Month 7.
Departure: Nelspruit, South Africa
Destination: Beira, Mozambique
After reflecting back on how much God has taught me in such a short amount of time, I have come to the conclusion that one month on the race is equivalent to about a year's worth of knowledge and experiences, or at least that’s how I feel. Each month is extremely different and brings upon a new challenge (physically, emotionally, and spiritually). Not only are the ministry and living conditions different each month, but the lessons and revelations that God places on my heart are as well.
There are so many great stories, memories, and experiences I could share from South Africa but it would take me an eternity and a textbook worth of writing for me to fully express all of my feelings and to share the powerful stories that impacted my heart in such a beautiful way. SO I have decided to just leave you with pictures and videos to save myself some time and to keep from going insane. I will give you a recap starting from the beginning of July. The beginning of month 7. The beginning of a month filled with hope, revival, & renewal in my heart, mind, and soul.
We had a relaxing yet adventurous week of safaris, rest, and nights filled with worship at our debrief in Nelspruit, South Africa, then we packed up our bags and headed out into the unknown of month 7.
Let the travel day adventures begin…
After we waited 2 hours at the South African/Mozambique border for our passports to be stamped and approved we hopped back on the bus for another 3 hours.Then we arrived at a bus station in Maputo where two of the teams would be staying for the month. From there, our plan was to catch another bus that same night that would take us straight to our final destination in Beira. We unloaded our packs from underneath the bus and as we gathered our personal belongings and waited to load onto another bus, we found out that the next bus would not be leaving until 4 am the following morning.YES, training camp scenarios actually DO happen.We ended up sleeping on a random bus at the station for a few hours so we wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets.
We had a 19-hour bus ride ahead of ourselves that quickly turned into a 50-hour voyage when all was said and done. After a day's worth of traveling we arrived at a closed-down checkpoint, which caused us to spend another night on the bus until the next day. A few hours after we crossed the checkpoint, we ran across another obstacle in the road. Literally. We waited about 2 hours due to an accident on a bridge that had to have happened just minutes before arriving on the scene…but no worries…we eventually made it!
This past month, we lived in small village called Manga.
Our ministry consisted of a variety of activities but our main focus was spreading love to the widows and orphans in the area. We would pray for the widows and bring them food, sing songs, and just share the joy of Christ. We helped clear land for our contacts orphanage that he is in the process of starting up. We shared testimonies and would help lead worship at some of the church services as well.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” -James 1:27
We lived in our tents battling the rain, children, ants, spiders, and witchcraft.
We would fall asleep to the sound of tribal drums and wake up to about 30 children peeking into our tents giggling and starring at us as if we were some sort of zoo animal.
We took bucket showers all month. If we were patient enough to start a fire on the “stove” to heat the water, it was glorious…but most of the time that didn’t happen. One box of matches and several burned fingers later, you learn that it is not worth the time or the pain you have to endure to have a nice warm shower. You also realize that by the time you spend trying to get the coals heated in the first place, you could have already been done with your shower. Hot showers are overrated anyway.
We cooked all of our meals on a tiny little coal “stove” and like I stated earlier, it is an adventure in itself to heat up. Everyday we would head into the markets and buy a day's worth of food. Preparation took all day,so typically if it was your day to cook, you stayed home from ministry.
We have been using a squatty potty out back behind the house. It is not just your normal “hole in the ground” squatty potty. It is a raised slab of concrete with a hole (that you must pour water to flush) surrounded by a wall of bamboo and torn potato sacks.The ongoing joke…on a scale from 1 to launch…how ready are you? In other words, you better be ready for a quad workout. I will spare you the details…you get where I'm going with this.
We attended two different Sunday church services.In the mornings we would drag our plastic chairs down the dirt road to a small service in the village. At nighttime we would head into town on an over packed bus to an outdoor arena that held up to 2,500 people. Before we headed to church services, we made sure to leave with a full belly and prepared ourselves for a 3+ hour service of constant worship ready to see some supernatural healing. Church is no joke here in Africa. These people worship God like there is no tomorrow. They are on fire for the Lord and it was hard NOT to feel the presence of God upon entering. The community was extremely loving and they were always welcoming us with open arms. Instead of handshakes, they give hugs. There is no such thing as strangers. What a beautiful thing.
Although the church was filled with God’s peaceful presence, there was no denying the presence of the enemy. The community in Beira is submerged in a world of witchcraft. These people are at constant battle with themselves because of the evil that surrounds them. These people are burdened by the traps of the enemy and blinded by their own worldly desires and satanic practices.
When the pastor begins to pray over the church and demands that the demonic influences controlling their lives to flee, these people start dropping like flies. One minute they are happily singing and dancing their little souls out and the next minute they are falling to the ground cursing and convulsing uncontrollably.
The first time I experienced this, my eyes flooded with tears and were paralyzed at the unbelievable sight. It was not out of fear, but out of disgust with how the enemy attacks God’s children.These people are at war with the darkness and cannot see the light. It broke my heart but at the same time reassured me of my purpose which is to spread the light and love of Jesus Christ to the dark places of the world.
Well…that's month 7 in a nutshell for you minus the thousands of personal revelations and ridiculous stories that we experienced.
Please continue to pray for my heart as God is continually opening up my eyes to new experiences and new personal challenges.
Much love from Manzini, Swazliand…until next time!
