MISSIONS: 2011 PASTOR'S TRAINING - MOZAMBIQUE

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From Tim Maguire (National Ministry Leader for South Africa):

I would like to update you on my trip to Mozambique over the Easter weekend. As you probably know, GCI Canada had very kindly sponsored a Pastoral Training long weekend to allow myself, Caleb Makhela, and a visitor/translator from GCI-Portugal, Daniel Fernandes, to ground them in basic theology and train the Mozambique pastors in GCI theology.

I collected Daniel from the airport at 6am on the Wednesday before Easter and left straight away for Louis Trichardt where we picked up Caleb, then on to Mutare in Zimbabwe where we slept over at the Gova's home, one of our Zim pastors. Traveling in Africa is never easy as Daniel found out at the Beitbridge border-post. We had stood in queues for about 5 hours on the Zimbabwe side, and Daniel was greeted with his first African sunset as we were finally ready to drive thru into Zim. He took out his camera and snapped two pictures of trees with the sun setting behind them. Unfortunately we were still in a 'restricted area where cameras were not allowed' and the Zimbabwe CID pounced, arresting him on the spot. They took him into a back room, confiscated his passport and camera and told him he would have to appear before a magistrate the next day. I realized what they were really after when the Zimbabweans started rubbing thumb and forefinger together in the universal sign language of money! On telling them we were pastors and were unwilling to pay any sort of bribe, and threatening to phone the Portuguese embassy, they made Daniel delete the pictures and we were on our way again, arriving at Pastor Gova's home some time after midnight.

We left Mutare the next morning, traveling thru into Mozambique and eventually arriving in Morrumbala, in Northern Mozambique just before midnight on Thursday. Most of the conference attendees had already arrived and were dancing the night away in praise and worship. After a very warm and touching welcome, we crept off to our hut to sleep. The music and dancing continued into the early hours of the morning.

Only the next morning did we realize that instead of the 54 delegates we were expecting, over 350 had arrived!!! They had brought their reed mats with them and most were sleeping under the stars, without even blankets to keep them warm. What a humbling experience to see this thirst and sacrifice for His Word. Yet some find it too much effort to travel a few kms by car to attend weekly services.

Also we discovered that since my last visit in Sept 2010, no longer were there just 54 congregations but 87 - Another 33 churches had been planted in just 6 months!

The next four days were spent in fellowship, song, praise and teaching. They hungrily drank in and accepted all we had to say. On the Sunday I had one of the most moving experiences of my life when we formalized the affiliation process and welcomed our brothers and sisters from Mozambique into the GCI fellowship. We then took communion with them, which was a first time experience for most.

Please remember to pray for Mozambique. The challenges they face are many. Disease is rife. The average life expectancy is at least 20 yrs below the world average. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. We now have about 2,500 members there, not one of which is employed or has any means of income. They are all subsistence farmers and live day to day, hand to mouth, scratching a living out of the harsh African soil. Yet they are filled with joy and the fruits of the Spirit, a humbling lesson to us all. I have attached a few pictures of the trip.