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

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