Matacalane

The power has been off, the internet connection is weak, the computer is caput... That's Africa!!! You either love it or you hate it. The wet season has begun, we are sweating cobs.... high temperatures and high humidy, when it rains here it rains!!!
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Rats, moquitoes, snakes, scorpions, bugs the size of houses, unexploded mines, disease and sickness! And robbers! I ask myself why I love this country so much? Maybe it's because it's not difficult to make a difference in the peoples lives, who have suffered so much out here, in one of the poorest countries in Africa. Welcome to Mozambique!!!
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You have to laugh! At 4 pm yesterday we are driving slowly along the dirt track, in the Land Rover, towards our new church at Matacalane, announcing the first of our four nights of outreach. The headights are on full, the hazzards are flashing, the sound system in the Land Rover is on max. playing the favourite local Christian track over and over. The car is rocking, the front doors are wide open to let the sound out. Several people are dancing to the music, on the roof of the trailer. The girls in the back are waving to the locals, who are waving madly back at us! Armindo is on the bonnet with the megaphone, encouraging people to come along later in the evening. Everyone is loving it!
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We arrive at our new church which stands proudly waiting for us, with some trepidation as to what the night might bring! We are in the middle of nowhere. As usual before a first night our thoughts race.What if no body comes? This could be a disaster! Why have we put the church here? Satan loves to bring doubt and fear. But that's not faith. We believe we have put this church in the right place.
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We hope, we pray. We set up the equipment. An hour or so later it's already nearly dark, then a big blow..! The generator won't start..! Stay calm..! Don't stress..! Trust God..! Maybe the fuel is not getting through yet. People have started to arrive and then, eventually, we get it going! Relief! The lights go on, suddenly illuminating the whole area.We put on our favorite track, before Filimon comes to play. The sound goes out far into the surrounding area, through the powerful sound system.
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More people arrive, they are steadily trickling in, soon it's time to start the video. Armindo introduces the evening and enthuses about the Jesus DVD. Now another blow, the DVD won't work!!! Nor will our spare one that I brought out as a back up. Big sighs. Pressure is on now.Try and stay calm.We are all busy praying. Then suddenly we have a picture on the big screen and we are off. More people arrive, there are now 150 to 200 people here, we are all delighted with the turn out on the first night.
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Surely nothing else could go wrong now? We settle down to watch the DVD, based on the Life of Christ, taken from the book of Mark. The people are transfixed. Then some shouts go up at the front of the crowd. The girls start screaming. It's a snake. Just what we need now, another distraction.We had already killed several scorpions, which love to come out in the evening.
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I quickly grab the nearest thing I could find, which happened to be the high-lift jack for the Land Rover, and much to everyone's delight killed the snake and threw it on the fire. It seemed ironic that the images Jesus used as examples of the power he was giving us over Satan, found in Luke 10:19 were the same things we were seeing in the natural, at the start of our outreach. "Behold I give you power to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the devil and nothing will by any means harm you. "
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During these outreaches we see quite a number of people set free from evil spirits. The spiritual realm is very real to everyone out here. Curses are placed on people by the witch-doctors with terrible results.Their drums are regularly heard beating through the night. Evil spirits leave sometimes with loud shrieks and often result in the person or child being healed of some disease or sickness as they are set free. Satan's power is no match for the power we are given as believers, in the name of Jesus!
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The rest of our evening goes smoothly. Armindo and I preach, and as usual men,women and children pray... some for the first time...acknowledging their need for a saviour. The sweet presence of the Holy Spirit touches people's lives. They are eager to come back the following evening. The Holy spirit will soften the ground in their hearts again, as His transforming Word goes out to a people He loves so much, and for whom He died, that they may find life, and life in all its fullness.
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Thank you for joining us in praying for this rewarding work, we will be continuing our evening meetings until Saturday night, and open the church on Sunday morning.
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