done

This is the youth of our church.  The song talks about how we are a new creature in Christ and each one made up a dance on the spot expressing their love for the Lord!

“Spiritual growth is from stage to stage.  There are great days, days of decisive battles, days of crisis in spiritual history, days of triumph in Christian service, days of the right hand of the Father upon us.  But there are also idle days, days of apparent uselessness, when even prayer and service seem a burden.  Are we, in any sense, renewed in these days?  Yes, for any experience which makes us more aware of our need of the Father must contribute to spiritual progress, unless we deny the Lord who bought us.”  (None but the hungry heart,  Miles Stanford)

It is our nature that after time no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, we try to find a place, whether emotionally or physically that we can handle the day to day experiences of life.   In my heart I see that our coping mechanisms try to make things normal so that we can handle what comes to us daily………..So then came a day which exposed where my trust was in, my coping mechanism or in Christ.

So there I was, trying to make something normal that is completely strange….our living in the middle of a Mozambican neighborhood.  We have been making friends with all our neighbors and trying to build relationships, whether it’s so we can share Christ’s love or so that we can finally be excepted in a strange situation or both (only God knows).  All in all lately I can honestly tell you that we have been starting to feel more accepted in our surroundings, even thinking that people are liking that we live here…….Then out of the blue, one day, I leave our house to walk to my friends house and what happens…..I’m bombarded by a constant stream of “you are not wanted here, leave!)  One guy, yells at me (probably drunk) and says, ” Hey whitey, leave here, and pretends to shoot me!”  A little unsettling you say, yes, to say the least!  Whether that shook me off my rocker or what, I don’t know, but then the rest of the week I was super conscience of how people were treating me….all the stares, the whispers, the seemingly constant yelling of “Whitey” in the dialect…..all these things mount to a point where I’m back at square one, as if we are going through culture shock over again.  I’m praying for God’s grace to get me through!  We are not only in a normal conflict of interests here (even if we were not missionaries, they would be doing that!) but we are most assuredly in a spiritual battle that will not go away.  I realize that without the grace of God, we will not make it.   I’m so encouraged by the myriad of scripture that speaks to me reminding me that “Tribulation worketh patience”.  I am brought back to our purpose here, not to please ourselves but to Glorify God in a place where He is not being glorified!  We will only do that by not trusting in our coping mechanisms but in Him who commanded light out of darkness, and still is the light to the world, through us!  Thank you for your continued prayers for us!  We love you all.  Even where you are God asks you to reflect His glory, not yours, are you?

“But we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;  and hope  does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Romans 5:3-5

We are continuing to work very closely with our church here.  The church has a head pastor that has gone on and planted many churches throughout Mozambique.  These churches are not strong, but nonetheless there.  Our placement and working with this church seems very strategic (only God knew that), in that, the impact this church could have on Mozambique as a whole is potentially very huge.   One of their church plants up North along the Zambeze river has  a Discipleship Training Center which is being run and helped by YWAM.  We are praying about going there and teaching for a month or so this summer.   Up until now  we have been learning about how this church functions and gaining relationships and confidence among them, through working side-by-side with them in ministry and life.  We have been growing with them, mourning with them, serving with them, etc.  Something that recently told me that the Lord definitely has us here for some purpose (although we still don’t know exactly what that is); usually when a foreign missionary comes and they preach you will see by the reaction from the audience that it didn’t touch their heart at all, and also by talking with them later.  Well recently, and this is completely not any of our merit but the Lord’s, I (Delia) was asked to speak at a ladies conference (they asked me the night before).  Well, seeing how the Lord has provided every other time that they have given us no time to prepare, I just had to trust the Lord would give me words.  He did! What really amazed me was how the portuguese was coming out almost as easily as English comes out and with such power it could only have been from the Lord!  Afterward, I was so amazed at what just happened I just sat in my chair dumbfounded.  Well, the church was packed with ladies as it was a conference of many churches from around the city, but it was so quiet that you could literally hear a pin drop.  I believe because these ladies have seen me day in and day out that I’m no longer this foreigner to them, one that doesn’t understand their sufferings; I do to an extent.  I’ve cried with them, so I believe my words carried more weight.  I spoke about a simple verse, yet still powerful in my own life. Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, because of that, there is nothing that I lack” (translated from Portuguese version).   This meeting for us meant that all these little things that we have been going through are worth it.  Please continue to pray for our testimony and effectiveness here, we know that it can only take place through daily dying to ourselves, allowing the Lord do live and work through us.

Well I guess it’s continuing.  We just had another death yesterday.  It was a young person in our church and his story is quite sad.

When we talk about suffering this boy certainly went through it.  As it was told me, before these last 4 months, when things got really bad, his life was one of constant affliction.  It was said that whether or not it was because he was a believer, his first “wife” left him without anything in his house, she took everything, plates, bed everything.  Many times when he would come home from church at night, his Bible in his home was tore and strewn all over his house.  He was not deterred, he kept going back to church and kept buying a new Bible.  He was one of the important groups in the church, the Intercessory group, where they get together weekly for prayer and fasting.   The last 4 months were especially difficult.  One day as he was coming home from work (he worked at nights as a guard), he encountered police at his door, which grabbed him and told him to change his clothes he was going to jail for raping a girl.   Though they saw he was just coming home from work, but because of the way the law works here, he had to go to jail.  When he got there after being severely beaten the girl finally came forward and said it wasn’t him it was someone else.  Well, here they won’t just let you go unless you give money.  They asked for 6,000mtn which is equivalent to $240. which is equal to  3 months wages and it was impossible to pay it at that time.  So he stayed in the jail for 2 months until finally his family could pay it.  In jail, you are not treated like you are in the states, they don’t even give you food there, a family member has to bring it, you are beaten without cause and so on.  By the time he left there he was very sick and injured.  They directly took him to the hospital and after awhile he seemed to recover a bit, so he went home.  He never got better until last night he passed away.    To us we are so shocked by this story (it was all recounted to us today, we did not know the story previously), we want to say, where’s the recourse for such a tragedy.  Of course there is none, besides the Lord.  We are starting to see so much that our dear brothers and sisters are going through which we just want to scream out injustice.  We have been so pampered by our “justice” oriented country that it makes it so hard to just stand by and watch these things.  But we must!  We are needing to learn to go to the Lord through all of it, because there hurts are becoming ours.  It’s no longer stories one sees on T.V. and you can help by calling  the 1-800 number on the screen and giving $30.  This is real, this is life.  How do we deal with this?    We go to the one who holds the world in the palm of His hand and says, yes, these injustices are going on and they hurt me more than they hurt you.  Because I created the world to be perfect and just, but sin came into the world and spoiled it.  But I will make things right, just wait and trust me!!   I’m so thankful that we can trust Him and that He has given us His Word and His Spirit to guide us even in the darkness when we cannot see, He can see and it’s not blind faith, because He is more real than anything I can see with my eyes!!    Thank you Lord, I love you!!!!

Ok, Ok, Ok!!  I know, it’s been like 3 weeks since our last update and it wasn’t even an update at that.  So after much encouragement from someone special, you know who you are, I decided to start just writing more often about our daily life and the things we encounter and are going through.  You might say,”Isn’t that what you were already doing?”.  Well, sort of, but I have built it up to where I felt like I needed to write larger updates which became too hard for me to do.   So I’m going to stick with short and simple.   Although, if any of you know my verbose self, they will still probably end up missives, but I will try to keep them simple.

These two weeks have been very busy and emotional.    Lately as we are getting closer to the church, we are beginning to receive attacks and such, while at the same time they’re receiving attacks.   Within a one week span of time 2 beloved members of the church passed away.  One very suddenly the other by a very slow painful death.  The first one came as such a shock to the congregation that there was great mourning.  But in the span of one week, through countless attacks through circumstances that the church went through, one more death occurred.  This time though, the report came back last night that the service wasn’t as sorrowful as the first, but they were rejoicing in the Lord as Psalm 116:15 speaks about, “How precious in the sight of the Lord, the death of one of His saints”.   We see that through tough times, the Lord has His purposes.  To change our perspective and bring it back from a worldly perspective to a heavenly one, Col. 3:2.   Though, we are sad for the family, we are rejoicing at what the Lord has accomplished through all of this.

Thank you for your many prayers that are upholding us.  To model Christ, means to die to oneself, we need your prayers so that even though we are used to the daily grind here, we are not forgetting that ultimately, if we are going to have any lasting fruit, it will be what Christ has done through us, not us mimicking Christian behavior or by trying to attain a certain amount of converts each year.  These things are happening, but not because we are trying to make it happen.  Christ’s life is being lived out (not any glory to ourselves), as it should be!!

This sweet baby has become my “filhada” or goddaughter.  I also got to name her, Eve Maria.

Sometimes, I let my circumstances overwhelm me….then the Lord reminds me of His love and His purposes for me, that they are for my good and not destruction.  We get the world’s view mixed up with heaven’s view of things and so we get deceived that a good life is one that has little sadness and hardship and of course the house with a white picket fence!    One thing I can say about our time here is that the Lord is redefining what really is a good life.  He is becoming my life, my very ability to continue and I praise Him every day for that.  I recently stumbled upon this quote from “None but the Hungry Heart” by: Miles Stanford.  I thought I would send this along to those of you who have a hungry heart for the things of the Lord, who desire to have true peace, true joy, true strength, true love!!!!

“I believe we have very little idea how natural feelings may be mixed up with what we think is our spiritual joy.  Many go on happily because their surroundings are happy, but anything that outwardly contributes to our joy will sooner or later fail us.  Our Father loves us too well to allow us to rest in anything or anyone short of Himself- not even Christian fellowship, or what people call ‘the means of grace’.  He wants to be so known by us that He becomes the deep eternal spring of satisfaction and joy for our hearts.”  -C.A.C (None but the Hungry Heart)

” God says, my peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you”  John 14:27

Thank you all for your continued prayers for us here.  As we are living among our Mozambican brothers and sisters we are learning about their sufferings  and at times it’s overwhelming, but this is how the Lord is giving us an open door for ministry.  Understanding them day to day.  This is where discipleship is happening.   Thank you

So it’s been a bit since we wrote about how things are going here and what we’re up to. We have been rather busy lately and so have found it difficult to share each day with you all! I keep asking the Lord how to share what’s going on since I think it’s important to keep you guys up to speed about how we are doing especially since many of you are praying for us. For which we are extremely thankful for!

This last weekend, some friends of our let us use some points on their timeshare in South Africa so we could have a mini vacation. What a blessing it was to be able to relax without thinking I’m spending a ton to do it!! We enjoyed the hot showers and in room kitchen. I found myself laughing at the fact that I loved doing dishes on my vacation. For you to really understand why that is you would have to check out our living situation here in Maputo. The sink is is small and located in the back of the house near the bathroom and the water hasn’t been running for 3 weeks so dishes are a bear!!! We thank God though (I’m not complaining, only explaining ). There were trails and lots of things to do. We left on Friday and got back last night (monday!). One thing we realize about the schedule load that we currently have is that spending time with each other has been next to nil (and doing homework at the dinner table at night doesn’t count!) So our communication has been slipping and we found ourselves living quite independent of one another!! I know this is something any busy family encounters and something that needs lots of prayer and thought as to how we can stay on the same page when we are so busy! Please continue to pray with us, so that we can say sensitive to the spirit when we should say ‘No’ to a commitment or say ‘Yes’. We know life is not always cut and dry answers but we are thankful that we have God’s word that teaches us and His spirit that guides us.

 

 

 

Delia is teaching a group of ladies how to make a wedding cake… She googled most of it online just a day before she taught them!!  yeah google!!!

One of the finished products at the wedding!! It melted a little on the way there.  Everyone loved it and the girls learned a new skill!

It really has been hard to get good photos since we don’t want to stick out like tourists, but here you go anyway!  Hope you enjoy them!!  I’m trying to find a way to upload videos without having to pay $60 a year, so stay tuned!!

My happy worker, glad to be back in his trade!!  We had a group of South African’s that were doing a short-term trip, helping to restore the roof of this church,  then on Saturday they had a seminar inside the church.  Joash helped out with both!!!

Joash teaching at the seminar from Ezra.  It was neat how the Lord brought it all together as he was only asked 2 days before to teach.  He was teaching how the Word must be studied first, then practiced, then taught!!!  Very good stuff!! PtL!

They donated Bibles to all the churches and to the individuals that could answer Bible Trivia questions!!

 

 

Our beloved children, Judah, Chloe, Gabriel and Ian (from left to right)

 

 

Judah helping out at church in Arkansas

 

Chloe and Gabriel waiting patiently for us after church!

Judah and Ian helping Grandpa by tilling his garden and mowing his yard!!!

Chloe showing off her newly missing front teeth when we were on a trip up to Wisconsin.

Gabriel on his first day of Kindergarten. We can’t believe that our baby is already  kindergarten age, where have the years gone!!!!

Judah and Ian home schooling! The boys have been learning a lot and starting to show signs of enjoying it!!

It’s such a blessing to see our children grasping the things of the Lord.  Ian has recently written a poem for school, I thought you all would enjoy reading.

God is so Almighty

 God is so almighty He created us,                                                                                            He gave us life on this planet that we enjoy so much.                                                                  God is so loving He gave us His Son,                                                                                        that he who believes in Him will forever be won.

            Ian climbing up a rock when we went hiking.

 

Below is a photo of us with a group of Brazilians.  We are enjoying getting to know this great group of people.  It was amazing how the Lord brought this group to us.  Basically, we were attending our VBS this summer and met a couple, where the wife was Brazilian.   In the course of getting to know this couple they shared with us about a Bible Study they are leading with other Brazilian’s that live near the University (of Illinois).  Anyway, the Lord has worked it out where we have been able to be apart of the study.  It has been such a great time as not only are we able to continue with our Portuguese (so we don’t go back to Mozambique at square one) but also, we are able to be used by the Lord in “ministry” while here in the states.  In all there are 5 couples.  We are excited for these budding relationships!!  Please pray for their understanding and love for God’s word.

 

This is us at our house!

More of our group

At the local Mexican restaurant

We have recently been able to have friends and family from long ago come and visit us.  What a blessing it was to see them after all this time.  

My cousin Cindy and I.  I haven’t seen her in 6 years (since Chloe was born!!)

Another visit we’ve had are friends from when Gabriel was born.   It was neat being able to catch up with them as this neat family lived on a boat for the last 2 years.  Boy did they have neat stories to tell!  They traveled down through the Carribean and up to  Northeast U.S.  They have finally become “landlubbers” and on their way back home to Arkansas they passed in to see us.   We had such a nice time with them.   

Here is a few shots of us with them.  

 

Yep, we got to see the doctor on Friday and he said that the tests show that the bacteria is gone.  We are excited as this means we are clear to go back to Moz!!!  We do ask that you would still keep me in your prayers as he said I still need to be on the medicine for 6 months in case their are still pockets of dormant bacteria!!  Thanks so much for your prayers for us!!  Depending on the Lord’s provision we hope to go back sometime in the middle of  January.  We will update you more soon!!

“We had a wonderful home assignment, now it’s time to go back”

Downtown Maputo, Mozambique

This has been our resounding answer to all who’ve asked about our time here in the States.  It’s been a wonderful time but the Lord is calling us back to work in the harvest fields of Mozambique.  We are especially excited to go back as we have a new ministry focus (more on that later).  It has been so exciting to see the Lord go before us, working in our hearts, preparing us for the work that He has for us in Maputo, Mozambique.    Many have been praying for Delia’s health and we are happy to announce that the Doctor has given her a clean bill of health.  She will need to be on antibiotics for 6 months but since we will be moving to the South for our new work, we will be much closer to medical care.   Also, the quality of food is much better there there, which is important for her kidney health.  Thank you all for your love, support and prayers during our last term and home assignment.  We did not know if her health would cause  us to stay in the States.  Thankfully, with a little more time to heal and good medical attention, we are on the road to full recovery, which she can do there.  Continue to pray for  her strength as she will need it in the  months to come!

 

Note the distance of Nampula (where we used to live and minister) to our new city of focus, Maputo.  Mozambique is rougly twice the size of California, but because of roads it takes us 3 days of driving to get from Nampula to Maputo. 

New Focus, same Ministry

Our mission is a church-planting mission, so when we say we are changing focus we are not saying that our ministry has changed.  We are still all about planting indigenous NT churches in Mozambique.  For Delia and Me, our role is changing.  This last Spring we were asked to consider not to go into a village this term since, Delia’s health is not up to par for such a lifestyle.  When we realized this we, in a sense, were crushed, since this has been our aim and goal, for which we spent years in training.

 

   As we sought the Lord, He indeed encouraged our hearts and gave us an idea as to what we should do.  Work with the National church to teach, disciple and send them into the Harvest fields!   We realize it is so critical to partner with Nationals early, to equip them to carry out the Great Commission for themselves!  In speaking with our team we found that they too have been thinking this way, and that they have wanted to focus on the National church but just had no one to fill these shoes.  So, what we thought was a closed road for us was actually an open door.  We have been praising God for His abundant grace and mercy since then in reaffirming this desire and vision for our ministry during this next term. 

   There are so many unknowns with this since we are in a sense pioneering this aspect of the work in MZ.  We will not have any NTM co-workers where we will live, but will be partnering right away with Mozambicans who have already pledged their help and interest in our work.                                                  

What will this look like?

Our co-workers have already started contacting our Mozambican friends to find us a place near them.  We are moving to the capital city, Maputo, way in the south of the country.  This is a 3 day drive from where we were living.  The purpose in moving down to the south is three-fold.   First of all, we will live in the context of the people with whom we will be ministering.   Second, so that we will be more believable as they can see how we live up front and personal.   Please pray with us that the Lord can find something for us that will be suitable for us as a family but also suitable for our ministry.  This may mean that we won’t have running water!   The third reason we are moving to the South is that we have seen the Church is a little stronger there and so want to start with the already existing church and build from there. Pray also as we make our plans and goals. We have our goals set in place but we are looking to the Lord to see how those can be worked out in the context of the Mozambican culture.  

We just enjoyed a very nice party with our Brazilian group, which we had in our home to celebrate our Savior’s birth.  Lot’s of fun, food and fellowship would be a good phrase to describe our night!!  We thank the Lord for these neat friendship’s we have made and we look forward to hearing how the group grows in our absence. 

The kids group singing by our Christmas tree!

 

Our Gingerbread house and other goodies

Stealing a kiss under the misletoe (without the misletoe!)

WE are so excited to say that God is really making our way straight and we praise Him for reaffirming His plans for us!!!  We not only have our tickets in hand but we also have our visas for entry in the country!!!!   We also received news that our Mozambican contacts have found us a place to live!  We knew that it was going to be basic living this time around since we are going to work very closely with the National church, but I’m so excited to say that we at least have  toilet in our house and running water.  We don’t have much space nor a proper kitchen but i’m so glad for what we do have provided!!!  Thanks so much for praying….what a difference it makes, Thank you!!!   We will keep you all posted as we travel!!

Here we are last night before we took off!!!   Yes we have made it safe and sound to England and will be departing in just a couple hours!!!  We have had no trouble at all and besides the lack of sleep which we have tried to make up here at a travelodge, we are doing well!!   Please keep praying for us as we travel and adjust.  We still feel we are in a dream and the reality has not quite hit us all that we are actually gone for a while.   We will miss you all but are so thankful that we can be apart of this great work!!!

Saying goodbye to Linda and Joanna (Joash’s mom and sister).  We will miss you all!!!!!

Yes, we have arrived safe and sound and are recuperating in a hotel until tomorrow when we will be taken to our new home!!   We thank the Lord for a relatively good flight.  The second leg of the trip Judah got air sick and was found getting sick throughout the flight, he is recovered now and would like to never fly again!!! We arrived here late Saturday morning and was transported by our new Mozambican friends to a hotel to recover instead of going straight to our new home.  We slept fitfully the first night but feel we are already over the jet lag so will hopefully sleep better tonight.   This morning we enjoyed being “presented” at our new church and look forward to getting to know them better.  The church service was 4 hours long but we had to leave after 3 hours.  One thing Chloe and Gabriel kept asking “why is it so hot here!!”  I guess they have forgotten what it’s like to have 200 bodies crammed into cement building for 4 hours.  Pray for me as I found it difficult to not be able to go to the bathroom for that long.  I will have to give in next time and go out back!!! We will be sending pictures of our church and also our new home soon!!  I look forward to keeping in touch as much as possible through this blog about our experiences and joy’s of our ministry.  We pray that you will enjoy coming along with us on our journey!! Please keep us in your prayers during these next 2 months as it will be the hardest part of our adjustment, especially to such a basic living situation.  Pray that we will be kept healthy and though our house isn’t completely sealed from Mosquitoes, that we will not get malaria!!!   Thank you so much for

Wow!  What an incredible, crazy, wonderfully blessed, tiring week and a half it has been!!!!  We still do not have internet in our house so getting into the city to update this has been difficult.

We are doing well  even though  our bodies are going through varying degrees of acclamation.  Delia has already had a stomach bug after eating something purchased on the street and is struggling a bit with a type of allergy to something in the air.  Please keep praying for our bodies acclamation.

Part of the hardness of the acclamating has been a mixed blessing.  We hit the ground running.  The pastor that has assumed responsibility for us has really taken us in and made us a part of his family.  Each day he has presented differing opportunities for us to be involved and get into the church.

Since so much happened last week that I cannot recall I will start with this week:

Sunday, 2/8

We just found out this Sunday that starting next Sunday the kids are expected to get to church by 7:30 for Sunday School which will last until 10am.  Our class starts at 9:30 and goes until 10:30.    Well, this last Sunday was the first normal Sunday and so did not know the program.  When church started at 10:30 we had no idea what time it would go til.  So there we were sitting in our respective sides. Joash on his and me on mine (with the Ladies).   After the normal singing time they asked for anyone new to come up and 3 young men walked up to the front and told everyone in turn that they were glad to be there and that they will stay there forever (loose translation).   Well, without warning (but we know now to always be ready!!)  the Pastor asked for Joash to come up and pray for these men.   Not knowing what was expected of him and not having any prior notification (which doesn’t really exist here!)  He walked up and the Pastor told him he could speak in English.  So there we were Joash praying in English, well at least the Lord knew what he was praying about (along with the kids and I).  On went the service, but no preaching, so we thought that by 11:40a that if they hadn’t started the preaching yet we were really in for a long service.  Well, the pastor announced something that I did not hear, but I did understand the part about me doing a prayer.   So as I walked up there I’m praying, Lord you know that I don’t pray in Portuguese very well, what should I do.  Anyway, I finally got up to the front and I looked at the Pastor, and somehow since I was shaking in my boots I didn’t hear the part about me praying for the ending of the service and so I began my prayer (Joash said I prayed for one thing 4 ways).   I thought I was doing ok.  Praying that the Pastor would have the words to say.  That the Lord would prepare our hearts for His word and so on.  Well when I ended  the Pastor looked up and told everyone to have a good week.  Oh man!!  well it was something to laugh about later anyway!!!

Monday:

We had a simple day of visiting a family that needed their car prayed for but there was great cerimony over it and it ended in a meal.   Joash prayed and once again I was asked to end our time with a prayer (I was starting to get a little better).

Tuesday:

We were asked to go to a church that was about an 1 1/2 outside of the city, one of their struggling churches.  This was definately an experience as we were in a big truck, the kids sat in the back (as usual).

(my time is running out here in the cafe so I need to start summerizing, sorry if I’m using poor grammer, I will have to correct later!!)

At this church Joash preached, it was a good time with this locale, which I’m not sure anyone but the pastor and a few others actually know the Lord, but we prayed for them in turn, as they asked ( I praying for there salvation and a chance to share with them clearly the message of salvation!).  We ended up going to the old pastors house (he passed away) and had a huge meal under the tree (that was awesome as we were sweating and all bit delirious).  After the meal we said our goodbyes (I prayed again!!!)  and started on to home.  Well, we then took the new pastor to his home and found out they also had a full meal for us.  Oh man, we didn’t a vehicle to get out of this village we could have rolled all by ourselves!!!!!

Wednesday

Delia was not very well today so I got to stay home with the kids and rest, while Joash went to a funeral, which made yesterday look like a cake walk!!  It truly was an experience!!

In conclusion.  We see how the Lord has been going before us and guiding us here and we are so thankful that we get to be apart of his purpose here (whatever that may be!)

Please be praying of our strength and good health!!!!!!

Monday we went to a family’s house where we prayed for a truck he just purchased that the Lord would watch over and protect him.  It was neat to see how the Pastor made such a ceremony, he even preached.  He had Joash and I pray, which has immediately become his course of action with us, letting us pray that is.  Now that may seem like not that big of a deal, but please remember we have been out of the language for a year and a half.   This all started this last Sunday when he called Joash up in front of the church and had him pray for some new members of the church.  Joash said it stunned him and he ended up praying in English (which the pastor told him was fine to do).  Well after the service

Yet again, we have enjoyed another week here in Maputo, Mozambique!  We praise the Lord for the team of prayer warriors we have back home that are bringing us before the Father as we adjust and acclimate to our surroundings and ministry!

For the most part the kids and I (Delia) have been at home and just adjusting to the heat and enjoying the family that we are living with.   The heat has been intense and we are all anxiously awaiting another rain storm as it’s getting into the 100’s with 80% + humidity.    We are slowly getting the things that we need to  just “live”.  For the first couple weeks we have just lived out of our boxes (that got really old very fast!!).  So, thankfully, our Pastor here has only been taking Joash out on major trips and not the kids and I, so that we can acclimate and “fix” our little house to make it a “home”.   I have however, been able to make a couple trips into town with my new friend “Ricardinha”.  She has been showing me the city “a pe” or on foot.

As for Joash, he has been to a couple funeral’s.  This is a very interesting experience.  It last’s about 3 days (you don’t spend the night, but come back each day!).   Both funeral’s have been for Pastor’s in the area.  It’s so hard to explain unless you have lived in a third world country the sadness it is with these recent deaths.  Mainly, because they could have  been avoided.  I was reminded of a verse the other day (which I can’t remember the reference), but it say’s ” how people perish for lack of knowledge” or something like that.  Not to get into the gory details, the pastor died because he started his car while outside of it and it was still in gear.  Anyway, it lurched (I think that’s the word, I’m already forgetting some English!)forward and he got smashed.   I know that there are accidental deaths all the time in the States, but I feel so much more are there things that happen here that can be avoided!!!   While we don’t want to get sidetracked with so many little things of the culture, it helps us to understand where they are coming from and how they suffer, so that when we get to talk to them about the One who suffered for us so that we can live, we will understand and can speak with conviction, thus adding weight to our words.

Please continue to pray for us, we believe now more than ever that the Lord has some neat plans for us here and we are praying expectantly, that we would be used by Him!!

Still have no internet in our home, hopefully our next update will come from our home!!!

Hello Everyone,

I get to try and add something today since Delia is a bit ‘under the weather’ and stayed home.  We are still working to get internet in our house so this is again from a café in town.  We have been enjoying the company this last week of Michael Richardson who had come down from Nampula in the north to help us get started on a language learning schedule.  We have also been enjoying getting to know the family with whom we are living as well as participating in various church activities and events.
We were able to have a small party for Delia’s birthday, although she ended up doing most of the work!  She did a fantastic job on the meal and on the cake and we had a great visit with our friends.

This have not, however, been all rosy and nice.  While most of us have adjusted well and have enjoyed fairly good health, it seems that Delia contracted Malaria a couple days ago!  She took the medicine we brought right away and was able to avoid the worst of the symptoms but still is very tired and such.  Please continue to pray for protection, wisdom, health and grace as we work through these challenges.  Our friends and family in Christ here have been a wonderful help and encouragement during this first month and we praise the Lord for the situation He provided.

Thank you so much for all your comments and prayers and support!  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends and family and we Praise the Lord for His work and encouragement through you!  Till next time,

IN Christ,

Joash

Hey all! Just want to let you know that we are online and thankful we can now keep in touch a little better!!!

As an update:
What was believed to be malaria was just a bout with some bacteria which gave flu-like symptoms. We figured this out when 2 days after Delia fell sick, Chloe followed, then Gabriel, then Judah and now Ian. We got Chloe tested and it came back negative for malaria. The doctor gave us some antibiotics which the bacteria has shown to be very sensitive to. We thought for sure Delia had it since it followed the same symptoms (except one) and the symptoms went away after Delia took the medicine. Thanks so much for your prayers, they have truly been felt.

Now that we have our internet up and running the boys are finally back to school!!!! Please be praying for us as we get a mutually beneficial schedule together for our language and culture learning (it’s actually pretty intense!) and the schedule for homeschooling all four of our kids.
Please be praying for us as we continue to adjust and become apart of this vast culture. We certainly are enjoying it but have our moments of frustration in adjusting.
It kind of hit me today as I was talking with our host and I started to cry for no reason (Delia speaking). I made him feel pretty uncomfortable but even more so I was very humbled. I think that I’ve just had emotions that I keep pushing back and it all came out!!! I now have learned, better to cry aloud behind doors than in front of everyone, either way sometimes I need to cry!!! Well another lesson learned.

Thanks for your love and prayers, God is certainly answering them!

Well we’ve been here almost 6 weeks now yet we feel that we should already have been here 4 months. We have recently had a bout with illness, some weird virus, but we are all mostly on the mend. The latest victim was Joash, he is recovering well though!

In all of our adjustment thus far none has been so hard for me as our latest visitor, a rat!  The kids keep wanting to name it but I refuse since I cannot stand the sight of it.  There are few things in this world that bring me to such hysterics when encountered, but rats are definately one of them.   The other night as I was getting out of bed to go to the bathroom I saw the little guy scurry under my bed from where my clothes were, I jumped and fell onto our bed, all the while,  screaming at the top of my lungs and waking the family.   In the process I fell on the mosquito net which broke under my weight.   Thankfully, I was able to string it up and fix it. The next day I found rat poop everywhere, including on my clothes (we don’t have clothes drawers).

I know rats are not just here in Africa and many of you probably deal with them too!  It’s just something that we are dealing with and so thought to pass it on.
I keep thinking that it’s about time to send a long pictures of our house and maybe some of the activities we’ve been invited to participate in,  so hopefully the next post will be with a lot of those.   I will have to go to a cafe to upload since we pay per megabyte. So as we say here…..Ate Ja!

One of the things that us American’s women learn when coming over here is that the African’s feel much differently about weight than we do. For example, coming from the States I had easily gained 20lbs from our time there. Well, since coming back I was pretty anxious to lose the weight not only because I feel much better when I’m not as heavy but also it’s something (unfortunately) ingrained in my American mind that thinner is better. Well here in Africa it’s the opposite, they think you look better when you are “curvy”.  So now that we have been here for 6 weeks I’ve lost almost all the weight I had gained and am feeling pretty good about it. Well, now I’m starting to receive the criticism that I looked pretty when I was fatter (those are the words they use).  Not only have I been told, “oh your losing weight, that’s not good” but they go on and on about how much better my clothes looked (probably since they were tight) and so on.   It’s funny how our thinking is different depending on perspective.

Keep praying for our schedule. We are still trying to figure out how to balance homeschooling with language learning/ministry and not over doing it. We had a very busy Saturday and Sunday, going out to the villages. So now Monday and Tuesday have been only recovery days for me (Delia), I felt pretty ill yesterday in which my kidney’s were hurting.

Trying to juggle life and my health is definitely not easy. But the Lord is definitely teaching us more and more about trusting Him in each and every circumstance, what I should do and not do (even if it seems like a good ministry opportunity).

Thanks for your prayers for us, they are vital!!

Well, I know it’s been a bit since I wrote and there is reason for it….I’ve been sick.    Not too sick where I couldn’t write, but too sick to do anything of significance so there was not much to share.
We have been doing o.k. despite feeling poorly.   Joash continues to be able to go with the Pastor of our church here and do things with him.   He has been learning a lot from him and also our neighbor that lives in the house next to us. The neighbor frequently asks Joash to go with him for this and that.   He has also helped us out a lot lately with different things that we have needed to get done.    One recent event was that of a visa renewal.

For those of you who don’t receive our updates, we have made a trip up to Nampula for our regional field conference. It was a crazy drive up North, driving 36 hours in two days, arriving at 5am in the morning!!  We were a little crazy to do that since once we got up here we found that we blew the bearings on the front left axle (plus other stuff, which we are slowly finding out from the mechanic!)  Thank the Lord that we made it at all!  We really had a blessed time together even though it took longer than anticipated and there were many adventures on the way!  Thanks for your prayers on our behalf!  We will be driving to the town where we will be having our conference on Monday (4/20), pray that everything gets worked out before then!!  We plan to be headed back down to Maputo by the 3rd of May.  We will keep you posted on how things are going on up here!!We left at 4am Monday morning and so were able to see the sunrise.  The roads look good here but that was for only 2 hours of the trip then the massive potholes began!

Getting gas in some small town! This is the truck we are renting from the Pastor of our church for the trip!

Delia buying “lunch” on our trip

Hey all, thanks so much for your prayers for us and our car!! We have been to conference and have already returned. We had such a wonderfully blessed time with our teammates around the Word. We were challenged, encouraged, exhorted by those that spoke and were pampered by the wonderful beauty that surrounded the campgrounds.
We are back in Nampula for 1 week before we head back to Maputo. We are praying about the idea of Joash and the kids driving back while I fly back. Reason is the truck is just too small for us and it was very hard on me (you just wouldn’t believe the roads!).    I personally do want to leave them to go on alone but it might be easier for everyone involved (except for Joash!). We will keep you updated as our plans unfold and how the Lord leads us!!
Thanks so much for your love and prayers, they are very much appreciated!!

Well, the Lord really worked out our plans without any effort or planning from us.  We were wondering whether we should send Delia back by plane or drive with the rest of the Family.   A couple within our mission said that they would like for me to fly back and actually paid for the whole ticket!  So here I sit already in Maputo awaiting the arrival of Joash and the kids expected to arrive in another day and a half.  It has been such an amazing 3 weeks, rich testimonies of God’s watchcare of His children.  We were able to testify all along our way to whoever was listening about the greatness of our God!  What a thrill that God uses the likes of us to proclaim His goodness and mercy.   I could really write a missive of all that went on, but since I’m actually expected to hit the ground running I better save it for later, I’m off on another adventure!!!!

Joash and the kids got back late last night from their  journey!  We are glad to be back together and after a little rest after putting all our stuff away we are beginning the planning process for how we are going to implement the things we learned from our time at Conference.  The things that were discussed with our team during our time  with them was multi-faceted but all is for the goal of a mature church here in Mozambique.  We are looking to the Lord how to implement these things  while continuing our language and culture study(we hope they can actually be a platform for our study!).  Upon our arrival the pastor here handed us a time- line beginning this Sunday until the end of November.  This included all the churches Joash will have an opportunity to preach in until then!  We are amazed yet overwhelmed at how the Lord is moving the ministry forward, not only for our learning and growing but hopefully challenging the church to mature and grow for His glory.   Although this year is “supposed” to be the learning year before we really get into serious teaching and discipleship we know that serious teaching and discipleship cannot happen apart from relationship and friendship.  As anyone that has lived anytime overseas relationships take time.  Please pray that the Lord will bring key relationships our way.  He already has started that and so trusting Him to complete that.  Please pray that we can make the most of the opportunities we have with whomever comes our way to share the Love of Christ and the salvation He offers.

We were able to have so many neat opportunities during our trip up North and back to testify of God’s goodness to several people we came in contact with.  We pray that God will use those testimonies to draw those people to Himself!!

Thanks for your prayers, what a blessing they are to us!

Ministry is a buzz word for doing God’s work.  In reality ministry is something we should all be doing as we live.  There is no hours to ministry like clocking into a job.  Ministry is life lived intentionally.

Today I met with a lady I’m in a discipleship relationship with (a.k.a. she’s my friend!).   We try to  meet once a week to share and pray.  This has really helped me in my Portuguese as I feel I can talk with her about anything without getting embarrassed at the mistakes I make, including while I pray.  I shared with her about waiting on the Lord and trusting Him for His provision even when things seem bleak.  She began to share the things they are facing and also about another woman with whom her whole life has been only suffering.  I felt so small as I heard these things because in actuality I have never suffered as much as this woman has suffered (the friend she was telling me about!).  This lady has been a source of encouragement to my friend as her faith has been strong in the midst of true persecution and suffering.  I shared with her my experience with sickness and also the things the Lord has brought us through in the states when we didn’t have a place to stay and how the Lord provided for us.  In the end, I came away so encouraged by my friends words and prayer. I came away feeling so blessed  instead what I hoped would be a blessing for her.  As she walked me partway home (this is the culture here, true friends when you leave their house they will accompany you almost halfway to your home),  she began to share about how much I had encouraged her.   She then declared  that she repented of her thinking that she suffers when here is a woman (talking about me) that suffers more.   I said, how can that be when it’s clear she has suffered more.  We could have gone back and forth forever saying who has suffered more and who was more blessed by our meeting. Yet for the both of us, we came away encouraged in the Lord, to continue on even in the face of hardship and suffering for the glory of the Lord and the edification of the Saints.

After leaving her, I was just so impressed by the fact that true ministry happens in the course of life.  Not in impersonal programs. God has placed each one of us in the life that we have.  We have all passed through trials and difficulties. These trials are really opportunities for us to see the power of God and that He is faithful and no matter what comes our way we can trust Him.   Through this simple thing (yet hard) we can then be vessels ready to share about the greatness of our God through our difficulties, that He truly is….”the Way, the Truth, and the Life”.    Let us be real to those around us, letting them see that yes in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart and share that Christ has overcome the world.

How wonderful ministry is when you can forget you are doing ministry and just living life, redeeming the time not because people expect us to, but because it’s the call we have in Christ.

Joash ‘bargaining’ in the market

The kids on the back of a truck, going to church in a village.

“Homeschooling”

Hanging out with friends at a “festa”

Patience  is no doubt a major theme in the life of any Mozambican.  Whether it’s waiting for money at the bank or having to wait hours on end to get in to see a doctor that will inevitably just say “come back tomorrow”, patience is something one needs to live here in Africa.  It’s not easy for us Westerner’s to sit and wait when we have been privileged to grow up in a society where our “rights” tell us we should not have to wait for this or that, that whenever we want it we should get it, and now!  It has been good for us to learn this aspect of African society.  We’ve been told about 100 times already “you must be patient” , and although our mind knew that a long time ago, our heart is slowly following and to sit for a long periods of time is not such a chore anymore.  For instance, I was so proud of our kids this last Sunday as it was the first Sunday service of the month, which is always very long  (4+ hours).  Since it was all in the African dialect, they understood zip but they sat through it  without hardly complaining at all.  Of course once in a while I gave Chloe and Gabriel a special tic-tac that Grandma sent to us in a package, which kept them happy.  But overall they did real well:-)

Really anything we have to go through is barely scratching the surface to what any Mozambican goes through.  My friend was recently telling me how her daughter has been having ear problems for months.  By the symptoms that she told me it’s obvious she has a bad ear infection, possibly a burst eardrum.  Well, after spending many hours at the general hospital waiting in line to get in, the doctor just gave her pain killers and said come back if it continues, to which she continued to return week after week with no further help.  The worse thing for me when I heard this was  that the doctor never even looked in the poor childs ear!  I feel (as an American) you must demand better service.  Of course that does not exist unless you have money (and I’m not even talking a lot).  $15 U.S. dollars would get you in to see a fairly good doctor, at least here in Maputo, at a private clinic.  But most people can’t afford that so they wait in line for the next to free government service.

We encounter so many things here which could really side-track a person since the needs scream out at you all the time.   Truthfully, it does not seem as bad here in Maputo as it is in the rest of the country, since we see many more people with jobs, whereas in Nampula it seemed everyone was in need (which was so hard to see day after day!).  What becomes hard is that we wish somehow we could help here or there, or if they could just do this it would be better.  One thing that we have learned is that we CANNOT be the savior for everyone and their problems.  We can only show them the love of Christ and point them to the ONE that can help them, Christ Jesus!!  With a Biblical understanding, then the world view and habits can change.  Please continue to pray for us as we learn and grow here in Maputo, with the goal to bring more to the Saving knowledge of Christ and to equip the existing church to not only be followers of Christ in word but also in deed!

We have been busy lately but enjoying the opportunities we have had to get to know our church friends here!

Us at the wedding we had at our church.

Praying about getting this vehicle.  We have around $5,000 already, praise God!!  Pray for the remaining $9,000

So there are a few things we want to keep you updated about!

First is in regards to our vehicle.  The Lord is already providing!!!  Through one of our supporting churches, we are receiving $3000. So our new total is $8,000 that we already have, wow praise God!! Pray for the remaining need of $6,000.  Thanks for all your prayers, and for those who have given, what a blessing, Thanks!

We recently sent out an update Newsletter (if your not on the list and want to be send us an email saying so!). We shared that we have recently been asked to teach at a Mission school here in Maputo.  We have been praying about it and after talking with leadership and meeting again with the school principal, we have decided to take the offer.  There are many reasons we feel the Lord has led us to this point.  First, being that Joash has already been teaching our kids until noon each day which is the same time schedule he will be teaching at the school.  Second they have offered for 3 of our kids to go for free, that’s a $13,500 discount.  We have been praying for our kids and their needs for interacting with other kids.  While they do have friends here in our neighborhood, they are very limited friendships because of the cultural differences.  We know that they will still be able to continue those friendships after school, but to be in a “Western school situation” we believe will help them a lot.   This opportunity will also give Delia more time to learn the language.   You all may be wondering about ministry, when will he have time for that.  First thing, when we told our pastor here about it, he really liked the idea since all men in the church have jobs anyway, so he will fit into the culture better.  He will still have time in the evenings and on the weekends.  This is the time he has used anyways since everyone else is busy until they get home from work.  Anyway, thanks for praying, we really ask that you would continue to pray for us as we live here and desire to be used by the Lord in whatever way.  We hope to start any official teaching next year sometime after April, in which time Delia could take over any teaching since she will most likely be done with language learning.

If there is anything I left out in updating please respond and let me know!!  Love to you all!

Joash and Chloe at our friends house

We are living in a culture that for the most part is dominated by spiritual darkness.  This means when something happens to a person, whether it is sickness or poverty, they go to a type of a witch doctor to heal or curse or to make rich or whatever the desire is.  When these people come to the saving knowledge of Christ, one thing that goes is this dependance on the witch doctors.  When one of these “doctors” works their magic they usually have the person give them something that belongs to them like a handkerchief or something like that.  Well, so these new believers want to follow the Lord yet know that they can’t have these items in their lives.  What they have been doing is burn those items that have had the magic put on them.  This is often times very scary for the new believers as there have been frightening things that have happened from withholding even one of those items (death happened in one instance).  So recently the pastor of our church here was asked to go up to this one village area about 3 hours away, and to “burn” the items of these recent converts since they are all too scared to do it.  Well, Joash has been asked to go with.  As I write he is on the road.  I just ask that you would be praying for him and us during this time.  He hopes to be back by Sunday night (Father’s Day!).  Pray for safety and opportunities to minister.  Pray for these new believer’s, first that they truly are believer’s and if not, that it will be made known and the truth could be shared. Second that Joash or the Pastor could share about the fact that they do not need to be afraid, as a believer they have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them and as 1 John 4:4 says, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”.  Thanks for your prayers.

We left on Wednesday around noon to go up to Xai-Xai, or the Province of Gaza. This is only about 3 hours north of Maputo so it was not a long trip. I went along with the head Pastor of the church, Pr. Fumo, and his wife. There was also a man who functions as an evangelist named Alberto. He ended up doing most of the driving, except on the last day I was the one who drove back home.
First, we headed out into the country to visit an 84 year old Pastor since one of his sons had passed away recently and Pr. Fumo, needed to visit and pay his respects. We were able to pray with them and share a meal but for one reason or another no service was arranged in the church. I was chatting with Alberto later that evening and he was a bit disappointed that the local Pastor had not called together the believers for a service, since this type of visit only happens once or twice a year. He was of the opinion that this Pastor was more interested in politics, since he is also the President of the local chapter of the ruling political party, and that the local church perhaps does not have much ‘thirst’ for the words.

The following day we left after breakfast for the city of Xai-Xai, where there are three groups of believers in different neighborhoods. We focused on one neighborhood, where the recent converts had brought the stuff to burn and had also requested to be baptized the following day. We pulled into the yard around noon and went pretty much straight into the church to begin the service. I was given the opportunity to preach after the local Pastor spoke a bit. When we were finished speaking, the recent converts were given time to stand and testify of what they wanted to do and why they wanted to burn this stuff they formerly trusted in and how they came to this new place of trusting Jesus!

It was after this service that we all gathered outside and piled the objects of superstition, luck, power and evil into a mound to be burned. Pr Fumo prayed over the group of believers and against the artifacts and then, pouring a bit of kerosene on the pile, lit the fire. There was no great explosion or strange sounds or anything and the leaders made sure to turn the pile over a couple time so everything burned well. There were old bottles, an antique, single shot rifle, many cloths that had been ‘blessed’ by the witch doctor, baskets with special ‘recipes’ in them, wooden bowls and beaded sticks, etc. We were all standing around praying and singing while it burned. The church wanted to continue the service but we requested a time to rest a bit and to eat, since we had been ‘fasting and praying’ since the night before.

Actually, after we had a meal we ended up doing another service that evening. They wanted to have a vigil service where we stay up all night teaching and singing and are thus prepared to head out at 500 the next morning for the baptisms! However, Alberto and I joined them for a service starting at 800 pm and I preached first, then it was Alberto’s turn. We left afterwards then, around 1130, but I think the church stayed on through the night until we joined them again the next morning to drive to the beach for the baptisms. Their enthusiasm and energy is inspiring and exciting but I was very glad to be able to sleep in a bed for a few hours! I think I was dozing off a bit after I finished with my sermon, since many of the songs were in the local language and I did not know the words:-)

So, 22 men and women were baptized in the ocean and Pr Fumo presided over the ceremony. We had to wait for a local government official to accompany us since the place we wanted to go was a bit turbulent and dangerous, some people having been drowned while performing baptisms! It all went off without a hitch and after returning to the house to have breakfast and get our belongings we headed out to the next village. We had an afternoon service at this church and I was given the task of preaching again. One of the things I noticed as we visit these places is that there are not enough Bibles for everyone and the ones that exist are quite tattered and worn. The books themselves are hard to come by, the villages being far from the city, but also it is hard for many people spend about $10 for a Bible when they have so little income! I see this as a major challenge for the existing local church in Mozambique, to challenge to Believers to value to Word as precious and worth sacrificing for, to value the study of the Word, since without it there is no growth!

We slept in that village and the following morning we departed, planning to visit two village churches and arrive to sleep at a third. These churches were pretty small and the members were mostly old and also mostly women. I preached at the second church, but they had not gotten the message that we were to visit this day so only a few people were able to attend. We headed out to our final destination and arrived after dark. They served us a great meal and we were able to rest a bit for church the next morning.
I enjoyed this visit but was not given the task of preaching this time:-) We started the service at 900 after an ample breakfast and after singing and such and preaching and praying we were out by 1200. Shortly thereafter it was time to head back to Maputo, but not until we had a generous and filling lunch! It was overall a good experience for me, and I trust we were a blessing to the churches we visited!

I trust this gives you a bit of an idea of how the trip went.   Thanks for all your prayers!!!

There I was running across town with my dear friend Ricardinha trying to catch the ferry to a little church  for our bi-monthly meeting, the church we attend has planted some 30-odd churches and we take turns going to these different churches for our meetings.  Having caught up with the rest of the ladies at the dock,  we catch our breathe.   We saw the boat was still in the dock  and none of the ladies seemed like they were in a hurry to catch the ferry.  So there we were standing around doing all of our greeting and mingling as we always do when we meet each other.   I whisper to my friend, “do you think we should be getting on the ferry now, it’s time for it to leave?”.  She too, seemed a little concerned, but not enough for her to call attention to the other ladies.  As an American, I’m like, “hurry up, let’s go”, of course I’ve been here for 3 1/2 years so I’ve learned enough to keep such thoughts to myself.  But still, wondering when all the ladies are going to get going, I wait watching….watching….watching…as all the ladies look and see the ferry leave.   They then all slowly start to say how sad they were that they didn’t make it onto the big ferry so now we are going to have to catch the small one…..they are all afraid of the small ferry. I’m still wondering, ” what was the reason we missed the first one?”.  Oh well!  So we all start walking to the dock, buy our tickets and wait in line for the little ferry to come.  Once we all squeeze in and I wonder if there should be some sort of weight limit as our weight makes us sit in the water lower than I like and start looking around for what will I do if it does start sinking (being a good contingency student!) Thankfully I see lots of life jackets,  although child-size and still in their plastic.   This is a good sign to me as I think, “well, they never needed them before!!!”   Of course not forgetting where my hope really lies …. in the Lord!  Off we go!   We arrived safe and sound walked off and into the  little town.   Immediately I feel as if we are in the middle of the bush until I turn around and see the skyscrapers from the city just across from the bay. Well on we go far out into the middle of nowhere, on foot.  Finally we arrive and we realize that this little church was indeed not informed that we were coming so we sat and sang for a while hoping some would hear and come.   There was about 30 of us that came from the city. The time begins when two people from the local area come and we start to pray, one has never heard such fervent prayer, prayer that knows who is listening and that He acts on behalf of His children.  What a blessing that time was!  Then a lady stood up and shared from the Word from 1 John 4, speaking about the love of God.  Normally after someone gives the word, we spend the next hour with several ladies (I’m talking 15!) getting up and sharing along the same lines or sharing about how the words that have been shared encouraged them, I decided to share, although I was nervous about coming up with something to say on the spot in another language.  They said I shared well, all I can think is that if anything came out that made sense it was the Lord!!  We then had a prayer time for those who were sick.   Normally we would end the time by having tea and salad together but since the church members weren’t ready we just started back so we can catch the ferry to get home.   I realized that none of these ladies that came with me carried any water with them, except for me   I shared my water with my friend as she also has had kidney problems.   I asked my friend about it (no one having water!) not being able to believe that these ladies, some of them older than 60, could make it this long, expending so much energy without any water.  She just replied,”their strong and used to it!”.    I personally, am amazed at the strength and faithfulness these ladies have for the work of the Lord.   After I make it home and devour my lunch and sleep for 2 hours I realize what a blessed life I have.  That I can witness first hand what the Lord is doing in the middle of no where.  I pray that as we get stronger in the language our impact can be significant.  Not that we want any glory, but we want the Lord to receive glory from our lives and we pray that through our lives spent here we can impact these precious people for whom the Lord loves.   There are so many obsticales for the church here that we are just beginning to see and we pray that we will not add to them but help them as the Lord see’s fit.  In time we want to start teaching the Chronological teaching.  We feel one of the major problems within the church is lack of foundational teaching.  Many are still in bondage thinking they need to do something to appease God.  The Word (in our church!)  Is not even shared each week, only once a month.  The Hunger that we find here is not only physical but deeply spiritual.  Thanks for all your prayers for us as we live and work among these dear people.

We are very excited to say that the Lord has provided for our vehicle faster than we believed.  If you look back on our posts, the day we told you all about the need was one month ago today.  Praise God!  We are buying it as I write since Joash is there and I’m here catching up on all things correspondence!!

Yesterday we gave the checks  so that today we could pick up the van but this morning we were told that one of the checks had a slight tear in the corner (the banks here are absolute sticklers about the condition of checks), which meant that we  needed to bring the cash with us when we picked up the vehicle.  Well, that made me (Delia) quite nervous since Joash will have to get the money out of the bank and go by public transport (where things very easily get stolen) to the dealership.  After speaking to Joash on the phone, Ian seeing that I was worried, said to me in a very matter-of-fact way,  ” Mom, if God wants us to have the vehicle then He will make sure the money doesn’t get stolen”.  I’m thinking duh mom!!!   I love my children and how they remind me to have simple faith!!!!

Update:  We now have our car in our possession, everything all worked out with the mysterious check and praising God for not only such a practical car but actually very comfortable!!!  Will send pics. soon!

One of the joys working with the National Church are the many opportunities that come our way to minister.   Usually, there’s no pre-meditation involved, just on-the-spot ministering.   This last week we have seen that in spades.

First, for Delia:  Every Wednesday we have Mid-week church for one hour then choir practice (of sorts).  Well, this week I went alone since Joash has been helping out with some short-term missionaries outside of the city.  After arriving in church,  I began to have this funny feeling that they were going to ask me to “preach” or to make it more biblically correct, I was going to “share”.  Knowing the many times they have asked Joash to preach without notice I quickly started to pray and ask the Lord to show me a passage and Jeremiah 17 came to mind.  The more I thought about it the more excited I became for this opportunity.  Sure enough they asked me, and although it was a bit rough in the beginning since I had never read it in that version and so some words I didn’t know, it worked out fine and it seems from their response that they understood what I wanted to communicate  and hopefully some were blessed.

Now for Joash:   As I said this week Joash has been helping out a short-term group doing some evangelistic work outside of the city.  Their plan for the week was to put up new tresses and a roof for a church outside of town, showing evangelistic filmes at night and this Saturday do a seminar for the Pastors in the area.  Joash has helped out quite a bit with the roofing and stuff and so has gotten to know the team a bit, well low and behold the day before yesterday they asked Joash if He could take a session at the Seminar on Saturday.  Well, I guess He shouldn’t complain since He has had more than 5 minutes notice, but still please pray for him as we would like to encourage the Pastors.  We have no idea about the spiritual maturity of these men we are just trusting that the Lord will give Joash and these short-termers wisdom in presenting to them.  Their will be 50 pastors and laymen.

 

We have seriously gotten behind in our updates and for that we apologize!  We have been doing well and rejoicing in the many opportunities we have had to be apart of the work here!  It has been 1 month since we purchased our van and to say the least it’s been a blessing.  Not only to our family but we have kept it busy with helping out others in our church as well.

Joash and the kids started school this last Monday and since then have kept very busy.  For these first few weeks (I hope only!) it will be a lot of work for Joash to prepare for each day until he can streamline things a little better.  He has really been enthusiastic about this opportunity to teach not only the second grade class (Chloe’s class) but also the High School Bible class.  Not all of the students know the Lord so He has started teaching the Chronological teaching, he will start with  Genesis going through to the ascension of Christ and on to the Acts of the Apostles.  We really see God’s hand in leading our family to have our kids at the school and also to have Joash teach there.  We know that it won’t be easy as this week has testified to, but we are encouraged that what the Lord orders, He provides for. His grace is always sufficient!

Since Joash and the kids have been gone until 3pm each day it has freed me up to pursue language learning full time.  While I haven’t been able to put in much book study time I have been able to be out with many of the church members being involved in many  ministry opportunities like: prayer meetings 2 each week, ladies meetings and visiting the sick and visiting a church out in a village. I will be taking today to really plan out my schedule so I can get the most of each meeting.  It’s been challenging as most of the meetings are in the dialect and I have someone whispering the translation to me in Portuguese, it’s challenging then to get quality language that way.   I hope to start some official classes with different ones in the church next week, which will help tremendously.  Learning a language takes one to be very engaged no matter what you are doing so I have been finding myself so tired by 6pm which as most moms know is one of the busier times of the day, getting dinner on, baths, and getting things ready for the next day.  Please pray that we can schedule our time well and not to forget time with one another, keeping short accounts so we can manage this time well.

Since last we wrote we have had a numerous amount of things happen that we could share.  We have been involved in prayer ministries with the church where recently a girl from the church was actually demon oppressed, it was quite a new experience for us, but it has opened our eyes to the reality of the spiritual battle we are in.  The girl is a daughter of one of the pastors that go to our church so it was quite emotional for the church.  What happened was a couple weeks ago this girl, we’ll call her Jane, was witnessing and praying for one of her classmates from school.  The boy had been sick for quite sometime and the girl knew that it was demonic.  Well, she would not give up praying for him and witnessing to him.  Some time later a lady came to her and told her to stop praying since her prayers were not going to affect him since he was her slave (spiritually), she is a witch doctor in the area and has had the boy under her power for sometime now and wanted to keep him sick.  Well the next day she fell quite sick and was taken to the church to be prayed for.   When we saw her it was an amazing sight for us as we haven’t seen anything quite like this before and so didn’t know how to proceed.   Well, a few of us started to pray for her and it became very apparent that we were not fighting against an illness but rather a demon.  Now in my experience and from what I read in the Bible a believer can’t be indwelled by a demon but from all appearances she was most assuredly demon possessed, not in a dramatic way, but the look on her face and how she responded was not her.  We continued to pray for her and also began reading scripture to her.  It was about the time we read the Bible that she screamed out that she was being oppressed and she called out for God’s help, then she immediately became entranced again.  We continued to pray and read.  She finally came out of and was praising God and began to repeat the scripture that we were reading and quoting scripture.   We questioned her salvation to our friends and they said that she has been a believer for quite sometime and actually quite an evangelist.  Please pray as we teach the truth that the reality of people’s true position before God will come to light.    Jane is doing well now and is back in school.    Thank you for your prayers for us, please don’t stop even though this last month our updates have been scarce.  

Just want to let you all know how much we love you and appreciate your love and support of us as we are here so far away from home.  Praise the Lord, though, that this place is becoming more and more like home.  Please continue to pray for our kids as they still ask to go back home where their Grandma’s and Grandpa’s are, they miss them a lot!!!

“We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” Romans 8:37     “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” 1John 4:4

Our kitten, Tiger.  She will hopefully grow to be our rat catcher!!!