Rebuilding The FenceThen the head coach of the youth and young adult hockey teams (floorball teams) that I minister to found out what happened to our fence, he rallied the other coaches of the teams together to help us rebuild. In a few hours the 5 coaches rebuilt about one-third, 60 feet, of the total length of the fence that had been burned down. They only stopped because I had no more grass. It will take a lot more work and material to finish the fence, but the Lord put an amazing determination in our hearts to rebuild. We continually see that in the Lord’s presence amazing things happen, and can happen quickly. We are amazed at how quickly the Lord can restore things that are lost.
Trusting In His Presence
Tiffany and I have been overseeing the center property since 10/16 because everyone else is either on holiday or attending a conference in Beira. Everyone else that “leads” in church (worship team, translators, musicians, and pastors) is also gone. I talked to the base leaders, who are the Pastors, and they left it up to me to decide whether or not to have church. 
It seemed like good sense to cancel church for two weeks since I was the only one left to facilitate things, and Tiffany opted to stay at the land to “guard” it during church services. (Someone always has to be present to watch over the children’s center property which is up the hill from where the church is). But, the Lord told me not to “uproot” the church. I knew the Lord was telling me that the church, His people, is His work and it doesn’t originate in the efforts or abilities of any one individual. If I canceled church, I would have given people the wrong view of church and what their relationship with God is about. Salvation is of the Lord.
It seemed like good sense to cancel church for two weeks since I was the only one left to facilitate things, and Tiffany opted to stay at the land to “guard” it during church services. (Someone always has to be present to watch over the children’s center property which is up the hill from where the church is). But, the Lord told me not to “uproot” the church. I knew the Lord was telling me that the church, His people, is His work and it doesn’t originate in the efforts or abilities of any one individual. If I canceled church, I would have given people the wrong view of church and what their relationship with God is about. Salvation is of the Lord. The services were wonderful. Truly, the most important thing was that the presence of the Lord was there. Jesus was pleased. And the Holy Spirit “led” worship. I encouraged everyone not to sing anything unless it was what the Holy Spirit gave them. Worship in song occurred as He chose and gave a person a song, and we all joined in singing. Then He’d give another person a song, and we’d all join in singing to the Lord. Then at once, He quieted all of us in His presence, and simultaneously we started telling God how wonderful He is. In the quietness, one person began singing “Let it Rain” in Portuguese. It was beautiful as we sensed the Holy Spirit was ministering to our hearts. As I taught each week, the Lord provided someone new to translate into the local languages of our church-Chichewa, Jao and Portuguese.
We are looking forward to traveling to the U.S. next week. We are excited knowing the Lord has great plans for us there. During this last week, we are finishing “rain-proofing” our house, putting up curtains and Tiffany is continuing to home school. We leave on Nov. 4, and will arrive in the U.S. on Nov 8.
With Love,
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