In 2018 we continued to oversee discipleship and leadership training programs in seven of the ten provinces of Mozambique. The Lord has blessed our ministry and last year we held over 100 seminars and distributed close to 20,000 discipleship books. Brian wrote a new book, Foundations 3, which they began to use and will primarily teach this year. In 2019 we will start a new evangelism program that will combine with our regular Mozambican training seminars. We were able to purchase three video projectors and have already shipped two to Mozambique. With these, the seminars will include evangelistic film showings in the evenings for their prospective communities. The Jesus Film is now available in most of the African heart languages along with 5 follow up discipleship films. These are powerful, especially when followed up with an evangelistic message and a miraculous healing service!
In 2018 we were also able to spend a month in India with Linda Kaahanui and Jeanne Jesse, conducting pastoral training seminars with an emphasis on reaching the illiterate (94% of all village women). The Lord moved miraculously in the area of healing as well. Some of the amazing testimonies are posted on our blog site, if you haven’t already read them. http://brianandlorena.
While we will continue to oversee our seminar program in Africa, our plan is to shift our emphasis to Asia, centering our ministry in Thailand by the end of this coming summer. From Thailand it will be quick and inexpensive to conduct training seminars throughout Southeast Asia. Lorena also feels led to develop children’s ministry programs in the refugee camps. (Northern Thailand currently has 9 refugee camps with about 98,000 people.)
For the first time in over 30 years, we will be going oversees without any children. Our three oldest kids are married and the final two that are at home with us, Caleb and Nate, will stay in America and continue their college and career training. Caleb will remain in college, initially pursuing an AA in firefighting and Nate will finish his welding certificate program.
Prayer Requests
- Lorena continues to care for her mom. Please pray for her, as she is nearing her last days now. We ask for extra grace and peace.
- Pray for this evangelism program and for us to find someone to take two more projectors to Africa.
- Pray for Caleb and Nate. Moving back to America has been a huge change for them. They have spent close to ten years in Africa and life in America is a major adjustment. Please pray for their spiritual life and their transition here in the States.
- Especially pray for our plans to move to Thailand and our future ministry in Asia.
Praise Reports
- At the end of 2018 funds came in to buy three projectors, sound equipment, and three micro SD card duplicators.
- All of the seminar teachers are doing well, and their ministries continue to grow.
- Everyone in our family is healthy and we look forward to all that God is going to do in 2019.
Seminar Testimonies from Mozambican pastors and church members
- Pastor Calala, Zambezia Province: “I am very thankful for these seminars in our province. They are having a great impact on all the leadership in this province of Zambezia. The leaders are changing in their spiritual lives, the youth that are attending are growing spiritually. For this we say thank you for the presence of God and raising up these men to come teach us…
- Joao Mandala, Mozambican pastor of the mother church in Dondo, Mozambique: The other day I was sleeping and had a dream. I was shown Pastor Brian and Mama Lorena with their discipleship books. I saw a lot of people reading them. God told me they were reading these books because He is the One who put in Brian’s heart to write them this way - filled with scriptures, rather than mere ideas. I saw many people learning the Bible through these books, because most of the people can’t afford a Bible.”
- Pastor Mateus, Commission leader of the Sofala Province and seminar teacher in 3 provinces: “The churches are now stronger. They can preach, give their testimonies…Many before couldn’t do this…These seminars are helping the churches greatly. Thank you to those in America who are helping us here. Without these seminars, the churches will weaken. Praise be to God, He is helping us…”
- Almeida Jose Manuel, “I thank God for the seminar we had…I learned that when someone is angry, you need to forgive them. I used to get very angry. Now I feel delivered. I will love my wife, my sons, my nephews. Those who have nothing, I will love. A blind person often comes to my home, begging. I wouldn’t give him anything. I didn’t know this was a sin. Now I know I should give to people in need. Starting today, I will offer food to people who don’t have anything… I have 5 churches. They all need to hear these seminars. They need to learn to love. Then the churches will grow. I am so thankful for this seminar.”
- District of Malema, “I am happy because I learned about God, how Jesus died for our sins. I learned what one must do to be saved. I learned many things, like love. I learned how to become a real Christian. I learned I must separate from sin…love each other…”
- Artur Joao, chief of village, “I’ve never been to a seminar before, or heard these teachings before, but I came and am very happy. I learned that I must love my neighbor as myself.” After being asked if he would like to see more seminars like this in his district, he said, “Yes, you must take these seminars to the far distances where they have never heard this before!"
