Hello All!!
It’s time for some updates from Africa. It certainly has been an interesting couple of months. This post is dedicated to my month in Mozambique. The next couple posts will be about South Africa and the awesome things God has been teaching me, and a few of the other things running through my mind…
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I was able to split month six between two different teams and ministries. I started out the month in Maputo, Mozambique with Masana House ministry. This place was such an amazing blessing and place to be a part of for a couple weeks. The missionaries are in there early twenties, and they uprooted their lives (from America and South Africa) to come to Maputo and run this house/school/feeding center for street boys.
When I first heard about the street boys I immediately assumed that they were a bunch of orphans that were forced onto the streets out of tragic circumstances. But, after arriving at Masana, I learned that most of the boys run away from home and live on the streets as a choice. It is actually an addiction for these boys. They love the “freedom” and rush of rebellion that it brings them. It’s a lot like a gang mentality. The tragic part is that they setting their young lives up for ruin.
Some of the boys are as young as 7 years old and living on the streets. They will beg for money and then use it to by alcohol. Also, it is common for the street boys to have something of a prison mentality in that the older (teenage) boys take in younger ones to “protect” them. Rape is a pretty common occurrence among the boys.
We were able to hang out with the boys throughout the week. They come to Masana House for breakfast and lunch Mon.-Thurs., and have schooling inbetween. They also learn worship songs and have a Bible study everyday.
The ultimate goal of the ministry is to send the boys back home, so they provide that option to them whenever they decide that is what they want to do. The missionaries have a “reintegration process” that lasts for at least a year (I can’t really remember exactly). They take the boys back home for visits at first, and eventually move him back into his home. After the boys are home, the missionaries do check-ups to make sure that everything is going well.
On top of all of this, there are four teenage boys who live at the house with the missionaries. These boys wanted to get off the streets but for one reason or another could not go home. They are the most amazing teenage boys you’ll ever meet! It was such a huge blessing to be able to hang out with them.
I also got to go back to this ministry at the end of the month! It was really hard to leave the boys, actually. I still miss them!
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The middle of my month was spent in Dondo (a 15 hour bus ride north of Maputo). There is stayed with a team at Iris ministries. They were having a really neat month of very diverse ministries. They had the opportunity to do prayer ministry in the hospital, at the prison, for widows, and for the blind. They also helped around the ministry campus however they could in the morning with maintenance and any other need there was. Toward the end of my stay the team was starting to build a house for a widow out in the middle of this beautiful field. It was pretty cool.
Iris is very Spirit led as a whole, and it was so refreshing to be in that environment.
My two favorite memories from Iris:
1) We were able to help with the monthly Widows Ministry. About 100 widows were packed into the church space (which is a big roof on poles over a concrete slab). We all worshipped together. Natalie gave a really encouraging, 10 min. message, and then we gave all of the widows burlap sacks full of corn and mats for them to sit on while they work. Our team carried bags and mats for over an hour until all of the widows were taken care of. It was really nice to see even a little bit of their need be met.
2) A missionary family arrived from another Iris base while I was there. They were one of the most inspiring examples of the church that I have ever seen. Their children were so loving. They worshipped together as a family every morning. Every time I talked to the Debbie (the Mom) she either prayed for us, taught us something, or encouraged us in some way.
One night Kacie and I stopped by their apartment on the base to say hi. They visit turned into worship and prophetic prayer. The Spirit gave Debbie the most encouraging and applicable word for me. It was about my only responsibility being pointing others to the cross. “No matter what, just point others to the Cross.”
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Mozambique was definitely a month packed full of life changing ministry! Such a blessing to be a part of everything that Iris and Masana have going on! 🙂
