An Answer to Prayer

"The old man who wanted to married Deta left to Chimoio. The whole thing is canceled!"

This one was Simo telling me after coming from Massandza one Sunday.
Deta is a fourteen year old girl who is part of the youth group in Massandza and had always been very participative at the church until her family decided she was old enough to marry and accepted "lobolo" from the guy who own the store where her uncle often got drunk. He already had a wife but that is the least of things in that area.
Simo had tried to convince him in every possible way to not take such a small child and actually not take a second wife at all. He had finally decided he would send the first one away and keep only Deta. Not a good solution for us.
And so we prayed. We wrote in our newsletters last month about it and I heard from a few people who were also praying about it.
And guess what? God answered. All of the sudden, the guy changed his mind, moved to Chimoio and the whole deal was canceled!

How can we doubt the power of prayer!? Simo and I were very happy and encouraged by that.

Youth Seminars - by Simo Caba

Last year in December, a vision was born - while rejoicing and reaping the harvest during the last conference we had, after investing in the lives of many youth from Inhaminga and around.

We believe that it is the time to see God’s promises fulfilled here were we are. He promised that these children will have visions and they will prophesy full with the Holy Spirit.

We know that is not enough to have only one conference at the end of the year. We need to continue imparting in their lives, helping and teaching them how to build a character like Jesus. So we decided to have regional seminars once a month if it is possible. That set us on a run to fulfill this vision.

It has been amazing! Until now we had 3 seminars: Massandza, Cicuziri and Inhaminga. Especially the ones out of Inhaminga had been super special! God is so faithful.

I remember since I came in Mozambique in 2004 my dream, my deepest desire before God was to see this young generation full of the Holy Spirit, worshiping God, separated and sanctified.

Even it started already to happen few years ago, when the teens here in Inhaminga were baptized in the Holy Spirit I really received these precious gift from God during these last 3 seminars.

The gift is His promise and my heart desire fulfilled: to see children and youth speaking in tongues and crying before God, hungry for more, worshiping without shame and fear. It is a miracle!

Thinking back when we started to work with children here in Inhaminga the only one crying during worship was me. I could see sometimes their eyes wide open looking at me thinking: What was wrong with “missionaria”?

A few months after we'd started I printed some pictures with kids from all over the world in prayer, worshiping with tears and hands lifted up. When I posted them on the wall at “Anapiana Wa Yesu” where we held the meetings in that time – they were exposed for the first time to this amazing reality knowing that God is calling them also to true worship, to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, to pray for the sick and to prophesy.

Since then passed almost 6 years, but it is happening! We live a year of promises fulfilled! The harvest is ready! Praise God! He is so faithful!
To see their little hands lifted up, tears on their chin and their mouth full with songs of praise in heavenly languages. What a reward!

I want to especially thank Susana for being such a blessing for me, carrying together the same vision, helping and being always at the right time and right place where we needed so much. I don’t know how she could do everything here at the base and still come always at the youth meetings or church services. I miss you Su already a lot!

We cannot wait for Jansen, Daena, Diogo and Leidi to come. It has been a long time since they left….





Note from Su: It was a great privilege for me to be at Inhaminga during two months learning so much from Simo and her heart for people in general, but especially for youth and children. We have always been great friends, but I feel this as a God appointed time for our hearts to be connected in this one vision to see something new happening amongst the youth of Mozambique. It was not hard at all to flow with what was going on at Inhaminga and I felt I received more than I gave while I was there.
As an overflow of what I received there we are starting a youth group at the church at Muzuane. Rito, who has worked for some years with Simo had the same vision, so we are running together with it!

Rain, a blessing and a curse - by Jeff Reetz

How can something be a blessing and a curse at the same time?
For the people here in Mozambique when the rains come it is truly a blessing.
Although you don’t hear it you very much sense a breath of relief coming from the people. There seems to be an air of lightness, even joy as you talk with them. You see them heading for their fields early in the morning, women with their children in tow, hoes ready and balanced on their heads along with some water for their daily needs. As you look around you see them all over the land, all hunched over their hoes, working, some singing, the children that are old enough doing the same. The little babies balancing on the backs of their moms, swaying and swinging to the rhythm of their work. They don’t stop to feed them, they just swing them around in front so the baby can breast feed while she continues to work.
We are already seeing the fruits of their labors coming up, the peanuts, corn, millet, cassava growing in the fields. Just this week we started seeing the melons coming in from the fields for sale on the side of the road as you travel.
When you see this you know there is an abundance, they can feed themselves and sell the excess so they can buy the salt, oil, soaps, the basic living stuffs they need in their homes. Life is good during this time.

So what’s the curse?
Here in this part of Mozambique when it rains it really rains. For about a five day period last week for example we must have received at least 10” (25 cm) of rain, coming in huge torrents with a lot of wind driving it. That’s when their houses start to crumble and collapse. With the driving winds it pushes the rain directly against the mud sides of their homes, quickly eating away at the mud plaster they have used to secure the mud bricks inside. When this happens it does not take long for the rain to cause whole walls on the windward side to collapse.
Every day I would ask the workers – “how is your home”? For the first few days of this last episode of rain I would hear “no problem”. And I would rejoice with them. Then towards the end of this period I began to hear “my home collapsed last night”. I would ask them what they were going to do, knowing that they could not affect any repairs during the rainy season, too much rain destroying any mud blocks they would try to make. Mostly they would respond that they would try to find some plastic and cover up the holes, trying to secure the remaining walls so they at least have a place to stay.

Our hearts go out to them, ready to help them if they say they need help. But, that’s the interesting thing about it, this year none of the workers have asked for help. In reality this is the first time since we have lived here in the North (more than five years now) that there has been an abundance of rain, at just the right times and also the right amounts. It seems that they are so happy to have fields producing food, food on their tables and food in excess to sell that the problem with their house is a small price to pay.

The parable of Jesus where He describes the wise man and the foolish man (Mathew 7: 24-27), in regards to how they construct their houses is so applicable here. While we don’t have rock to put our foundations on, we can build with a good foundation, even on the sand, a foundation that will stand strong. So, to build here you need to make a very large and sturdy and deep foundation (of mud, sand and stone), then start building your house. People don’t have problems with their foundations, usually, they have problems with their walls, what they put on the foundation. How true this can be for us as well, we may have good training, good understanding, good background in our knowledge of God, Jesus and the Word, but if we don’t finish the story, put what we know into effective and aggressive action what we do will surly fall. We have all heard it – faith without action is dead. A good foundation without a good finish will fall.

What can we learn from this? Finish the race! Do it right and whatever storm comes at you will fail, but you will succeed. Thank you Lord!

Rain Down!

Like diamonds falling on the Earth rain poured over us last night! It started as a few drops, then a fine drill and finally a big outpouring.

How many times I have seen rained and haven’t cared about it! How many times I have even complained when it rained during a time I wanted to do something out side.

This time it was different! We had been praying for rain for days, weeks, almost months.

We looked to the sky many, many times a day, hoping to see clouds. When we saw clouds, we hoped it would become drops. But everything was dry. The grass was dry, during a season it should be the greenest! The trees looked sad! Every afternoon we would see the leaves curling up. In the morning they would look better, and the same way God’s mercies are new every morning, our hopes were renewed that today would be the day for rain to fall!

People’s moods started to be affected. Not only because of the heat, that was terrible, but the perspective of a year without rain. In a community where food comes from primitive agriculture irrigated only by rain, when there isn’t enough rain during a “supposedly rainy season”, that means a year of hunger, suffering, and even death to many.

Today it was a different day. Workers came in with a big smile and every ones’ mood was better. It had rained! Rain means hope! Means life!

We had promised we would go out to dance in the rain, but I was fast asleep when it was really pouring. Christa tried waking me up, but I didn’t hear! L Jeosafá was up and took some pictures! When I woke up in the morning though, there was fog, which means humidity, something very different from the past very dry weeks! And I knew it had rained a lot, even though I didn’t see it!

We continue praying for more rain. Now the people can plant sweet potatoes and cassava. That will at least help them survive the year ahead.

Thank you God for your faithfulness!

Thank you for your prayers!

Judging

There is only one judge, one who can judge all flesh and it is not me!
If I judge someone, I am putting myself as a judge, I place myself in God's place, and I judge God even, because He made man.
I excuse myself because I know I mean to do good, even when I fall short. And even when I don't mean good, I find myself excuses as to why I didn't.
When I judge others, I don't know their motivations, but I pretend I do and I always find them guilty and me, inocent.

- thoughts that came while reading "The Shack"

Strength to the persecuted!

"We thank God for protection and encouragement in his work and for the heath that he has given us day after day. On Sunday, the 31st in the morning while we were in the service the Muslims came in the number of 30 men with the purpose to destroy us and mess up our service. By the power of the Holy Spirit they were able to do anything and they were outside from 8h30 to 11h when we finished. They didn't find anyone who wanted to discuss with them, so they were embarrassed and started telling us that we must not preach the name of Jesus in the market, but we told them right then that the market is not the Muslims' or the Christians' or the pagans', it belongs to the municipal council for all the people to use and we will continue preaching there until Jesus comes back. So they responded that every Sunday they will come make noise during our service, but we know we do not fight against flesh and blood, and we bind that in Jesus' name, remembering that Jesus has the victory and we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus."

This is a report we received from our evangelists in the field. We pray for God's strength to continue guiding them and giving them wisdom in how to react in each situation.

APRIL NEWS

This month we opened the library, started the student cell meetings, and saw the Holy Spirit dealing with many students in their relationships with each other.

One of the subjects I taught this semester was fasting. I emphasized how we cannot exchange a sacrifice on our bodies for any blessings from God and that the only precious payment for our blessings is the blood of Jesus. But then, why fasting, if we are not in the old testament when sacrifices had to be made some asked? So I explained about putting our bodies under submission and how if we satisfy all the desires of our flesh it becomes demanding and soon the spirit is overpower by the flesh. But that God promises to reward our fasting, if we do it in the right attitude. Well, I did get a big reward for our first fasting as a student body.

I had been having a lot of stomach ache (like gastritis) since I arrived from Brazil. Two times it got worse and for almost a week I was feeling it every day. I prayed about it, and asked for prayer from the team. I knew I was healed but still felt pain every day. But our focus on the fast was intercession for lost people we knew, for salvation to come to the lost, and I asked God to help my stomach ache not to get worse because I wasn’t eating that day and didn’t worry about it anymore. So the whole day passed and I didn’t feel ANYTHING! Since then, it has been more than a week, I have been very, very well, with no pain at all! I am healed!

It was such a great healing, and made me remember once that I experienced an immediate healing while I had communion with the team at Inhaminga many years ago. Some people may think that we must do these things (take communion, fast, baptize) out of an obligation, as a religious ritual, but we know that Jesus wouldn’t tell us something that had no meaning. Everything he told us to do has meaning and spiritual power. I know that because I have experienced it over and over!

Some of the students also testified changes that happened during that fast. While we corrected the test we did on that subject, a student got up and out of the blue said: “It was my first fast ever, and I liked it so much! Can we do it again? I can see God doing wonderful things in my life since then!”

PÁSCOA
On the two years we’ve been in Nacala we’ve had Passover with the students (2007) and with the local churches (2008) but never with both together! This year it was a wonderful opportunity to have all of them in one spot in such a special time.

Preparations started way before the actual date. Just like it must have been in Israel many years ago, when people had to plan their trip to Jerusalem every year three times a year to celebrate God’s Feasts. We started by teaching churches and students about what is Passover. All three churches heard about the Israelites having their first sons protected by the blood of the lamb and the whole people leaving Egypt in the middle of the night, and what it means for us today. They also heard about the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, and that He also died during Passover time, to fulfill all the prophecies. The students had been learning about the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, so they also heard the whole story twice (once in the classroom and once in the churches they visited).

All the physical preparation was also made, with guys searching everywhere for a blameless lamb (ups, goat) for our feast, dramas being prepared and all the churches preparing to come and bring their contribution for our lunch together!
The weekend came!

On Friday night we had a special time as a family (team and students). We first heard and thought about the resemblances between the lamb that was killed during O.T. Passover and Jesus! Then we ate it in fellowship and joy! The team presented our drama which finished just before Jesus was being arrested and from that part on we watched from the Jesus film. And finally we had Communion together! How special to have Communion in such an appointed time!
On Saturday the churches came and we had a big celebration service. Kids were everywhere, a fan broke right in the middle of worship making a big noise, lots was happening outside of the classroom with the workers, but still praises continued to raise up to heaven! It is amazing the growth that has happened in the lives of the people who were here last time. It is a joy to see some families coming together (dad, mom and kids) to church! And those that hardly knew what worship was before can now enter in fully. Jorge brought a good word about the crucifixion and then the students presented their drama! They had planned it alone and we did not know what to expect, but it was VERY NICE! One of the best that I’ve seen so far! It was all in Makua so that the people could understand it well, and even without much resource they presented the story concisely and clearly! I was so proud of them! One of the men from Muzuane told me: “If anyone came without understanding the meaning of Passover, after this drama, they DID understand!”

At the end we had lots of fun distributing toys for the kids. A church in Brazil donated a lot of small toys and I brought it so this was the perfect opportunity to distribute them. It was precious to see all the smiles and the exclamations as they opened their gifts and children and adults curiously checked what everyone else got!

Sunday at sunrise, we had planned to worship together, but everyone was just a bit late, so Debs, Nicky and I arrived first at our meeting place. We were just like the women coming to Jesus tomb and finding it empty. We woke up all the students screaming HE IS ALIVE! They answered from their rooms even before they joined us for worship!

That morning Muzuane home group visited Nacoto with part of the students and the rest of the students went to Rassim! We all celebrated that HE IS ALIVE and what His resurrection means to us! He is the first fruit and we are the rest of the harvest!!!!!