We are missing Albert

Dear Friends and Family,

On Monday we all had breakfast together at the Wilcox and said good bye to Albert. We miss you Albert come back soon. He made it home safely Wednesday evening.  It has been a little bit strange this week I have worked all by myself, without Albert or the Mozambiquians that were working with use. I don't seem to get nearly as much done when it is just me.

 

I had thought that they were maybe going to find someone else to plaster the walls in the admin building but they haven't so that is what I have been working on mostly this week.  I have the walls in one bedroom done and the first coat of plaster on in the other two bedrooms and bathroom.  This is another job I have never done before but I have received a few pointers from a Mozambiquian who went to school to learn how to plaster and it has been very helpful. 

 

This week I have also put together 6 bunk beds for the orphanage.  They were made in Malawi and mostly assembled I just had to do some minor assembly of them.  I also finished the drain plumbing in the bathrooms and kitchen in the admin.

 

I have continued to work on trying to get my return flights sorted out.  I have been to the internet several times this week and calling via internet.  God has been using this whole situation to teach me patience and trust in Him. I have spent over 12 hours calling airlines and trying to make the changes.  I have four flights from Mozambique to get to Buffalo, NY.  My last two flights from London, England are all good but my first two were cancelled for some reason and they have been the ones that have been giving me the most trouble.  Finally last night they got me my first two flights and they will be calling me on Monday to let me know how much they will be.  I am just praying that it will be a nominal amount.  Had I known ahead of time it would be this much trouble to change my flights I probably wouldn't have but God definitely has me here right now for a reason.  In the future I think I will just by a one way ticket so that I don't have to go through all of this.

It is four months ago yesterday I arrived here in Lichinga.  It really only feels like it was about two months ago.  I have been having such a good time here I am truly blessed to be able to be here.  Thanks so much for each of you that are praying for me.  Some of you have given me things I can pray for you and if anyone else has let me know I would like to lift them up in pray for you.

Till next week.  Andrew

Hello Friends

It is time once again to let you know what’s happening here in Lichinga. We have been blessed this week. We have been able to get a lot of work done and also take sometime off from working to go to two villages and the hospital. Monday late afternoon Albetrt, Tyren, Gazani, Victor, Rachel Annelisa and I went to the hospital for the two visitation hours and spent time with the patients there and praying for them. There are about four different wards and we divided up into groups and went to all of them. Victor and I went to the children’s ward. In the first room we went to there was a mother with her five month old daughter who had a very curved spine which made her tip her head way back and she also did not have use of her right arm. We talked with the mother for quite a while then asked if we could pray for her daughter and she said we could. Victor noticed that there were beads around the baby’s neck and waist from the witch doctor. He asked the mother if she would take them off which she did immediately. Victor asked if he could have the beads to take them and burn them but the mother would not give them to him. We spent some time praying over the baby and Tyren joined us as well. Then the father of the boy in the next bed came in with his son and we were able to minister to him as well. We all enjoyed our time in the hospital. This coming Monday is children’s day so Tyren wants to do something special in the children’s ward then. Tyren and Victor have been going to the hospital every week since February. It is such a great place to minister.

During Hospital Visitation

So cute.

Tuesday was a busy days as well. We worked for three hours in the morning and got all the rebar tided for the ring beam around the rest of the building. Then we Rachel, Annelisa, Elias, Albert and I went to Mitava, which is the village just out side of Lichinga where Elias Becca is working. You might remember I mentioned him in one of my updates about two weeks ago. He is a Mozambiquian that is working with YWAM(Youth With A Mission). God has called him to work with the seniors there. The seniors are often forgotten and not taken care of by there families, but God has placed a burden on Elias’s heart to reach out to them. He is working with 12 of them right now. Almost all of them have accepted the Lord as Saviour. It is a very strong Muslim village and they are often cut off from their families when they chose to follow Christ. Elias showed us around part of the village and it was nice to get to meet the seniors he is working with. We just had a really good time there. Albert had a great time playing soccer and taking lots of photos. This was the first village he had been to and village life is much different than the way we normally live.

In Mitava

Enjoying some soccer.

Albert trying his hand out on the pump.

Meeting some of the Seniors Elias works with.

Tuesday afternoon we went to another village called Luica. We went to show the Jesus film there. About eight people camped in the village that night and the next day went through the village visiting the people and seeing what they thought of the film. Seven people gave their lives to the Lord as they went through the village visiting the people in their huts.

Setting up for the Jesus Film

Wednesday we formed up the remaining 28 meters of ring beam around the rest of the admin building and poured it as well. We are so thankful for the help of some of our Mozambiquian brothers who have been helping us. We have either one or two working with us every day. We appreciate their love for the lord and their desire to serve Him in whatever needs to be done. They have mixed so much concrete and mortar for us and there is no way the admin building would we this far if it weren’t for them.

We have been held up a lot on the block laying because our block supplier has not been able to supply blocks as fast as we can lay them. We have all the exterior walls almost finished and we are working on the interior walls of the addition to the admin building. It was the original part of the building they wanted us to focus on but it has come along faster than expected so we have had time to work on the other part. We have had to find other things to do when we do not have blocks. We had to put about one foot of fill in all over the building to bring it up to floor level. This has taken many hours and hundreds of wheelbarrow loads of dirt from all over the property, but thankfully we just finished this morning after having been working at it for over a week off and on. We have all the doors in windows installed in the original part we were working on and we have put ion the plumbing for the toilets in the bathrooms and dug have of the septic tank. We thank the Lord for all he has helped us get done while Albert has been here. I didn’t think we would have gotten as much as we have done.

Topping off the exterior walls before the ring beam.

Forming upp the ring beam

Laying the interior walls

Gazani mixing the mountain of concrete.

On Thursday we had another lady come that is here for long term. Her name is Tanya; yes this is the third Tanya we have had here in the last couple of months. She is from Australia. It is amazing how many missionaries from Australia are here in Mozambique. It seems like wherever I go I am meeting people from Australia.

Albert only has three more days till he leaves. I am going to miss having him here to work with, he has been a blessing. Please keep him in your prayers as he travels home, he should be home Lord willing on Wednesday evening.

I would appreciate your prayers, I was able to change my flights and I am supposed to be confirmed on those flights. It has been almost two weeks since I had them make the changes but they have not sent me my new itinerary and I need it before I can book my internal flight here.

I am staying a little longer.

We thank the Lord we have had an excellent week. It has gone by so fast but we have been kept safe as we worked and we have had good health. It has been a productive week. We got all the block laying finished on the first part of the building finally after having to wait several days for the last few hundred blocks to come. We also have all the timbers up to support the roof and we finished putting on all the roof sheeting that we have this morning. We need more sheets to cover the veranda but the building itself is covered. All the windows are in and a couple of the doors. It has been exciting for us to see the building coming along. Neither Albert nor I have done this kind of construction before but the Lord has blessed us with a lot of wisdom to make it look like we know what we are doing.


You can thank Albert for the pictures in this post. His camera wasn't working when he got here so he has been using mine.

Playing the drum Sunday morning

We have been very busy this week with the work on the Admin building, but we hope to take some time off next week so that we can go and see some villages, so Albert with get to see a little more of Mozambique then just the construction site. Because we have been rather busy I have not had time to type up my update before coming to the internet cafe, so sorry they are a little shorter then normally. I am going to have to get Albert to stop working me so hard. It is such a blessing to have him here to work a long side with. I wish he could stay longer, but anyways I will enjoy him while he is here and miss him when he is gone.

Laying up the gable end.

Gazani and Albert in their cool shades.

Timbers all in place.

Roof on.

Back veranda waiting roof sheeting still to be ordered.

Installing a window.

Me at the local laundry mat.

The market in Lichinga.

Can't forget the eggs.

Thanks so much for your prayers for my flight changes. Finally after trying about five times to change my flights, last Monday I was able to use the internet at some other missionaries’ house here in Lichinga and I was finally able to make the changes. Lord willing I will leave Lichinga on July 2 and arrive in Canada on July 4th. I have about five weeks left here in Moz. I am really enjoying my time here and I feel God still has Mozambique in his plans for me. I am not sure when but Lord willing I will be returning here to Mozambique maybe around September or October. I would appreciate your prayers for this as well. I do not know how long I will be returning for. I just know I am to come back and stay until the Lord shows me I am to be somewhere else. The Lord has been using the time here to gain a lot of things in my life and my will. He is leading me and I have no other desire but to follow Him wherever that may take me. I have not always felt that I could do and I know that he is the one doing it through me but I thank the Lord for the changes He is making in me.
I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible while I am “home” (They say home is where the heart is and God is pulling my heart to Mozambique), but I will still enjoy being back, because I am not sure when I will be able to get together with you next. You know you are always welcome to come and visit here in Moz whenever you feel you would like to though.

Warm Greetings,

I am so sorry I haven't done well at keeping in touch with you the last while. The internet has not been working for about a week. We are so thankful that it is working again. It has been a very busy two weeks since I last wrote.

Last week I was working on finishing up a few odds and ends in the girls house so that when Albert arrived we could get to work on the Administration building. We are all so excited to have Albert here and I am especially thankful to have another person to work with it has been such a blessing. It has been a good week since he arrived last Saturday. Albert hasn't really had a chance to get us to being here hardly because we have been working very long days. The building is coming along very well. We have lain almost 500 blocks and tied and bent 200 meters of rebar for the concrete ring beam around the top of the walls. The last three days have been tiring because we have been mixing all the concrete by hand. We are starting to look like tomatoes because of all the sun we are getting.

This is how we cut blocks here.

Victor and I tying rebar

Gazani and I bending rebar

Rebar on top of the wall before we poured the concrete.

Albert and Gazani

This is what we are working on.

We are trying to get the left side of the building done and the other side will be done at a later time.

We poured three of these columns

We have another 250 blocks to lay before we can put the roof on. There are seven windows and six doors to be installed, 12" of fill to be brought in before we can pour the floor. We really have our work cut out for us but Lord willing be can have a good amount of it done by the time Albert leaves.

We are entering winter here, we haven't seen any snow yet, nor will we, but it is getting quite cool at night I had to add an extra blanket on my bed. Many people think that Africa is hot all the time but many parts are not. In about a month they will be getting frost on the ground. Those of you in Canada say "Oh what's a little frost." You're right it is not much when you have insulated houses and furnaces, but for people here this is not the case. I like to sleep when it is cold and that part is nice. It is still getting nice and warm during the day but you can really feel a temperature drop when the sun goes down.

We got up early and started work at 6 this morning so that we could be done early so that we could have some time to come into town. This is just about Albert's first time out other than a quick trip into town last Sunday to try to use the internet and found out it wasn't working. We will hopefully be able to show him around a little before he leaves.

I am sorry this is short but I hope to write more next time. I would appreciate your prayers as I am still trying to change my flight. Thanks so much for your prayers and your emails they are very encouraging.

Your Brother in Christ,

Andrew

Back in Lichinga

Hello from Cuamba,

 

We thank the Lord for the safety He has given us so far, in traveling here to Cuamba.  We left Beira Thursday morning.  We drove 7 or 8 hours.  The Wilcox's minus Annelisa stayed at Africa Wa Jesus again.  Rachel, Annelisa and myself rode with Pastor Mario and one other man in his car.  Mario is the pastor of the church in Beira where we were.  The five of us were supposed to have a place to stay in the small town of Caia.  That fell through and it was a good thing we had brought tents just in case because we needed them. 

 

Before we found out that our accommodations fell through we were filling up at the gas station and I saw really nice grass there at the station which we don't see very often.  I said I hope if we stay in tents we can set our tents up on nice grass like that.  Once we found we had no place to stay we drove back to the gas station because that was the only place around and asked if we could pitch our tents behind the station.  There was a place that was all dirt and quite flat that we were going to use.  Then the Portuguese manager of the station came out and called us over to the little house were some of them stay and there was a chain link fence around it and there was a very nice grass yard all around for us to pitch our tents on.  I was so excited I was thanking the Lord for this blessing, because it made it so much more comfortable sleeping.  They also found us some plastic tables and chairs.  We sat down in our nice little camp site and had supper and then had a good time of share about the things of the Lord for an hour and a half before we went to bed. Just before I went to bed I found I had a little worm in the heel of my foot.  I have taken them out of other people's feet before but this was the first time that I have had one.  They aren't too bad if you get them out before they grow too much.

 

Friday morning we left shortly after 7 and we drove just a short distance and had to wait for the ferry to start running that would take us across a rather large river.  There we about fifty trucks waiting and eight cars.  They normally put two transport trucks and two or three cars.  This time though only one truck with out a trailer went on then they let all the cars go.  We were once again thanking the Lord otherwise we would have been waiting for another hour there and as it was we ended up having a 15 hour journey.  We only covered about 700km in that time.  The last 150km took us almost 5 hours because the roads we so rough.  At one place not too far outside of Cuamba the Wilcox's drove by a group of kids at the side of the road in the dark and one of them throw a rock at their car.  It broke the passenger side window of the car and the glass went all over Debbie.  Praise God no one was hurt.

 

We arrived here in Cuamba at 10:30 in the evening.  They had a wonderful supper waiting for us that had been ready for hours because they had expected us to be there much sooner.  All the SIM missionaries here in Cuamba opened there homes up to us to give us places to sleep for the three nights we will be here.

 

Saturday morning they had a meeting with all the pastors and leaders of the church in Cuamba.  Then Saturday night we had a good meeting with about 50 or 60 people out.  It was a good night. It wasn't really a gospel outreach but getting the Christians from different churches together and teaching them.

 

While in Cuamba I stayed with the Pipers a missionary family with SIM.  The also had another young man staying with them.  His name is Lee he is from England and he has come to help SIM out with construction projects much the same as I do.  We hit t off very well.  We are both excited to see if God would maybe have us serve together somewhere sometime.

 

Sunday morning we were all sitting around the breakfast table at the Piper's and Mrs. Piper asks Lee and I so which one of you wants to preach at church this morning.  It was one hour before the service was supposed to start.  Lee nominated that I would do it.  We went with the Piper's to their Assemblies of God Church.  I spoke for a short time from John 15 on abiding in the mango tree.  Most people here don't know what a grape vine is so I had to use the mango tree so that it was something they could relate to.

 

Sunday evening we had another meeting with all the churches and Pastor Mario spoke on three major issues that the church needs to deal with in this country, polygamy, adultery and divorce. These are big problems and he was talking about how the sins are past down to the third and fourth generation.  These things are common in many peoples families and Pastor Mario was encouraging them to cut these things of in the spirit and not let them continue to be passed on to their children.

 

Most of this email was written in Cuamba but I have just arrived in Lichinga here this morning at about 11:30.  We had enough places for us all coming from Beira to Cuamba because we had Pastor Mario's car but he was heading back to Beira and not coming to Lichinga so I had to catch a mini bus this morning at 5. 

 

Please keep my friend Albert in your prayers as he will be leaving Canada Tuesday evening and Lord willing will arrive in Lichinga on Saturday for about one month.  Others are always welcome if they would like to come and help with the work here. Hint hint.

 

Well the internet has been down in Lichinga for the last few days so that is why I am just getting around to sending this.  I have been in Africa for three since yesterday.  Time has gone by so fast.

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

Andrew

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