The Story Begins

Meet Hercilio! Early on this trip to Mozambique, I gave him my camera to enjoy for the time we were there.  He is a member of Team Pfuka,a group of young Mozambicans who devote a year of their lives to evangelism through sports, music/dance, and witnessing.  The Pfuka Team attended the Crossroads business training and traveled with us to the bush. 
Almost all of the pictures I brought home are taken from his point of view.  It has been fascinating for me to look at the photos he took.  It is very cool to see what attracted his eye. Thank you, Hercilio, for this gift.
Processing this recent journey into Mozambique is difficult because I arrived home on Monday to discover that my mother is quite ill.  Needless to say, that required all my focus and attention this week.  She is doing well right now and for that, I am deeply grateful.
This was my fifth trip to Mozambique, and through these journeys, God has been teaching me to trust him at a level that has been challenging and stretching.  It was a great blessing to find myself able to enjoy Mozambique and all it has to offer, in spite of plenty of challenges and circumstances that were potentially stressful.
It will take a while to process all that transpired there, but there are three major highlights that spring to my mind:

• Feeling the prayers of those praying and fasting for us while we were preparing and working in Mozambique.
• Watching God dissolve every barrier the enemy put up to accomplishing the purposes he put on our hearts.
• Being present for the planting of a new church in Ziahle ~ it was like nothing I have ever experience before spiritually.

Over these next few months, I will tell the stories of our time there and the amazing work of God in Mozambique.  

So it begins!  Tomorrow this team will leave for Mozambique.  Some things have changed since my last post (November!).  We are still doing the business training in Xai-Xai and the rest of the team will be at Hope House training the orphans in life skills like mechanics and bead making.  We have wonderful things to take with us:  volleyball equipment donated by Dicks, knit bears and hats made by Eager Hands for Mozambique, medical supplies donated by Global Links, and a DVD player with some DVDs donated by Crossroaders.  We truly are blessed to be a blessing to others, and it moves me that so many have participated in this trip!  What a gift God gives us in each other~
Our second week in Mozambique should be really interesting.  We will travel to the bush to a remote church/school Les and Mark have established and park our vehicle; then we will walk.  Partnering with two Mozambican teams trained in evangelism, we will travel on foot with a donkey and cart to carry our generator and heavy supplies to spend four days in two villages where there are no roads and share the gospel as we serve the villagers in practical way.  At night, we will show films (Light of Life- Genesis to the birth of Jesus and the Jesus film).  We plan to pray with those in need and just be open to whatever the Holy Spirit has for us there.
The time has come.  All the planning and preparing and praying that has gone into this trip is about to bear fruit. I can't wait to see what God does with this moment in time in the Kingdom.
Kanimambo Xikwembo Xamatemba ~Thank you powerful God!
"The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  
John 3:8

True Community

Meet the children of Hope House.

These precious children have been brought together by Les and Mark Harper to create a "family" where there was none ~a community gathered in the name and love of Jesus Christ.

This is a "real"community- everyone there knows they need each other and Christ to survive. There is nothing false or superficial in the hearts of these kids who have been snatched from the jaws of the fouler.

This is a "deep community- when one of them is sick, they lay hands on that one and pray for healing. There is no "plan B". Jesus is all they have and they are grateful for his love and mercy. They are expectant that he will supply what they need when they need it.

This is a "whole" community. They have everything in common. They are a family in the deepest meaning of the word.

Last year, we built a training center on the land where Joy House is to be built as an extension of Hope House. Our team will return this June to complete the building of Joy House and help the older boys move into their new home. Here they will continue to be discipled as Christ followers and trained in practical life skills.

The real training occurs, however, in the reverse. Our team will be trained by these orphans in building and being community. We learn so much from our Mozambican "teachers". They are an inspiration! Please pray for us as we minister to them and they minister to us!

Light into Darkness

Missing the point

(Originally posted February 2010)
Oh, that I could draw! As I read Luke 2 tonight, I had a vision of the birthplace of Jesus and I wish I could draw it~ it would be my Christmas card for the rest of my life. Art through the centuries paints a picture of the birthplace of Jesus that misses the whole point. It was not a pastoral scene as pictured in this Renaissance painting.
It was not even a quaint, humble stable as pictured in the cards of greeting we send to one another as we celebrate His birth. It was most likely a cave with a shallow trough carved out of the rough rock~ dark, dank, dirty. Cold. Comfortless. Not unlike the cement floor on which this little one of Mozambique rests. My little Lucas . . .




If we really pay attention, this dark, dank cave in which Jesus was born was a picture for us of the world without Him. Jesus came into this weary world to bring His light into the darkest, dirtiest places we can imagine~ It is this light alone that can save us from the sin we are so bent upon.
Because of our incredible lack of imagination, we miss Him continually. When he came into the world in such humility, His chosen people missed him because they expected something different~ a militant savior who would deliver them from political oppression. What He offered was freedom from the oppression from sin and eternal life in His Kingdom. We are so short sighted~ still~ with all we have, with all we know about the life and actions of Jesus. We still don't really want what he has to offer.
What do we want from Jesus? We want God to provide what we think we need in this life. He actually gives us everything we "need". As a result, we miss Him. We think we need things: money, jobs, homes . . . (the list is longer than I dare attempt), and when He doesn't supply those things in the way we expect, we miss Him. If we look at what He actually does provide for us, we will realize what we really need and fall on our faces in humble gratitude and awe of His provision.

She's Come Undone - again

"Then he said, 'Here I am~it is written about me in the scroll~I have come to do your will, O God."

Hebrews 10:7

There is a special place in Mozambique where God called me to a new level of obedience in my life ~where I came "undone" before the Lord. I responded with trembling arms raised in the night as an amazing wind swirled through Bethel~

When God calls, there is but one response: "Here I am". Those words always stir a passion in my heart. The first time I read Samuel (1 Samuel 3) when Eli realized what was happening and told Samuel to say "speak Lord, your servant is listening", I knew that God was calling each of us to respond the same way. That was so many years ago-long before that moment under the tree in Mozambique in 2009. Each time I come across these words in Scripture or in worship, I offer myself again to God, and each time I believe I come a bit closer to the reality of what it means to offer myself to God and to do his will.

In my devotions today in Hebrews, once again I find myself standing before God, confessing my need for him and my desire to do his will in every area of my life. The truth is that God is not looking for meaningless sacrifice or robotic compliance to rules and regulations; he is looking for total surrender of my will in all things at all times. The words are easy to say; the walking it out is always the challenge.

Lord, fill me with knowledge of your will for me this day through your Holy Spirit that I may draw strength and direction from you as I offer myself to you. Have your way with me, O Lord- Have your way.

These Things You Should Teach

Titus 2: 11-15

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach.

In 2009, Crossroads sent a team of teachers to Mozambique to train teachers. Since then we have sent teams to drill and repair wells, to explore possible partnership with a rural hospital, to research small business development and create a business training, and last year as a group of Crossroaders built a training center for the Hope House orphanage, a team of teachers returned to train not only community teachers, but a group of government teachers as well. Every trip has focused on evangelism and sharing the gospel, but it has been deep in my heart that Crossroads is also supposed to develop leaders in Mozambique who will plant churches and disciple leaders and Christ followers. Clearly God has been preparing the way for the people of Mozambique and the people of Crossroads to partner for the full expression of his purposes there.

The time is near. Hearts have been prepared.

God is setting in motion all that is needed for this phase of the work in Mozambique to begin.

In June 2012, a Crossroads team will once again travel to Mozambique to be the hands and feet of Jesus. One group will provide a business training in Xai-Xai while the rest of the team will work at Hope House to provide a Community Bible School for the village where the orphanage is located and provide skill and craft training for the kids of Hope House.

On this trip, a small group of Crossroaders will travel to a distant village to join with a group of Mozambicans to share the gospel with neighbors in a nearby village which has no access by road. So, we will walk. We will carry what we need: food, water, fuel and a generator show the Jesus film. We will share the gospel of Christ and minister in prayer. We will bring the Light of Christ to a place where there was no light and we will plant the seed of Truth in the soil God has prepared.

This Mozambique Monday morning, I am praying for the people of Mozambique that the Light of Christ will overcome the darkness. The people who hear the Word of God will be filled with the Holy Spirit and released from fear and superstition. The Light of Truth will spread throughout the land and leaders will be called by God and guided by His Spirit to disciple those around them so that they will be set free to worship, honor and glorify the one true God. Praise be to God for the work he is doing not only in Mozambique, but throughout the world.

Dancin' in Mozambique!

This was one of the most amazing trips into Mozambique so far! God was so gracious as he provided inspiration for the curriculum and an awesome partner in the training- Leo Vollbract! So much happened there and eventually I will share more, but what I want to share most is that I had fun! The video clip below is a good example of just how much freedom I experienced as I danced with the teachers after a long day of training. I was returning to my room-hoping to take a warm shower and maybe a little rest before dinner, when I heard the sound of singing and clapping. I ran toward the women gathered by our rooms and joined in the festivities. The thought of a shower disappeared as we danced and laughed together that evening. The next morning, I showered without hot water or light, but it didn't matter. The opportunity to celebrate with my sisters that night was worth it.