Mozambique at Last!

Steve Estes and Charles met with Steve Konzman and Bill Moore at Johannesburg Airport Friday morning, Sept. 24th, while Ron Elmore caught his flight back to the US. The new team flew on together to Lilongwe, Malawi. Upon arrival Friday afternoon, we gathered together all of our checked luggage (supplies for Wheresoever Ministries) and went through customs with no problem, by God’s protection.

We were then whisked away to the home of nearby friends that host missionaries in Malawi. We found immediate trouble in logistics as the main vehicle we were to use had to have the manual gear housing replaced. Easy enough, except that finding a replacement part proved to be difficult and, as of this writing, unaccomplished. Remembering our lessons in flexibility, on Saturday morning we switched to a different vehicle, piling on the supplies and piling in the missionaries.

We spent a wonderful time driving to the border of Mozambique. The border crossing was interesting, as we had to exit at one border and walk across a “no-man’s land” to the next border. We re-loaded ourselves into the vehicle and began driving when suddenly our customs paperwork went flying out of the driver’s window. It was now about 7:30 p.m. and fully dark – this was the darkness of an African wilderness, not of a city or town street. With our small flashlights, we searched the side of the highway under the blanket of stars sweeping overhead. God lead us to finding the documents in the brush, we sped away and finally arrived at the team base.

After a good night’s sleep, we woke to roosters crowing, dogs barking, and children laughing outside the windows. We headed off to the church service, where several of the local Foursquare Churches had gathered for a bi-monthly fellowship. We had a wonderful time entering into worship with our brothers and sisters, dancing and singing into the morning. Charles and Bill gave a greeting to the congregation. Afterwards, the local leaders brought a short message and we entered into a time of prayer for healing and deliverance, in which each of the team was directly involved.

After a very late lunch, we walked over to the local prison – a squalid and unadorned cement block building with about 100 men crowded into a place designed for 40. We worshipped together with the men and then Steve Estes and Steve Konzman brought a message of hope for the men inside. Several declared their desire to follow Christ as they felt the tug of the Holy Spirit leading them.

The end of the evening was a time of relaxing and enjoying dinner with the local African team with whom we will be spending our days. We’ll drive out Monday to meet the orphans that Wheresoever has been providing for and afterwards to an evening crusade. This will be Tuesday's plan as well.

Our hope and prayer is that God will make Himself known to those He brings us into contact with and that we’ll be obedient to follow His direction. Please continue to pray for us as we travel around the province and proclaim His name in this nation.