UPDATES AND OUTREACH

LICHINGA FAMILY HAS MOVED
Auntie Voilet, her family and all of her lovely children and grandchildren (which we referred to as our Lichinga Children) moved into their new house in the village of Madaba at the end of March. If you remember during a previous blog, this “move” was scheduled to occur during February. We were able to bless the children with jump ropes and a couple of nice soccer balls to play with in their new home. While the children were living next to us, we usually met with them every Monday and Tuesday to worship together, and to teach them to live holy lives and pursue the heart of their Father. About 2 weeks before they moved, the Lord let us know that the work He wanted us to do with them was completed. Hallelujah!!! We were told that during the first couple of days in their new home, the adults in the family led several people to the Lord. We know that all of them will be lights to the many adults and children around their area that need to hear about Jesus.

OUR HOUSE – BUILDING A HOUSE FOR THE PLEASURE OF THE LORD

The land is being cleared, and Tyren and a friend, Moses, are building a shed on the property (the shed is ~ 8 ft by 15 feet). In the beginning the shed will hold the cement bags and other things needed to build the house. Last week’s blog had a photo of the official blueprint. This week, I’m including a photo of the property as it looks now. We hope to transform the grassy hill behind the shed by leveling the top of the hill, and building a gazebo where people can eat, relax and pray. We hired two people at the local rate of $200 Mozambican meticais each per week (~ 8 dollars for 20 hours of work) to clear the land. The builder, a man named Grey who knows the Lord, will start laying the foundation within a few weeks.

ORPHAN GIRL’S HOME

The girl’s house is still being built. Yes, things take longer in this part of Africa. Everyone had hoped it would be completed by Jan 2008. The dorm should be completed by the end of April. 3 people, including a visiting missionary from Canada, who is spending a month here, is helping to complete the remaining work. After the official opening, tentatively scheduled for June, we’ll be accepting orphans.

TIFFANY’S ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS

Tiffany has acquired the role of administrating the tasks that occur in the white house where we live. This old house we live in also houses visiting missionaries and is temporarily used for an administrative office and general meeting place. There is no electricity, indoor plumbing or sinks. Tiffany will have her hands full with homeschooling, learning Portuguese and overseeing things in this house and the storage area in the adjacent building.

EVANGELISM SUPPLIES

Since we are an official Iris Center which does evangelism and outreach, the main Iris Center in Pemba, Mozambique has supplied our center with all the technical tools necessary to hold outdoor evangelism events. They even flew everything out to us on an Iris plane (which is owned by a missionary who is a volunteer/missionary pilot with Iris Ministries). We now have sound equipment (speakers, microphones, etc), lights, tents, a generator (just to use for outreaches and other events),a media player and a projector to show the Jesus Film in various languages. About ½ of the crowd left when we began to preach about Jesus. The chief who invited us to his village stayed until the end. He is allowing us to come back to follow-up with the people who gave their lives to Jesus. Several people gave their lives to the Lord during this first outreach event on April 3rd.

We Love You!!! Tyren