

The church is doing great. We have been working hard these past few weeks on the facilities. We moved to another building so there is lots of work to be done to make it look like a church. I even pretended to be an electrician and ran all the wiring for the place. We needed to put in lights and outlets in the place. We spent about three weeks just moving and getting things ready to hold services. A lot of people came throughout the weeks and helped out with everything. Now we are in the process of building new bathrooms, an office, and a classroom. There is still much work to be done, please pray for us for wisdom and financial help to do these projects.

Later this month we will have an outreach event in the community. We will be bringing dentists and nurses to the church campus to volunteer. We will also be giving free haircuts and many other things.

The youth here are doing great. I’m learning a lot about youth and the difficulties they face every day. It’s tough to be a teenager during these times. The internet has captured their minds, and some have become addicted to it. Most don’t have a computer at home so they go to cyber cafes and spend the little money they have on the internet and computer games. But the youth in the church are slowly catching on and are growing spiritually. I can see how far they’ve come and how much God has done in their lives.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

2006-07-01T17:42:00.000-04:00

Today Brazil played France in the world cup. In the beginning of the day. The city of Manaus was all excited and pumped about the game. Portugal played England earlier today and the city was excited about Portugal winning also because the coach is Brazilian. Then the Brazil vs. France game started. The city was going crazy with noisy fireworks, loud music, and a lot of partying. The city stopped to watch the game. Then, the worst happened; France made a goal. Not a good thing for Brazil. The city was really quiet when that happened. Brazilian are huge soccer fans. I even heard a lady praying that Brazil would win. To make a long story short, Brazil lost. During the game I was on the road and the streets were empty. The city had stopped to watch the game. And now Brazil is out of the world cup and the country is dissappointed.

Soccer is idolized here. Even the Christians skip church to watch a soccer game. If only we had the same passion for the things of God.

One Year Today

2006-06-09T19:07:00.000-04:00

Exactly one year ago today I arrived in Manaus. It has been an amazing time for me. I have enjoyed it to the fullest. There have been rough moments and wild adventures but through it all I have grown and learned so much. Ministry is my life and my life is ministry. I love being a missionary and being on the mission field. I am up to anything God has for me. This year down here has been very special to me because it's the year that changed my life. God has given me a wife. We will be getting married July 15th. I am very excited about it. God's timing in it all is perfect.

wedding

2006-05-24T09:27:00.000-04:00

Getting real close to my wedding day. It's all happenin' July 15th. Really looking forward to it. It's been amazing how God has been providing so far for everything. I've come to a huge realization first hand that weddings are not cheap. Even in third world countries. But God sees our needs and has been providing. Sometimes I get nervous because it's so close but then I let God worry about it for me. He'll take care of it. God is good.

Youth

2006-03-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

The youth ministry here is not easy. Well, I don't think it's easy anywhere. But sometimes I feel like we're not going forward. Like we're just maintaining what we got and not expanding and reaching new levels. But I was encouraged recently by the youth camp. We had such a great time. I was able to see the youth go to a new level with God. I was encouraged to see them worshipping and surrending to God. Intimacy with God is where it all starts. I also realized that God is the one in charge. He is the only one that can change people. He is the only one that can heal their hurts and the only one that can make them draw closer to Himself. All I need to do is be obedient to what he would have me do. I thank God for the youth here. They have encouraged me without them knowing it.

God is Good

2006-02-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

I don't even know how to start. God has just been doing amazing things in my life lately. I've have been blessed with more support. I don't deserve it. I didn't ask for it. God just blessed me with it. Then today I received some great news. I've been praying about going to States and my ticket has been paid for. God is awesome. I can see God's hand in it all. I can see His grace being poured out to me. All I can do is serve Him more and continue to give my life completely to Him.

Focus

2005-10-27T08:34:00.000-04:00

Every day life seems to pick up its pace. I tend to get busier and do more things during a day. Life is just getting more hectic with more things to do and more things to distract me. I work in ministry full time. The same thing can happen in the church. I tend to get busy with a lot of stuff. Do this, do that, plan this plan, plan that; work in the office all day long. I can do all these things and call it ministry, but where's my focus. Sometimes I need to remember the basics. What's ministry? What does it mean to work for God? When things seem to be overwhelming me I need to keep my focus. It's not what I do, it's about people. There are lives that God wants to change. There are lives that God wants to touch. There are people that God wants as His children. And my focus should be on God, to listen to what He is saying. To listen to the Holy Spirit when He is telling me to go talk to somebody in need. To be available for God's use.