Then All Heaven Broke Loose

Two weeks ago we went on a three day bush outreach that was incredible on so many levels. Basically a group of fifteen mission school students and ten Iris Mozambican bible school pastors pile into a flat bed truck and drive out to remote villages to minister. We set up a screen, projector and sound system, and play some music to get every one together to dance (Mozambicans love to dance). Once everyone is gathered we play the Jesus film in the local dialect, then we preach the gospel, maybe do a short drama, then pray for the sick.

The villages our team went to were very small with only about two hundred people each. The first night we arrived to near perfect African sunset, then the whole team setup their tents before it got dark. We did the outreach service but not much out of the ordinary happened. At about ten pm we ate dinner and went to sleep in our tents.

In the middle of the night Annie woke me up because a child had been screaming near by for over half an hour. I had a moment of compassion deprivation wondering if it would even be culturally appropriate to go see what was transpiring in the middle of the night. But my good wife wouldn't be swayed so we climbed out of our tent and found another woman from our team awake for the same reason. Not far from out tents we found the child with her mother under a large tree. Using hand gestures we found out that the little girl had pain in here ear. The three of us began praying for the child and after only one minute the child stopped crying, and a minute longer seemed pretty much normal. We asked the mother to ask the girl if the pain was gone. It was!

Goshtandino

The next morning the team split into groups with the Mozambican pastors and walked around the village looking for anyone who was sick or needed prayer. We soon came to three Muslim men sitting in the shade of a veranda.

We started by asking them if they knew of any sick, blind, or deaf people in the village. They didn't since they were only passing through the village but one of them had a bad toothache. We explained that we were followers of Jesus, and who Jesus is in the Koran, then asked if we could pray for the mans tooth. Much to his surprise the man was quickly healed. We then spent about half an hour sharing the gospel with him and by the end he said he believed Jesus because He healed him.

As we were finishing with the Muslim men, a man named Goshtandino approached us beckoning for us to follow him. He led us to his house a short distance away, and once he had us all sitting down on a day bed and a grass mat he asked us for prayer. He was near sighted but didn't have glasses and was suffering from back pain caused by a hernia. We prayed for his eyes twice, each time with small improvement. Then one of the girls on our team felt we should anoint his eyes with mud. After explaining to him that this was something Jesus did she spat in a bit of dirt an placed it on his eye lids. We prayed for another couple of minutes then wiped off the mud. His eyes were now totally healed. He pointed to the house were the Muslim men were sitting and said "when I came and got you I couldn't see that, but now I can".

Filled with faith from the healing we immediately started praying for his back pain. Within a few minutes he was bending over and twisting from side to side without any pain. It was amazing to see how happy he was and he joined us in thanking Jesus for the healing.

Shortly after the man asked us to pray for a women from his house who has been having nightmares of drowning and being in a grave yard. When we first started talking with her she seemed totally numb. There was no expression on her face and she would stare off into the distance and would only speak in whispers. We found out that she had been bathing in a potion from the witch doctor because she thought someone had brought a curse against her. We got the sense that she was ashamed about going to the witch doctor so we encouraged her that we were here to help her not judge, and that there is no condemnation in Jesus. We brought her out from the shade of the house into the sun as a prophetic gesture of her leaving the darkness behind and stepping into the light. After praying for her and just loving her there was a huge change in her countenance. You could see she was tasting freedom and peace for the first time.

Nearby a group of women were sitting outside a house and they called us over.  After watching everything that happened to their neighbours one of them wanted to accept Jesus. As we were talking to them four more decided they wanted Jesus as well. We also prayed for a girl that was missing an eye but didn't see any change. Our hope was that she'd wake up the next morning with two eyes.

By this time we had to head back to camp, eat a lunch of rice, beans and gazelle, then pack up to go to the next village. Right as we were about to leave the church presented us with an offering of two huge bunches of bananas, a large basket of peanuts, some papaya and other fruit. This was coming from a church made from mud, bamboo and grass, that had an alter made of cinder blocks and ragged grass mats to cover the dirt floor. It was incredibly humbling to see people with so little give so much.

We arrived in the second village late in the afternoon. It was situated on a hilltop overlooking a large plane of Mozambican bush and backed by low mountains behind which the sun set. We were given the luxury of setting up camp in a fenced court yard adjacent to the mud church which granted us some extra security. Considering the small size of the village the homes were incredibly spread out. From the church I was only able to see three other buildings, and one of them was the pastors house. There was a serene feeling to the village, very little activity and a strange absence of children inspecting what the Akuna's (white people) were doing. Yet while there was a sleepy lull in the natural a storm was approaching in the spiritual.

The team gathered to pray in the court yard. Outside the music and dancing video gathered an unreceptive crowd who chose to sit in the dirt rather than dance. As we prayed with hope and anticipation the word breakthrough stirred in our hearts. There was a felt barrier in that place that needed deconstruction. By the end of the prayer time the presence of God was rolling in like a cloud charged with expectancy.

Half way through the Jesus Film the Lord spoke to a girl on the team telling her we should pray that the whole village would accept Jesus including the chief. As this word was passed among the members of the team that could be found in the dark we began to pray and prophesy over each other. It felt as if we were being filled up for what we were about to pour out and we prayed at length for the pastor that was going to preach within the hour. After the film finished pastor Carlos began to preach and concluded by asking anyone to raise their hand if they wanted to accept Jesus. In the midst of the many hands raised I saw a man in a white Muslim cap sitting down. Holy Spirit told me it was the chief and I needed to pray for his heart to be softened. The incredible thing is that Holy Spirit independently revealed the same thing to other members of the team around the same time.

After every member of the team introduced themselves to the crowd Pastor Carlos gave a call for anyone who needed healing to come forward for prayer. The first person to come forward was the man with the white cap I saw sitting earlier. He was the chief of the village and had been suffering back pain. The significance of this action and its outcome crashed in on me, but the amazing thing is that when the stakes are higher Jesus has a reputation of showing up more powerfully. When we step into situations that are completely beyond our human ability then the Lord can glorify Himself even more because we are unable to take any credit.

2nd Village Chief

A few of us gathered around him and began to pray and after about two minutes we asked if anything had changed. His countenance remained almost stoic yet he insisted the pain was gone. The pastors had him bend over and twist his back to ensure all was well then asked him to testify with the microphone what had happened. Then all heaven broke loose, healings were happening faster than we could keep track of.  The crowed quickly transformed into a huge dance party in celebration of what God was doing and soon enough the chief joined in with a huge smile.  At one point I told a guy on the team to make sure that any people healed get the mic and testify. His response was that they had just healed four people who had since dispersed into the crowed. The bulk of the ailments were headache, body pain and stomach issues, and Jesus was healing them all almost instantly. Over all we estimate 30-50 people were healed of their various ailments.

The next morning the chief was present at the church asking for prayer because the Muslim leaders from the surrounding villages will want to kill him because he has now converted to Christianity. Its a very real threat and the Muslim leaders will certainly try to curse him through the witch doctors if not try to stone him.

As we sat squished in the truck on the way home I felt in my spirit that the chief is the keystone to the village. An arch is unable to support itself with out the key stone in place. If the chief of a village is against Christianity then the village as a whole will be much more resistant to the gospel.

Through out all of this and the stories from other outreaches the thing I've been learning is how much I had complicated praying for healing. I had bordered on formula, sometimes thinking I had to include certain things in a prayer in order for it to "work". The reality is that praying for the sick is a commandment not a theological exercise. Its our job to do what Holy Spirit tells us to and just be an empty vessel for Him to work through not try and contort our faith so its strong enough. Its our job to love the person more than we desire to see a miracle. The healing itself is entirely up to Jesus.

-kyle

Where to Begin....

Where to Begin....so much has happened since I last wrote you all. I spent most of the day at the Pemba Beach Hotel with some of the other lady staff. It's right across the street and it's a place for us to get away from everything and have a break (students aren't allowed to go there). We had coffee on the veranda, some lunch and went swimming as well. It was so lovely and refreshing.

Right, so what have I/we been doing??? Well we have class from 8am to 1:30ish every day except Friday, which is a practical missions day. The students sign up for an area here at Iris that's run by a Mozambican or a long term missionary and they get to help out and see what it's all about. They can help with the kids, gardening, the kitchen, finances (only one student gets to help with that), village outreach, babysitting for the base director, etc, etc, etc. Kyle and I are going to the hospital every Friday afternoon to hang out with patients and their families and to pray for people if they want us to. It's the same as in India in that the families have to provide for all the patients needs like washing clothes and bringing them food. We went yesterday, but the paper work that gives us permission to go into the wards hadn't gone through yet and so some of us walked around the property and prayed for people outside, while a few others walked around inside the property. The conditions in the hospital were a lot better then I had expected, but no where near what it's like back home. People only go to the hospital if they're really sick because there's not a lot of beds available. I am excited to see what will happen when we get to go inside the wards. During the last school some people went and prayed for the patients in a ward and then went back the next day to find that the ward was empty. They had all gotten better and went home! Thank you Jesus!

We start off every morning with worship and then have two or three different sessions in the mornings. Heidi speaks for a session on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Rolland speaks on Mondays and Wednesdays. Last Sunday Heidi's mother passed away and so she's been away this week. After she's with her family she's speaking at some conferences and will be back early November. Rolland left on Wednesday or Thursday for Korea and will be gone for a couple of weeks as well. There are some pretty amazing guest speakers as well.

As staff I have to be present for most of the classes and pray for the students during ministry time. My duties to help run the school are organizing all the worship sessions, graduation requirements (which includes making sure students do the required book readings, organize attendance for class and making a schedule for group presentations, etc), and I also have to organize the book reviews for students that can't read the books because English is their second language. It's a pretty full on schedule, but I'm learning to rest more as well. On Saturdays I have to take the full day off and I'm not allowed to do any work!! I really like how Iris is all about our strength being in resting in His love and Christ being strong in our weakness. I couldn't do this in my own strength and it's such a relief that I don't have to!

Well I must be off to bed, I'm going to try to get up early to do some laundry...yeah for hand washing!

Much love to you all,
Ann Marie

Analogies for that which is bigger than analogy

Oct 3, 2010

 I feel as though God is slowly revealing to me a much wider perspective of the kingdom. Often during work or rest Jesus seems to point out an area of my 'understanding', of my doubt, and even my faith and simply says "There is more, My Kingdom is bigger". Every day He pushes is just a little bit wider.  There is this constant whisper that the Kingdom of God utterly defies any limitation I'm able to place on it. Its like inhaling air that's pregnant with breaths of promise. Breathing that air is crating a hunger in me to really see the kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.  To have a deeper revelation of Jesus, all He did, is doing, and is going to do.  The last time we traveled God challenged me to realize that nothing is outside of His redemption. This time He's taking it a step further by showing me that there is absolutely no area His love, grace and power can't transform. We Christians so easily forget that the battle is already won, and the end has been unchangeably decided, we're just to play a role in the chapters leading up to that end.

-Kyle

School Prep

It's been a week since we arrived in Pemba. We've been busy getting all the housing ready for the students - cleaning, organizing and making sure the right amount of beds are in all the little houses. There are 13 houses for couples and single women and a separate area for all the since men. Each house has a small kitchen, 2 bathrooms and 3 rooms. Kyle and I are lucky enough to have our own en suite bathroom! There will be 6 other women in our house and we will be the house parents. There has only been about 9 of us here getting ready for the school so it will be a big change when all the students get here, all 140 of them! It will be good though, like a little community, it will be like a small town here :)

I am excited for the school to start on Friday. I can't wait to have worship everyday with everyone and to be able to have awesome times together praying and learning more about missions and Gods kingdom. It's going to be a great time, we will let you all know what our days look like once everything is kicking and we have a better idea of what's going on.

bless you all,

annie

If anyone wants more information about Iris go to:

irisministries.com

Actually Leaving

I don't think it hit either of us till just before we left for the airport. I took a moment to sit on the front steps of my childhood home and thank God for His goodness. As I've said before we've been waiting for this for a while and as I sat there thinking about the pains that came during the long wait I was able to see a little deeper into the blessing of Gods sovereignty. The wait was hard, but it has brought fruit and friendships that would be sorely missed had things gone according to our timing. A year ago I sat on my roof watching planes fly by wondering when I'd be trapped in one again, now I board one in twenty minutes.


-kyle

Our apartment is empty!

We moved all of our stuff into storage yesterday. We were blessed to be able to store it all in my mother in laws basement. Thank you MOM!!!

It's such a relief to have it done. We didn't get to packing until 5 days before we moved so it was pretty crazy this past week, lots of late nights and not getting to bed until 2am. It has been so busy the past few weeks, I feel like a haven't had time to breathe. Now that the move is finished we can just focus on the last minute preparations for our trip. We are still staying at our apartment though, it's very empty with lots of echo's.

We need to do a test pack tomorrow, which we've been meaning to do for a long time. I don't know how we're going to fit everything! I am not a fan of packing, I have a hard time deciding on what to bring and what to leave.

I am getting more and more excited, although it seems so surreal at the same time. In 5 nights we will be in Africa. Speaking of nights, I gotta go to bed, air mattress here I come!

Ann Marie

Schooled by Eugene Peterson

The way in which Jesus is the way is not a matter of style of expedience. Nor is it a generality, a vague pointing in an upward direction. Prayerfully and scripturally attentive, Jesus deliberately chose the way He would live. If we chose to follow Him, we must be just as prayerful, scripturally  attentive, and deliberate. The other ways are no ways.  - Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

The above quote has been taped to the inside of my apartment door since the winter. I was reading through Petersons book while Annie and I were in the early stages of praying about going to Mozambique. At that time we were still debating on a lot of the ways that the trip would "practically" affect us. Did we want to give up the apartment we love? What about money? What about stability, and our future? In all honesty we were thinking carnally and with our own "wisdom".  We were praying about it at the time but often our own worries drowned out our listening.

It was in that mindset that I first read Eugenes exhortation, and it hit me right between the eyes.  I was arrested by the Truth and there was no room left for excuses. Any fearful reasoning lingering around was suddenly striped of its validity. I must be intentional about the choices I make, and I must know the reasons why. To do otherwise would be to embrace an illusion of discipleship, and accept a counterfeit as good enough. I love how an encounter with truth can transform a landscape like that. How it puts everything into perspective and undeniably shows you the better way.

-kyle

Preparation

Things are starting to come together, we've been busy getting everything we need for the trip, and figuring out how to pack it into three bags. Packing for Africa is harder than other places I've been because we have to bring all our toiletries with us, often things like shampoo isn't readily available, or if it is its incredibly expensive. We're busy trying to see friends and family before we leave, finalizing all the other nuances of travel and moving all our stuff into storage.

 It reminds me a lot of wedding planing, there is always this part of your mind that is trying to think of what else you have to do, and prioritize it all. It works its way into most conversations between Annie and I. It becomes hard to turn it off, it becomes hard to focus on the spiritual preparation for the trip which is more important. Its funny how the pervasive "needs" of the seen push the needs of the unseen aside, yet we are to "persevere seeing Him who is invisible".

Above all the errands and to-do lists there is a looming sense of substantial change. It's both exciting and frightening to relinquish control over your life. To stop planning and learn to follow. To move away from monetary dependence and rely entirely on provision. To, as Jason Upton puts it, not know where I'm going because I've been blinded by the truth.

But past any of the apprehensions that may ail our thoughts there is the overwhelming certainty that the Lord is good, and what He has prepared for us is better than we could possibly hope for. This is the change we've been praying and waiting for or as I've often described, it's like walking up to the Jordan after so long in the wilderness. The realization of it caries so much mass that it takes a while to settle in and then it systematically takes your breath away.

This long hope of our hearts is upon us, and it's wonderful.
-kyle

Return To Mozambique

Well it's time. After many months, years even, of waiting on the Lord for what He has for us we are stepping out in faith and once again boarding a plane to another continent. On September 23rd, Kyle and I are going to Pemba, Mozambique! Kyle will be attending a mission school with Iris Ministries (the same school that I went to in 2006) and I will be on staff for the school. I never thought that I would go back to Mozambique. I didn't really even have a desire to go back, but one day this past fall Kyle informed me that he thinks he might want to go to the school in Mozambique. My first thought was “no you don't, no, no, no, you don't want to do that!” I really didn't want to go, but slowly and surely the Holy Spirit began to change my heart. Now I'm so excited to go and see what God's going to do in Kyle's heart during the school, and how He's going to use little me to minister to students from around the world and to the beautiful Mozambican people.

After the school is finished in early December we're going with some fellow students to Nepal on an outreach trip for 3 weeks. I am so happy to be going back to Nepal! Kyle and I went there in June 2008 before we went to India. It is such a beautiful country with the most friendly people. We're really excited to be going back there with a different purpose then just travelling. While we found it to be really dark place spiritually the first time we were there, we're really excited and blessed to bring God's love and light to a place that so desperately needs Him.

The most crazy part of all of this is that we don't have return tickets! We want to leave the door open for whatever the Lord has for us and be able to go wherever He wants us to go. We know from past experience that if you have a return flight you will use it. Kyle and I were prepared to go and do anything after our trip in India, but we had these expensive flights and before we knew it we found ourselves on a plane back home. Ever since we arrived back in September of 2008 we've been wanting to go away again. We've been waiting for the Lord's direction. It's also been really good to spend the first two years of our marriage in a familiar environment, instead of being newly weds in a strange place. But now we're ready and excited for the next phase in our life. I really feel like this is just the start of the next level that God has for us. So here we go!

Step 1: Mozambique
Step 2: Nepal
Please join us in praying about what step 3 is for us!

Other prayer requests: For the final preparations for our trip to go smoothly, for financial provision, and for an increase in faith and love.

Thank you and many blessings from our Father!
Annie