Be A Part of Our Journey: Sharing Our Vision for Ministry in Mozambique and Next Steps for Our Family
How to partner with us in this next chapter
Write it plainly…
Recently, Habakkuk 2:2 was dropped in my spirit, spurring me to write this post.
“Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it’” (Habakkuk 2:2, NIV).
When we very first launched this newsletter, we gave a little blurb about who we are and our desire to establish a ministry in Mozambique. And in another newsletter we briefly shared some of the obstacles that we were facing in regards to a return trip to Mozambique this summer (you can read that post here: “There is a Very Thin Line Between Faith and Folly: How to Know the Difference”).
However, we recently realized that we have never really clearly written about what the ministry we feel God has called us to establish in Mozambique, Africa. We firmly believe that the Lord has given us a unique vision for what He wants to use us to accomplish in Mozambique and we would like to share that with you in this post.
What is more, we have had several people reach out to us or our friends and family asking how they could be a part of this vision. Towards the end of this post, we will provide details for exactly how you can partner with us on this journey, if you feel led to do so.
Our Backstory
If you just happened to stumble upon this newsletter, or perhaps a friend or family member sent you this link, then you probably would like to know a little about us.
We are simply a husband and wife who happened to meet on the mission field in Mozambique six years ago. I (the wife) am an American who grew up in rural Kentucky, while my husband was born and raised in Mozambique, Africa.
A year after our initial encounter, we met once again when I returned to Mozambique to stay for a month on another mission trip. That summer there was a definite God connection between the two of us, and our friendship quickly evolved into more.
One of the things that drew us together so quickly, besides our love of God, was our heart and vision for ministry in Mozambique. I had to return home, but our plan had been for him to come to the U.S. to meet my family, and then I would go back with him to Mozambique where we would get married and start our ministry.
Life has a funny way of taking our plans and turning them upside down, though. When he came to meet my family here in the United States in the fall of 2019, we decided that we wanted to go ahead and get married here. In January of 2020 on a cold winter’s Monday evening, we said our wedding vows in a simple ceremony at church surrounded by just a handful of family and close friends.
A little thing you might have heard of, COVID-19, descended upon the world just a couple of months after that, and our plans for returning to Mozambique had to be revised. In the midst of that madness, we found out that we were expecting a precious little boy. Once again, our dreams of returning to Mozambique were deferred as we thought that perhaps we should stay in the U.S. for a while in order to try and save up some money.
Nearly five years after the summer when we first confessed our feelings for one another, we feel an urgency like never before to get back to the God-given vision that initially brought us together.
Our Vision
So what is that vision exactly?
To be the hands of feet of Jesus in a country that is still currently listed as the world’s sixth poorest nation.
To bring the Gospel of Jesus to a region that is saturated in other religions, namely witchcraft and Islam.
To bring hope to a nation where more than 50% of the population is 15-years-old or younger.
Compelled by Habakkuk, I wanted to plainly write out our vision - both short term and long term - for the ministry in Mozambique we feel called to establish.
Short Term:
Basic food/supplies box program for the week or month (Example: oil, rice, beans, vitamins, laundry soap, toothpaste, bath soap, shampoo/conditioner, etc.)
First Aid Supplies
Clothing ministry
Dig multiple wells for clean water (currently there is one for the entire village - some people walk miles to access it; when that isn’t available, we use water from the river)
Distribute water purification systems to families
Building for church services
Sunday Church Services
Find a full time pastor to live/serve in the village
Mid-Week Bible Study
Instruments for worship band
A home for us in Manhangane
Reliable vehicle for us
Discipleship program
Bicycle distribution program (to provide a faster means of transportation other than just walking)
Long Term:
Ministry Center
Children’s Center for Orphans
Visitor’s compound
Church building
Educational building
Conference Center
Goal is to eventually be completely self-sustaining through agricultural industry
Secondary School (currently our village only provides up to a 7th grade education for students)
Free vaccinations for all kids (far too many individuals die from preventable diseases due to no or limited access to healthcare and vaccinations)
Make sure all kids and adults are properly registered with government (lack of official documentation prevents individuals from opening bank accounts, applying for driver’s license, obtaining a passport, applying for school, etc.)
Permanent and fully-staffed clinic w/ emergency transportation vehicle to city
After school tutoring program
Adult Education Program
Literacy and basic math
Financial literacy
Parenting courses
Yearly dental/physical exams for all villagers
Grocery store
Safe and reliable public transportation to city
Health Education - first aid classes, CPR training, etc.
Affordable access to electricity or solar power for all homes (only 6% of individuals living in rural Mozambique even have access to electricity according to this article published in The Conversation)
Bakery that hires local residents to work and provide bread for community at an affordable cost
Vocational training
Immediate Needs for this Summer
As stated in an earlier post, we have some pretty big obstacles standing between us being able to return to Mozambique this summer in order to start working on our short term vision. I’m talking about nearly $40,000 worth of obstacles. So here they are written out plainly in black and white:
$7,000 - Minimum cost for three round-trip tickets to Mozambique
$20,000 - Estimated cost for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath cinder block house with solar power
$10,000 - Estimated cost for a used, but reliable SUV that can handle the rural roads in Sub-Saharan Africa
[Read my post “The Top 12 Not-So-Charming Realities of Our Intercontinental Journey” to get a better understanding of why we need a more stable/reliable home and vehicle before traveling back this summer.
Essentially, the dirt roads in rural Mozambique are a formidable maze of rocks, stones, and deep ruts, and our current vehicle, a small 20-year-old Toyota Will Cypha, struggles to traverse the relentless and challenging terrain. We literally ripped the bottom out of it our first trip to the village.
Our current home, crafted in the traditional style of southern Mozambique with cut branches, clay, and rocks does nothing to keep out the insects, and each rainy season parts of our home wash away.]
And those are just the most immediate needs that would simply allow us to get there and actually have feet on the ground for the summer. We are praying fervently about next steps, and while we aren’t quite ready to publicly announce what we feel the Lord is asking us to do in the very near future, let me just say that it will require quite possibly the biggest leap of faith either my husband or myself have ever had to take up to this point in our lives.
Basically, we know that we need nothing short of a miracle.
Thankfully, we serve a God who thrives in seemingly impossible situations.
Internal Battles
So this is the part that honestly we have been fighting with everything within us to avoid having to write - asking for help. Why the internal battle?
Well, to be completely honest, after much prayer and reflection, I think the root of our hesitancy to ask for people to help right now is simply pride. We desperately wanted to only have to ask people to partner with us once we had securely established ourselves in Mozambique.
But hear our hearts on this - we have both seen the ugly side of mission work, and we just did not want to have to burden other people or appear as though we are trying to avoid responsibilities. Sadly, we have both seen and heard the negative comments that some people make in regard to overseas missions and those who ask for help in that area.
Having worked at a large international missions base in Mozambique, my husband especially has battled with this, because he has seen how the financial side of mission work can be so precarious and unstable. What is more, as a man, he just wanted so badly to be able to provide for our family without asking for help.
That may seem silly to some, but you would have to understand his story a little better. Imagine growing up in the sixth poorest nation of the world, where you were at the mercy of others to have food, shelter, or clothing most days for the vast majority for your life. Imagine trusting in a God that you had never been formally introduced to, working hard for years, and finally landing a career with a reputable Christian missions organization that provided you with a home and steady income for the first time in your life along with a promise of promotion within the organization.
Then, imagine the Lord asking you to give all of that up to travel to a foreign land because you met someone that you feel drawn to marry and start a family with. You take all of these leaps of faith, only for the Lord to call you back to your original homeland, where you will be starting all over again with nothing other than your faith, but this time you have a family to protect and provide for. That is the kind of pressure he is currently feeling.
We weren’t so arrogant as to think we could do this without Papa God, trust me. We knew that the Lord was the only way this vision could ever happen, because it is so much bigger than us. We just didn’t want to have to ask His people to help us so soon in the process.
When I shared all of this with a close friend recently, she bluntly but lovingly told me that out of our own sense of pride and refusal to ask for help, we were essentially robbing people who wanted to be a part of this ministry of a blessing.
In talking to another dear friend and spiritual mentor, she went on to explain that she will most likely never step foot on a foreign mission field, but that by helping to send us, she would still be able to play a part in building the Kingdom of God and spreading the Gospel “to the ends of the earth.”
Needless to say, both conversations humbled me. And Lord knows that we cannot move forward in this ministry without a great sense of humility. So please allow us to publicly repent for allowing pride and fear of what others may think to deter us from being obedient to the Lord.
While listening to a recent episode of Better Together, a Christian program on TBN, called “Navigating the God-Given Dream in Your Heart,” I felt like Holy Spirit gave me a spiritual gut check when Hosanna Wong shared:
“And here’s my question. If God has put the dream in your heart and God has called you to do it so much that you’re bringing it up over and over again, at what point are you disobeying God?”
Her words pierced my soul and ignited a fresh fire in my soul. It is time to set our pride to the side, once and for all.
How You Can Partner With Us
So here we are, trying to be obedient, and can I please just be completely honest and say Y’all, this part is really difficult for us. Like swallowing-a-spoonful-of-vinegar difficult, and we haven’t even gotten to the hardest part of establishing the ministry halfway around the world! Lord, help us in our worldly flesh, please.
The first and most important way that you can help us is to pray. And I mean really pray diligently. Here are some specific needs that we ask you to cover in prayer:
A hedge of protection over our village in Mozambique and for Holy Spirit to go before us, making a way in the darkness
The nation of Mozambique - especially the northern region where ISIS has infiltrated and terrorists are raiding villages, killing innocent women, men, and children
A hedge of protection over our family - including our immediate family and our families both here in the U.S. and in Mozambique
The hearts of our families, because as difficult it is for us to constantly live between two worlds, in some ways, it is even more difficult for our families in both countries
Finances to sustain our ministry and our family as we travel back and forth
Online jobs for both my husband and I so that we can provide for our family through and allow all future donations to go directly to the outreach and ministry
If you feel compelled to sow into our ministry financially, I would like to humbly offer you an opportunity to partner with us on this endeavor. We are in the process of applying for our own 501c3, but in the meantime, we are being sent out with the blessing and covering of our church.
By donating through our church’s Tithely app, you will be able to make a tax-deductible donation. It is vital that you add “Mozambique Missions” in the notes so that they know where to apply your donation to. Here is the link: https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/55307.
We cannot thank you enough for your prayer and support. Again, we know that we cannot do this alone, and we are just trying to trust God in the process. We would be lying if we said we aren’t scared to death on some level, but strangely, there is also a peace that we are finally taking active steps towards what we have been called to do.
Please continue to pray for us in the upcoming days as we make some decisions that will ultimately change the trajectory of our family’s life one way or another.
As always, I pray that the Lord blesses you greatly and that you forever look to Him as your personal guide and Savior as we all continue to travel between two worlds. 🤎