One w
eek in Mozambique and my life is already changing. I feel like this is the month I’m taking all of the strengths I’ve acquired while on the Race and using them to impact this place for the Kingdom. This place is different from all of the other countries I’ve been to. There is a hunger here. There is so much passion here. The Christians here are bold. The lost people are open to hear the Gospel. I feel empowered here. The Holy Spirit is here.
This week, God used me to show His love and to share the Gospel in 3 very different ways.
First, I’ll tell you about the Prison. The day after we arrived in Matola, Mozambique, we were told we were going to visit a Juvenile Detention center. The men here were between the ages of 16 and 21. They were serving sentences anywhere from 5 months to 8 years. As we approached the building, I have to admit, I was a little uneasy. First of all, it is out in the middle of nowhere.. on the drive there I was looking everywhere for an elephant or a giraffe… and when we arrived, we realized that other than a thin barbed wire fence, their ‘security system’ consisted of a man with a very large gun waiting to see if anyone dare escape. As we stood at the gate praying before we went in, I saw the men, boys really, filing in to the dining hall where we would be speaking. My heart started pounding. Then, there was the question. “Hey, they want us to share today, I need 3 people to give their testimonies.â€� This is why the Bible says to always be prepared. Instead of jumping on the chance to hear myself talk like I usually do, God said no. It’s not the time. So I quickly declined and others stepped up. We walked into the dining hall in a single file line. I’m praying for God’s protection (I’ve never been in a prison before), and praying for God to speak through us and that we say to these men what needs to be said. As SOON as we walked through that door, a weight was lifted off of me. I could physically feel it. I didn’t see 120 dangerous criminals sitting there perfectly quiet waiting for their guest speakers. I saw 120 boys. Boys who had gotten off track. Boys who were so hungry to hear the truth about themselves you could just feel it as they smiled at us. These boys didn’t need to hear about all of the things they had done wrong. They didn’t need to hear that they were bad people, criminals, theives… no, the truth is they are God’s children. We knew immediately that it was time to start speaking life into them because the truth is, you become what you and other people speak over you. So, we started speaking life, hope, future, redemption, love. As our testimonies poured out, and the words from the Bible rang in the room, I’ve never in my whole life seen a group of men that age so quiet and engaged in what we had to say. I began to wonder if they had ever heard anyone speaking this truth into their lives before. “You are not a criminal, you are a beloved son of the Most High God!â€� “Nothing you did is bad enough for the Father not to forgive you. He wants you to come as you ARE.â€� After we spoke, we prayed for them and promised to come back and visit again soon (this month it looks like we have so many different ministries that we don’t know what we will be doing from day to day, so we hoped what we said was true). Fast forward a week and there we were again. Same building, same time, same beautiful faces staring in anticipation. This time, it was my turn to speak. During the week it occurred to me why God didn’t want me to share last week. Usually when I give my testimony, it is a story of how I “Grew up in a Christian home, strayed away from God for a few years, got in a relationship, had a big traumatic event happen, turned to God, and He directed my life to be where I am today.â€� Even though that testimony is great, and I’ve been sharing it around the world for the past 7 months, God didn’t want me to share that with them. He needed me to listen to Him this week so He could tell me what He wanted me to share…. so I did. These boys needed to hear a testimony of redemption. They needed to hear a story of how God uses the tough situations in our life to fulfill His purpose. So my testimony was more like, “When troubles came in my life, I turned to God, He showed me His plan, He brought Joy to my life, I am fulfilling His purpose, His plan for my life was much better than mine.â€� I think God wanted to speak to them through me and tell them that He has the same plan for them and that He is just waiting for them to turn to Him so He can show them. This time, when we prayed for them, we asked if any of them needed prayer and a couple dozen hands shot up. We were able to pray for them individually, 3 of them accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit was flowing in that place. When we left, the contacts that brought us told us that they had been receiving letters from some of the inmates about wanting help. Our next meeting with them will be talking to the men one on one who wrote letters. I can’t wait to see how the Lord is going to use me for this one! (Sorry, no pics of this ministry!) 
The second way God used me this week won’t take as long to explain because it’s something I do on a regular basis. Love on children. It’s my passion. It’s one of the best ways I show Christ’s love to others. I LOVE KIDS. Looking back over the past 7 months, I’ve realized that I may have a mild obsession with kids. I think I am at the happiest state in life when I am around them. It doesn’t matter what country, I just LOVE them! I love the kids that can’t behave in class. I love the kids that are constantly pulling on you trying to get attention, I love the loud kids, I love the quiet kids, I love the kids that are
all dressed up, I love the kids who wear the same tattered clothes for the entire month. I love to comfort sad kids, I love to hold their hands while we walk through the streets, I love to hug them when I see them first thing in the morning, I love to kiss them and embarrass them, I love to hear them laugh, I love their smiles. I can’t believe God loves me even more than I love kids. I just pray that they can get a glimpse of His love through me.
The third way God used me this week is through service to a community. On the Race, we don’t just share the Gospel through words, reading the Bible, and praying for people. We SHOW them the Gospel. We live out Jesus’s commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.â€� This week we helped build a school that our contact is helping with. The men of the village and the volunteers have been working hard for months on it and it is close to being finished. One of the major tasks of building and just everyday living in this village is getting water. If you have a sink, shower, toilet, or hose at your house… go hug them now and thank God f
or blessing you before you read the rest of this. You know when you hear the word Africa, many people automatically think of wild animals, safaris, small grass huts, big cities, conflict, radical worshipers, and…. water shortage. You probably think about wells too. Well, it’s all true. There are villages in Africa that have one well the people have to walk to, fill up several 5 gallon jugs, and carry it back to their house… usually on their head. Oh, and the women and children do this. Many times the women do this with the children tied to their back. So our assignment that day (the girls on my team), was to go to the well and help the people there pump their water and deliver it to their houses as ministry. Sweet! I’m really getting a taste of ‘real African life’ now! 2 1/2 hours later, I don’t think that thought was going through my head anymore. The new thought was, “Do these water jugs ever stop coming?â€� As I pumped the water (there were about 40 jugs waiting to be filled by about 7 different families) I realized that these people have to do this every day. Every jug takes about 60 pumps of water to fill… not easy work. By spending a few hours doing this daunting task, we are showing these people that we care about them and we want to help them in any way possible. I know the women were grateful for the break they got that day. I know it seems like something really small to us, and maybe even to them, but we know a seed was planted and we trust God to make the increase. I have had such a wonderful experience here so far and I can’t wait to find out what we are doing for the rest of the month!
