"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.