Yielded Hearts » Love never fails

Culturally, Pemba is significantly different to South Africa. We are in some ways forced (in a good way) to immerse in the culture and learn either Portuguese (national language) or Makua (the people’s heart language) or both depending on who you needed to speak to. In some cases even Makonde.

We have been taught many useful things in order to communicate and build relationships, to honour the Mozambican bible college students and pastors that we are living in community with. Language lessons and tips on what honoring and love looks like to them have been much appreciated.

Some highlights in our cross cultural experiences:

In one of our morning classes, we joined together with the Mozambican bible college students and pastors that had been assigned to our colour group. Not only were we going to pray for one another but we were going to wash each other’s feet as Jesus had done for His disciples. This touched my heart in a deep way as it painted a picture of unity and reminded me of the scripture “By this the world will know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another”. It was a sacred moment – more profound than I can express here.

We also engaged in a number of fruitful village excursions. One time we went out with one of the bible college staff members, by the name of Biche. His family live in the village not far from the base and he invited us over to meet them. It turned out to be an evangelistic adventure that saw 5 people throughout the village give their lives to Jesus after we shared the gospel and had it translated. Two of those people were Biche’s neighbours. God is amazing and has such a heart for these people. We had a 2nd visit to See Biche’s mum to get measured up for some traditional African clothes as she was skilled in sewing. During this visit another neighbour who wondered in to visit was drunk. She asked us if we had beer and we all immediately thought of the scripture of the man at the temple begging for money and Peter saying, “Silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give you…”. Another opportunity arose to share the love of Jesus Christ. We were translated from English to Portuguese, then to Makonde. This beautiful Mama gave her heart to The Lord and was immediately delivered from her alcohol addiction. Praise God!!!

Biche and his mama, Inesh and sister, Betty. Precious family

In our practical missions I got to sit and make jewelry with the mamas while Craig went to do jail ministry. Even in my limited vocabulary, I discovered later that simply sitting with the mamas and spending quality time, even if we weren’t saying much was an expression of love. This was evident in my 2nd week of sitting with them that one of them shared a cake that she had baked with me. That brought such joy and sweetness to my heart. Such simplistic love – spending quality time and sharing. The two things I love about Mozambicans.

My friends Anifa and Casilta

Craig’s time at jail ministry saw God move in a mighty way. A group of about 26 men were ministered to in a dark room where the gospel was preached and love poured out. By God’s grace, 21 of the 26 men gave their hearts to the Lord and half of them saw physical healings and deliverances. What amazing love God has for these men!!!

A few friendships have also been formed with some young men in the village, some who later approached us for either money or possessions. Such is the situation in this nation that many of them look to foreigners as their providers, but by God’s grace this is changing. These times were great opportunities to pray for our brothers and contend for breakthrough with God’s provision. We saw God move with miracles of opportunity and provision for these young men 🙂

Another really cool experience was that we were asked to photograph a Mozambican wedding of Heidi and Rolland’s spiritual children. While we didn’t bring any of our photography gear, we were able to round up some equipment to bless this beautiful couple. It was such a blessing and privilege for us to be involved. An unexpected opportunity that we would cherish forever.

A familiar pose from our photography days 🙂

The last experience I will share is one very dear to my heart. When we first got here we started building relationships with Pastor Miguel and his wife, Jacinta, that just lived opposite us. Pastor Miguel oversees 47 churches in the provence of Chuire. (Most of the pastors here oversee many, and up to hundreds of churches – that is kind of a mind blow in itself). Anyhow, we had been conversing with and learning Makua from them each day through necessity as neither spoke any English. One night when Craig and Miguel were sound asleep, Jacinta ran over with joy and hugged me so dearly. We sat and chatted for over an hour in my broken Portuguese and Makua and shared so much laughter it was hard to believe. I felt such a heart connection with this beautiful woman who seemed to beam with joy and smiles each time she saw me. My heart melts.

Pastor Miguel and his wife, Jacinta

The cheeky Jacinta smile is what I will remember most

Thank you Jesus for the people of Mozambique! May your love be encountered over and over again in this nation as you continue to draw the hearts of your children to yourself!

We were both sad and excited to leave South Africa and fly to Pemba. Before we left another adventure was had. It was actually an unpleasant experience but in hindsight, quite funny.

I ended up losing my mobile phone in a taxi ride and someone subsequently picked it up and eventually wanted 1.2 million rand ($120,000 USD) for it. Yep, no joke. When I tried to appeal for compassion, he said he would call back later as he needed to get to church. That was priceless! Afterwards we laughed so hard at the irony… of course we prayed blessing, favour and the goodness of God on our new friend.

Finally we are in Pemba. It really feels like Africa now 🙂 We are living in a very hot and humid climate. The ride to the Iris base was very bumpy and we spent as much time airborne as we were sitting. The ocean here is gorgeous.

Our room in the student compound is humble but still 5-star compared to how many Pemba villagers live. Running water is a luxury when we have it and electricity has been relatively reliable with only a few interruptions ranging from a couple of minutes to a few hours at a time.

Sleeping under a mosquito net on a double bed has not been easy

Getting used to more hand washing. Teamwork rocks!

This transition time was challenging, especially due to the heat, general health and mental as well as physical fatigue. Nevertheless my first experience of Heidi Baker, in person, stirred up renewed faith, shift in perspective and determination to press on. God is so faithful!

Bring on the last leg of Harvest school!

~D

Our time at Nelspruit was wonderful and put us close to the wildlife that lived around the campsite area. We enjoyed some beautiful early morning runs down to the lake where we saw zebras, kudus and wildebeasts. What an amazing spot for trail running! During some of our classes we also got to see zebras, wildebeasts and ostriches roaming outside! Now that’s not something we see everyday.

A zebra in the wild

Overlooking one of the watering holes … Awwww I know how cute are we 😉

Speaking of classes, during the 3 weeks, we sat under some great teaching from Surpresa (Surprise) and Tryphina Sitole, Rolland Baker, Sean Feucht, Tineke and Amy Lancaster. They were all amazing in their own right, but the stand out for us was ‘Miss Amy’ – 4 sessions with her wrecked us, and we had our faith so much more stretched through testimony and outright challenge to believe the bible at face value. Wow! I remember thinking after Amy’s first session was “Wow, I have so much more flesh to die”

Miss Amy keeping it real

Outreach took place in a community 1.5hrs drive from camp where tent revival meetings were taking place. We were involved in the Thursday night meeting, stayed overnight in a mama’s rural village and then ministered the next day as well as be involved in the Friday night meeting. This was an incredible experience simply because we had time to form relationships with the locals and have subsequently kept in touch with them.
We met people with the following names ….. Precious, Confidence, Excellent, Promise, Adjacent, Respect, Enough, Surprise, Delight and Happiness. What amazing and literal names.

Our time at Nelspruit ended with a 2-day safari to Kruger National Park, which was incredible. Keep your eyes peeled for that post next.

~D

We arrived in paradise on Saturday afternoon (18/10/14). Our accommodation while at Nelspruit is on a Christian camp. Flushing toilets and real showers!! Woohoo! The excitement that this brought everyone was quite hilarious. It was evident that this was a huge upgrade from porta-loos and bucket showers. The weather here is also cooler and not as dry as back at Footprints.

By the grace of God, Craig and I ended up with a whole dorm room with 7 beds all to ourselves. Woah! Praise God! Here’s a sneak peek of half of our room.

It is beautiful here and so spacious. Lots of room to have quiet and alone time. We are officially getting spoilt before we head to Pemba, Mozambique.

Another change for this leg of the journey is that we would not be holding our own Sunday services but we were split up into our colour group teams and shipped off to local fellowships. These fellowships ranged from small bush churches held in tents or garages through to Pastor Suprise’s church of 300 in a purpose built shed in the town of Backdoor.

Our first Sunday service was about a 40min drive from our camp and held in a large tent. The church was called ‘Ambassadors of God’ and pastor Sitembile (mama) and her congregation greeted us warmly with love when we arrived.

We were treated like royalty and all given a chance to share briefly who we were and where we were from before the preaching began. Craig took the opportunity to bless and share our love on behalf of fellow Christians in Australia.

At the end of the service we got to pray/prophesy over each of the 40-50 church members. It was a great time of ministry with many visibly touched by Jesus’s love and goodness.

In the theme of royalty, the team was driven off to the pastor’s house and fed an incredible lunch. It is amazing how those with little have such a heart to give and serve! It blessed us tremendously and these wonderful people have a special place in our hearts.

Thank you Lord for the relationships you’ve allowed us to form. We cherish and appreciate these times.

Our last week at the Footprints base was predominantly classes teaching on the Father’s Heart by Steve and Sandra Long – Pastors of the Catch the Fire church, Toronto, Canada. It was great teaching and similar to the teaching we’ve had in our fellowship back home. Yay God!

Another standout while still at Footprints base was Caroline the young base leader from Madagascar who, by her own admission, has no idea how to – organise anything, manage a base, manage staff or volunteers. Yet she saw horrific visions of babies being left to die in dumpsters and God told her this was happening in Madagascar. So she packed up her life and moved some years ago and now has a thriving base with many children who have never missed a meal despite very little financial backing. God simply shows up and makes things happen. It is an excellent example of simple and total faith.

Caroline is a wonderful testimony that we don’t have to be anyone, have any relevant skills, or need pre committed support. God likes to show His power and sovereignty only needing a yielded heart that says “here I am Lord”. Caroline is so down to earth and British, we would just love for everyone to meet her.

On 18th October we left Footprints base and set off for Nelspruit. Our teachers here have been amazing and our involvement in community has increased. We will break up the posts so this isn’t too much of a novel. 🙂

The logistics of moving 250 students

The long straight road to Nelspruit

After flying 14 hours and over 11,000km we touched down in Johannesburg, slightly weary but excited. We were greeted by friendly Harvest School staff after going through customs as other students from the different nations started arriving as well. It was so cool to hear all the different accents.

This was one of the amazing views of Johannesburg from the plane.

Our trip to Footprints base was eventful and with some slight detours, perhaps Holy Spirit’s idea, we got a chance to see some of the poorer parts of South Africa and pray over the area as we drove through. We also had the privilege to hear brief testimonies from a couple of students from the US, one from Germany and one of the school leaders from Switzerland. Even though we hadn’t slept for over 24 hours, we were keenly anticipating school and meeting the rest of the 250 students.

This is the cool cabin we get to stay in for the next two weeks. Little did we know that it did get very cool – even cold enough that it prompted the need to buy a warmer blanket and beanies the next day.

And this is where we take bucket showers

This is affectionately known as ‘tent city’ – housing for the single students.

We had a fun God adventure on the 2nd day with our ‘taxi’ trip to the shopping centre in town. We learnt the different hand gestures to get us to and from different parts of town as taxis here are more like a mini van shuttle system. They seem to have particular territories they work within and have capacity for up to 16 people at a time. Our trip required changing taxis for two sections but we got to meet some really friendly and helpful locals as we travelled.

Another friendly local on base. His name is Charlie

Till next time… Love to you all

Ps. God has done some more amazing things but we have limited internet access so our updates will be delayed.