The trip with Experience mission to Mozambique

Experience Mission

This outreach are one of Experience Mission's initiatives. This group exists out of 10 young Americans between 18 and 26 years old that came to Africa as part of an leadership building experience. The aim is to experience the different cultures of Africa and learn from them. Firstly they spent 6 weeks in the Western Cape staying with colored families around Lamberts bay and Vredendal. After that I joint them for the trip to Mozambique where they will stay with Mozambican families. Even the name family has a different meaning! 

I came to love this group. What they do is challenging to any person and I do not think that I saw them one day well rested. I became proud of the Americans because of their faith in God that drives them to serve and to be happy in spite of challenges to the core of their culture. This few weeks they will, in spite of high temperatures, work in gardens, carry water every day, wash out of pails in a culture of very little privicy, eat day after day very basic food, etc. They are serving families in Mozambique that are very poor and have to look after orphans. 

Bus trip from Cape Town

I met the group at the bus stop in Bellville Cape Town. We took the bus from their to Johannesburg for 27 hours through the night. We stayed at a Church building for the day, went shopping while the visums was organized. The evening we were on the next bus to Maputo through the night. Many did not sleep well. We arrived 4 hours early for the border post and had to sit in a closed bus and wait for 4 hours. Then we had to stand in a line of 200 meters waiting to get our pasports stamped, walk over the border. Armed soldiers checked the pasports and made remarks about Obama. Then we stood in a line for the Mozambican stamp. Suddenly we were in another country different from South Africa. 

We arrived in Maputo and uncle Jan came to fetch us in his pick-up. Meet the team:

We stayed in the guest house of the Reformed Church and early the next morning we climbed the next bus. The bus was good, except for the toilet that were quickly filled so that it was a mess as the bus went through the huge potholes. We arrived in Beira in the dark and Naldo had to do two trips to take us to his house. He treated us with a South African "Braai" Barbecue. We had a few hours to rest before he took the tired group back to the bus at 4 in the morning. Then at 15:00 we arrived in Mocuba, but the bus did not want to stop at a place form were we could have walked to our destination. The result was that we had to organize motorbike taxi's to take us there. What an African Experience!   

We had some time to rest, learn some of the language and have orientation at "Osivela wa Jesus" The love of Jesus. This is a school for orphans where the orphans can have education based on Christian values and have something to eat. There are also a clinic to look after them and some other smaller development projects. Each member of the group is assigned to the family of one or sometimes more orphans that attend the school. Mostly they are grandmothers of the children. It is in their house that they will stay for 6 weeks. Going out on the Thursday and come back on the Tuesday, to go out again on the Thursday. Here they meet some of their host families:

 In the time of orientation we visited some houses to get used to the basic cultural customs of relationships and respect. It is a relational culture and therefore very important to understand. During this time the elder of the Reformed church, who demonstrated to us how to visit a house, gave each member of the group a coconut to drink. He opened it with a machetti on an very skillful manner.

This morning I came with a chapa "Mozambican taxi" from Mocuba to Milange with the road in a bad shape. Now I am thinking and missing the group and pray that the Lord will bless them in this very challenging times. I believe that our Good God have will use this time and that it will have good consequences in many places for a long time!

IRM and Ministries share and plan

There was a good growth between the supporters, in the understanding of the challenges of the Lords work in Mozambique.In looking for a strategy to answer this it became clear that the church is striving to grow in its own giving and need a lot of encouragement, joint celebration of achievements, confirmation of importance and worth in Gods Kingdom, equipment and joint learning in practice how to create a strategy for the specific circumstance of the synod. There is a need for a good joint intention and pressure to grow towards that intention. We discovered that in this process there still a big need for financial support as well as missionaries. In itself this support can be detrimental to the growth of the church, but if it is done with the intention in mind and good accountability from one another, it became a very effective way to support the growth of the church. Looking at missionaries, it it therefore very important that any missionary will go in a position of service. Missionaries should not do the work, but work behind the scenes behind Mozambicans who will grow and do the work. Further the missionary need to listen and learn more that teaching and talking. In short there should be a process of discipleship that work both ways. In a sacrificial process, everything that does not look like Christ should be removed so we can build that, that looks like Him. 
It is better to have full time missionaries, but short term missionaries can also help a lot.One missionary can be involved in more than one need according to the persons gifts.
Together we started to identify some of the areas where missionaries with this attitude can fill essential gaps:
Literacy
As John Roux gave his farewell speech, there is a need to accompany the Literacy office for a while and in South Africa to accompany Mozambicans to all the congregations involved in this work to keep them well informed and build these relationships. Further to support the process of giving reports, find ways of effective developing and printing material,
Youth work
This work is very important for the Church and the Kingdom of God. There are a few initiatives, but a missionary is needed to work behind the youth leaders in Mozambique. It looks as if Kobus Eskteen will may be able to help here.
English
Mozambique is isolated from the rest of the world by a language barrier. The exposure to the rest of the world is very important for a church to grow. Material and communication with partners is also essential. Some pastors is learning English on their own and it already helps. We analyzed together that it is still a high priority to look for someone that can help in this regard.
Computer training
The Church is more and more using computers in administration, creation of material and communication. Viruses are destroying a lot of work and there is a need for someone to train people in maintaining computers and also in training how to use them more effectively.
Stewardship
This ministry is doing some work in creating material and helping the synod with bookkeeping. The need for a missionary is to help the church in equipping and discipling the church members in living as Stewards in giving and daily lives. How to manage God's resources. There are some initiatives but the missionary can help to bring the partners together. It is very important that the church can grow to be less dependent from outside so that it can grow into a giving church with their own outreach initiatives.
Mission of the Mozambican Church

The Tumbine synod has a committee who are responsible for different mission areas in the 4 North Eastern Provinces. There are roughly about 3 000 000 unreached people in especially the Northern part. In some of the areas where the church are involved there are a need for a missionary to stand behind the leaders and members of the church to assist in this calling. This calling is a joint calling between us as supporters and the Synod themselves as well as some other partners. Especially in Chiconono the need is urgent, because of a radio station that covers a big part of the Niassa province. Like in other areas, the local elders and evangelist expressed their need for further training and equipment as they themselves are mostly also young Christians in  areas where Christianity is in many aspects in contrast with very deep rooted traditions. It is not easy.
Antroponeurship
For a community to became self sufficient it is necessary for businesses and other initiatives. These must be build on values and these values we find in a Biblical bases. For this the church is necessary. Closely with Stewardship this principles of business is identified as a need where a missionary can help. A lady is planning to give a course with the agricultural ministry, but there is a need for a missionary that will continue supporting this process.
Medical
Here is a need for medical personnel, doctor and nurses. There is also the Anamed program where the use of medical plants has a big potential to help the community on a sustainable way.

Other needs are transport and financial needs. Although personal contact is higher on the priority list, the church is struggling, because the income from congregations are minimal and the synod are more than 90% dependent on funds from outside. The Western Cape Synod is helping, but the funds are decreasing rapidly. This year they managed to help with R70 000, but next year it is only R50 000. Many programs were cancelled because the need. The mission committee could not visit all the mission areas and the synod could not visit all the presbyteries. There are a help for each pastor of R500 a month. Only one pastor is without help and in December another 3 will join the ranks. We try to help them also with a R500 a month for survival in difficult times while the church grow towards looking after the needs of their own pastors.

Be free to contact me for further more detail information on any of the needs. murraydg1@gmail.com