My recent trip to Mozambique from September 10-30 was an incredible opportunity for me to see the front line work of One Mission Society. Audrey and I are grateful for our prayer partners and financial supporters that made this trip possible.
The comments and pictures below cover only a small segment of my time there. It is not intended to be a chronological story of the trip, but rather a collection of stories that bring glory to God because of the work being done by our Mozambican workers and missionaries. And, I cannot possibly write about everything that I experienced and show you all the pictures that I took, so my comments and pictures are selective especially because your time and my time is precious. So, we will be posting new comments and pictures several times and we will let you know when that happens. In the mean time, enjoy.
As the ECC (Every Community for Christ) Shepherd for OMS’s work in Mozambique, the main person that I work with is Pastor Juka Fernando. Pastor Juka serves as the evangelism coordinator in the northern part of Mozambique and he was my traveling companion throughout the trip. He is also a key leader of Iglesia Evangelica Palavra Viva (The Living Word Evangelical Church). Here he is pictured with this wife Elina and their daughter Milca. Milca’s t-shirt reads “I didn’t ask to be a princess, but if the crown fits…” And, yes, it fits. She enjoyed eating ice cream sitting on my lap.
Other traveling companions were Aimee Howarth and Ana Miambo, Pastor Juka’s sister-in-law who is 15 years old. Aimee is our OMS missionary involved in teaching and church planting. She has learned Portuguese and is learning an indigenous language also. Ana will be starting school in January and currently has free time to work and travel with Aimee. She has a sweet spirit about her and is a work horse jumping in any time that there is work to do. Aimee has acclimated to the Mozambican culture and kept me well informed and out of cultural trouble.
Another traveling companion was Pastor Abel Miambo (pictured on the right) with another pastor. Pastor Abel serves as the evangelism coordinator for the southern part of Mozambique and is also a key leader of the Palavra Viva Church. Because he knows Portuguese and several indigenous languages, he was very helpful in translating for me. The other person is Pastor Tomas who is a village pastor and church planter where we showed The Jesus Film.
Every time that I spoke to a group, whether it was at a meeting of pastors, a worship service, a training meeting, a village church or a seminary class, I brought greetings from OMS worldwide, from supporting churches and individuals and from Audrey. My favorite tool to use was a colorful, cloth world map that I unfurled to point to where our missionaries, church planters and seminary students are located. This picture shows me pointing to OMS headquarters in Greenwood, IN as Aimee translates into Portuguese and Pastor Abel translates into another local dialect. At one village church meeting, I brought greetings from President David Long of OMS. I got very little reaction. The next time, Aimee told me to use “chief” instead of “president.” As Aimee translated for me, I saw the heads of the community leaders nodding in approval.
I also told the village churches that around the world there are thousands of people doing the same thing that they are doing and that they are an important part of OMS worldwide and not to feel alone in their part of the world. As I shared this during a training seminar under the shade of a large tree in Quissico, one Mozambican young man stood up and said, "I am glad to hear that we are a part of OMS worldwide and that we have brothers and sisters around the world because, until now, I thought our church began and ended in Maputo."
Everywhere I went I was greeted warmly as a special emissary of OMS and America. It was an honor and privilege for me to be in worship with Palavra Viva church members and to meet their hard working pastors and village church planters.
I was also invited to preach God’s Word to a Palavra Viva church in the coastal city of Quelimane. My host pastor in Mocuba, Pastor Antonio Vasco da Gama, traveled with us and translated for me in the local dialect. My arms are outstretched because with my right hand, I’m pointing to Ninevah and with my left one, I’m pointing to Tarshish. I preached from Jonah 1: 1-3 where it says that Jonah “fled from the presence of the Lord.” Instead of going to Ninevah as God told him to, he went in the opposite direction to Tarshish. So, I asked the congregation, “What are you fleeing from?” I was blessed with this opportunity to preach.
We also participated in baptisms in one of the village churches. The setting was a beautiful lake with clear water and a sandy beach. It is a very special event for the church members to gather for baptisms.
I was asked to participate by praying for the two young people to be baptized.
The joy of this young boy being baptized is evidenced in his face as he runs out of the water and as he participates in the Lord’s Supper for the first time. Aimee is happy to give him his certificate of baptism.
It was a one time opportunity for me to take this picture of Aimee’s feet. I have to admit that I was looking around as we prayed. As I saw Aimee praying and looked down at her feet I was reminded of the verse in Isaiah 52:7,
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,
the good news of peace and salvation,
the news that the God of Israel reigns! NLT
Well, as I wrote at the beginning of this blog, this is just one segment of more to come about my trip to Mozambique. Audrey and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this month by taking a trip to Aruba from October 21-29, so we’ll be on vacation. We are grateful to Audrey’s sister, Phyllis, who is providing a time-share there for us. After we return we will share more about:
• The Jesus Film presentations
• Unforgettable worship experiences
• Eating in Mozambique
• It must be ”universal”
