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February 2003
Nampula
Mozambique Report
Dear Friends,
The Nampula Evangelism Seminar for central and northern region
pastors planned for the end of January was cancelled. Northern
Mozambique is experiencing flooding following a cyclone and early
rainy season. Roads are impassable from several locations. We
now look to early March for the seminar.
I felt it a good thing to pay a visit to Pastor Filipe Vilanculos
in Nampula to meet personally and encourage him and his congregations
there. In having a meeting in Beira last week, I also purchased
round trip tickets to Nampula at half price, for only about $160.
I left Friday and returned Tuesday. I am so glad I followed this
prompting, as the visit surpassed my expectations.
Friday afternoon Rev. Vilanculos and I met and discussed his
vision for evangelism and ways to support his work and congregation
in that effort. I was impressed that he focused comments not on
buildings or economic development, but on the need to preach the
gospel to set people free. He said that in Nampula province there
is much legalism from early negative Islamic influences. He especially
named the demeaning treatment of women. He believes (as we do)
that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful means to
liberate the human spirit from this kind of bondage.
Members of the Chimoio congregation donated a gift of clothing
for the flood-victim relief that I gave Pastor Vilanculos for
distribution. He, like many of the other pastors in the central/northern
provinces, had not received a salary for five months. Charles
and I decided beforehand to give him a financial gift personally
from us. He was most appreciative. We also felt led to use about
$150 of our Outreach Foundation ministry funds to purchase 10-
to 50-kilo sacks of corn meal for flood relief. Of his five congregations,
Mugovolas was hardest hit. Although his congregation experienced
no loss of life, many members had homes and belongings swept away.
It was still not possible to visit there or even Ribaue by auto
due to washed-out bridges. We arranged to meet at 9:00 a.m. to
purchase and deliver the meal Saturday morning.
Saturday we purchased the meal at an import/export wholesaler
in downtown Nampula. It's neat because we've grown rather close
to the extended family from Pakistan that runs this and a similar
business in Chimoio. (In Beira, before flying out and after returning,
I stayed at the house of one of the sisters for free.) We loaded
Prestons' Land Rover and made delivery to a dry storage room next
to the Pastor's apartment. This donation meant so much to Rev.
Vilanculos because the Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other
churches had contributed locally to flood relief, but not IPM
(Presbyterian Church of Mozambique).
I led a Bible study on Psalm 65 and Isaiah 12 with Rev. Vilanculos
and a catechist who will soon serve a church in Gaza province.
I believe they were inspired and encouraged by this word, and
by my testimonies of our God's mighty power to provide for and
bless us. Everywhere we went afterwards he introduced me as someone
God had sent to bring good news and blessings!
We traveled by chapa (public mini-bus) across town to the church,
then spent the rest of the day visiting seven members in their
homes. I experienced God's presence in this and was inspired to
share words of encouragement and teaching at the humble homes
(and hovels) and to pray prayers of faith and blessing.
At one home I had quite a start. Walking through a narrow alley
to enter a home, a body lay still on a grass mat, covered with
a white sheet. I thought, oh no! Lord, are you really expecting
me to raise the dead?! Was I relieved when the body moved. We
discovered a young woman battling fever and pain. I learned that
often people completely cover themselves simply to keep flies
off. We prayed for her and later purchased anti-malarials for
her. Next day she was up and beaming.
Saturday evening I dined with the Muslim brother who owns the
wholesale store and one of his Christian friends. We had wonderful
time of fellowship. I had liberty to make my witness to Christ.
Sifat was moved by my testimonies and near the end of the meal
he declared that he wanted to hear me preach next day! But like
Felix, "almost persuaded" by the time he dropped me
off at the Prestons he said, "But I don't promise I will
come." He didn't, and I wasn't surprised. Yet I knew the
Lord used me to make headway into his heart!
Sunday morning I awoke later than expected and wondered what
to preach on for sure. I had remarked to Pastor Vilanculos that
it is not right for him to go five months with no salary. He is
supposed to receive a monthly stipend from Khovu headquarters
in Maputo, but the set-up isn't working when Maputo experiences
financial crises. Charles and I believe (our immediate supervisor,
Rev. Sive and others concur) that most of these dependent congregations
are able to raise support. They simply have not been taught responsibility
or God's ability. Vilanculos implored me to share these things
when I preach, and I understood his reluctance to attempt to introduce
the subject on his own to the congregation.
I try to discern God's particular word to a congregation, so
was hesitant to simply preach according to someone else's request,
no matter how pressing. I was filled with the Spirit in that I
had kept myself in prayer and praise, so I didn't have fear about
it. What an answer to prayer when the Lord gave me a message on
John 10:10.
My message contrasted the plight of the people in the world who
live in fear and want because of the thief who comes to steal,
kill, and destroy, with the people of God who know He wants to
bless and prosper us. Yet how our minds sometimes still conform
to the world. Not only do we then suffer, we fail in our mission
to carry the good news to others. I even was bold to say how I'd
learned the pastor had not received a salary for five months.
(I believe many in the congregation were not even aware of this.)
I didn't specifically mention that I'd learned that the congregation
had purchased new wooden benches; but I did ask what the Pastor
and his family were supposed to eat, and I bit on a new bench
to demonstrate! That brought down the house. A translator was
provided, but I preached in Portuguese without notes and had help
only a few times. That was quite a victory for me.
We learned some new, happier praise choruses celebrating our
faith. By the time the service was over the congregation seemed
much happier and freer. Afterwards there was much buzzing about
what can be done, and what a crime that the pastor has received
no salary. I have no idea what will eventually come of it. I pray
for the best, that they realize they have the capacity to give,
and that God bless and provide as they do. So the word is out
and they're talking about it.
After joining the congregation for prayer at the house of an
ill member, I was driven back to the center of town. I spent several
hours that afternoon alone with the sister of the Pakistani family,
Shizad. She only knows a little Portuguese and a little English,
but we managed to communicate. She is a sweet young woman with
a sad and lonely life. All she does is sit at home, usually alone,
and go to church services morning and night. (Actually, that doesn't
sound bad to me!) But while religiously committed to prayer, she
wasn't receiving the comfort of the gospel in her devotion.
I showed Shizad praise choruses we'd translated into Chechewa,
and she wanted to learn them in English. She liked one so much
that she insisted that I sing it with her, repeating it together
over twenty times, a simple chorus: Heaven, filling my soul (4x),
glory, filling my soul (4x), milk and honey, filling my soul (4x).
Over and over again we sang. She had difficulty actually following
the simple melody, but I almost wept for joy to see her close
her eyes and sing with all her heart until she memorized the words.
Every time she sang it she'd open her eyes and beam at me and
take a big breath as if she could hardly bear the joy she was
experiencing. I know the Holy Spirit was ministering to her heart.
Later we went out to supper with her brother and friends. We
travelled about 20 kilometers out of town, yet it took nearly
an hour to arrive at the restaurant. The road, heading toward
Ribaue, was the worst one I'd been on in a long time. No wonder
no one can visit there at this time.
After eating we walked around the lake as the sun set, and Shizad
held my hand. When I returned first to the restaurant, three drunken
South African engineers at a nearby table with a quarter-full
bottle of whiskey invited me to join them. I told them I didn't
think my husband would appreciate that. When I responded to their
question about his whereabouts by telling them in Chimoio, one
said that was really dangerous. I laughed and said, "No,
not when you love each other like we do and trust each other."
That sobered them up a bit.
The day before, we passed a bar called "Embaixada"
("Embassy"). I had commented on how it was the Embaixada
dos Bebados, or "Embassy of Drunks." (We've often found
it amusing here that Muslim men nearly all smoke, but of course
won't touch a drop of alcohol, while some Christians like a glass
of wine or beer but would never think of smoking.) I told Sifat
and Shizad that I had just received an invitation from the Embaixada
dos Bebados and we suppressed giggles. But I believe my spontaneous
remark about our marriage may have witnessed to them more than
I first realized.
I remembered something from Adventure in Africa, the book
about Don McClure's life. Don wrote that there is no word for
"home" in Arabic, in the sense that we mean a place
of love and human fellowship. He described the faces of those
who peered through the windows of a missionary's home. They longingly
gazed at a table—not because of food on it—but because
it was surrounded by people loving each other in the presence
of a loving God. I thought perhaps by this little window into
Charles' and my love for each other in Christ I had more effectively
ministered the gospel than by all my intentional testimonies the
day before.
With the pastor in Beira, we are planning a seminar for his elders,
and elders from a new church start north of Dondo, and from Chimoio.
This can be done as we await road and bridge repair further north.
In Christ,
Diane Wonnenberg
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
52
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