54 Degrees in Mozambique

November is high summer in Mozambique, and we came off the aeroplane into temperatures which some days reached 54 degrees.

We had come to work with the staff at Maforga Mission as well as with African pastors based in Nhamatanda

The Leadership Development Course is a fourteen week teaching programme which we had to condense into 10 days. Despite this challenge, and the danger of information ‘overload’ the mission staff engaged with us and much was accomplished. One highlight for us was an 87 year old lady who said she had learnt so much about herself and her relationships with others. She was enthusiastically writing plans for a feeding programme she is developing around a herb with amazing nutritional properties which she grows in her garden.

The leaders of the mission have asked us to return and help them implement some of the changes identified by the course and this we plan to do during 2008.

After preaching in an African church one Sunday morning, John met with seven pastors representing 31 churches and a thousand people. We have agreed to partner with them by establishing a training centre for discipleship courses and bible based teaching.

Mozambique is a country of great contrast, on the one hand we were faced with abject poverty, and yet we were surrounded by the abundance of nature. Trees laden with the most delicious fruit, lichees, mangos, pineapples, bananas were set in amazing landscape.

For me, however, the challenge I am left with comes from the team at Maforga. Fasting is an every day part of their life. They work in a country which is spiritually ‘dark’ and because of the need to see things change they fast They understand what a great tool fasting is. They have gained breakthrough in the heavens resulting in blockages being removed and circumstances changing on earth, releasing the power of God into the lives of the people with whom they are working.

Picture: Doreen meet Job - an HIV?AIDS orphan she supports for the provision of his food