"Blessed are those who mourn."

I really have not processed the summer the way I am going to in the next few weeks…but I am confident in this: the Bush outreach was the absolute most transforming and best part of the whole experience. Between traveling through the poorest parts of Mozambique, seeing the extreme physical poverty and the lack of the necessities to live a healthy life, I am becoming more broken for losing my life for the gospel. God is the only answer for this country. The government is corrupt…the culture, although beautiful in so many ways, is being trashed by witchcraft and darkness. For instance, at the beginning of adolescence, the boys are raped and circumcised, and the girls are taken for a period of time to be involved in similar “rights of passage.” During one of the outreaches, in a province called Lichinga, there were parties and parades to celebrate the beginning of this time in the children’s lives. Beyond all of this, there are so many that have been left maimed and crippled because of the land mines left from the civil wars. And if you still find a way to be happy despite all of this, I am sure the incredible natural disasters that come will be enough to destroy your spirit. The Holy Given school was all about incarnational love and how to bring the love of God without trying to change the culture of the people whom you are serving. It was being able to see what the gospel actually looks like. We kept hearing, “Love looks like something.” It is not words but actions. God intended for us to be healthy, to be whole, and to know who we are as his creations. One thing God showed me on this trip was to lose my addiction for comfort and how this must be broken if others will be comforted and understand this wholeness that God intends for them through me. I come from a sick culture that teaches you that comfort is God-ordained and we are entitled to it. It is hard to have that conversation with a little boy with worm in the toes, a bloated belly, and who has just seen his parents and friends die in a flood. The message I was hearing while I was in the bush was, “If you want to be my hands and feet in the world, you need my eyes and my heart.” It is true…One day, in the medical tent, as I reached out to touch this one boy, tears started to run down my face and I actually felt like Jesus was touching this boy through me…it was the first time I felt this, and it was better than any physical miracle I have seen. I am continually inspired by those who have given up every right and entitlement for the sake of another persons comfort and healing. It is much what Jesus did for us…he died so we could be whole…and we have the opportunity to be just like him for someone else or even a whole nation. How flippin’ awesome is that!!! Bless you all!!! I Love You. -Steve

little road with a big truck...join in...little road with a big truck

there is a village up the hill...I promise...I hope they did not mind walking. the little girl you see to the right is a living miracle in many ways. She was taken from the floods because of such severe malnutrition...and brought to live with a pastor from Iris. She also has a degenerative disorder that requires her to only walk on one leg, and currently has an infection that goes to the bone. However, I never once caught her without a smile from one ear to the other. In her culture, it is everything to express yourself through dance which she cannot do like the other girls. yet, everytime the music comes on, she grabs her cane and bounces from side to side with the biggest smile out of all the girls. And you should hear her pray and watch the confidence on her face...this girl knows the lord in ways I am only crying out for. It makes me wonder what my cane looks like, and why I do not understand why God is really the only one I have in heaven. We are taking her back to Zambezia, to another IRIS center to be reunited with her family.

This picture is from a village that is far from any main roads. We were supposed to continue up the road, but it wasn't feasible...I will add that picture below. Instead, we set up the truck and preached here...actually, this was the night I gave my testimony and gave a message of freedom in Christ...it was awesome to see God use me in such a place that is far of my grid of reference. It was an awesome night...the guy whose land this was touched by God and accepted the Lord. He is going to join with the local pastor and help him plant churches in the area.

Bush or Bust

Hey everyone...I miss you like crazy!!!this will be a quickie...I just picked up some last minute things and am heading with my team to the beach to pray for the outreach to the bush…we leave at 8 tomorrow…2 a.m. your time. We just graduated last night with the pastors. I will never forget that day as long as I live. The service started at 11 and did not end until 730. We ate together…lots of hugging and praying over one another…and then the pastors sang songs from their provincial language. Mel Tari spoke a message of being a world changer and an earth shaker, and Heidi and Rolland prayed over us and commissioned us into the world to push back the boundaries of darkness and to be carriers of light and the Love of God. I have never felt so in the will of God before as I hugged pastors that could not understand what I was saying, but as we embraced, tears started to run down our face, because it was the language of heaven and the kingdom that we were communicating. And as I looked to God in the middle of the ceremony, I felt his freedom and Love like I never have. It was a freedom from striving for intimacy. I now understand why Jesus said…if you believe in me as the scriptures say, out of your heart will flow rivers of living water…I am starting to understand the simplicity of the gospel. It is about understanding the true context of scripture, which is, God wants our intimacy…our hearts…our minds…he created a way for us to be with him through Jesus and it has nothing to do with striving or anything to do with works. Yes we are coworkers and partners with God in the work of reconciliation…but we are also friends and sons and daughters of God which is flippin crazy…but I am going to be so foolish as to believe it. I pray that I carry this heart of Joy and inheritance out of Africa! Whew…ok…so we graduated and now I am going to the beach to pray…please pray for us…we are going to the bush, bush for two weeks into a part of Mozambique called Zambezi a. It will be the hardest thing I ever have done and I know I am not alone. We are going to a place that has had heavy spiritual warfare, natural disaster which left thousands dead and hutless, and people that have never heard the Gospel or have heard of Jesus. I am excited and I know it will be fun, but I want to be wise and ask for pray and covering. I am still a young in the area of spiritual warfare, but am learning. I think the main things to be praying for are the spirit of witchcraft, mockery, and alcoholism…that I have heard of. Also, I am sick and another kid has bad malaria. Pray anything else on your heart. I love you all, and am praying for you as well…I hear awesome stuff is happening and your hunger for God is increasing…more Lord!!! I cannot wait to be home! Blessings
Steve

The Bush or Bust

Hey everyone...I miss you like crazy!!!this will be a quickie...I just picked up some last minute things and am heading with my team to the beach to pray for the outreach to the bush…we leave at 8 tomorrow…2 a.m. your time. So we just graduated last night with the pastors. I will never forget that day as long as I live. The service started at 11 and did not end until 730. We ate together…lots of hugging and praying over one another…and then the pastors sang songs from their provincial language. Mel Tari spoke a message of being a world changer and an earth shaker, and Heidi and Rolland prayed over us and commissioned us into the world to push back the boundaries of darkness and to be carriers of light and the Love of God. I have never felt so in the will of the Lord before as I hugged pastors that could not understand what I was saying, but as we embraced, tears started to run down our face, because it was the language of heaven and the kingdom that we were communicating. And as I looked to God in the middle of the ceremony, I felt his freedom and Love like I never have. It was a freedom from striving for intimacy. I now understand why Jesus said…if you believe in me as the scriptures say, out of your heart will flow rivers of living water…I am starting to understand the simplicity of the gospel. It is about understanding the true context of scripture, which is, God wants our intimacy…our hearts…our minds…he created a way for us to be with him through Jesus and it has nothing to do with striving or anything to do with works. Yes we are coworkers and partners with God in the work of reconciliation…but we are also friends and sons and daughters of God which is flippin crazy…but I am going to be so foolish as to believe it. I pray that I carry this heart of Joy and inheritance out of Africa! Whew…ok…so we graduated and now I am going to the beach to pray…please pray for us…we are going to the bush, bush for two weeks into a part of Mozambique called Zambezi a. It will be the hardest thing I ever have done, physically, mentally, and spiritually. We are going to a place that has had heavy spiritual warfare, natural disaster which left thousands dead and hutless, and people that have never heard the Gospel or have heard of Jesus. I am excited and I know it will be fun, but I want to be wise and ask for prayer and covering. I am still a young in the area of spiritual warfare, but am learning. I think the main things to be praying for are the spirit of witchcraft, mockery, and alcoholism…that I have heard of. Also, I am sick and another kid has bad malaria. Pray anything else on your heart. I love you all, and am praying for you as well…I hear awesome stuff is happening and your hunger for God is increasing…more Lord!!! I cannot wait to be home! Blessings
Steve

first outreach

This weekend was my first weekend bush outreach. Up until this point I have not been more than 15 miles outside of Pemba…which is not a great representation of the rest of Mozambique. Mostly, because it is close to a city which has tourism…so they have running water, electricity and some other things that you will never find in the bush. The villages are similar to the rest of the country with mud huts and latrines but in the bush there is not running water or electricity. And because many do not realize that they live in such poverty they are very taken by white people and digital cameras…most of the people in the bush have never actually seen themselves. The village we went to was about 6 hours south of Pemba in a Mucundi village. This particular village is the 2nd most resistant village to the Gospel since Iris has been in Pemba. They also still practice cannibalism...I was finally happy to be skinny. Of course these two bits of information were not revealed to us until we returned…probably not a bad idea. I truly felt like I was living the book of acts while we were ministering in this village. Iris had planted a church in this village and we were going to support them in the ministry. As we walked through the village our Mozambican leader was teaching us how to be praying prophetically for the village and what we were to do while we were there. There was heavy witchcraft, really severe alcoholism, and spirit of mockery and unbelief like I have never seen before. As we preached during the first afternoon many people were laughing and insulting the gospel…which caused people who truly felt God to not come forward for prayer. At the night service it was so much worse…I imagine because everyone was drunk. After we showed a film and called out the deaf and blind, a large group who were drunk and mocking the gospel approached the stage asking for prayer for anything they could think of. The language barrier made it so hard to talk to them and find out what spirits might be on them. At a point I just stopped and went back to the truck. A few minutes later the leader felt hostility and we all jumped in the truck…I was driving and he said “speed up” I wasn’t sure why until I realized that they were throwing rocks at us. It was a little different then the persecution I am accustomed to in America…like, “Christians are hypocrites.” The last day we were there was a Sunday. We spent our time encouraging the church in the village by talking to them about spiritual warfare and praying for them. The next day at the school the different teams were giving testimonies of deaf ears being opened and the mute speaking and witch doctors being saved. I thought about our experience and realized how important it is to see the unseen and be asking for the prophetic. It would have been easy to be discouraged about what we saw; however, one sows and the other reaps…we were part of the pioneering into an extremely dark place...it just looks different. I am looking forward to seeing how this experience changes the way I walk down streets in the U.S.

This website is the July newsletter for Iris Mozambique and particularly Pemba if you want to a bigger picture of the ministry here. I think Rolland wrote it.

http://www.irismin.org/news/36.php

I do not know if I mentioned it earlier but while I was here so far I have met a film crew from LA that is doing a documentary on Iris that is for a secular audience on what God is doing in Non Profit ministries…it will include the miracles they have seen while they were here…I think they filmed a blind and mute being healed and a few deaf people. I am excited to see it…Also a girl from Pittsburg is writing a book on Heidi for the same audience. Please pray for these, because I think they could be used to save so many who have become hardened to the gospel and see the church and the religion instead seeing the living God.

Also, there was book just written by the Baker’s…I forget what it is called…if anyone in West Chester is interested in reading in, I think it should be in my pile of mail at the Clark’s…you can open it and check it out. It details many of the miracles Iris has seen since being in Mozambique.

Bless You

-Steve

If you feel led, please pray that God would give me wisdom…I am getting so much vision…I just need to hear God’s voice.

first outreach

This weekend was my first weekend bush outreach. Up until this point I have not been more than 15 miles outside of Pemba…which is not a great representation of the rest of Mozambique. Mostly, because it is close to a city which has tourism…so they have running water, electricity and some other things that you will never find in the bush. The villages are similar to the rest of the country with mud huts and latrines but in the bush there is not running water or electricity. And because many do not realize that they live in such poverty they are very taken by white people and digital cameras…most of the people in the bush have never actually seen themselves. The village we went to was about 6 hours south of Pemba in a Mucundi village. This particular village is the 2nd most resistant village to the Gospel since Iris has been in Pemba. They also still practice cannibalism...I was finally happy to be skinny. Of course these two bits of information were not revealed to us until we returned…probably not a bad idea. I truly felt like I was living the book of acts while we were ministering in this village. Iris had planted a church in this village and we were going to support them in the ministry. As we walked through the village our Mozambican leader was teaching us how to be praying prophetically for the village and what we were to do while we were there. There was heavy witchcraft, really severe alcoholism, and spirit of mockery and unbelief like I have never seen before. As we preached during the first afternoon many people were laughing and insulting the gospel…which caused people who truly felt God to not come forward for prayer. At the night service it was so much worse…I imagine because everyone was drunk. After we showed a film and called out the deaf and blind, a large group who were drunk and mocking the gospel approached the stage asking for prayer for anything they could think of. The language barrier made it so hard to talk to them and find out what spirits might be on them. At a point I just stopped and went back to the truck. A few minutes later the leader felt hostility and we all jumped in the truck…I was driving and he said “speed up” I wasn’t sure why until I realized that they were throwing rocks at us. It was a little different then the persecution I am accustomed to in America…like, “Christians are hypocrites.” The last day we were there was a Sunday. We spent our time encouraging the church in the village by talking to them about spiritual warfare and praying for them. The next day at the school the different teams were giving testimonies of deaf ears being opened and the mute speaking and witch doctors being saved. I thought about our experience and realized how important it is to see the unseen and be asking for the prophetic. It would have been easy to be discouraged about what we saw; however, one sows and the other reaps…we were part of the pioneering into an extremely dark place...it just looks different. I am looking forward to seeing how this experience changes the way I walk down streets in the U.S.

This website is the July newsletter for Iris Mozambique and particularly Pemba if you want to a bigger picture of the ministry here. I think Rolland wrote it.

http://www.irismin.org/news/36.php

I do not know if I mentioned it earlier but while I was here so far I have met a film crew from LA that is doing a documentary on Iris that is for a secular audience on what God is doing in Non Profit ministries…it will include the miracles they have seen while they were here…I think they filmed a blind and mute being healed and a few deaf people. I am excited to see it…Also a girl from Pittsburg is writing a book on Heidi for the same audience. Please pray for these, because I think they could be used to save so many who have become hardened to the gospel and see the church and the religion instead seeing the living God.

Also, there was book just written by the Baker’s…I forget what it is called…if anyone in West Chester is interested in reading in, I think it should be in my pile of mail at the Clark’s…you can open it and check it out. It details many of the miracles Iris has seen since being in Mozambique.

Bless You

-Steve

If you feel led, please pray that God would give me wisdom…I am getting so much vision…I just need to hear God’s voice.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

Coma esta' Heidi gave her message yesterday on the beatitudes which was the message I heard from her 3 years ago that was burned on my heart. It was one of the sessions with the Mozambican Pastors . At the beginning she talked about the nature of the poor and then asked the pastors who had lost children to stand. Almost 80% of the pastors over 30 stood up. Heidi then talked about our poverty before God and how it is easier as someone who is poor in the natural world to understand deparation, dependency, and faith when there is nothing else to depend on. I cannot begin to describe how impactful this experience was for the people in that room. You begin to ask yourself what the Kingdom of God truly looks like...how the Body of Christ is representing it...and what can I do differently. It did not seem right to be standing next to so many brothers in Christ that have lost children to Dystentary, malaria, and other diseases that we have medicine for in the West. At the end of the teaching, Heidi had all Pastors lay hands on us and ask God to make us more desparate for him...then we praed for them for healing for the suffering that they have faced...it was the most impactful time of ministry I have ever been a part of...God wants unity in the spirit!

WOW, thank You so much for conintuing to keep in touch with me and for your prayers...I can feel the support as I go through the trials of being in a radically different environment, and Ryan getting in the dirt to pray...I am impressed...I love you all. I know I am rattling off lots of things on this thing, mainly because there is so much in my heart and mind and I sort of just start typing. I want to be a little more intentional today and talk about what it takes to kill and skin a goat. j/k...but we do have one behind the house...it kept me all night. My roomate found out it was pregnant so we have to exchange it...he is a merciful guy. Anyways I thought you might be interested in who else is at this school. We have about 80 students and have about 20 countries represented. There are also some Iris staff and some older Mozambican pastors that have joined the school as well as some visitors that sneek in. I have been blessed to be around these saints for the last 2 months. It is also nice to see what God is doing in the rest of the world...mostly the same thing...INTIMACY!!! These people are some of the most desparate and in love people I have ever met. We have som bizarre calls to the dirt in the ministry times. For example, after Mattais from Holland spoke about ministering to Al Queda and going into the darkest places in the world for Jesus, I think 90% of the school felt led to recieve the call. I am so humbled to be with them...and challenged, but never condemned. Most of them operate out of the theology of Intimacy, passion, and compassion and calling birthed out of relationship with God. If miracles or prophesy ever start to be more of a focus than the Love God has for us and the father-son reltaionship...someone will always point it out. Rolland just finished his last message before he boarded the plane for two weeks and this is what he said: "There is a reason I do not talk to you about missions or miracles or healings, prophecy and is because if you do not understand how much God just wants to hang out with you and how he wants you to do everything with Joy in your heart than nothing else is worth doing." I am starting to get it...I didn't not come here to learn about miracles or how to pray for healing...I came here to learn how to love others the way God has loved me...there is a nun with us for the rest of the school...I love her...she gets drunk in the spirit all the time...it is hilarious...you need to see a nun fall on the ground laughing if you never have. Anyways, she prayed for me today and every pressure of being here and feeling like I need to get something fell off. It was awesome!!! I love God so much...I cannot wait to see you all again! Oh, and I am sorry if google is sending you stuff...I didn't realize they do that.

ahhhhhhhh!

I just wrote for an hour and it all was lost and now I have no time...I love slow computers in Mozambique...anyways...I love you. Next week I will tell you about the pastors, the chiuldren and the people I go to school with and what I meant when I used the terms "renewal movement" and "prosperity doctrine"...they are catch phrases that, as a good friend pointed out, should be avoided. peace

getting wrecked

I have been asked to a share a little of what I have been learning (per Terri Moss or Theresa--- if you go by her blogger name)…since it is this week I will give you a fresh serving of what I am learning aghora (I am trying to integrate my Portuguese). Rolland spoke yesterday and up until this point, besides Heidi, he has been having the most impact on my faith. His message was simple…There is no striving in the kingdom. Our ministry must flow out of a heart that is overflowing with intimacy and Love for Jesus and out of the joy that comes with being in the Kingdom of God. It seems overly simple, but striving seems to creep in. If I am not trying to impress God, I am trying to convince him to show up through loud and desperate prayers and my fasting. One image he used was of a friendship. Would you like a friend that is constantly trying to convince you to be your friend or one that uses bribes to get you to spend time with them? Since this talk my time with God has been so sweet. I am finding a new trust and faith in the fact that he is my savior and my father and the one who wants to love me. When you begin to realize God loves you like this, it allows you to Love others without criticism or judgment or reservation…because you begin to take on the nature of Love. This is the truth that is doing surgery on my heart…but it is not the only thing that is humbling me. Today we were looking into Isaiah and looking at the suffering servant and what it looks like in missions and cross cultural ministry. The theme was “counting the cost.” We focused on how moving in the power and Love of God does come with tremendous Joy and freedom but it also comes with suffering and persecution…she referenced Heidi and Rolland and herself (Lesley-Ann…the main speaker who has been a missionary for 30 years) to tell a little about the trial faced when you pioneer into dark regions of the world. Every day it is new subject that puts our faces in the dirt asking God for more desire to share Paul’s prayer in Philippians 3, “I want to fellowship in Christ’s sufferings and know the power of the resurrection.” (I do not have a bible but I think that is close) I think I will start the sessions in the dirt from now on to save me the trip. But it is all good…I am drawing nearer to God’s heart and becoming more humbled and childlike by being in this culture and away from home. I thank you all for helping me get here…this is the best experience of my life…and I know everything I am going through will exalt Him. He loves us so much…Receive it! I think it might be a couple of weeks before I can write again…we are having a huge wedding for two of IRIS missionaries on the beach on 7/07/07 which is taking up a lot of free time. The wedding will represent the wedding parable of inviting the poor and the marginalized to the wedding feast. I am excited to see it. For those of you going to the call…awesome!!! I will be praying for it!

Chicken, goats, and something else

Robert and James killed a chicken and cooked it for us this past Tuesday. It was an experience...this week we are killing something I cannot pronounce and next week we are going to kill a goat and cook it. I am sure it will be an experience. In three weeks, it is my turn to hold the knife...I wonder what it will be? By the way...this is our kitchen, and living room. It is a Holiday Inn at IRIS.

Robert's painting

Here is a picture from last night...our room is turning into an art studio...I love it. Robert will probably sell this painting to somone from the vistors center and then he will western union the money to his Kenyan church so they can go on an outreach this weekend. Robert lives in a mudhut with his mother and Grandmother and attends a church that meets outside on the dirt. I am treasuring this friendship that is teaching me so much about the body and Christ and how we can partner with our brothers and sisters that do not have the resources they need. If their church just had a laptop and a projector they could show the Jesus film to reach thousands that do not know the love that God has shown us through Jesus. sidenote: (so through Cheon last week I came to peace with the prosperity Gospel) The prosperity Gospel is true but it has to be handled by "kingdom minded" Christians who are walking in maturity, joy, and love and abandonment to the purposes of God. Otherwise it is perverted and people end up with a more comfortable life and nice gardens but the african bush still goes without projectors, laptops, healthcare, and clean water. Sorry...I am journaling outloud...but this is the kind of thing that is being changed within me.

Mozambique is not making me smarter

Sorry, I am almost getting the hang of this blogger thing...but not there yet. I thought my last post was gone so I wrote a new one...but the new one has a picture so it is better. Thanks again for writing me back...it is blessing me so much...I get up at 5 and we go almost nonstop until 8...so it is easy to get swept into a bubble. So your messages are bringing me back home and reminding me that I really miss everyone at home and what is happening there. I cannot wait to hear about Ecuador and the other things that are going on in your lives and the church.

We just went on a walk into town via a shortcut through the villages…it was beautiful, and eye opening. I went with my roommate, Robert, who is from Kenya and actually lives in a village similar to the one we visited. It is great having him with me when I go into the villages not only to translate but to show me the proper way to interact with the culture. Robert is also a painter who sells his work to give to local orphanages and to support the local widows in his village. He has been such an inspiration to me on what it looks like to use what God has given you to bless others. The highlights from this past week would probably be Fred Rice from the Toronto Church talking about the renewal movement and the Father’s heart and Pastor Cheon from the Harvest Rock Church in LA talking about “The Call.” Both of these guys changed my thinking on two things I have been struggling with…the renewal movement and the prosperity doctrine. It seems like a small issue, but it has transformed my thinking on the kingdom of God. Besides that, we were blessed to have Heidi for a few sessions before she had to travel for the weekend. The night of the first night she was admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration from dysinteria (sp) conjunctivitis, and a fever and the next day she showed up to teach at 3…noone knows how she does it. It was really powerful and brought me, once again, to the dirt asking God to help me surrender my will for his. Thanks you all for writing me...it has been really encouraging...also making me miss you all...Blessings!

We just went on a walk into town via a shortcut through the villages…it was beautiful, and eye opening. I went with my roommate, Robert, who is from Kenya and actually lives in a village similar to the one we visited. It is great having him with me when I go into the villages not only to translate but to show me the proper way to interact with the culture. Robert is also a painter who sells his work to give to local orphanages and to support the local widows in his village. He has been such an inspiration to me on what it looks like to use what God has given you to bless others. The picture above was from the trip...Solomon is the boy in the picture who I am getting really close with. He speaks a little English, but not much...Robert is the guy in the backround. The highlights from this past week at the school would probably be Fred Rice from the Toronto Church talking about the renewal movement and the Father’s heart and Pastor Cheon from the Harvest Rock Church in LA talking about “The Call.” Both of these guys changed my thinking on two things I have been struggling with…the renewal movement and the prosperity doctrine. It seems like a small issue, but it has transformed my thinking on the Kingdom of God. Besides that, we were blessed to have Heidi for a few sessions before she had to travel for the weekend. The night of the first teaching she was admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration from dysintery (sp) conjunctivitis, and a fever and the next day she showed up to teach at 3…noone knows how she does it. She preached on the good samaratin and the focus and vision of the ministry. It put me in the dirt once again asking God to bring me further into that place of surrender. I hope you are all well...thanks for writing...it is making me miss home, but also encouraging me...bless you all!

I think that girl is ashamed of me

This is a picture from a local Catholic Orphanage that Robert has done some painting for. It only has about 20 children, so it is very intimate.

The first two weeks

I hope this finds you all well and having a good summer. Have a St. Arbucks iced coffee and take a bike ride to the rope swing for me…two things I sort of miss. I guess for now I will have to have rice and beans and go swimming in the Indian Ocean…not a bad compromise, less the rice and beans. Since last time I wrote…four days into the trip…I could write a small novel on what God is doing in my heart and in Mozambique. But to save your face from passing out on the keyboard from boredom I will just share a few things. What I love about this culture is their emphasis on relationship. The western world is very focused on time and on how the process is going to lead to accomplishing the goal. The Mozambicans are much more interested in the process and the journey. For example, when the outreach team is going to a remote village and gets stuck in the mud. Many of the western missionaries are motivated to do what it will take to get the truck out of the mud to get to the village. The Mozambicans turn their energy to the process of getting the truck out and the community effort that it involves. One more example would be…if a Mozambican is walking to work and meets someone on the way, the walk is now about connecting with this new friend and less about walking to work. The consequence is that the man might have been walking to finish your roof, so you learn not to have expectations on when things will get done. There are many things the cultures could learn from each other. Beyond learning about the culture, learning Portuguese, and connecting with the people here, God is continuing to show me my heart toward him and to others. Childlike faith and humility starts to make sense when you do not understand the language, the culture, and all of your comfort of “home” is taken away. For example, this past weekend I decided to walk in town (about two miles) to meet some village people and get to know how they live. On the way in town, we saw a drunken man passed out on the ground. We stopped and got him up and prayed for his addiction (he has no family and drinks all day) as we were doing this, the whole village gathered around us to see what we were doing. (Luckily, a boy offered to interpret for us) As we were getting up, a mother and a child approached us with her child. She was very sick and her child had the same problem. She had no money to afford the hospital and there are not government programs and social agencies to help people in her situation. She came to us in utter desperation as if to say, “Do you really carry any good news for me?” It made me think of the way we argue theology and manage “God” in the west… while the whole world is watching with the same question, “Do you really have any good news.” So back to the woman…we prayed for her and her child and we went away praising God for showing us, yet again, our total need his wisdom and ministry. I love not having any other option or plan other than God showing up. One other thing I will mention that is wrecking me is Heidi’s teaching on missions and evangelism. I am used her preaching and seeing the power of God flood through her message, but so far it has been very laid back and practical. Her primary message is that we must move with the rhythm of God’s heart for others and be just ourselves...something that I could probably meditate on for the rest of my life. Anyways I feel like I am rambling…this experience is getting better everyday and I still cannot believe I am here. Thank You all for being a part of my life and being interested in what God is doing in Mozambique…I have not been on an extensive outreach yet…but the stories that are coming back from them are beyond comprehension…eyes, ears and backs being healed….hundreds coming to Jesus from a culture of oppression and corruption…it is really good stuff…but it hasn’t been made real yet. Bless you!!!

First Week in Pemba...wow

So...it is about the fourth day since I arrived in what some would call an airport last Tuesday. Forgive the cliche...but I stumbling to find words to desribe this experience so far. It is a dangerous place for me as well as the most exciting place I have ever been. It is dangerous because I am reaping all of the dangerous prayers I have ever prayed...like, "Lord, show me how my culture has allowed me to justify my complacency and apathy...and how the western paradiagm creates arrogance." God is ripping this all apart and showing me my false comfort. It is painful, but the Holy Spirit is doing it because He is kind and I asked for it. God is also showing me what it is like to really give everything you have for Him. It is the most exciting place I have ever been because the ministry I am with is walking in the power of God and in Intimacy with Him. They are going out in the "Bush" and planting churches in villages that have never heard of the name of Jesus. They are also bringing first aid and fresh water and are loving the culture without changing it. They are also seeing the dead raised (60 recorded), blind eyes and deaf ears opened. It is the full Gospel...it is such a testimony to our God. They are praying about buying a boat to take the Gospel to nearby islands that have never heard the gospel. I am sure there are many places like this, but this is the first time I have experienced it. Our schedule is class from 830 until 12 and then 130 until 5 and then dinner and on to playing with the orphans. Class is studying missions, and Intimacy with God right now...we will be going on to other things as the summer progresses. I start off my day at 530 worshipping with the Mozambican pastors which is getting my white butt dancing a little bit...which as some of you know...I could do a little more of. I then fall on my face because without God working through me, I will die here. Most of the day chidren are coming up to you with a face that says, "Love me." In my own strength, I do not have enough...praise God for showing me His Love...thanks you so much for praying for me...I feel lifted up...bless you. -Steve p.s. sorry for all the grammar mistakes....internet time is not long...also I feel God is telling me to stay on the base as much as possible so I will only be writing a blog every other Saturday...I will also be checking comments...so please tell me how you are doing and how I can be praying for you. Peace

Pemba Bound

I am leaving soon and trying to learn this whole blogger thing...I will figure it out start updating it as things are happening. It is starting to become more real to me as I put my bags by the front door to load into the car. Blessings...-S