| Yes, we have been flying. It is a wonderful thing to get a new perspective. We had been invited to teach at the Harvest School of Missions, on the Iris Africa ministry base in Pemba, Mozambique. | |
| Pilot Joe Vaine flew to Bangula, Malawi to pick us up. He stayed the night in our new visitor centre, Forestview Lodge, and then we all flew out together the next day. It was early in the morning and we rose up over Bangula. Suddenly, I could see paths leading away in every direction, and our base, and the main road, and then we were over the marsh land which surrounds the Shire River. |
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| I would never have believed that there was so much water so close by. Never has the mountain climb felt so easy. Very soon Blantyre Airport came into view. We stopped off to get our passports stamped, and to use the toilets, and then boarded the plane for our 3 hour flight to Pemba. |
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Once we crossed into Mozambique, the land was much more sparsely populated, and the farms more scattered. We passed over waterfalls coming out of the tops of mountains, with no one living anywhere close by. Beauty exists because God loves it, not just for our enjoyment. It was awesome to pass over miles and miles of untouched bush, and to wonder how the few scattered villages live so far from anyone else. |
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We were all anxious to see the sea, and it soon came into view. As we began our descent, we passed through soft clouds of moisture rising from the ocean. So beautiful! Pemba airport is on a ridge of high ground above the sea, and we came in for a very smooth landing.
It took a while to get our visas, but we were soon on our way to the Iris base in Pemba, called the Village of Joy. We drove along with the beautiful blue ocean on our right, and turned into the base on our left. |
| This Iris base is quite different from ours. First of all, there are 200 children living on site. There is a visitor centre which houses up to 100 guests at a time. We were staying on the Student Compound which also houses about 100. Since we only had 10lbs of luggage each, it did not take long to settle in. We were welcomed with a big basket of fruit and chocolate. There was even ice-cream in the freezer. The kids were in heaven. We had fasted since the night before, not wanting to risk any motion sickness, so everyone was very hungry. Portuguese bread never tasted so good! | |
| Our first stop was the beach, so the kids and I headed down while Mo slept. It was gorgeous. We quickly took off our shoes to enjoy the soft white sand between our toes. We discovered rock pools full of little crabs and tiny eels. We began to collect shells and coral in our hats. |
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| I knew then that God had brought us to Pemba for our restoration. We swam, and made sand faces with seaweed for hair and shells for teeth. We even found a sea egg with sharp black spikes. We wandered back leisurely, stopping to find treasures in the rock pools. |
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At dinner time, we had rice and beans from the kitchen, and then we were off to our first session with the Mission School students. We met in a rondavel with the beautiful ocean breezes softly blowing through. We were blessed with beautiful worship. I didn’t want to stop to speak. The students were so interested in our stories of God’s call and his provision in our daily lives. |
We had been asked to speak to the practical challenges we face on the mission field, so we covered topics like family, building relationships with nationals, marriage, staying connected to Jesus, and how to build a base from scratch. We really enjoyed getting to know some of the students, and receiving prayer from many. One night, we were kind of stumped as to what to speak about, and one of the students asked about our dreams for the future. Then all the students gathered around us, and interceded for us, and for the dreams that God has given us for Malawi. They prayed for the healing of the land around us, and for the hearts of young men to be completely given to Jesus; that they might serve those around them who are suffering. It was an awesome time. One particular prayer stood out for me, that there will be a ‘thank you song to Jesus rising up out of the hearts of the people.’
On Thursday, Patrick and I had the privilege of going on outreach with Heidi and a team of students. We drove 3 hours deep into the bush. We arrived after dark and set up our borrowed tent. As the Jesus film drew to a close, the crowds pushed in. Heidi preached in Portuguese with translation into Makua. I struggled with being in an African village and not knowing the language. To me it looked and felt like chaos, on the edge of disaster, but God was at work. Three deaf people heard for the first time that night. Others gave their lives to Jesus. We slept in our tent, and awoke to early morning village life – a greeting called out, fire wood gathered, water put on to boil, dogs barking, children playing. We got up quickly and took down our tent to make room for breakfast to be passed out. We walked to a new church with Heidi and the team. As we crowded into the small church, I noticed the tabs of teabags used to decorate, as well as flowers carefully placed in gin bottles. Heidi preached briefly and then we waited on the Holy Spirit. Many people were filled, and some fell where they were in the dirt. Patrick was among them, and God spoke to him there. He saw a vast desert strewn with dead soldiers. In front and to the right stood a cross, and there were steps leading up. Jesus stood above the cross, calling out, ‘Come!’ From the church, we walked further into the bush to a small pool of smelly, green water. Ladies bathed, and children played in the water, while we baptized 7 new believers. This is what Heidi lives for, to reach the unreached and bring them home to the Father. I loved being with her, and watching her minister in this poor village in the middle of nowhere. |
