It has been a crazy few months! As many of you know we were asked by the Indonesia government to leave the country because of Covid. It has now been six months and we have a strong desire to be back in Asia but every country is still closed to foreigners! We are now overseeing our teams in Mozambique remotely from Northern California. It is amazing how many limitations we have on our lives. Besides all the Covid restrictions, the fires have made it unhealthy for us to go outside.
Things are even crazier in Mozambique! All of our seminars were canceled at the end of April in Mozambique. The government has put unreasonable restrictions on the churches, requiring them to buy expensive thermometers and have cleaning stations with disinfectant prior to opening up. Most of our churches are too impoverished to afford these things. (The thermometers are about $70. there, making it impossible to purchase for the majority of our pastors who are merely subsistence farmers.)
Even worse than Covid and the restrictions is the political situation in the North. Over 200,000 Mozambicans had to flee for their lives from Islamic State Insurgents! Over a thousand people have been killed. Kidnappings, murder, and torture are prevalent throughout the northern Province of Cabo Del Gado. We have therefore put all of our mission's efforts into helping feed and provide essentials to these precious refugees. Pastor Tanueque and his team are in the process of helping several thousand who have escaped to the Nampula Province, just south of Cabo Del Gado. If you remember from previous newsletters, he is the Provincial Pastor of Nampula and one of our seminar leaders. Most of these refugees are not believers but they and the government have been touched by the love and generosity of our churches! Praise God our seminar/discipleship team has seen many come to know Jesus this past year in Nampula, and now these new believers are opening up their homes to these desperate refugees of another faith, language, and tribe! In our newest video you’ll see a mud house where a family of 15 moves in with a family of 17 and hear their dramatic stories by going to our youtube channel.
This targeted tribe in the north, the Makandi, has typically been very resistant to the gospel. Church history teaches us, however, that extreme difficulties in life can make people more receptive to the good new of Jesus Christ. Already in Cabo del Gado we are hearing reports of many salvations among the refugees. Currently we are equipping Pastor Tanueque with New Testaments and the Jesus Film in Makandi. In the video you’ll also see a Muslim widow, who has lost her children and husband to the insurgents, explain in amazement, “I never knew God would take care of me like this” as she receives food and a few supplies from our team. Please pray with us for abundant provision and open hearts as Pastor Tanueque and his team shares the Gospel of hope and salvation with these traumatized refugees.
You can see and learn more about what we are doing in Nampula by viewing our videos and blogs listed below.
Our youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNdH15v9sISH74NWPE0ZKtQ?view_as=subscriber
Our new Website http://transforminglivesministry.org
Our blogspot http://brianandlorena.blogspot.com
Donations https://transforminglivesministry.org/services/
Praise Report
Last week Pastor Tanueque sent us pictures of the tires on his older vehicle when he got a flat. We were shocked. How was he driving hundreds of miles on such rotten tires? The Lord is faithful. We mentioned the need to a few friends and received enough to buy six new tires along with a little more food.
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