Ministry and Land in Inhambane

Together with Pastor Abel and a young man from his church named Joao, we traveled to Inhambane to do the leadership training, women's Bible study, and Chronological Bible storytelling. 

I stayed in Quissico with Diolinda, the younger sister of Palmira and Jesuita, who is on the left eating her breakfast of shaved cassava in hot water.

Diolinda, now in the 10th grade, lives in the same reed house that Palmira and Jesuita lived in when they were studying at the high school.

My four student housemates

After I had a full day of house-to-house visits into the far out bush of Nyamadjeho, two of the students gave me a late night Txitxopi language lesson by candlelight, where I learned how to say important things like...

"I like the kitchen" and "I don't like the shirt"

One of the women we visited to pray for was Mama Magarita.

We walked far out to her field and she pulled up some cassava, and a small sweet pineapple to thank us for our visit.

I invited her to the next women's Bible study writing the date in the ground with a stick. 

Land!

Before leaving for the US last year, I moved to Inhambane city for around 5 months to see if that would be a good place for me to live in the future. 

However, most of the people that we have been working with, and the 2 churches that have been planted, are based in the district of Zavala. Inhambane city is quite far from this area, and as much as I enjoyed living there, it would not be the best place for me to live.

Along with my Mozambican and missionary colleagues, I began looking for land in the central part of Zavala, the municipality of Quissico. 

My colleagues from Maputo, Larry and Melvin, joined Pastor Abel and I to see some land we found that was being sold by a local man we met in Quissico.

 There are two separate plots, the smaller of which could be used to build a house where I could live, the larger of which could be used to build a training center that could function as a local place for church services, leadership trainings, Bible studies, meetings, etc...

I would appreciate prayer for the land that God wants for us to use for His work and His glory in Inhambane, Mozambique.

Thank you!   

Flood Update and Weekend with Team

Thank you for praying for the Mozambicans affected by the flooding. 

We have been collecting clothing and other items from Mozambican church members and missionaries in Maputo to donate to the flood victims in the province of Gaza.   

The missionary team changes so often with people coming and going, so it always looks different. But each year we spend a weekend together as a team.

Inhambane Trip and Flooding

 

Together with Mozambican pastor, Abel, and Brazilian colleague, Fernanda, I traveled back to Inhambane this last week to do Bible studies and leadership training with the church groups there.

Bible study with the church group in Nyadumbuque.  



Please pray that they would grow in their relationship with Christ.

Flooding



On the afternoon of our third day there, we got word that the Limpopo river had swelled due to torrential rains, which was causing severe flooding in the province of Gaza, just south of Inhambane.

We cut the trip short due to the danger of being stranded if the national road was severed. The national road is the only road that goes north and south in the country, and this is the road we use.

As we arrived in Xai Xai, the town was being evacuated. Homes were submerged, leaving little islands of land or roof where people were being rescued by raft.  

Water was rushing underneath the national road as we passed over. Usually there is land on both sides of this part of the road (above).



We passed through at 6pm, and at 7pm the national road became impassable and was closed. That night the road was severed.

 As of today, 45 people have been killed, and around 70,000 displaced. Nearly 85,000 have been affected by the raging waters.

Would you please pray for all those suffering the effects of this flooding. 

Partnering with Mozambican Church Leaders

I'm regularly involved in meeting with the leadership of the national Mozambican church, Palavra Viva.

Left to right - missionary Melvin, pastor Daniel, pastor Juka



Together, we're seeking to reach Mozambique with the love of Christ.



Left to right - pastor Abel,  and missionaries Paulo, Larry, and Don.

Would you pray for these 3 national church leaders?

Pastor Daniel 
Professor at the Maputo Biblical and Theological Seminary 
(officiating the wedding of a church member) 

Pastor Abel
Evangelism coordinator for southern Mozambique 
(baptizing with a new church leader in Inhambane)

Pastor Juka 
Lead coordinator of evangelism for Mozambique 
(visiting one of his church groups in the the Zambezia)

Update on my health - I'm feeling close to 100 %  better! Thank you for praying.

Happy New Year

Together with two of my colleagues and their niece, we drove 3 hours north of Maputo to Xai Xai to spend New Years with missionaries, Orai and Linda.

Left to right - Katie, Susan, Larry, Linda, Orai

I made a new friend, a South African Boerboel named Lou.

I'm feeling much better, thank you for praying.

Prayer, Mercy Air, and Merry Christmas!

Thank you for prayer as I continue to recuperate! 

At our Tuesday morning prayer meeting, I had the privilege of asking the leaders of the Mozambican national church to anoint me and pray for my health. What a special blessing that was to me.

I've also had the opportunity to visit Paul and Cathy, the pilot and nurse from Mercy Air in South Africa, who flew me out of Mocuba when I was sick. It was great to get to know them...as a healthier person.

 Wherever you are in the world...I hope you have a very Merry Christmas...from Africa!

Ministry and Sickness in Zambezia

Thank you to all those who have been praying. 

I went to visit and share with churches in the northern Mozambican province of Zambezia. 

I stayed with Elina and family, while her husband, Pastor Juka, made his first ministry trip to Brazil to visit our partner church there.

I was so blessed to share about Christ with 5 churches in very far out areas. I traveled by motorcycle with the guy in the blue shirt in the photo above.

One of my favorite things in this world is a coffee milkshake.

One day when I got home from one of the churches feeling hot, dirty, tired, and hungry, I wrote this down...

"To do the will of God is better than all the coffee milkshakes in the world."

I know this may seem silly, and I don't know what some of your "favorite things" are, but I do know that obeying God's will for your life is so much better. 

At one of the churches, two local chiefs came out to hear me speak. I shared the Gospel and I shared about how Christ had transformed my life. I said that God not only wants to forgive us, but that He wants to speak to each of us, to guide us, to bless us, and use us.

I don't know what impact this had on those two chiefs, or with any other person at the church meetings, but I was reminded of a story I heard from a Mozambican pastor.

He had the opportunity to go to Brazil to speak in some churches. At one meeting, a local Brazilian, who was leading a violent and drunken life, came out of curiosity "just to see the African man." 

The Brazilian man gave his heart to Christ, his life was transformed, and he became a pastor.

11 years later, the Mozambican pastor returned to Brazil, and he spoke in that same church. That man approached him after the sermon and asked the Mozambican pastor if remembered him, which he did not.

The Brazilian man then told him that he remembered what he had said like it was yesterday, and he told of how God had touched his heart, changed his life, and how he had been pastoring his own church for the last 11 years.

The Mozambican pastor was shocked. A Brazilian man who had just come to "see an African man" was met by God. 

I thought to myself, maybe the Mozambican chiefs came out of curiosity just to "see the American lady," and maybe God would also meet with them.  

Sickness

After my first week of ministry, one night I began to have a very high fever, nausea, dizziness, chills, and could not keep anything down or in me. After several hours of this, I became very weak and I woke up Elina, who she saw that I needed to get to the rural health post.

Since the only mode of transport was motorcycle, and I did not have enough strength to sit up and hold on, the driver sat in the front, I sat in the middle, and Elina sat behind me to hold me up...like a sick Aimee sandwich. Amazingly the motorcycle held up, and thankfully we arrived at the health post just before the tire blew out. 

The only test they were able to perform was the basic malaria test, which came back negative. But they thought that all my symptoms pointed to malaria, and that the test just didn't catch it, so they prescribed anti-malaria medication, as well as a general antibiotic in case I had a bacterial infection. 

When we got back home, Elina put me on a reed mat at the door of the house so that I could get some more air, since it was extremely hot. This is where I lay the next few days. I took the medications for the next three days, but did not get better.

One of the most beautiful things about Mozambican culture is that it is important to not leave people alone. Someone always sat with me or stayed with me. 

One of the drawbacks to this was that even the smell of food made me vomit, and one evening I vomited in the middle of the house as dinner was being put on table. I staggered outside to get some fresh air, but so that culturally I wouldn't be left alone, the family brought their plates outside to eat around me...at which point I vomited two more times.  I explained that my stomach could not be near food, and as hard as it was, they finally allowed to me to go to a corner by myself so my stomach could settle.    

  Two more days passed after I finished the medications, but I was still not able to keep anything down or in. I had lost quite a bit of weight and I was very weak. I decided, along with my team, that I needed to be flown out.

Mercy Air (http://www.mercyair.org/) flew me from Mocuba to Maputo.

I was able to get an IV at a health institute in Maputo and they did a number of tests. They re-confirmed that I did not have malaria. They said that it could have been a virus and that the anti-malaria medication and antibiotics had greatly aggravated it.

I want to thank those who have been praying as I regain strength and recuperate. 

It continues to be true for me, that doing the will of God is better than all the coffee milkshakes in the world.