I am in Africa. I am in AFRICA. My heart is so full, friends. God is such an amazing Father. I am overwhelmed this day. I would like to share with you all, sweet blessings, a little about our ministry this month and also about the amazing morning that I experienced today.
This month my team and I are serving in a little town just outside of Maputo, Mozambique, Africa. We are serving with a ministry called Beacon of Hope. Beacon of Hope is a ministry for teenage boys- kind of like a boys home in a way. The missionary here is absolutely incredible. She is so wise, so kind, so strong, and so empowered. She has been incredible to serve alongside thus far. She currently has ten boys that live in a house right beside hers. She has adopted two of the boys and has almost adopted a girl as well. These ten boys are probably the MOST disciplined teenage boys I have ever been around before. They are incredible to watch. They are such servants, such leaders, such men of God.
That is the goal at Beacon of Hope. She takes in these boys for three years- she teaches them English, Bible, and some school things. Her vision is to train these boys up into men of God. Her heart is the youth boys of Mozambique. In this area it is very male dominant. She believes with all her heart the importance of training up these boys, the future, as men of God to change the future of Maputo for Jesus Christ.
So far as we have been here, we have begun teaching classes to them. We are teaching them math, English, Bible, and about the world. We are teaching them in these classes, living life with them, playing games with them, having church with them, and just listening to them and loving on them. We are also striving to serve our missionary host well while we are here. The favorite thing of mine that she has said is, “No job is too small.” I love that! She is so on point. I am in awe to be here, to really be in AFRICA and to be serving at such an amazing ministry- helping to serve and train up warriors for Jesus!
Today is our day of rest- which I am so grateful for! We will have church, preaching and having worship with the boys tomorrow. This morning some of my teammates and I went for a walk. One of the boys followed behind us. He ended up leading the way. He brought us to his house and another one of the boy’s homes. We met their families who so kindly, so graciously, and so lovingly welcomed us. We met his grandmother and prayed over her. We met a woman selling fruit in front of her home and she gave us free bananas. We saw and experienced so many awesome things on our walk. Just to see the homes, concrete rooms, outdoor kitchens made of bamboo, courtyards of dirt- but so neatly clean- it was just an incredible thing to see- it was Africa. 🙂
We kept walking, still following the boy and what we just thought was going for a walk, the Father turned into a life changing experience. We went to CHURCH. It was the church that he attends and it was CHURCH, y’all. Oh what worship! I do not even know how to put it into words. These people were WORSHIPPING our Abba with all of their being. When we walked in they were singing, “Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain and I can’t control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God.” in Portuguese. This song is so relevant to my life. I have worshipped the Father through this song in so many different seasons of my life. It is very meaningful to me. When I walked into that church and heard this song- being poured out in genuine worship, in Portuguese, it was all I could do to not just completely sob. Tears overflowed out of my eyes coming from deep within my heart. So many hands were raised in surrender- genuine surrender all over that room. Eyes were filled with tears- some to the point of weeping, pouring it all out before our Father. People were on their knees. Youth were powerfully praying. People, mostly youth, walked back and forth in the back powerfully praying Heaven down. I wish you could see it. It was CHURCH. It was WORSHIP. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Abba God is SO beyond America, y’all. Abba God is so beyond ourselves. He is HUGE. AND HE IS AT WORK. IN SUCH A POWERFUL WAY. I SAW IT. HE IS AT WORK ALL AROUND THIS BIG BIG WORLD.
Much prayer was also involved in worship- praying for those beside us and praying with their families. So powerful.
The preacher preached in Spanish, a girl translated into Portuguese, a boy translated into another African language, and then a sweet girl sat with us and translated for us into English.
What a powerful message after a powerful, powerful day. The man preaching was a doctor. He told us about how in just one drop of blood there is DNA/genes. They cannot comprehend how such intense information is held in even a single drop, but it is true. He talked about Jesus shedding His blood for us and how when we call Him Lord of our lives- His blood becomes IN US. He washes us in that blood- our blood becomes His blood- and that “DNA/those genes” become OURS. OUR IDENTITY BECOMES HIS IDENTITY. We are HIS and we carry that with us because IT IS IN US AND IT IS WHO WE ARE!
At the end of church a teenage girl gave her life to Jesus today. I’m telling you friends, it was definitely a day for the books. I am in awe of my Jesus. So in awe.
How incredible the work of the Father is- ALL around this world! And He doesn’t even come close to needing me in this work, in this world. He’s got this so much. BUT HE has CHOSEN to give me the opportunity to be a part of this- to experience this- to use me as His hands, His feet, His words, His love- to be a vessel to what HE is so powerfully doing. I am awed.
I am awed at the BEAUTY of how BIG my Abba God is. He is beyond all cultural boundaries, languages differences, and different perspectives. He holds the whole world in His hands- for real- and to really see that and to really experience it is absolutely incredible.
It all started with what we thought was just a nice walk until the Father had different plans to bless and to love and to change my life over and over again. I have a feeling that this journey in these 11 months- it is what I might think is just a nice walk- but only the beginning.
AND IT’S ONLY MONTH ONE! 🙂
“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and FOR him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace BY THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS.” Colossians 1:12-20
I’m so excited to share with you all some pictures from today. 🙂
Love you all and cannot put into words how grateful I am for such amazing people in my life. 🙂
-Megan Fridell
