Haynes Missionaries: Questions and Answers

 
We wanted to give you some responses to questions we are asked about living here in Mozambique. We hope this will give you a better understanding of what our life here may involve.


Because of the dollar to Metical exchange rate, is it very cheap to live in Mozambique? 
Lichinga is very expensive compared to other places in Mozambique because everything has to be trucked in to this little town in the mountains. $1 U.S. equals about 27 Mozambican Mets. This does not mean that $1 U.S. equals $27 U.S. here. For instance, here are the current estimated prices of things: 1 gallon of gas is about $7.25. 2 liters of ice cream is about $13. A small box of cereal is between $7 and $9. A 55 pound bag of rice, a staple food for us, is $23. One pack of spaghetti is $0.67. A pack of elbow macaroni is $0.90. We eat a lot of good food from the outside market which is cheaper – such things as tomatoes, onions, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, and carrots. We don’t eat like we did in the U.S., but we listed the above prices to let you know that everyplace in Africa may not be as cheap as many think. (Figures above were calculated based on the current U.S. exchange rate. The rate has recently been dropping so things are getting even more expensive).

Is Tyren mainly called to missions, and Tiffany’s main job to support him by caring for the kids and house? 
Before we first met, both my wife and I knew we were called to serve God overseas. Being missionaries was something we both dreamed of doing. Together, we are both walking in our God given destiny.

What does Tiffany do? 
She does a lot of things… too many to list. But mainly, she home schools our kids, intercedes for our center and for our individual ministry (of course,) heads up hospitality, helps other missionaries adjust, ministers to people, and more. Often I look at my wife in awe. She is a great encouragement to me, teaches me by example about walking in the grace of God, and is a person who exemplifies worship as a lifestyle.

Are there wild animals around like lions, elephants, and hyena’s? 
Yes and no. We walk around at night and our children play outside by themselves because it’s very safe. There are snakes, jackals (that’s what they look like), and mongoose type animals; but no elephants where we are. There has recently been a sighting of some type of wild cat with spots about 5 minutes up the road from where we live. Generally, hyenas and lions live further away.

What kind of food do you eat? 
A lot more things are available in Lichinga now than when we first arrived, but it’s nothing like what’s available in the U.S. We eat things like rice, potatoes, cema (maize flour boiled until it’s like mashed potatoes), tomatoes, onions, apples, minnows-and sometimes chicken, ground beef, and lake fish.  Yes, some people in our family have eaten cooked insects.

Do you get “paid” to serve as missionaries? 
No, we don’t get paid by Iris Ministries or a government. People who have a heart and vision for what God has called us to do donate as they desire. If you’d like to send us a donation, see http://www.tandthaynes.com/donate.html.

Do your children like Mozambique? 
Yes, our children love Mozambique. They have friends here. Two of our children, Isaiah and Chayah, have lived most of their lives here.

Is it very hot all the time? 
Here in Lichinga, June and July are cold, dry months. It is said that the temperature can go down into the 40’s. We’ve experienced low 50’s during the day. To us, it’s quite chilly. We sleep with hats on (and sometimes a scarf, also).

Where do you live? 
We live on the Iris Ministries Center in Lichinga. We have our own house that we built in 2008, mostly through one generous donation.

Do you have running water? 
Yes, again through a generous donation, we have our own machine bored well which we use to have water pumped into a tank with an electric pump and a generator. From the tank it's gravity fed into our house. No, the water is not hot! We have cold running water and usually boil water to take warm bucket “showers”.

Do you have electricity? 
We don’t have city electricity. We use 2 solar panels for all of our electric needs. We use them mainly to run our small DC (battery powered) fridge, laptop, lights at night, and IPod. With solar energy, sometimes we have to choose when and if to use certain electronics in order to preserve the energy for other items.

Yes, we are thoroughly satisfied in Christ and like living here in Mozambique. For now, this is home. It is the place where we live, and Lichinga is the city from which extend the gospel to the nations. Pray for us and Lichinga with expectation and joy, because our God is going to do greater things than what we can possibly expect. God is good, real good!

Captivated by His glory and overwhelmed with His love,
Tyren and Tiffany Haynes

Updates from the Haynes Family

We found extra large "lego" type blocks for Chayah

Surprises (Beyond What We Imagined)



We knew 2011 was going to be a year full of the Lord’s goodness and surprises. We were pleasantly surprised (ok...shocked) to find out that Haynes baby #4 is well on the way. Baby is due toward the end of this October. Yes, we’ll have the baby in Africa again.

By the way, Chayah turned 2 years old on June 25. Amerel will be 11 and Isaiah will be 8 in November.

Gardening

We are in the process of “revitalizing” our new strawberry patch. We have a few strawberries now, but hopefully with a little manure, we’ll have lots more fruit. We actually have a peach growing on our very small peach tree – about 2 feet high (we just planted it a few months ago). We hope that our apple, masuko (like custard apples) and avocado trees, and our guava tree continue to grow. Our banana trees are doing well, and our second cluster of bananas are springing forth. Tiffany is now trying her hand at container gardening. Hopefully, I (Tiffany) can maintain this type of gardening better than the larger scale gardening I attempted earlier in the year!



Crackers made from the sour dough starter



Cooking

Amerel has started using her recipe book to bake all sorts of things, mostly sweets. She made Chayah’s birthday cake. Tiffany has begun her own sour dough starter and has made pancakes, bread, pretzels and crackers with it thus far.

Bible School Teaching

Tiffany and I are both teaching once a week in the Bible School that started in June. I am really excited for Tiffany since she has a great teaching gift, and the Lord is giving her an opportunity to use it. Tiffany has been teaching on godly character.



Tiffany teaching at the Bible School

Maintenance

Lichinga now requires all cars to pass vehicle inspection. So, I’m (Tyren) in the process of tightening my emergency brakes and adjusting my rear brakes. I’ve never done this before, but that’s where prayer and the Nissan Terrano II handbook I downloaded from the internet will be put to great use (my Dad would be proud). Fixing my motorbike is another story. No one has been able to find/fix the problem. After a while when riding, the chain comes off, sometimes jamming the rear axle causing me to just slide…wheeeee! Getting a new motorbike is the solution for some. But, I am thankful for what the Lord gave me, and will try to continue to use it.

Please continue to pray with us and for us.  There are greater things that are yet to be revealed in the city of Lichinga and our ministry.

Love,

Tyren and Tiffany Haynes

Joy in the Prison and Fun in the Village

 
Joy in the Prison

...In your presence is fullness of joy…(Psalm 16:11)

 
One of the things that are dear to our hearts is the presence of God. In the prison, focusing on the presence of God (God Himself being in our midst) is the priority. God is using teaching, preaching, and other ministry to help the men experience the transforming power of God that brings them into their destiny. After sharing a word from the book of Isaiah to focus the men’s hearts on choosing the Lord’s ways to enter their destiny, I asked them to form two lines facing one another. In the midst of the presence of God they poured love and life into one another as they prayed for each others’ needs. I pray that the men would continue to pray for one another as their way of life. One man with pain in his head was healed. Another said he was healed from pain all over his body. I shook the man to make sure it was all gone. He started laughing, saying, “Yes, yes.” We thank God for the many amazing things that occur in the prison, but the greatest pleasure is just being with Him.

Assumane Fun Day

In June, we held our second Assumane Fun Day in Assumane Village. Maybe it will turn into an annual event. Members of The World Race, Annelisa’s discipleship group and the current Bible school students joined in the day of fun and lavishing love on kids. For some reason, we weren’t able to play the music over the sound system to summon the village to the event, which led to a smaller turnout than last year. But, we had lots of fun. One missionary, Don, added several races to the event. This year we added a few new stations: the parachute, a drum station and a small obstacle course.



The kids loved the idea of being pulled in sacks




The start of one of the races across the soccer field



May the Lord continue to stir our hearts for the greater things that He has yet to do in our city of Lichinga.

 
Love,
 
Tyren and Tiffany Haynes