It almost felt like a dream the last 2 weeks, but it is actually more
reality than I have maybe ever before lived in!
We arrived in Dondo, Mozambique at an IRIS orphanage base after a 36 hr bus/combi ride from S.Africa. We were greeted by lots of cheering and many bright white smiles- a striking contrast against the dark night sky. The base hosts 40 orphan boys and 72 pastors in training. The boys are so cheerful and full of joy- they made it easy to connect quickly with them. Reality of life here at the orphanage: soccer balls of plastic bags covered with duct tape, drawing pictures and doing math problems in the sand, washing under the water pump, running around the dry and dusty ground barefoot, tea and bread for breakfast, shared clothes, African praise songs and shouts heard all day long. Interesting fact- there’s no word for “my” in their language because everything is
shared– WOW! (ie- if you are wearing a shirt, you would say it is “with” you because it could be “with” someone else the next day).
We didn’t know exactly what our ministry would look like in Mozambique, we just knew that the needs were great. God, our
Master Orchestrator, already had everything planned. Herb (INCREDIBLE BLESSING!), a spiritual son of Rolland and Heidi Baker, was in Dondo because of some unexpected events in his life that changed his plans around. He was getting ready to head up to Morrumbala to distribute tons of food to villages where the people had lost everything in the flooding. The Lord had given him a
vision that a group was coming that he was to take along with him. So, 2 days after arriving at Dondo we piled in to the back of a flatbed and made the 12 hr drive. We got to cross the Zambeze river…that was neat! I’m glad we’re all
family and really comfortable with each other by this point, because we did a lot of cramming close this month! I loved being in the open, feeling the wind rushing through my hair, the fresh air, and perfect view of the land!
Our Morrumbala welcome was INCREDIBLE and the perfect start…as we drove up, 100’s of children came pouring out of the school, houses, & fields- running after us down the road and cheering loudly. Francisca (the orphanage mama) was with the children as we pulled up near the IRIS orphanage. All the children gathered around our truck and started to sing and pray. Their precious faces as they prayed to our Father for blessings over us was PRICELESS!
Look at these precious faces- they are crazy easy to LOVE and embrace! Almost all the young ones had runny noses and chest congestion, flies over their faces, the babies didn’t wear diapers so would get peed on when we held them for a long period of time- but none of this could deter us from holding them close and giving our hearts and affection to each of these beautiful children.
We were blessed to stay at a World Vision base just minutes from the orphanage. It was so refreshing… to have a place to call home in the midst of the intense ministry we got to be a part of.
Acts 2: 42,43, 47b~ And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles… And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
A “typical” day was spending the morning at the orphanage with the 28 orphans as well as lots of kids from the community who would want to come play and be held. We did lots of games, singing, relays, hugging, tickling, hand claps, dancing, holding, nail painting, etc. Every morning they would crowd around us and just long for attention- for a smile, hand to hold, lap to sit on, back to climb on, or hair to braid.
The little ones all have huge bellies with their bellybuttons poking out because of malnutrition. The “mamas” do a great job of selflessly caring for them each day and cooking meals over the fire – mostly just cornmeal, with an occasional small fish/sardine or chicken. They wear rags- I saw most of them in the same clothes almost every day for the 2 weeks we were there. Their water comes from a deep open well, which makes for it being very dirty. Bathing doesn’t happen too often because it takes work to get the water, soap costs money, and they play barefoot in the dirt all day. Responsibilities and expectations of the little ones are high- to care for their younger siblings, carry them on their backs, help with chores. Entertainment requires creativity – pieces of trash, all kinds of games with “balls,” lots of handclapping games. Paper and crayons was a special treat; when we handed them out, nearly 90% of the children drew pictures of houses and families. This is a deep longing of all of our hearts, we were created to desire family and intimate relationships!
A “typical” day was spending the morning at the orphanage with the 28 orphans as well as lots of kids from the community who would want to come play and be held. We did lots of games, singing, relays, hugging, tickling, hand claps, dancing, holding, nail painting, etc. Every morning they would crowd around us and just long for attention- for a smile, hand to hold, lap to sit on, back to climb on, or hair to braid.
The little ones all have huge bellies with their bellybuttons poking out because of malnutrition. The “mamas” do a great job of selflessly caring for them each day and cooking meals over the fire – mostly just cornmeal, with an occasional small fish/sardine or chicken. They wear rags- I saw most of them in the same clothes almost every day for the 2 weeks we were there. Their water comes from a deep open well, which makes for it being very dirty. Bathing doesn’t happen too often because it takes work to get the water, soap costs money, and they play barefoot in the dirt all day. Responsibilities and expectations of the little ones are high- to care for their younger siblings, carry them on their backs, help with chores. Entertainment requires creativity – pieces of trash, all kinds of games with “balls,” lots of handclapping games. Paper and crayons was a special treat; when we handed them out, nearly 90% of the children drew pictures of houses and families. This is a deep longing of all of our hearts, we were created to desire family and intimate relationships!
People are HUNGRY- we got to help meet their physical needs (as some hadn’t eaten for 3 weeks after the flooding where they had lost everything), but more excitingly we got to share with them of the well that never runs dry and of the Bread of Life that completely satisfies. The men would load up the flatbed with food (we took 3 tons of food for each outreach), then we’d climb on top along with church members (about 5 of them could translate for us because they’re in school to be pastors and are learning English) for at least an hour drive out to a remote village. As we got near, they would start up African praise songs and shouts of “Alleluia!” It was a surreal experience… bouncing along the gorgeous Mozambique terrain, crowded in the back of a flatbed with NO personal space (71 people was the max we fit one time), and singing along with the African praises. Our outreaches were intense- always at least 3 hours long. We’d start with 1-2 hours of blasting praise music (to draw out/invite anyone within miles) and many of us would join the church members in leading dancing (they are awesome worshippers- even the little 2 year olds who could barely stand would be joining in the worship of dancing before the Lord)! Others of us would find little ones to hold, or walk the parameters covering the area in prayer. We were blown away with the responses- the people were so hungry and would respond to Jesus Christ in roves. Throughout the 2 weeks, over 700 names were written in the Book of Life…heaven has been constantly partying and rejoicing at all the new saints being added!
The Holy Spirit is MOVING- healing hearts and bodies!! As a squad, we witnessed the Holy Spirit restore sight to 2 who were blind, hearing to 2 deaf, a lame child walk, many headaches relieved, back pain gone, chest and GI pains that had been lingering for weeks immediately dissipate, respiratory illnesses cleared up.
Acts 19:20~ So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 1:8, 2:32, 4:12).
“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (11:21).
Every day, we witnessed hundreds of men, women, and children return to their God and come alive in Christ Jesus!
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (13:52).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 1:8, 2:32, 4:12).
“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (11:21).
Every day, we witnessed hundreds of men, women, and children return to their God and come alive in Christ Jesus!
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (13:52).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 1:8, 2:32, 4:12).
“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (11:21).
Every day, we witnessed hundreds of men, women, and children return to their God and come alive in Christ Jesus!
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (13:52).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 1:8, 2:32, 4:12).
“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (11:21).
Every day, we witnessed hundreds of men, women, and children return to their God and come alive in Christ Jesus!
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (13:52).
One night that especially stands out to me was when Jake was preaching and felt pain in his heart, he believed that it was the Lord giving him a word of knowledge that He wanted to heal someone there with this same pain. He asked whoever it was to come forward, 2 came up with pain they’d each had for about 3 weeks. We all prayed over them and they experienced immediate and complete healing! Later that night I had a man come up to me with chest pain as well that he’d been experiencing for over a week. As I prayed over him, he said he felt only a little better at first. I continued to pray, with my hand over his heart and felt something like electricity going through my hand. At that point, I felt a release from the Holy Spirit that the man was healed. I took my hand off him, then put it back on his chest and he flew backward a little then got a big smile on his face and said there was no more pain! It was like the Holy Spirit zapped him with healing!? Next was a lady with lots of lower back pain (very common here because of all the weight they carry around)- Alissa and I were praying over her and once again the healing didn’t come immediately, but we continued asking the Holy Spirit for more and we both felt radiating heat coming from her back. We then removed our hands and started praising the Lord with her for the healing- she gave us a big smile and hugs!
Personal healing- one of our first mornings, I woke up in a sweat and with chills, feeling so weak I could barely walk. I didn’t know what was going on, but immediately found a teammate to pray with me. As soon as we finished praying, my sweat broke, chills disappeared and I felt energy flooding through my body. Praise the LORD!!
Acts 3:16~ To this we are witnesses. And his name- by faith in his name- has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Probably the most powerful night for me was when the Lord had asked me to preach. I’d been telling the Lord that anything He asked of me, I would be obedient. That morning as I sat before Him, he told me I would be preaching and to start reading Luke; He gave me the story of the Great Banquet from Luke 14. Now, public speaking is not something I’m a big fan of or would honestly ever willingly choose to do, but this year is definitely helping me get over myself (my own insecurities and feelings of inadequacy). Every time I have before gotten up, I’ve had lots of notes as backup, but I felt like this time I was supposed to just completely rely on the Holy Spirit and bring no “backup.” He was asking me to do this and because of my obedience, I knew that He would speak through me- He HAD to because I couldn’t do it on my own! Pulling up to the village, my heart felt very much at peace and I was in constant prayer for more of the Holy Spirit and for His heart for the people. Getting out of the truck, I had a heart full of joy but was immediately hit by the heaviness of the place. As the praise and dancing started, most villages get in to it and dance along with us, but in this place they just watched, yawned and we couldn’t get smiles out of anyone. It was really strange. I could sense the spiritual battle going on overhead, and the evil presence was heavy. (Side note- The day before we were supposed to have been there, but our truck broke down and we were on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere all day…the enemy was angry at all the Lord was doing throughout these villages, and so the enemy was trying to throw a lot of resistance our way. The thing is, the more resistance the enemy shows, the more confirmation to us of what the Lord is doing and the harder we battle and press in!!) The first child I picked up fell asleep in my arms almost immediately- while I was dancing with him! It was an analogy to me of 2 things: the heaviness & the comfort and rest in the arms of the Lord (we’re his hands and arms of love on the earth). Looking in to his precious face, tears started to come at the Lord’s love for this child. All of us were feeling the resistance, so we met in the back and started praying. As I looked into the eyes of the other villagers, tears kept coming and my heart felt burdened for them to be free and know the Father’s love! When it came time to share, I was flooded with so much peace and the Holy Spirit gave me all of the words and spoke to the people His love and truths. He was working in their hearts because when we gave the invitation, 200+ came forward to accept Christ! In that moment, I was astounded by the Lord’s grace and love, and felt so privileged to get to take part in heaven coming to earth! We then began praying for healings. One little boy particularly tugged at my heart- he was about 6 yrs old and deaf in both ears. As we prayed for his healing, at one point he was looking up at me with his big brown eyes – looking completely open and vulnerable. Standing in the gap for him, we cried out for his healing. We didn’t see his hearing return that night, and I wrestled all the way home asking the Lord, “ThankYou for the miracles of all the healings and all who accepted You, and I know heaven is celebrating right now. Yet what I don’t understand is what about that one?” All He responded was, “Trust me.” I don’t always understand why each one is not healed (I know sometimes the healing comes later and not at the immediate moment), but I do know that the Lord does heal, restore, and bring life. We were blessed to witness this and, by being obedient, take part in this many times!
When you are totally in LOVE with the Lord, there is nothing He can ask of you that you won’t want to do for Him. Herb said something like that and it really struck me. Think about it- when you are in love with someone- you go out of your way for them, do all that’s in your power to show them your love, want to please them in any way you can (spending time with them, doing things you know they love, thinking about them, talking about them in a lot of your conversations, looking for ways to bring them joy). That’s how it is with Jesus- the more you know and love Him, the more you desire Him (more than just willing and obedient)…you DESIRE to give all of yourself to Him out of LOVE. I believe that’s why in the Bible He refers to us as His bride and to Himself as the bridegroom…to keep our relationship with Him fresh, full of wonder, exciting, full of devotion.
Hunger was in me as we came to Mozambique. The Lord had spoken to a lot of us that this would be a time of so much more than we had experienced before, a time of diving in and going to whole new levels with the Lord and in ministry. My hunger for more of the Lord, to know Him in deeper ways, to see Him move, and to better understand the hunger of the locals led me to fast at the start of our time in Morrumbala. Herb shared with us a truth that we got to witness- HUNGER IS FED!
The more of the Lord I tasted and saw, the more I desired. My constant prayer throughout Mozambique (and hopefully for life) was “Holy Spirit, MORE!” I have a holy dissatisfaction…my flesh at times grows tired, but my spirit is constantly calling out for MORE of the Lord! MORE of what? His love and heart, hearing His voice, dreams and visions, to see His face, miracles, harvest (more people being set free from bondage and coming fully alive in Him), spiritual gifts, unity, etc. He LOVES when His children are hungry for more- He loves to give us good gifts and the deepest desire of His heart is for more of our heart- that is why He created us…to pour out His love on us and to have an intimate relationship with us! REVIVAL- to come alive again! The fire of revival was lit in us- to be fully alive!
Mark 16:15-18~ Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.
