We know Jesus hastened our time for us. We had student loans and car loans that we paid more than the monthly required amount on. Even so, we thought we were not financially able to be full-time missionaries until several more years. But the Lord said, "Some things you have to ask for". So, we did. A few months later, the Lord used one occasion to wake us up so that we'd know the time for our departure was planned much sooner than we thought. A person came to our house saying that the Lord told him to pay off our car loan (the person didn't even know the balance). The person handed us cash, inquired about the remaining amount, and then left. Just as promised, several months later the individual gave us the final amount to pay off the balance. The Lord had been dreaming about us and we (though wanting to go overseas) had no idea that our time had come. (Now, we still had college loans, but that's another testimony along with many others that are reserved for another time…).
Around the same time, about a year before we left for Mozambique, the Lord told us the exact month and year, and the ministry that He was sending us to become a part of. We know the Lord's voice, but we never knew about anything in that level of detail and for something that far in the future. We were thrilled that the time had come. We applied and were accepted to Iris Ministries' Holy Given School of International Missions in Pemba, Mozambique (now Iris Harvest). We sold things, and gave many other things away. With the blessing of our local church we left for Mozambique. We arrived in Pemba on June 1, 2007. After graduating from the school we were accepted as full-time missionaries, and were sent to serve with the Iris center in Lichinga, Mozambique. We've been in Lichinga since August 2007. It's been so beautiful and wonderfully challenging for us and our children.
In Lichinga, we are being surrendered by Jesus' love, consumed by His presence, convicted to live holy (just for Him), and being broken time after time to receive more of His love. It is then that we can love Him more and more. For us, that is what ministry is about. We must carry the Father's heart and live among a mostly Muslim population to demonstrate the kingdom through preaching, teaching, building relationships, through fathering and mothering both adults and children, loving the poor, needy, forgotten and abandoned. The Father's heart is toward this people. In the midst of everything, our hearts ache to know Him more. We are alive. We hear His sound. It rings out loud; it's in the beating of our hearts as they trumpet the cry of His heart. We are calling a nation to be restored to God, to become a holy people and become carriers of the heart of God.
What's the most precious thing? For us it wasn't about becoming full-time missionaries after so many years, nor fulfilling a life-long dream. In the midst of the salvations, healing and miracles, we see that nothing compares to Jesus Christ Himself. In all things we do, we are pleased to know that our lives and ministry is all about Him, from Him, through Him and for Him. We will aim to live for nothing else but to intimately know our God, and enjoy the pleasure of spending our lives to see our Father glorify Himself on the earth and draw the hearts of people to Himself through Jesus Christ our only Savior and Lord.
Tiffany and
Tyren Haynes are missionaries serving with Iris Global in Mozambique and
beyond. They are members of Church of
the Living God in Manchester, CT (U.S.A). They have four children.
