He had a better plan...

Hi everyone, thank the Lord we are back home in Maryland. The last week before ending school we went on a 5 day outreach to the bush-bush. It was incredible! It seems the Lord kept the best for last because we really experienced awesome things! We visited 2 villages. The plan was to encourage the churches, hold children programs and evangelistic efforts. The first village, Napuri, went as planned. Heather might tell you more about the children program. We were able to teach them more about the love of Christ and also pray for the Holy Spirit to fill them up. The guys had a special time with the youth (males) to talk about some issues related to their lifestyle that are not in line with Scripture -- cohabiting and having sex without being married. We sat and just chatted and brought light to these issues with the Word. At the end we prayed together and the Holy Spirit brought conviction on these young men, many fell on their knees asking for forgiveness to the Lord and power from the Holy Spirit to take the right decisions. At the same time the women had a time of encouragement and teaching. We had a sweet time with the Lord. 

Now, on our way to the second village we had a problem: The roads were in very bad shape - bumps, dust, holes, and a lot of mud. 7 hours into our trip and after rebuilding a bridge (that's another story) we get to this random village and a man stopped us telling us that it was impossible for us to continue our journey, the mud was to deep and our truck would not make it.... So I got out the truck and with two mozambican pastors we looked for a place to stay. We talked with some men asking for permission. The grace of God was with us, they said Yes!. 

So, it seemed the Lord had a better plan for us, this village, Niuti, had No church, no born-again believers, no christian background, it had a lot of occult and witchcraft stuff.... in other words, it was perfect soil to plant the seeds of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

This first night (friday) in Niuti we didn't show the Jesus film. Instead we showed some worship videos in their language and then we shared our testimonies. Pastor Jose, our mozambican leader preached. At the end he made an altar call. It was impressive that most of the men wanted this Jesus. Normally women and children walk to the front first, but in this village it was the men the ones repenting for their sin and asking for deliverance of addictions first. Many of them shared what they felt after repenting and accepting Jesus - freedom in their heart, lightness in their shoulders... etc.... Jesus was taking the burden of sin and replacing it with freedom.

The next day (saturday) we played with the children and explained to them the message of the love of Christ. All these children wanted the Savior! It seems so simple, they simply believe... and He comes to be among them! It's wonderful!!

Later that day my friend Levi and I were walking around the village. All of a sudden we hear this drum beat and voices in the distance. We get near and we see a ritual going on. Men dressed like woman and dancing in circles. It was a dance for the dead. An old man recently died and their friends were doing this ritual possibly to honor the dead... My friend was fired up and looks at me, he says "let's preach". I said ok. So he shared and i translated into portuguese and our driver, that was around, translated into makua. We talked about the "Higher Spirit" that rules over all. We tried to convey the message of the gospel into their own terms for better understanding without watering it down. Many gathered around us, old and young. Many raised their hands to Him, and then kneeled before Him. They repented for their ways and wanted this Jesus we preached. 

There were so many new believers and testimonies of the power of God meeting this people. Praise God!! They also wanted a church!! So, on sunday we had our first service of the Arco-Iris Church in Niuti. We gathered under the shadow of a big tree and we celebrated the birth of a new church and the beginning of a new era for the people of this village now that the Kingdom of God has come to them.

This outreach will be forever in my heart. I will never forget the privilege of speaking about the Savior to this people and the openness of their hearts to believe with simplicity of faith. I was part of a revival movement where the dominion of the Kingdom of God is advancing forcefully, and for this I'm deeply grateful. Thank you, Lord! To you be the Glory! May you receive the reward of Your suffering!!