What is Really Happening in Beira

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

I thought I would fill you in on what I have been experiencing here in Beira.  I haven't really shared any of this with you and I have been waiting till the Lord gave me freedom to do so and the words to share it.

 

The church meetings here are usually 3-4 hours long but it feels like it is only one hour.  Honestly I have been in church meetings in other places that were only one hour long but they seemed like they were four hours long, but the meetings here go by so fast and we don't want to leave because the strong Presence of the Lord. It is not like we are not in the presence of the Lord when we leave because we are but the presence is felt much stronger in some corporate setting. About two hours of those meetings are worship, God enjoys His people worshipping Him and He loves to show up in places where His people are worshipping and praising Him. His presence is there and things happen.  The blind are seeing, the lame start to walk, the deaf hear and sicknesses are healed and I am privileged to be here to see it, thank be to God. 

 

I cannot really explain in words what this is all like.  Some of you might be thinking this is a Pentecostal Church, but it is not.  It is a group of Christians who are seeking to know the Lord more, make Him know to others and they love to praise and worship their Lord.  For many years I have been closed to these things but God has been teaching me things and He has given me a deep desire to know Him more intimately. He has been fulfilling this desire and I know nothing else could. Seeing the Holy Spirit working in these ways is very different for me then what I have experienced in my walk with the Lord so far.  I have been in places before where they wanted this and there was a lot of hype but it did not feel right in my spirit and the Lord let me know it was not of Him.  In these meetings though I am at perfect peace that this is truly God at work and not just hype.

 

God is doing an awesome work among His church here in Beira, all across this nation and in many others nations around the world.  In these places the people of God come together and start to pray, call out and intercede for there nation. 2 Ch 7:14, 15  "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place."  Like I said earlier this is happening in many places around the world, this is not an isolated thing. The people of God in these places are realizing that God is the only one that can bring the change that is needed and they get together in some of these places by the thousands and pray for hours and intercede and their prayers are heard and the nations are transformed.

 

As I read Acts I understand a little more of what some of there meetings must have been like.  How some people were filled with the Holy Spirit and others looking on thought they were drunk.  I have seen some people when the Holy Spirit came on them that after they could hardly walk and couldn't walk start they looked drunk and it is not a show, I know some of these people very well.  If it happened in Acts I shouldn't be surprised if it happens now I guess.  I am not surprised when a person gets saved liked they did in acts, but it sure brings a lot of joy to my hearts.  In the same way it brings great joy when I see the Holy Spirit come on someone in such away.  I believe and so do the Christians here that every born again believer has the Holy Spirit within them from the point of salvation, please do not miss understand this.  The Lord gives more of an anointing to some and we see this in scripture.  Think of Moses who spoke face to face with God.  That was under the old covenant and the New Covenant is said to be a better covenant.  Moses had the glory of the Lord shinning on him and the people asked him to cover his face because it was to much to look at.  Think of Peter his shadow fell on people and they were healed.  The Christians here want to know the Lord more and in turn He is more evident in their lives.

 

I am not trying to change what any of you think about these things but I felt I have been very vague with you as to what was going on here.  I am just trying to tell you what is happening and what the Lord is doing.  Please don't think I am saying that you all have to accept this.  I know if I got a letter like this about four years ago I would not have received it in my spirit.  I am not saying you are less of a Christian or anything if you don't receive this.  I am truly thankful for this time in my life.  I know this is just a little of what the Lord is wanting to do in my life and He has much more.  I also know that God is teaching each of you things and has many things instore for you, we are all on different journeys, so lets keep our eyes on Jesus and we won´t go wrong.

 

I would appreciate your prayers that I would be continuing to seek after the Lord and not signs or anything else.  I think some of you maybe worried that I am falling into error and I would really appreciate your prayers that I wouldn't and that I will stay well grounded in the Word to not let anything sway me from the TRUTH(JESUS).

 

This is what has been happening I am so thankful I came to Beira.  We are all very tired and all looking forward to about three days to rest before we head back to Lichinga. 

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

Andrew

 

 

Still in Beira

Dear Saints,

 

The time here in Beira has been very refreshing spiritually for me, but tiring physically because of the long days but this is the last day of the Women's Conference.  The topic of the conference has been "The Cry of a Woman".  The men have been welcome for some of the sessions and it has been a blessing, as they have been speaking on what it truly means to cry out as this is a main theme all the way through scripture.  There have also been good sessions on prayer that I am seeking to apply to my life.

 

These weeks have been a nice change from the construction work and a bit of change of pace but I am just about ready to be back at it.  We have got Albert's flight plans all finalized and looking forward to him coming.  Please keep his parents in your prayers as they are both dealing with medical issues at this time, the whole family would appreciate your prayers.

 

I misunderstood the price for the Internet when I had sent my last email out to all of you.  It is much cheaper then I had originally thought so I have been able to be on more then I thought I might.

 

We have been enjoy the convinces of running water and electricity while being here in Beira.  We feel very blessed especially because we often don't get back to the house and start making supper till 9:30 or 10 in the evening and this is much easier with light.  We do not have a stove so if we want to heat anything up we do it over a little charcoal burner.  I cooked over charcoal for my first time here.  A couple of mornings I have made French Toast.  It works quite well, but it takes sometime to get warmed up and you can't adjust the temperature other than that it is good.

 

I am also getting my exercise here.  I go for about a 3km walk each morning to get bread for all ten of us.  There are quite a few Portuguese Bakeries around.  We have to get fresh bread everyday because they don't put preservatives in it and it goes hard in one day or so.  I have been making French Toast to use some of the bread that is not so fresh anymore, but it makes great French toast.  When I am walking do the road I get to with in 100 meters of the bakery and I can smell the fresh bread.  I get it while it is still warm, there is nothing quite like fresh bread.  It is nice to get out first thing in the morning and there are lots of people out and some see me each day when I go and call out Mzungu, which means white person.  One day I bought some bananas from a lady that was selling them by the road.  I don't really understand much Portuguese but I could tell that she was excited and that she was telling here friends that a mzungu bought her bananas I think it made her day.

 

A few days ago I tried to change my flights by calling my airline back in the states on the Internet but the Internet wasn't fast enough.  I had to call with my cell phone which isn't all that cheap to call internationally, but I thought well I gotta do what I gotta do, so i called.  After being on the phone for over half an hour and using up all of the credit on my phone and being on hold for at least 15 minutes of that even though I told them i was calling from Mozambique and it wasn't cheap, I still do not have my flights changed.  It doesn't do any good for me to get upset, but it has made me realize that I need to have a travel agent to work through so in the future I don't have to deal with this.  I have found a travel agent in the states and they work specifically with people doing missionary work and get discount flights for them, so this is one good thing that has come out of my not so nice experience.  I am also wondering if the dates that I wanted to change my flights to are maybe not the ones that the Lord wants them changed to, so I am going to wait till I get back to Lichinga before I do anymore with that.  I am hoping that the Internet there will be good enough for me to call over the internet which is a lot cheaper.  Please continue to pray for me in this that I would know how long I am supposed to be here.

 

I received some wonderful news this week that my brother Tim and his wife Stephanie had their fourth daughter Vivian Estelle Woodford weighing 8lbs 9ozs, she was born last Saturday and now I am a proud uncle of five nieces and one nephew. Thanks be to God.

 

I pray you all have a blessed week till you here from me next time.  Thanks so much to those of you who keep me updated on what you are doing, for those of you who haven't written in a while let me know what you are up to I would like to hear from you.

 

In Christ,

 

Andrew

I'm an Uncle Again

My oldest brother Tim and his wife Stephanie had their fourth girl Vivien Estelle weighing 8lbs and 9oz on Saturday.  Condgradulations Tim and Steph we want to see some pictures.  Make sure she is not all grown up before I get to see here.  Say Hi to Vivien from here Uncle Andrew.

Moz #10

Greetings Friends,

Today is the last day of the four day youth conference.  It has been well attended and there have been youth from many of the churches across the city that have been apart of the conference.  They have been trying to get the Christians to work together across denominational lines and they are starting to see fruits of this.  They have had speakers from Australia, South Africa and of course Mozambique.  The topic of the conference has been ACTION.  They want to see they youth get active for the Lord.  There have been many good speakers speaking on the importance of our action being driven by our love for people.  The motive of our action being our love for the Lord and not self gain.  Not serving out of fear of the Lord and fear of doing the wrong thing but being driven by the love relationship we have with our Saviour.

 

I have been enjoying the time here in Beira, so much.  It has been such a joy to get to know some of the Christians that are part of Peniel Church, which is the church that is hosting the conference.  The young people have such a heart for the Lord.  When I speak with them Jesus is what they talk about and the change he has made in their lives.  They have such a desire to worship the Lord.  I don't mean just to sing songs about the Lord but to truly worship the Lord for who He is and express their love for Him in spirit and truth.  The Holy Spirit lives inside every born again believe but it is undeniable that some people have more of an anointing then others.  They are so thankful for all the Lord has done for them and where he has brought them, but at the same time they are dissatisfied with how much they know of their Saviour and constantly press in to get to know him more.  It is encouraging to see their desire to want to know the Lord more and spend time with his people. The Lord has been doing a work in my heart but it is kind of hard to share right now because it is still in the beginning stages. 

 

The last few days have been quite busy. The conference starts at 9am and goes till 12 or so then we come back to the house for lunch and a rest and then return at 5:30pm and it goes till 9pm or so whenever the Holy Spirit figures it is done.  By the time we get back to the house and eat supper or tea as we call it here because of the Australian influence it is usually 11 by the time we get to bed.  We are all being very encouraged by the sessions of the conference though.

 

I don't think I mentioned that one of the new staff coming to the base in Lichinga met us here in Beira and she has been living with us here and will be returning to Lichinga with us at the end of the month.  Here name is Rachel she is from England and she is a Occupational Therapist.  Also Tanya just joined us yesterday she came down from Lichinga on a busy she is coming for the Women's Conference and then heading to South Africa.

Please pray for my friend Albert who will Lord willing be joining me in Lichinga for about a month in May.  Please pray that he would have peace as he prepares for this trip.  This will be his first time to Africa, but I am sure he will do fine and it will be a good learning experience for him.  Please pray for safe travels as you know from the times I have come it can be interesting at times with flight connections and all those good things.  he is coming to help with the construction on the Administration building.  We hope to have it ready for people to live in Lord willing be the time I leave.  Oh speaking of me leaving it looks like I will be staying here till some time early in July instead of leaving May 25 as I had planned to.  Hopefully this is sufficient time to get the very pressing work done.  If anyone else would like to come and help in the work here you are always welcome just send me an email and we can get you booked in.

Thanks again so much for your partnership with me in prayer. 

Your Brother in Beira,

Andrew

Moz #9

Hello,

 

We praise God that we have safely arrived here in Beira.  We left Lichinga Tuesday morning and drove to Cuamba and arrived mid afternoon.  We stayed with some SIM missionaries there.  They gave us a house all to ourselves.  We spent all day Wednesday there in Cuamba because Peter and Debbie and some other missionaries there were having a meeting with a lot of the local pastors preparing for some evangelistic meetings that we will be holding there on our way back at the beginning of May.  Thursday we got away at 4:30am and we didn't arrive in Inhaminga till around 7pm.  Peter had heard of a ministry called Afrika Wa Jesu (Africa for Jesus).  They have a large base there in Inhaminga.  They are training and discipling church leaders.  They have about 1,000 of there students all across Moz.  It was an encouraging time there as we got to have supper with the director and hear his vision and see his heart for Africa.  Friday morning we left there at 9am and arrived in Beira at 4pm.  After traveling 1,200 km over three days with six people in the back seat which is really only meant for 3 we were all very thankful to finally be here. 

 

We arrived just in time to catch part of there Good Friday service at the Peniel Worship center where the conferences will be. The Lord has been blessing in amazing ways over the last several years at this church.  The people have such a heart for worship and a hunger for God.  The building seats about 300 people but there are always more people then chairs and they set up speakers and a screen outside so that people that cannot fit inside can still be apart.  They haven't been doing big crusades or anything but the church growth has been from one person touching another person's life and on and on it has gone.

 

We have been blessed by one of the people in the church to be able to use his house.  He has given the whole thing for us to use for the next couple of weeks.  About three years ago he was not a Christian he was here in this house and he heard people worshiping and singing praises to God.  He followed the sound and it lead him to Peniel.  The house is in Manga a suburb outside of Beira about a 15 minute drive from the church.  There is know way he could have heard the music it had to be the Lord that made him hear it but he went there and gave his heart to the Lord.  He is a dear Christian brother and now he just wants to be a blessing to others.

 

There are many people coming in for the conferences from Australia, India, England, South Africa and some other surrounding countries.  We are looking forward to the conferences with great expectation.

 

We are also enjoying being in a big city where are there are a few more things available then in Lichinga.  The last few weeks there was a shortage of Peanut Butter in Lichinga so we have enjoyed getting some here and other things as well from Shoprite.  Shoprite is Africa's largest Supermarket and has most things that one back at home would have.

 

Saturday evening I went into town on a minibus hoping to go to an internet café but they all closed at 5pm and I got there at about 5:45. 

The youth conference starts this coming Wednesday at 6pm and goes till Saturday evening.  Then next week there is a Women's conference but the men are invited to many of the sessions as well. We are close to the beach here as well and we might happen to find ourselves there a couple times.

Ok I had better go internet fees aren't quite as cheap her ein Beira as Lichinga. God Bless

In Christ,

Andrew

Moz #8

Hello Friends & Family,

It is Tuesday evening and I have just finished a good spaghetti dinner that Jesse and Tanya made. I am sitting here in my room drinking my tea and it is to early to go to bed so I think I will start to fill you on the last few days.

First off I am so thankful that I am totally back to normal after my experience with malaria. I have my appetite and my strength back and I am feeling fine. I am feeling a little light headed though. I just got a hair cut a few days ago after going almost two months since it was last cut and I normally get it cut about once a month. I was feeling a little shaggy. Miriam Wilcox said I looked a little over grown; she was referring to my hair, other then that I am feeling fine.

Friday evening I was in Lichinga using the Internet and I was there till about 7pm. I had borrowed Annelisa's motorbike to go into town. The lights hadn't been working and I had thought I had got them fixed earlier that day. I went to drive the motorbike back out to where I am staying and I realized the head light was not working. I was alright while I was in town but the last 5 or 6 km it was pitch black I couldn't see anything and I almost drove off the road. I didn't have my flashlight with me so I had to use the little light on my cell phone. I would hold it out in front of me and it would stay on for about a minute then it would go off and I would have to turn it on again. I would always have to be ready to stop as soon as the light went out otherwise I would drive off the road. I thankfully got back safely but it is not something I would want to do again if I had a choice.

Saturday morning all of us here at the base drove out to Lake Malawi and spent the day there. There are some missionaries that have a little house right on the lake. They weren't there but we made use of the yard and beach. We had a very nice time together swimming and getting sunburned. Well I got burned more then the other I think but it was still a good time. It is not something they get to do very often so it was very special.

All of us at the beach.

Top Left Tanya, Jesse, Mikila Tanya, Elias, Isaiah, Tyren, Victor, Me

Second Row Annelisa, Miriam, Karmelie, Peter, Debbie, Tiffany, Ameral, Gazany

Sunday morning we had a good time of worship and sharing with the Christians that come from some of the surrounding villages. After our time together there was a couple that wanted to get baptized Pai Finehas and his wife Mama Maria and a young boy. Pai Finehas and Mama Maria usto be Muslim, but about a year and a half ago they accepted Jesus as their Saviour. They have been encouraged to be baptized but they have been putting it off. Being a Christian in their village they still have some respect from the other Muslims but once they are baptized they loss all respect and this has been a hard decision for them to make. It was a joyful time for all of us to see them obey the Lord and be baptized down at the fish pond. Please pray for this couple that they can continue to be shining lights for Jesus. The Lord is doing a great work among the Muslims in this area and many are turning to Christ.

Monday the Wilcox invited me to go with them to a conference in Beira, which is a large city about one and half days drive south of Lichinga. I am praying about going with them. The Wilcox's are leaving on April 7^th and want be back till the beginning of May. If I go I am not sure if I would stay the whole time or not but this is going to cut into the amount of time I have to get work done here so I have been trying to put an extra hour of work in here and there in case I do go. As of Tuesday I have the three bathroom counter tops made sanded and varnished two still need one more coat. All the shelves are made and installed in the pantry. The kitchen cupboard doors need one more coat of varnish on one side and hopefully they will be installed on Thursday. I was hoping to get the tiles for the back splashes in the kitchen and bathrooms on Tuesday, but Lichinga is sold out of tiles, so they are going to have to be bought in Beira. Other then having the tiles done most everything else that they wanted me to get done in the girl's house should be done by the weekend. The Lord has made everything come along very quickly and we are so thankful.

It is Saturday now and I am at the Internet wait to get connected. It looks like I am going to Beira but I am not sure how long I will stay there I am just going to go and see how the Lord leads.

The work in the girls house has come along well the kitchen is all finished. The sinks and counter tops are all in but not plumbed yet. Friday I had some extra time so I started making a concrete wash tub for Tyren and Tiffany to wash their clothes in. When I was here a year ago I mentioned that next time I come maybe I can make on for you, so when I got here they held me to my word. I got all the blocks laid for it and I am not sure if I will get much more done on it before I leave on Tuesday.

The finished kitchen

Another angle

Pantry Shelves

One of the bathroom counter tops

Tyren & Tiffany's Wash Tub.

It isn't much to look at yet I know.

Peter and Elias left early this morning to drive to Malawi to pick up six bunk beds for the girls house and they hope to be back tomorrow afternoon. It is kind of a quick trip but they don't have much time. These are the bunk beds that they were hoping I could make when I was here last year but the wood never came in.

We would really appreciate your prayers for our trip to Beira. It will take us three days because we are making a few stops as long the way. Please pray for safety as we travel on the poor roads and also that we would each be open to what the Lord wants to teach us through the conference and our whole time in Beira. Thank you so much your partnership with me means so much. It sounds like that is just the thing I am supposed to say but really I don't know how to put it into words what you all mean to me, but know you are greatly appreciated.

Your Brother in Christ,

Andrew