Thoughts on my Mozambican Adventures

WOW, where to start!!

My most favorite thing, was the children, and especially the children that we met on our outreaches, i think that reaching out to them for just a few days was for me amazing. Just to be able to share Gods love with them and seeing them dancing, seeing them smile and open up a little, to see them laughing and going crazy with me was just so wonderful. there is so much suffering out there, and there are very few who really give their lives totally to bring Gods kingdom down to earth in order to bring his love, to stop the suffering, to just pour out his riches into these people. they really taught me so so much, more than i had to give them. the way that they continue to live even though for them there is nothing to live for, the way that they look after and protect their brothers and sisters, the way that even though they are maybe only 7 or so they will walk to get water, they will work, and they have such a sense of responsibility, the way that they love and hug you even though they dont know you....

i loved the fact that on base there we so many children as well, you can just take a ball out and there will always be people who want to play with you, whether that be the children from Iris or village kids. Iris opens its doors to so many people, and feeds thousands daily, its all about giving what you can, and sharing it with everyone. And despite the obvious problems that can occur, they havent hardened their hearts towards these people but continue to love even more, and to forgive and just share Gods love, for free even though it costs them absolutely everything...

I loved eating in the kitchen area there are hundreds of people and so much mess!!
i loved working in the kitchen serving the thousands at the conference and the wedding, and sweating like mad in the heat!! and serving at village feeding when the village kids come and eat!

i loved all the things we had to do as a team, my colour group was brilliant, and there was such unity between us, it just makes things so much better and it pleases God when there is unity, even though we were all from different countries, that we live such different lives, there was just such unity that it seemed as if we had known each other for years and years, these are the friendships that really last and have such positive impacts in peoples lives.

even the school as a whole was really united, it was so so amazing to be in a place where everyone there was there for the same reason, firstly God and going deeper in him, to learn and to find out what Gods calling in their lives is. we were all there united in worship, in prayer in everything and seeking him, finding him and again helping each other in each of our walks in Christ. and God has amazing things in store for them all! they are gonna rock this world for God!!!!

i loved the 10 day outreach we were also so united, even though things were not easy, they were made more joyful because we were together and encouraging and helping each other.i loved it!!
i really was able to see the children through Gods, eyes, and how much he loved them. And there are so many forgotten children out there that we dont even know about who are suffering, but God sees them all and hasnt forgotten any of them. And he loves every single one of them however dirty, ill, or rejected they are. God was there when we were in the middle of the bush bush, and he healed so many people.
The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. So many people are accepting jesus into their hearts, but there needs to be more people to go and give their lives to help them.

this trip has been so vital for me. i understand why God put it on my path and i am so grateful!!
it has opened my eyes more to who He is, what he wants, who i am in Him, what i must do, and a little about where i am going. He has also given me some preciously amazing friends, who i am sure will be life long friends.

its just so amazing what happens when you step out in faith and just trust God that he knows what he is doing even though we can limit ourselves by who we think we are and what we can and cant do and also to our own limited plans that we have made for ourselves, but he sees the big picture and its so much bigger than what we could ever imagine.

OUTREACH!!! 12th to 15th......

Following the meeting we moved to another place about 2 hours away. we stayed in Montepuez. there is a very very strong presence of banditos there so we had to be a little more cautious.there was a band in the street welcoming some important person to the town, but all the kids were dancing and having fun outside so i decided to join them, but 2 of my friends went closer to see with some of our mozambicans and they soon got pulled out because 2 of the mozambicans saw from afar that they were beginning to be encircled by banditos!
it was very very hot here too!! we were staying in the courtyard of one of the pastors of that area.
we went to consencrate and pray for the pastors of the church there. it just so happened that when we were dancing outside i noticed that the neighbour of the church was a witchdoctors house! there are white flags that hang outside their houses so that people know where they are.
then in the evening we did the film, but i didnt like the dancing here there was such an evil spirit that was there, and there was also a witch doctor prancing around too. we showed the film, and after as soon as the film had finished by the time the pastor finished a very very short talk, everyone was gone. this was the first time that ever happened, usually they stay for the prayer and stuff , but this time they just all left. so we went back to camp quite surprised....

the 13th, the leader of the band that had played the day before became a christian, and he went home and his wife who hadnt slept well in more than 15 years slept the best she had and he even had to wake her up in the morning, then they rang the pastor and they went over and all that family received jesus into their hearts!!!

we moved to another place on the 14th, a place where there are no latrines...nothing...so you have to pee in....well...wherever.... on these trips you realise that there is no privacy at all, and you just have to do what you have to do otherwise....well you can imagine!!
we were able to take a brief bucket shower in the place in montepuez , it was the most 'luxurious' place, if you can call it that, that we stayed in!! a laterine, which did have the occasional huge cockroach that would crawl out whilst you were.....anyway!!
so, focus.....this place had huge amounts of children also...and they looked so so poor and dirty in general.but with a little miriam and screaming they managed to smile and have fun!! i made a skipping rope with some little bits of rope and so that opened the way for a little communication and then once a little trust established we had so much fun!!running and screaming around, laughing, falling over, dancing!!!! i really really loved the children!! then in the evening we did the film.

my favourite part of the trip i think, the children and then the team from the school that i went with was just so great and united. it was a little hard with the mozambicans. three of them were excellent and there to bring god to the remote parts, but others were there just to have fun time with their friends, and 2 of those were just terrible. it was such a struggle. but it taught us girls to excerp a little more authority than we would usually, and just to be firm and not let ourselves be trampled on.but they were just in your face, irrespectful, they were aggressive, spreading disunity amongst everyone, and just so awful, but it was so tiring. but in the end they were seriously talked to and they wont be doing any outreaches in the near future. but our little group, we were brought so much closer because of the harsh conditions, we were able to encourage and help each other, pray for each other, and be compassionate! but also spread the joy and love especially when really needed!!
then in the morning we did a little dancing with the children and then we went on our way home!
we were relieved and so happy to be going back, but we had so much fun and saw so much on the trip that we were certainly changed, it challenged us to our uttermost cores, and our eyes were opened wider,and we were just able to see God move in us and the other people and touch them. we would at certain points just realise what we were doing and where we were, like on the camion in the night...what on earth, in the african bush bush travelling on the bumpy roads to spread the gospel....how on earth did i get myself into this!!!!!!!! it was hard to grasp, but always ended up putting a smile on my face!!!!!


The evening we got home we all took showers!!! had to clean ourselves twice we were so dirty!! and then we went out to the restaurant, in the end we were only 7 to go. But we ended up having the best time! We really needed some fun and relaxing time. we learnt that our dinner was offered and because we were only 7 it meant that we were going to be spoilt! All the 10 days it was spagets (spaghetti with tomato stuff and some kind of fish bits) and rice and beans,its all nice but it was a nice change, especially as we have had rice and beans, and rice, rice, rice since the beginning of the school too... so we had lobster and wine and we had dessert and the owner offered another bottle of wine and coffees, and we had dessert and we laughed and had so much fun, and felt like royalty, i think that God was blessing us and understood what we had gone through and so was just blessing us!!! had we have known that we were gonna have this at the end it might have been easier to face the last few days!! but on the 6th night, i pulled out a jar of nutella!! to help the girls psycologically!! it worked!!

the team was: Veronique and Vasco from France, they were our leaders, Debbie and Brad Simpson and their 3 children Aaron, Anna and Ryan who was the youngest at 4 from america and Tyler also from the US, and then Tammy, Paula and Chrissy all from Canada.

OUTREACH!!! 1st few days...till the 11th

Well i went on the mozambique outreach from the 5th august to the 15 august. it was a great challenge and sometimes quite a struggle, it took you to all your limits and even further, but it was an experience of a life time!! we drove about 6 hours away, we were 9 adults and 3 young children and then about 12 or more mozambicans. it was quite a squash in the truck!!! its not the most confortable mode of transport, our driver was rather impatient and didnt really think about us in the back when it came to the very bumpy roads and potholes .......
we stayed in three places, the first for 5 days the next for 4 and then 1 night in the last place, but we went to many different villages up to 2 hours away from camp.
the first 'evangelisation we did was on the 6th. we went to quite a big towns outskirts. what happens is that you go in the flat bed truck, someone plays the some lively african music on the keyboard, and there are singers,and then there a few on the ground dancing. and that goes on for around and hour and a half sometimes, and then once its dark, we play the jesus film in makua and that lasts about 2 hours, then the pastor does a little talk and then one of us does a testimony, and then there is a call for those that want jesus, and then there is the prayer and then for those that want healing they riot to the 'front' and then we pray for them for quite a while and then during that people tell their healing testimonies on the microphone.
there were conversions and healings in this place even though at first they were quite reserved.

the 7th in the morning we were awoken rather early, then you peak your head out of the tent and you see loads of children just staring at you!! it doesnt really make you want to show yourself!! but it was also so so hot, but i decided to venture out and play with the children of the village! it was so fun, i went with a skipping rope but then more than a hundred came and so i sort of changed for a mini sports relay thing, and it was just so fun, it was complete chaos but the kids were having fun and i was too!! then at the end i got them to sing me songs and then we danced!! it was so great! its just hard to tell them that your going, they usually just follow you everywhere! you only have 2 hands but amazingly you can actually have about one child per finger, maybe a few hanging off your arms, a couple on your back and then a few on your front and still manage to waddle a short distance!!
we did a film in another village that night.

on the 8th we had a huge jam packed day! they did actually tell us that we were just going for a short time somewhere and then coming back and then doing a film later, but TIA, stands for This Is Africa, meaning, a plan is just a plan, it can be changed, and that change can change, basically you have to be prepared for anything. we ended up spending the whole day out and returning in the early hours of the morning.
we first went about and hour and a half away to consencrate a church. there was dancing singing, bit more dancing, then we all entered the church and prayed and sang and danced. then after this we did baptisms, so that meant going to a place where there is water, so that took a little while, and then about 15 people got baptised in a beautiful little lake place.....then we went back and then drove back, and did a wedding, the wedding of the pastor of the place!!! and then we did the film!!!! i said my testimony in this place. we all take a night to do one. and then we went back to camp. the truck drives at this point are getting worse and worse.......

on the 9th we went to pray hut to hut in the village where we were staying. it was really good. we stopped at a house where the people were really into witchcraft, they were ill and had gone to the witch for healing. we prayed for them and cast the demons out, we also burned all the witchcraft things, and the people who were quite important people in the village became christians, and renounced to witchcraft, they gave their lives to god. and they got healed from their pain and illness!!!! there were so many children there, and so we prayed for the children as well, for the older women there too.
in the evening we did another film!! it was so fun, me and paula sort of went hyper, and were dancing rather crazily with the kids, dancing all over the place, there was so much joy in them, it was wonderful!!!these children are the future.

the 10th, there was another trip to the village, and there a demon possessed women got delivered from a few of the demons and manifested and said that she would think about giving her life to jesus.
in the evening we did the film in this village where we had the camp. it was so great. i danced and danced with more than a hundred children that were following every dance that i danced, i ran round the main crowd and they ran with me shouting, it was so amazing!! then we did the film and prayer, and so many received jesus and so many go healed! there is just healing going on everywhere, we are all praying for different people and so not knowing what is going on with the others, but at the end there are just so many testimonies!! god is so good and powerful!

Sunday the 11th we did a church service in this village. but i was consumed by this little boy that was there. he was so neglected. he had flies all over him, his clothes were just hanging off him, ripped and so so dirty and he had a hug sore on his leg that had turned to gangrene and had flies resting on it, and his face was so dirty too...and i was just filled with compassion and a sadness for this child. and its there that you think well, what on earth can i do and what am i doing that is gonna make anything change for him in these short moments that i'm with him....all i could do is pray and hug him and just give him as much love as i could during that service just so that he could feel what love is and the love of god, and just feel special for that short amount of time. but it really tested me also, as if god was saying, yes, you can touch the children that are not so dirty but can you love those that appear to be the worst of the worst....
but that morning you could really see the poverty and the suffering, its overwhelming...its all about bringing gods kingdom down to earth for the poor, the suffering, those that mourn, sick, the persecuted, the lonely.....

Hi!!

hi!!
sorry its been so long again!
well alot been happening again, school finishes on monday and people are already leaving.
on tuesday i do my extended outreach for 10 days in the bush bush so that is exciting! no shower for 10 days, we stay 3 nights in one village, then 3 in the next and then 4 in the next one, in tents and so that should be fun, rice and beans and rice and beans! i just have to get a good cusion to sit on!
we had the solemn assembly here where everyone, mozambican pastors from different towns and areas came, international leaders and missionairies and everyone fasted and prayed last saturday for the nation, that was amazing!shofars opened and closed the day, it was really really quite strong! the fasting lasted a week but the finalie was on saturday with everyone. pastors got their feet washed by other pastors and they were just honored for the work that they do.fasting and prayer for mozambique and the pastors.its not easy to be a pastor in mozambique, there is alot of opposition, alot of warfare, and alot work far away from anywhere and so they are quite alone, and it was just great to have them altogether so that they could see that they are not alone and that they are all part of the team and all working towards the same goal and for the same God and that miracles are happening and so many are coming to Jesus. they have amazing testimonies.

i have been making friends with a lovely girl from the village called Angela, she is crippled but has a lovely smile and half her family are crippled too and so me and my friend have been spending time there, its just so fun to get mixed in with the people, they are really friendly! ive made a friend fom the chicken shack who takes us and he translates for us too, so that is great, and he doesnt try to sell us stuff anymore which is a true blessing, as the chicken shack vendors always try to harrass us with souvenirs! we took a huge bag of rice the other day to her family and we carried water from the well also as they cant walk to get it and it was just lovely to see them happy and smiling. there is a lot of struggle for them as not many of them can work and so its hard for them.

if not classes have been really good and challenging as usual, we have mel tari this week, who wrote 'like a rushing wind', he is from Indonesia.

we had a prawn fest in my house the other day as a final house party, it was really fun and joyful! its sad to leave them all, we really did nearly all get on well and we lived so much together. it was just such a bundle of craziness and laughs!!

things are a little hectic in these last days but we're all quite excited about all the outreaches that are going next week. there are some all over the place, china, hong kong, indonesia, south africa, israel, malawi, sierra leone,different parts of mozambique, sudan, and more....its amazing!

hello!!

hello everyone!
im back
things have been great here, last weekend i went on another outreach in the bush bush bush, it was so remote and quite an excruciating ride, but it was great! its was not so so far away which always helps.
Heidi's team came for the evening evangelisation on the 1st night we got there. It was really amazing, there was a girl who was deaf that got healed, and many other healings.

in the evening we went to all went to ask the man and his wife on whose land we were staying their testimonies, turns out that they were actually muslim!! to cut a long story short they both gave their lives to Jesus and got healed from pain they have had for years. he was a chief of the town also, so open door to Iris to send pastors over to teach and God to do amazing stuff!!

the next day we went to do some baptisms but we had to find water!! we walked through such a dry place then followed a little muddy trail and then after a while we came out into the open and there was the most beautiful remote beach!! about 20 or so got baptised. it was amazing. and then one of the cars got stuck and so for about 5 hours they were trying to get it out and then finally it got out of the thick mud and all the 17 men helping they got saved too!

the next evening i saw several healings, and they were so joyful afterwards, which for here is quite something! they dont show emotions alot when they are healed, we later found out that this is because when they go to the witch doctor, they have to pay an entrance type of fee, and if they are healed then they have to pay an additional fee, so they pretend to look sad so that they dont have to pay it. so in later outreaches we did stress the point that they did not have to pay but that Jesus already paid the price and that it was free!!! had a lot of fun dancing with the people too!! that village no one had gone to evangelise there before and so many people came to Jesus.there were 1000 people on the second night and it was amazing and so so many got healed.
so it was fun but my bum and back hurt from all the bumps!!

i shared a tent with my german friend, Heike and that was so fun except that she invited an army of ants in by accident after leaning against a tree, so we had fun killing them all! but it was great fun with my friends and her, we are all so mischievous, that its hilarious!

the next day on the way back we visited the local iris church to encourage them a bit. it was really nice and even our children were able to encourage the people there and pray for everyone.

i got my baggage!! that was 3 weeks ago now, some stuff was stolen but it was good to get it!
still lots of classes and homework and we had some funny presentations we had to do this week too so hmm lots to do, shall try to write again when i have more time!!