Our translator in Mozambique was named Lovemore. He was an awesome man of God and our team learned so much from him. He is one of the most humble men I have ever met and I will miss him dearly.
Lovemore is 28 years old. He stretches a solid 4’11” and rides his bike everywhere. He is in 12th grade and he speaks 10 languages, to include Russian, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Sena, and other ones that I honestly forget. This is information that you wouldn’t ordinarily get out of him but spending a month with someone opens the door to many conversations.
Lovemore had the JOY of the Lord like I have never seen in someone before. Every morning the guys on our team (Evan and Phil) would wake up at 8 AM and do a devotional with the boys from the center that we were living at for the month. Lovemore would come and translate for them as many of them don’t speak English. We would then meet up with Lovemore as a team in the afternoon to start our ministry in the town (i.e. hospital, prison, street, etc.). Of course we would greet Lovemore ask the typical, “How are you doing?”
His response was always “I am Blessed.”
I was so humbled by this every time and my teammates and I were always in awe of him and his response. Here he is in the middle of nowhere Mozambique most likely living in a mud hut and every day without fail he gives glory to God the Father and accredits every little thing back to the Creator.
(LoveMore is the white t-shirt standing next to Natalie.)
One day we were preparing for children’s day and Lovemore was wandering around the base just hanging out and we asked him what he was doing….
His response, “Exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing.”
The lovely thing about Lovemore was that he was so genuine and intentional in everything that he did. I remember when we were going to do hospital ministry for the first time he put so much thought in to praying for children or adults. He is the epitome of what intimacy with the Lord. When asked how he learned so many languages, he gave credit to the Holy Spirit. He would often take a time out of praying or ministry and just go somewhere and was still in the presence of the Lord, asking the Lord questions, or just hearing from Him. My team and I would just watch as Lovemore was “downloading” something from the Lord.
God uses people in miraculous ways and one thing, among many, I have learned in the past 6 months is that many times He uses the most unlikely. In a country where witchcraft is rampant, and oppression is thick there is no room for people to have one foot in the door and the other out of the church. Mozambique needs committed people like Lovemore who are so in tune with the Holy Spirit there is no room for hesitation.
Lovemore refuses to lead a church because he doesn’t want people to misunderstand leadership and follow him, he wants them to follow the Lord. One Sunday we went to his church to preach but we had to leave before service was over. On Monday morning he came and told Evan and Phil about his experience on Sunday afternoon, after we had left.
After church, Lovemore felt called to go to a young boys house who was a regular church attender and pray for him. The boy fought against Lovemore praying but Lovemore knew there was more going on, more in the spiritual realm that needed to be handled, for lack of a better term. He prayed over the 16 year old and the boy fell on the ground and stopped breathing. The boy was on the ground, lifeless for 20 minutes. His family began to surround and mourn the loss of their son and brother. Lovemore prayed, without ceasing. After 20 minutes and some intense prayers, the boy began to breath again and spoke in perfect English. He began to tell Lovemore to pray for his family because they had dealings with witch doctors and Lovemore was able to translate the foreign “tongue” (which was English) to the boy’s family. The boy’s family was astounded at the words that were coming out of the boy’s mouth as he had never spoken a word of English and did not know how to before that Sunday. The boy confessed Jesus as His Savior and the family repented of the witchcraft that they were meddling in and were also Saved!
The intimacy with the Lord that Lovemore possesses is something to be sought after. As I examine my own prayer life and relationship with the Lord I realize how one sided it truly is and how selfish my desires are. No one likes a one sided conversation. So many times I think the Lord isn’t speaking to me but maybe it is my problem. Maybe if I was still in his presence and took a breath from focusing on myself in my prayer life the Lord would have the chance to “download” to me. I am going to start by spending time every morning and just asking the Lord to speak to me, to lead my steps, to be my guide and to take the lead in my life.
