Church from the Floods

In the year 2000, there was tremendous flooding in Mozambique. Many people lost their homes in an area called T-3. In partnership with the local church, missionaries began to give food, clothing, and medical and spiritual aid to the flood victims. 

When the flood victims moved to a new area, called Kongoloti, they asked the missionaries to help them to start up their own church! They had their first meetings under a tree, then in a tent, and now they have a building.

Bruce and Mabel Callender, who served in Mozambique from 1996-2006, came back for a visit, and we went to the women's Bible study at the church in Kongoloti.

I had been working on memorizing some Bible verses in Portuguese, and I shared Isaiah 41:8-10. I told them how these verses are a comfort to us because they remind us that through hardships, God is with us, that He will strengthen and help us, and that He upholds us with His righteous right hand. I encouraged the women to continue to remember God's Word so that they would have His comforting truth in their hearts.

The church in Kongoloti also runs a weekday preschool for the community :o)

Sick...and Seminary Dedication

Sick

This past week has been rough as my body spent every ounce of its time and energy violently trying to expel amoebas. I went to the local clinic for testing and they found that I had amoebic dysentery, and I've been taking antibiotics. 

I like what Arthur Matthews says about circumstances:

"John says, I found myself in the isle which is called Patmos -not one jot of credit does he give to the might of Rome. And not one mention escapes him of what he must have endured before eventually "finding" himself there...the means, circumstances, decisions that led to his finding himself there are unimportant. Faith discerns even behind the Beast, the hand of God - for second causes make good disguises and baffle any eye but the eye of faith. So to enlarge on the why and the wherefore; to blame himself or his charges; to weigh past decisions for or against is not on John's mind; nor does he allow any wishful sightings to occupy his thoughts. A more ideal field for just such thoughts could hardly be found. So there is a great deal of comfort for us in John's early verses of the Revelation."

A. Matthews (Green Leaf in Drought by Isobel Kuhn)

Seminary Dedication

This past weekend we celebrated the dedication of the Maputo Biblical and Theological Seminary! We pray that this seminary would be used to equip Mozambican men and women to lead and support responsible, reproducing, Christ-centered churches.

Dedication Service in the Seminary Chapel

With my OMS colleagues and visitors: Larry and Susan Weil, Mike Thiessen, Bruce and Mabel Callender, Bruce Bennett, Dave and Ann Dedrick

Sharing in Boane

This last Sunday I was so thankful to share with Pastor Nelio's church in Boane. I spoke Portuguese while P. Nelio translated into Changana. However, I had worked on learning how to say my three main points in Changana. After I said the first point, I automatically looked at P. Nelio for translation, but he looked at me with a big smile and said nothing. I asked if everyone had understood and he nodded and grinned. What a joy that was for me! After the service, the kids gathered around me and proceeded to give me intensive Changana lessons where I learned how to say such useful things as, "Go home child" and "I want an onion." :) It was a wonderful time of relationship building and fellowship. In the picture, I'm standing next to P. Nelio and his wife, Zinha, in their home.

Water and the Woman at the Well

The Dedricks have been introducing me to the local churches outside the urban area of Maputo...these are some children I met near the church in Picoco. The local language, Changana, is mainly used in the areas outside of the city.

We had some laughs as I practiced my Changana with them :) I greeted each one, I told them my name, and I asked what each of their names were. Then they taught me the word for water... mati.

This is the well (that gives mati :) outside of the church in Picoco. Previously, the only local well was at the mosque, and the mosque required membership in order to use the well. So through partnership and much hard work, the team here was able to put in a well that everyone in the community could use!

A local pastor, Abel, is standing on the left, and the woman who is sitting, is waiting to get mati at the well. I was able to practice a little more Changana...get a few more laughs, and talk with her for a little while. Along with the needed water for here and now, I also pray that she would receive the living water that would become a fountain in her springing up into everlasting life.

When I was about to leave, the little girl with the pink shirt (on the right) came up to me with a huge smile and said, "Aimee!" I was so glad that she had understood my introduction in Changana to know that I had said my name...and that she had remembered it too!