Can I just say that these 4 days were my favourite, ministry-wise, of the entire trip thus far. The way we discipled, the need that we started to meet was beyond comparison, I know God Himself was smiling down on our team and the little church we worked with.
I’ll begin the story with a quote from our contact in Pretoria, South Africa, Claude, “On average everyone in Africa has been saved eight times.” Crazy but believable!! And their faith in general is either non-existent or so shallow that they have no idea who their heavenly Father is.
It took 2½ hours to get out to this place called Mabime. Packed in the back of a truck with all our gear we jostled down “roads” until we stopped in what I have officially named the middle of nowhere. Then the singing started, as the engines were being turned off our new friends greeted us with song and dance and worship to God, totally the warmest welcome I have ever received. After we got set up they took us to the lake on a little tour, as we were walking there I asked if this 40 minute walk was the nearest water source, and the woman who took care of us, Lizzy just said, “Don’t worry about it.” Many women walked 40 minutes, each way, with 55lb containers balanced on their heads every day just to get us water!
We know that we would be building a church and probably preaching a little so that was expected but what we found was different from what anyone thought. In a Bible study one afternoon, I asked the Pastor what a teaching he would share at one of their services. He only knew of one story/scripture. We soon realized that this was the only teaching they had received at a conference the year before! So this church, which had been together with 18 members for a year and a half, had one teaching from Matt. 10 to go out and make disciples. Needless to say Ginger gave them a packed gospel message and three men (including the main Pastor) said that they hadn’t heard it all before.
What an amazing opportunity to tell these people that Christ is freedom! That we must seek after Him, meditate on His Word and teach others in the way everlasting. nmSo the next few days were packed with all sorts of basic teaching to help deepen their faith from just singing and dancing each morning and evening to something with substance that stands firm in the face of real evil.
I am so thankful that these people who had never spoken to a white person would so richly bless us. And receive the love of God and the joy that it brings through their song and dance. I am just in awe that Christ would use us, broken and screwed up westerners, to encourage and strengthen a church in the middle of Mozambique. The body of Christ is a phenomenal thing, missions is just blessing others and in turn being blessed more than you could imagine.
