A New Day has Dawned: The Birth of our New Baby!

Monday, Oct. 10, before the sun rose, Tiffany gave birth to a beautiful little girl. It was the shortest delivery out of our 4 children. This time, we had our spirit-filled missionary friend and professional mid-wife, Sandra, to help deliver the baby. She did a great job! So, I was able to give due attention to my wife, coaching and caring for her during the process. Our missionary friend, Melissa from N.Y., watched our kids and took care of heating up all the water, baby clothes and other things.

We want to share with you a little about the wonderful working of God during the whole labor and delivery process. At the beginning of the labor, our whole family got together to worship. It wasn’t a ritual, it was because the presence of God came upon us in such a powerful way that we were released from everything else into a time of worshipping and adoring the Lord Jesus. All during the 3 stages of labor, the presence of the Lord was upon my wife and I in a very special way-in a way that I don’t remember sensing or feeling in the birth of our other three children. Although the recent birth of our 10 lb. plus girl was natural, it wasn’t a pain-free process for Tiffany. Yet, she worshipped the Lord through it. We both worshipped, not only with song, but with believing hearts, and hearts focused on Him and nothing else. Every time I saw my wife in pain, and me being completely helpless to remove it, worship naturally poured out of my mouth. As I prayed, asking the Lord to take the pain away, I had a thought that might sound foolish to some. But, radical obedience is a conduit of blessing (and answered prayer). So at one point I told my wife what the Holy Spirit told me, saying that every time she felt pain, to tell Jesus, “Here’s another offering for You. This pain belongs to You. You died for me and are worthy to carry it.” My wife told me that she actually started believing that, and that the Lord had been speaking to her concerning the pain, “it’s not really that bad”. Imagine that! If you have faith and know Jesus, you know that when He speaks, His words create our life, and if we believe, we can become conscious of no other reality than what He just spoke to us. Another thing was that during the delivery process the Lord actually let me know when my wife was about to have contractions (during the pushing stage) and when they would end even before she knew. Actually, He let me know so many things before they happened and before my wife knew, things too numerous to explain in this short blog. This was a great comfort to my wife. Remember, we didn’t have any special monitors or other computerized equipment to know this.

As my wife and I talked about all that the Lord had done, we realized that the Lord gave us a precious and special delivery. So many things happened during the process and birth itself that prophetically testified of the many things the Lord has done and spoken into our lives and ministry this year. Most importantly, both of us could see how much the Lord has done in 2 years, since Chayah’s birth, to bring worship and love for God into greater depths of our being. As we received our little girl into our arms, we were actually receiving a gift we didn’t expect or deserve… that is, we realized that the Lord had brought our family into a level of deeper and more intimate life with Jesus Christ that we desired. It was a true birthing experience indeed.

I hope you realize that this is our testimony of faith in Christ, and not just a man’s perspective of a birth experience. Because of Christ Jesus, we can have joy and find value in the midst of suffering, pain and persecution for righteousness sake. Our Lord Himself taught us this (Hebrews 12:2-3). Be encouraged and have hope with joy in the Holy Spirit. In the midst of your difficult, trying or seemingly endless situations, may you dare to ask the Lord to work His purposes in and around you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit and invincible hope in the process.
Love,
Tyren and Tiffany Haynes

Trusting God

New shocks: 1 of 3 costly replacement parts on
our truck.  We did 2 of the jobs ourselves.

Have you ever had a day or a period of time when things just weren’t going well? For the past several weeks, we’ve been having times like that. Some things were breaking while other things just stopped working although they were perfectly fine. We even found a dead mouse lying in plain view under our couch!

During this time the Lord has been speaking to our hearts about trusting Him. We understand that Jesus is not afraid or ashamed to make use of the normal things of life to teach us. We found deep comfort in simply knowing that He was using the challenging and bad circumstances to draw us closer to Himself. In the midst of stuff, issues, and problems, we focus on Him, utterly convinced that our life is in Christ and not in our situations or circumstances, whether they be good or bad. Therefore, we don’t have to be shaken or deterred. We choose to give Him thanks. There is no place like low. So, we worship Him. Joy fills our hearts, and amazingly, although the situations do not change, we see the Lord’s will being fulfilled within us and around us. We cannot help but praise Him more. God is good, only good, all the time.

There’s No Place Like Low

One place where I am reminded to trust God is the prison. It’s a good place to see the power and the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. After worshipping together and a time of teaching, we were all on our knees praying. The Lord did something because I suddenly began to pour out my love on Jesus. Others joined me as we humbled ourselves before Him. Then it happened. No worship with songs, no music, but the presence of God came in a mighty way as we prayed. He came as we were surrendering ourselves anew. In that moment, I saw that the Lord was bringing the prisoners an understanding of the low place of worship – this is where we live. No matter how bad (or how good) the circumstances around the believers in the prison, there’s that victorious “place” of worship that Jesus freely provided for us. And here, victory always reigns. Here, we realize and experience that Jesus is everything we need. The prisoners could live in the prison, yet still be in His presence, and find joy, peace, a refuge, receive strength, wisdom, comfort and hope no matter the hopeless and despairing circumstances that are often around them in the prison. In this moment, many begin to see that their own strength, wisdom, plans and the like do not cause them to prevail in life. But, when they surrender all these things to Jesus, worshipping Him, they find that Christ helps them and becomes all that they need. He is always strong, has all wisdom and counsel, is ever merciful and is more than ready to help them. Please join us in praying that what the Lord started continues. The presence of God is never optional. If these men grasp and guard what the Lord is doing in their hearts, it will utterly change their lives, open their future, and allow them to step into their individual destinies.

Chayah, Amerel and Isaiah in Malawi

Thank you for praying, donating and believing God for greater things in Lichinga. We know the Lord wants to do more. We are ready to expand our vision, and be even more broken in heart to see our Lord pour out His love and power upon Mozambique and the nations beyond. Speaking of expanding, please remember to pray for our family as we are about 4 weeks away from giving birth to our new baby. Hallelujah!

Grace and love, Tyren and Tiffany Haynes

When we are too tired to walk, we decide to run anyway. True faith makes Christ our sufficiency.

The Kingdom of God Revealed through Floorball



The beauty of Lake Nissa in Metangula, Mozambique

  I drove 100 km (62 miles) outside of Lichinga to Metangula, a town that is situated on Lake Niassa. The main floorball coaches and Claude, the young man from Switzerland who has been training them and discipling them, were meeting at the lake to celebrate Claude’s last few weeks with them. They slept in tents on the beach within a lodge’s property. I slept in my car on the same beach close by them. There was a guard nearby, but when I asked him how well he had slept, he said he slept well through the night. I thought that would be the case, so I slept in my car :)


These young Mozambican youth are special treasures. Many are called into something much greater than what they ever expected - Floorball, a vehicle through which Jesus Christ wants to reveal His glory into the sports arena; Floorball, a dream that God has given to Mozambique with little Lichinga being the only place in all of Mozambique that has this sport. When one government official, who travels all over Mozambique, requested a special meeting to see them practice, he saw them praying together before practicing. He remarked on how different these youth were, and how their faith in God was a good thing in sports.


Hanging out before Dinner

As I spent time with them on the beach, my heart silently ached and was in prayer for these young men. I wondered if they were really prepared to walk with God in His dream for Floorball. I pray for them because I know the glory of God only remains in low and broken vessels, and because I long for them all to have a relationship with God that is fully dependent upon intimate experiences that only Jesus can bring to lives abandoned in His presence.
 

We had fun burying coaches

The Lord taught me so much more while sitting on the beach and playing with these young men. I would have chosen certain things to happen on that day at the beach. But, the Lord is a great teacher and He opened my heart to what He prepared in the midst of my longing for my friends to experience more of Him. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (and only in the Holy Spirit). We experienced the kingdom all day long. One of the coaches took it upon Himself to cook for all the rest. He did it without complaining. That’s peace. We had more than enough spaghetti, and these young men could have eaten all of it. Instead, we saved a bunch and shared it with some very hungry children that were staring at us, but not asking for anything. Those children were so happy. The peace and joy of God was operating in our midst. One of the coaches joined me as we talked to them about Jesus. After eating, the children washed out the basin and returned it and also filled it with water from the lake (this was to wash our plates in). At another time, there were a few other children who wanted to hang around the coaches. They wouldn’t leave. This was a God moment. So, Felix, one of the coaches, translated for me as I explained to them about the salvation of Jesus Christ. Two of the three little boys gave their lives to Jesus with joy on their faces. The third boy prayed with us also, but since his main language was Makua, and not Portuguese or Nanja, I’m not sure how well he understood. Righteousness came in this moment as we experienced His kingdom yet again. 

Please join me, join us all, in believing God and asking Christ Jesus to consume all of these young men’s hearts, and for the glory of God to fill Floorball like never before. During the time at the lake, I learned that in His own way, the Lord is fulfilling His purposes in this Floorball team.  If we trust God and if we live utterly dependent upon Him alone, His dream for Floorball will become a reality. Your kingdom come and will be done, oh Lord!

Love,

Tyren and Tiffany Haynes





The Work of the Lord in Assumane Church

Some adults and children enjoying the meal and fellowship

A Love Feast

This year, the Lord has been directing me to teach on various things to establish foundations for the church in Assumane. We recently ended several weeks of teaching on communion. This month, we decided to set apart one Sunday to have a different kind of service. Everyone brought food, the normal food they eat every day. No one brought chicken or other kinds of meat, cheese, soda or anything like that. It was a time to share the love of God with one another by simply sharing what we had in our homes, whatever that might be. So, right after a time of worshipping God through song, we ate and ate and spent time with one another. Tiffany and I cooked rice, and contributed a special, non-traditional food – a cake with frosting.

Testimonies from the Assumane Church

Jordão has been making bricks out of the red dirt that is everywhere around us here in Lichinga. He always prays when he is making his bricks. This past Sunday, he said that people were coming to him asking why his bricks weren’t cracking. They said, “You are using the same dirt we are using. All of our bricks are breaking (before we even get to burn them), but yours are not.” He testified of how God answers prayer, and how the Lord helps us do what He has called us to do.

Have you ever had an idea that seemed so simple you wondered why you didn’t think of it sooner? I recently had a God idea like that. Since last year, my heart has been aching to see some of the gifted people in church take initiative in various areas. Instead of doing things just to get them done, my wife and I have been trusting in God to stir up the hearts of people to use what God has given to them. This past Sunday, the Lord gave me the idea to ask a specific person to take care of the project to rebuild the church outhouse. I thought, “Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Thank you, Jesus”. Before I could mention it to the individual, the same day the Lord told me, Jordão gave an announcement in church and started organizing things to fix the outhouse. Being a missionary and the one who is leading the church, I was excited that no one is waiting for the “missionary” or “Pastor” (as some call me) to do things. Another individual organized people to clear the tall grass from around the church. This kind of initiative is exciting to see, and both an answer to prayer and the fruit of labor that has gone on this year. To us these things are great. They testify that people are realizing their value in Christ, seeing the need to accept the privilege of responsibility in the kingdom of God, and more people are “taking ownership” of the physical building of the church. Thank you so much for your prayers for Assumane.

Although you do not get to see the answers to your prayers firsthand, know that the Lord is bringing forth a great abundance through your prayers. Not only are lives being changed, but the people you impact are impacting others. Floorball, the prison, village ministries and street ministries are areas where people who are being touched through your service are reaching out and touching others. We thank God for your partnership and the open doors that He presents to us through your gifts of prayer, donations and other forms of love.

In the goodness of the Lord. Love,

Tyren and Tiffany Haynes

A New Start from the Prison House

 
Recently, one of the leaders of the Tuesday meetings in the prison was released after spending 7 months in prison (he was found innocent and then released). I’ve always wanted to be able to help some of the prisoners re-integrate into the community. We’ve given Mr. Daylight (changed his name for this blog), who is a builder, some work to do at our house. For a few weeks this is helping him to have a fresh start and provide for his family of 9 (including his wife and 7 children).

People who work at our house are told that they are here to serve the Lord and not just have a job. The real work is what the Lord will be doing in their hearts while they offer themselves to the Lord through their labors (Romans 12:1, Colossians 3:23).

The first few weeks it took about 1 ½ hours for Mr. Daylight to walk from his house to our house, then another 1 ½ hours to return back to his house after working. (We decided to give him an advance to buy a bike. Now it takes him about 45 minutes one-way.) I told Mr. Daylight that the presence of the Lord is over our center and as he works the Lord will be speaking to him. Well, after the first few days, Mr. Daylight came to me and told me, “The Lord asked me why I was here.” “What did you reply?” I asked. He said, “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say.” Then another day, Mr. Daylight came to me and said that the Lord asked him the same thing again, but he didn’t answer. I prayed that the Lord would help him to respond. The next day after I petitioned the Lord, Mr. Daylight was very excited. He told me that the Lord responded to him during a dream explaining that He sent him to work at my house to bless him. Mr. Daylight woke up from the dream, and because he was so excited, he woke up his wife while she was sleeping just to tell her.

During the day, I often teach Mr. Daylight things from the Word of God – whatever specific words the Lord gives for him. He’s so joyful about what the Lord is revealing to him that he goes home, sits with his family, and shares with them the scriptures and things that I often teach him during the day. Tiffany and I were amazed to see that just out of shear joy, this man is sharing the word of God with his household. Jesus is also using his life as a testimony of His love and faithfulness to others who are in awe at the blessings of God that are on his life now-even though he was in prison and lost his previous job, some friendships and a lot of other things he had previously owned.

In the midst of the various ministry activities the Lord has us do here in Mozambique, our focus is still the same. We have been called to prepare people’s hearts for His presence and open the way for people to walk in their divine destiny. As you pray for Mozambique, boldly seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal His glory in this city and raise up people to be carriers of His presence.

 

Mr. Daylight and Jordao are working together to build our new storage shed.
This project is a result of a prophetic word, from Leviticus 26:10, that has been burning in our hearts this year.

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Dancing Hill (our gazebo) has finally had it's walls cemented and smoothed, and the cement floor laid down.
Once the tin roof is nailed on it'll be ready to use. 



Blessings from on high,

Tyren and Tiffany Haynes