News from the orphanage

Things are moving forward nicely at the orphanage in Malavela this week. The local builders are in, refurbishing two old buildings which were still structuraly sound, into a kitchen and laundry. They have also demolished the old toilet and shower block, which was starting to fall down, and was infested with rats. They will be putting up a new toilet and shower block this coming week.
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It's so encouraging to hear of funds coming in back at home; recent gifts of money have allowed us to get on with these pressing projects.

The kids are doing tremendously well, and they are growing fast. The new ones have settled in nicely. Joanna, one of the carers, told me that the smallest of our new arrivals, Celesta, one of our twins, passed 24 worms once she had taken the worming medicine! No wonder she couldn't stop eating or put on any weight. Her stomach was swollen with the worms. Now her little face is starting to fill out; her little arms and legs which were hardly as thick as my fingers, when we brought her into the orphanage are now filling out nicely.
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She is a little treasure that we have snatched from the jaws of death, and we love her, just as we love all the other children here. Each one of them has a tragic, heart-wrenching story behind them, and as we see them grow and start to develop, it spurs us on to reach out, and help to see more children saved.
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Thank you again for praying for us, and for supporting us financially. We can only continue to do our work here at the orphanage through your support from back home, it's absolutely vital to us.
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MATACALANE UP AND RUNNING

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We have had a few trials this week, but otherwise all has gone really well! Poor Delfina got bitten twice by a snake on Tuesday afternoon.
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We had a huge downpour on Friday evening, so no meeting, but Saturday was fantastic, with around 250 adults and children coming to see the Jesus film. They loved it. We preached the parable of the sower, which spoke directly to these simple farming people. Almost the whole crowd made a response to the message. The presence of God touching many people was great to see.
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One lady was healed of a back problem as she received prayer. Then came the celebrating. The people danced as Filimon lead the people in worship, they danced and danced and would not go home. I eventually got to bed at 1.30 am only to be rudely awoken by my alarm clock a few hours later.

We were upon our way back out along the dusty rutted track to Matacalane, for our first Sunday morning service in the new church and it was great with around 90 adults and children. The two local chiefs came too. We sang, we danced, we preached, and we prayed. Then we had lunch cooked in four enormous pots over the fire.

Reginaldo and his wife will now be leading the church here, which has generously been funded and supported by the Foundry Church at Widnes. They have also blessed us with a fantastic trailer which can be seen on some of our photos, which will be displayed here soon. Please continue to pray for the work here. We have done all we can to give our new church plant it's best possible start.
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Thank you so much for partnering with us in this exciting work, meanwhile Armindo and I are seeing the local chief at Jocarne this afternoon, where we will be building our last church for this year.
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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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Matacalane

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Committing the start of this church plant to God.
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Day three and every one has worked incredibly hard.
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It's not fancy, but its practical, a tin roof, lots of ventilation and an earth floor.
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We have just finished building the church at Matacalane. It's in a very rural area and we are all very excited about our next few weeks. Whilst looking for the right area to build our next church, we came across a group of Christians whose pastor had died some time ago, from an Assembly of God church, and they no longer had anyone to lead them.
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They had a piece of land but no funds to build a church . We had a pastor and some funds to build with, but no land ....having spent some time chatting and praying with the group of Christians, and several meetings with the local chiefs, it seemed good for all of us to work together. . There was no church in the vicinity, and although it appears to be extremely remote, there is a large school and upwards of 1,000 people living locally!
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On Wednesday 12th-15th Nov. we are starting the first of our outreaches here. Reginaldo is a very humble and godly young man. He and his wife are very excited about the opportunity to pastor this church.
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Please pray for us as we get started this week. The church will be opened on Sunday 16th Novenber 2008.
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Rosa.

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Meet Rosa. The resturant owner's daughter Sadya, in Xaixai, introduced me to Rosa, a pretty girl who had become friends with Sadya a few months ago., it may surprise you to hear she cannot read or write. Her Mother tragically died when she was three years old.

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In the last few months her Father has kicked her out of her home, and now she is left to fend for herself. Desperate, hungry and vunerable, she now has no home, and sleeps where she can. The only way she can feed herself is to sell her body, to whoever will give her enough money to put food in her stomach for the next day.

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It's the same tragic story all over Africa!

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I feel gutted for her, and pass my plate of food over to her, she eagerly wolfs it down...the three of us pray and ask God to get involved . The tears begin to flow and I sense the compassion and love of God flowing out to this broken woman. I give her a small amount of money, enough for her to feed herself and help get her through the week.

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Armindo and his wife have invited her to come back up to Maxixe with us at the end of this week, to live with them...it's her only hope of ever getting out of this rut. If she is not already HIV positive now she soon will be, unless some radical steps are taken!

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This is one of the projects we will be starting at the orphanage next year at Malavela, to help the likes of Rosa come out of prostitution and find healing and purpose in life.

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Meanwhile this girl needs our help now! Rosa needs to move out of this area, but she's afraid. If she will come up to Maxixe for a week into a warm and loving family enviroment the chances are she might stay. Please pray for her, you can make a difference to the circumstances that surround her life, as you pray for her.

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We cannot meet everyones needs out here in Africa, but we can make the world of difference for those that God does bring across our path, and whose hearts are open to allow Him to touch them and change them, as only He can!

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Sadness and Joy

It's 5.45 am and already another huge brick red sun is rising across the water on the other side of the bay, casting a footpath of flickering colour across the rippled water, to where I stand sipping my coffee. I love this time of day and never tire of seeing this amazing sight. This morning is a bit different. I focus on the razor wire surrounding the camp site, between me and the rising sun, and it reminds me of some of the horrors, that exist in this beautiful country. Our work here is a mix of great joy, and also quite a lot of sadness, something Christ was well accustomed to!
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A BABY DIES AT MALOVA
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MONDAY. Armindo and I received a phone call to say that a young baby that we had come to know, at one of the new churches in Malova had just died.... We bury the baby that afternoon amongst the coconut trees near the church, and try to bring some comfort to the family. It has been a blow after such a great start to this new church, the people are supporting one another and we are doing what we can to help.
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THE PRISON
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WEDNESDAY We are excited we have been invited into the local prison. 100 people are busy praying to get out, and we are excited about going in!
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Walking down the corridor towards the open courtyard I wondered what to expect. I knew there were around a hundred prisoners in here, but had no idea how we would be received. It's quite often fairly intimidating, being the only white person in and around so many black people. I was especially concious of that as I walked in to the centre of the courtyard with Armindo. Prisoners lined three of the walls around the outer parts of the yard, as I looked at them and they at us, I didn't feel like flavour of the month!!!
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I was surprised to see so many young guys in there, and also so many very sick men, maybe a dozen or so very thin. A lot of these would be hiv positive and a long way down the line with it too, their torn and tattered clothes hanging off their feeble frames. Some were crouched on the earth, their knees aound there heads, looking down at the ground. God had sent us in to bring a message of hope, where clearly there was very little at present!
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But we all soon relaxed, and even started to laugh, as I told them some of my experiences as I dodged the police in Australia several times, with no licence on my motor bike, before I came to faith in Christ. We then preached the gospel in a straightforward way, and many responded!
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We held a service on Sunday too, and brought Philimon in with his keyboard to lead us in a time of worship. Very quickly we made friends with the people, a bit hesitant at first, the odd one started to dance , and soon a lot of them were singing and clapping. As we offered them an invitation to pray, the presence of God filled the place. it was wonderfull... Armindo was surprised to see a number of his neighbours in there, and as we preached later a message of hope, again many were encouraged.
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Looking at these men, I saw the same spirit in them that must have been in the disciples that Jesus chose, uneducated, tough, strong men.
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The disciples needed to be tough to endure the floggings and beatings, the persecution that would follow their call. Armindo and I acted out our talk, we laughed, they laughed. One prisoner who made us laugh had tried to steal a cow, and put two pairs of boots on the animal, so people would not recognise the tracks, but it didn't work!
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We all loved our time together. Many people eagerly shook our hands and invited us back next week. I was given a crucifix which one of the prisioners hard carved from a piece of coconut. He asked me to remember to pray for him, I will too!
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Now we are putting a program together to bring in Armindo's trainee pastors on a regular basis. We have a nice secure building that we don't have to buy, guards are laid on for free, and we have a church of one hundred people. It was not exactly what we had in mind, for our next church plant , but what an opportunity!
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THURSDAY Eventually, after looking for several weeks, we have the place for our next church plant in a place called Matacalane. It is about 20 kilometres north of Maxixe. We have connected with a couple who are leading a small group of believers, from an Assemblies of God church, after their Pastor died some time ago.
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They have a piece of land to build the church on, and it's in a good area, where we can reach many people outside the town. We are visiting the local chief tomorrow, and hope to start building next Wednesday, and open the church for worship on the Sunday. Please pray for us, that our plans succeed! and that God will help us!!!
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SATURDAY
We had another of our leadership training sessions will potential Pastors and leaders joining us from our group of small churches. Again we all had a lot of fun, we were all challenged as we looked at how we can strengthen weaker areas of our character through prayer and accountability.

The day was finished off with a big plate of chicken and rice. That always goes down well, after the usual beans and cassava.

Thanks for praying for us, please continue to do so. It is much needed, and very much appreciated.
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Reflecting on the last two weeks

The Orphanage

I have just returned to Maxixe, having spent the last two weeks at the orphanage. Martha and I have been busy planning our building projects for next year. Our two main projects will be the building of our medical centre, and the home for girls caught up in prostitution.
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This month we have just put a new pitched roof on our storage/workshop before the rains arrive, and this is now in really good order. Next month we will be converting two of the smaller existing buildings at the orphanage into a kitchen and a laundry. The kids are doing great and are just back from another exciting trip to see the doctor!
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Leadership training

Before I left for South Africa, Armindo and I held our monthly leadership traning day at his church in Maxixe.
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With 60 up and coming leaders from our small group of churches that we have now established, we had a great time together and felt very encouraged.
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Next year the thrust of our work out here in Maxixe, will be to bring in teams from the UK, to assist in training up these new leaders, and other potential pastors and leaders from our group of churches out here.
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Our vision is to train up as many leaders as we can, and then send them out to plant new churches throughout the province. Bringing together a balance of vision to reach the community, and good character to maintain it, we have an awesome opportunity in front of us, to make a massive difference here in Mozambique.

In the last four years, to December 2008, we will have planted seven new churches in Inhambane. If each of these new churches manage to train up another seven pastors each, and plant another seven churches, then by 2012 we will have 49 new churches. By 2016 we will have 343 churches and by 2020 we will have 2401 churches and so on.
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It all starts to get a bit exciting after that.....!
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Getting involved
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Whereas a person on their own may not be able to achieve much by themselves, together with a team of like minded people and a mighty God who specialises in the impossible, is there any thing we cannot do together?

If you feel inspired to come out and help next year, whether it's to the orphanage for a week, or to come up and help with leadership training, or to experience a new church plant, then watch out for our dates, and the infomation we will be posting on our web site. At present we are planning three trips in 2009, in May, July, and September.
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We would love you to get involved!
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The Twins a month on

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As I drove back down the road to Malavela from Maxixe, I was excited about seeing the twins again! Would they have put on weight by now? Would I notice a difference? I had heard they were both eating and sleeping well. I Pulled into Martha`s, said a quick hello and nipped across to the orphanage nearby.

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As I entered the gate into the grounds of the orphanage I was met with squeals of delight! Mr Peter....! Mr Peter.....! and they all come running down the winding pathway to meet me, the largest running first, with the smaller ones bringing up the rear, doing their best to keep up. It´s always a huge joy to see the kids, and you could already see a difference in the twins. Both have already put on weight, even though they still look fragile, and both of them are now fairly stable on their feet. Alfredo was reported to have been seen chasing the cat around with a stick !! I felt sorry for the cat but took that as a good sign!

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Prayer points

Please pray for us if you can!!!

• The children are all doing well, we took two more children in last Friday, and are due to visit the doctor with them on Thursday. Please pray for them, and our carers who do such a fantastic job.


• We are still pushing to register the orphanage as an NGO ( non governmental organisation).


• We are still trying to permanently import our Land Rover, that we bought a year ago in South Africa.
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• We are now looking for the next two pieces of land to build our churches on, one in Maxixe Vela and the other in Jocane.
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• We need plans passed, to build Armindo`s house.
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• More than anything please pray as Martha, Armindo and I continue to plan and run things out here, that God will continue to lead us, and give us wisdom in all that we do.
• Please pray that more and more people will come on board, to help support our work. We are continually stretching ourselves financially, as we bring more needy children into the orphanage. Food prices are rocketing, and the exchange rate is down.

It's very frustrating trying to do anything in a righteous way out here. Most authorities choose to sit on the paperwork for months, doing nothing about it until they receive a bribe, which makes our work so much harder. Please pray that God would help us to move forward with each of these projects, in a way that is righteous and honouring to Him!

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR

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SUPPORTING US ALL OUT HERE,

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IN THE MANY WAYS YOU DO!

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Pete, Armindo, Martha and team.

Zaccarias and Paulina

Zaccaria pictured here with his wife Paulina, was healed of a chronic chest problem during one of our outdoor evening meetings. He had worked for the past thirty years underground in a mine. Now his whole family are coming to church!
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It's exciting opening a church in a new area, Our evening meetings help to carve a pathway for these lovely people to come to faith in Christ. It's a bit like driving a bulldozer through a forest...! Very noisy,very exciting and a bit messy....! But it's here that we see God touching peoples lives.
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Sunday morning in Malova

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..Our new church in Malova is now up and running. We had a fantastic Sunday, with around sixty adults and children coming in. Some were a bit afraid, and stood for a while outside under the trees, but soon came in as Philimon led us in worship. It was thrilling to recognise the faces of some of the people we had seen among the crowd in the evenings. Many of these had just received Christ into their lives only days before.
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Some of the local ladies who had cooked the food, which we had provided all week, served us all up with a bowl of flavoured rice after the service. I was deeply touched, knowing what it was costing them sacrificially to do that. These people have virtually nothing. Even now food is scarce, as they wait for the coming rains to swell the meager crops of maize and cassava so they have something more to eat.
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Zito is now heading up the pastoral side of this new church under Armindo's supervision. He is one of a few new pastors we will be helping to support, as he gets his new church off the ground.
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Malova

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We had a good few days with our outreach events in the little village of Xigiane, with around two hundred local people coming along in the evening, and around ten new Christians in to our first Sunday service. Our heart is to plant these small churches in areas where it would be otherwise difficult for the local people to get to a church to hear the gospel and receive good teaching.
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We are now in the middle of building our next church plant in Malova, near Massinga. It's a beautiful area about ten kilometers out of town in a very rural setting. We are camping out this week with the locals, there is no electricity here or running water, and our food is cooked on the open fire. It's a beans and rice and maize meal tonight, which is great, but I find myself longing for the occasional bacon sandwich!
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These lovely people are hungry for the gospel. The presence of God was especially strong last night, many responded to the invitation to receive Christ, and it was great to see the people meeting with him in a real way.
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Our worship time later continued till late on into the night as the people danced. It is becoming increasing difficult to close the evening meetings as the people want more and more, and don't want to go home.
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One elderly man who had been working in a South African mine underground, and for thirty years had been suffering with a chest problem. He announced this morning that God had healed him as he yielded his life to Christ last night !!
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We are continuing with our evening meetings tonight and tomorrow, whilst the building is going up during the day. We finish our week with our opening service on Sunday morning. This time Zito, another of our trainee pastors, will be looking after this church. It is on his land we are building the church.
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Zito has a great heart for the people in his community, and already has a number of new believers that he is looking after. Please join us, and pray for us, as we continue our work.
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Thank you so much, and God bless. Peter and Armindo
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Xigiane

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.I have been back up in Maxixe for a few days now, and our new pole and reed church at Xigiane is finished. Last night we held an introductory evening. The local people are invited to bring their friends and neighbours to join us each night, as Philemon, sitting at his keyboard, leads the people in a time of worshipping God.

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We follow that by showing the Jesus film, an excellent visual in their own language and then give the people an opportunity to respond themselves to Christ's invitation to come to Himself.

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It's always an exciting time, normally the whole neighbourhood show up! They have never seen any thing like this before and nor have we!! We get lots of women and children, then there are the opportunists who quickly set up a stall selling goods. A little later the drunks arrive. They love it ! Dancing to the music, in the dust, under the lights: often the police insist they come along, in case there is any trouble.As a result they hear the message as well. It always amazes me how the most unlikely people respond to the invitation to pray, and receive Christ.

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The church that has just been built, is where the new Christians will be taught and looked after by Jose, another of the trainee pastors that Armindo has been training. Please join with us, and pray for us, over the next few evenings, and for our first Sunday morning meeting, as we open the new building. We need your prayers.
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Thank you so much. Pete and Armindo

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The Twins

One of the most moving experiences I have had so far, came out of a conversation I was having with Martha, chatting late into the night about our project. She told me that a lady called Regina who works for the government as a community worker in a near by town called Manhica , had some months ago received some alarming news!

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A pairs of twins barely three years old, had been brought into hospital by their father suffering from severe malnutrition. Their mother had died some time ago, and the father was struggling badly to feed and look after his family as well as going to work.

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After several days in the hospital a mentally disturbed member of the father's family came to the hospital and stole the still very vulnerable children away. No one knew where they had gone, or where they lived, as there are no addresses in the bush, and having heard no news of them for several months, every one began to fear the worst.
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Martha and I decided to try and find them. Regina's work is doubly difficult here as she has no transport with her job, and far away places in the bush are not easily accessible. The hunt was on! We visited Regina who was keen for us to help, and contacted the local police who needed to be involved.

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We had a clue that the father worked at the local sugar plantation, and with a few more enquiries we managed to make contact with him. He was happy to see us ,and informed us the children were still OK, but badly needing help. Hope began to rise in our hearts as we drove along the sandy narrow tracks, between the trees and shrubs, out to where he lived.
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Some time later we arrived at his home. A group of people were gathered in the centre of the clearing. I could see some children, most of them seemed to be in good enough shape. Then I saw one of them, a little boy called Alfredo standing alone. He turned as he saw us coming, and began to walk very wobbly towards us. There was now no longer any doubt in my mind that this child needed help now! Turning to look for the other one, I found Selina his sister to be even smaller than her brother.

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She was tightly clutching a piece of dry bread with her tiny hand. They both looked alarmingly thin! There was much chatting going on as things were discussed, the father asked us to take the children, he actually looked relieved. I wondered what it must have felt like to let his children go, and felt gutted for him!

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Every one seemed relieved. Regina was delighted the kids were still alive, Martha and I were excited, and even the large police lady with her hard faced exterior softened as we gently placed these little treasures in the Land Rover, and took them back to their new home. Back at the orphanage it was all systems go. Everyone was helping, the carers ran around getting water ready for a bath, and the girls in the orphanage all wanted to help .

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What do you give tiny malnourished kids to wear! Amazingly whilst in Nelspruit in South Africa just days before, I had been handed a bag full of baby clothes and a couple of blankets and toys. Martha and I looked at each other amazed as the clothes we had been given fitted the children perfectly. Many times we see God's hand at work here. Our faith is strengthened as we do, and His name is glorified!

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It's both exciting and scary work out here,working with these precious kids in terrible circumstances. We are doing what we can to help, but costs are high to run the orphanage, as well as running our feeding programs, together with wages and medical expenses. The slump in the world economy has hit us hard, pushing food prices up. We were already hard pressed: now we need more people to come on board and support us financially!

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Thank you again, all who are already supporting our work here. Please continue, if you can, and maybe pass our website address on to others, who might also like to get involved. Please pray for us. We continue to trust God to supply all of our needs and do amazing things as we put our trust in Him!

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Peter and Martha
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Doctor ! Doctor !

I have just spent the last two weeks down at the orphanage in Malavela, and also briefly in South Africa, leaving our team of eager church builders to start work building our second "church plant" this year. I got some essential repairs done on the Land Rover and renewed my visa.
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I then spent several days at the orphanage with Martha and her team of carers with the children. A few weeks ago I made contact with a Brazilian lady called Yara who heads up the medical center, at the Iris Ministries orphanage in the town of Maputo.
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She invited us to bring our children to get checked out by the visiting doctor. Fourteen of us bundled into our Land Rover as we set out on what for the children, was a huge adventure!

We were all well received. Merlinda, the lady doctor has a great heart for the kids and gave each one of them special attention, as well as a good dose of worming and vitamin tablets, myself included! (I got the feeling we were all probably leaving with fewer friends than we came with !!)
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We are fairly regularly popping into the orphanage in Maputo gleaning what tips we can from the team of nurses and carers who run that part of the work there, and we are most grateful for their keenness to pass on information and help.
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Lazaro

want to tell you the story of Lazaro, pictured here with Madalena, one of his amazing car..
I ers. It's an appropriate name for him, as he was so weak and poorly when he came into the orphanage, that he nearly died.Lazaro was brought into the orphanage by local government officials, who recognise our work here, as we help these needy children.

His mother had died of AIDS, leaving him in a terribl.e state of neglect. He had a very deep ulcerated hole in the side of his head and another on his jaw, was very sick and weak and his little body was full of worms. Everyone whilst busy praying fervently, prepared themselves for the worst- how could this little life survive? And yet he has! And is thriving now!!!

Having been given some fairly basic treatment from the hospital, and loads of prayer, he has now made a huge turn around. I was amazed to see that not only have the horrendous wounds healed and grown over, but he has now put on weight, is starting to run around, and is beginning to talk. He can now say the names of the other children in the orphanage, who have also been snatched from the jaws of sickness and death.

Next week Martha and I are taking the children to the large Iris Ministries orphanage in Maputo, to get them checked out by the local doctor and the nurses who work there. It will be great to get our own medical centre set up here next year - as you can imagine we are all so excited about that.

Thanks again so much to everyone who is helping us financially and prayerfully to help those in such need. We are so dependent on your continued support.

Lots of love to all

Pete

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Nhambiho Tres

The first of our new church plants is now and up and running. You can see it in the background of the photo. We had a great time of celebration at the opening evening. Around 200 local people came together - we took a bold step and fed everyone! It was great to see the new Christians working together, busy cooking up huge panfuls of beans and rice and serving everyone.

We showed the Jesus film again and the night went on late, with Filimon leading the people in worship. We have just had our first Sunday morning meeting with new people coming in, and John taking up his new position looking after the new flock. He has a great programme in place, and has been busy teaching the new believers already.
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We have just purchased another piece of land and work has begun to clear the area, ready to start building our next church, this time at Xigiane.

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Please don't stop praying for us - it's exciting work, but its hard too! Sometimes it feels like everything that can be thrown at you is being thrown at you! We need and value your prayers as we take this area for Christ.

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An evening to remember!

There has been great joy and excitement here over the last few days, as the first of the new churches that we are building is now finished. Built by our trainee pastors, it's a simple pole and reed constuction 8 metres by 6 metres with a tin roof. The new building can just be seen at the back of the photo.

John, one of Armindo´s trained leaders, will head up the new church. He has worked hard over the last six months, and there are now 20 new Christians, who until now have gathered under the shade of a tree for their meetings.

During this last week, as the church was being built, we held our evening meetings under the stars amongst the coconut trees. We set the equipment up early in the afternoon. Then as evening approaches, Filimon, our very own home grown worship leader starts to play his keyboard, and the people begin to come from all directions, attracted by the powerful halogen lights and the sound of music.

After slipping away to get changed and prepare for the evening, I return, driving back along the winding tracks, through the twisted coconut trees and past the occasional reed house. From some distance away I can already hear the music and singing. Around the next corner, I can see a bright glow in the clearing where we are holding our event. A haze of red dust can be seen above the crowd in the lights and my excitment grows as I get closer.

After a time of worship Armindo introduces the next part of the evening. We show the Jesus film, projected onto a large bed sheet, stretched across some poles, high up so everyone can see. The people watch fixated as the life of Christ is unfolded before them in their local village language. After the film, Armindo and I preach the gospel, and many of them respond. These people are hungry for spiritual truth, and it is so exciting to see God touching lives. The evening's event concludes with more singing and rejoicing, before we pack up, returning home tired but enormously fulfilled.

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Our program for the next few months

The last two weeks have been very busy, firstly getting our Land Rover serviced and a few small repairs done in South Africa, then facing the challenge of finding a company to build our trailer, for the evangelistic side of our mission.

I'm pleased to say we now have a fantastic, ruggedly built, off-road trailer, able to go anywhere that the Land Rover can, in order to bring the gospel to the most remote of locations, with its large off-road wheels and tyres and a large steel lockable lid, that doubles as a platform to preach from, during our night time outreaches in the villages, under the stars.

Pastor Armindo and I have just spent the last few days praying, and planning our work for the coming months. Our program consists of building several churches around the outskirts of Maxixe. The first of these we start tomorrow. Our aim is to physically build the church during the day time, then to bring the gospel to the people during the evening, and finish with the installation of one of the pastors, who have undergone pastoral training over the last two years under Armindo's teaching.

We are all so excited about the work which God has given us to do, seeing men and women coming into a relationship with the one who created them, and loves them the most. To see them grow in their relationship with God, and ultimately to find their own calling, and being released in that... how exciting is that?

Please pray for us over these next few weeks, as we seek to establish the first of our church plants, that God would help us and anoint us, and that many people would come to know Him.

Armindo is also looking forward to the commencement of the building of his new permanent house.

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News from the Orphanage

It was a great thrill to see the wall that's been built around the Orphanage, during the last few months at Malavela. It has two functions. To keep rebels out, and to help keep in the most fantastic kids in the world.

We now have ten children in the orphanage, and as many more on our feeding program, where the children are supported in what is left of a family environment, after disease and sickness has taken its terrible toll on these poor and beautiful people.

It was a particular thrill for me and my father who is currently visiting Mozambique, to take the children to the beach for the day. I'm sure that we were as excited as they were, seeing the children enjoying the sea, some of them visiting the coast for the first time, great cries of delight and excitement ringing out as they splashed around in the warm water.

Martha and I were so excited to hear the news that the funding for the medical centre is coming in so well. We plan to build this certre next year. It will not only be a huge blessing to the needy children at the orphanage, but also to the surrounding area. We are so grateful to Deborah Roberts who has currently taken on the task of raising the funds, by her sponsored walk across the country.

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