Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
And they're off!!!
So the first team has left the country! They left yesterday morning from Grand Rapids. They will be taking care of plumbing and electrical at the studio. For more information on the building project, go to www.asmtoday.org/onebrick. A tropical storm is currently dumping quite a bit of rain on Xai-Xai, and has caused domage to structures in the area. So, they definately need prayers for safety as well as that they will be able to get thier work done.
Only a few short week until we leave with the second team!
Only a few short week until we leave with the second team!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Mozambique...it's been awhile!
Hey all, we are officially reviving this blog in preparation for our travels to Mozambique again this year!
Alot has happened since we were there in 2010! This time, we are going in support of Audio Scripture Ministries' project in Xai-Xai, where we will be leading a team in the final construction of a recording studio there. The first team is actually leaving on Thursday, the 19th of Jan. to put in plumbing and electrical. For more information on this project, please visit www.asmtoday.org/onebrick.
More updates to come!
Alot has happened since we were there in 2010! This time, we are going in support of Audio Scripture Ministries' project in Xai-Xai, where we will be leading a team in the final construction of a recording studio there. The first team is actually leaving on Thursday, the 19th of Jan. to put in plumbing and electrical. For more information on this project, please visit www.asmtoday.org/onebrick.
More updates to come!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thank You
We just want to say thank you for all of your prayers. We made it home yesterday afternoon without incident, praise God! Not so sure we want to be back yet, but at least the weather was a welcome surprise. :o) We had a great time and have lots of stories and pictures. We met amazing people and were sad to have to leave them so soon. God really had His hand over us on this trip- thank you for your faithful prayers.
Please continue to pray for the Helms. Jason went to the clinic the other day and was officially diagnosed with malaria. Tristan was also not feeling well as we were leaving, so they were going to get him tested to. And there are MANY other people who were just diagnosed within the last week of our trip as well. It seems that there is an outbreak or something. And the medicine that they normally use to treat it has not been effective, so they are all being put on a much stronger medicine. Unfortunately, though, there is a very short supply for this in the bigger cities. So please pray that there will be adequate supply of medication and that the mosquitos will stop biting!
Please continue to pray for all of the stdnets and staff at the Bible College, that God will continue to work in their lives so all corners of Mozambique will be reached. I cannot think of anything that would be more beautiful than what is says in Psalm 67:
" May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among ALL nations. May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the people's praise You, O God, may ALL the peoples praise You. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and ALL the ends of the earth will fear Him."
What an awesome day that will be when ALL the nations will praise Him! It was amazing to see this happening firsthand in Mozambique and I thank you for all of your support. It couldn't have been done without you.
Jamison and Kristen
Please continue to pray for the Helms. Jason went to the clinic the other day and was officially diagnosed with malaria. Tristan was also not feeling well as we were leaving, so they were going to get him tested to. And there are MANY other people who were just diagnosed within the last week of our trip as well. It seems that there is an outbreak or something. And the medicine that they normally use to treat it has not been effective, so they are all being put on a much stronger medicine. Unfortunately, though, there is a very short supply for this in the bigger cities. So please pray that there will be adequate supply of medication and that the mosquitos will stop biting!
Please continue to pray for all of the stdnets and staff at the Bible College, that God will continue to work in their lives so all corners of Mozambique will be reached. I cannot think of anything that would be more beautiful than what is says in Psalm 67:
" May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among ALL nations. May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the people's praise You, O God, may ALL the peoples praise You. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and ALL the ends of the earth will fear Him."
What an awesome day that will be when ALL the nations will praise Him! It was amazing to see this happening firsthand in Mozambique and I thank you for all of your support. It couldn't have been done without you.
Jamison and Kristen
Monday, March 29, 2010
Last week already! :o(
Greetings! We cannot believe our time here is almost up! This weekend we had amazing times of fellowship and worship with friends. We had a beach day on Saturday with another family that is here from Indiana. That night we went out into a community called 3 de Feverero and had a Jesus film showing. The crowd continued to grow throughout the movie and there was an altar call afterwards where we were able to pray over the people. You could certainly feel God's Spirit there. We ask that you join us in praying for all of these new believers.
On Sunday we were invited to worship at a church that Kristen visited a few years ago. She had gone to the service of celebration for their new church building. Up until that point, they had been holding the church services under the cashew tree on the property, so it was very cool to go back and see how the church is growing and recognize familiar faces from the congregation. (Although we did get rained on a bit through the holes in the thatched roof). :o)
We gave a children's message again as well as played special music. Our style of music is certainly lacking compared to the melodious acapellas that they sing out with SO much passion. And during every service, they offer a time of testimony...at least 5 people go up and tell of the little things God has done in their lives this past week. It is incredible!
This morning we finished up pictures of the Bible College staff and students and attended chapel there again. We are about to head back to the school to help Sergio in the Audio Scripture studio. Some of the students also asked if we could record us singing and playing a song, so that will probably happen today or tomorrow.
We're not sure if we will be able to write again until we are home, so we ask for your prayers for our return trip. We leave for Maputo on Wednesday and fly out Thursday morning. We will be home, God willing, sometime on Friday. We've gotta run right now, but our prayers are with all of you at home as well. Also, please pray for Jason as he has not been feeling well the past few days. Thanks! We'll see you soon!
On Sunday we were invited to worship at a church that Kristen visited a few years ago. She had gone to the service of celebration for their new church building. Up until that point, they had been holding the church services under the cashew tree on the property, so it was very cool to go back and see how the church is growing and recognize familiar faces from the congregation. (Although we did get rained on a bit through the holes in the thatched roof). :o)
We gave a children's message again as well as played special music. Our style of music is certainly lacking compared to the melodious acapellas that they sing out with SO much passion. And during every service, they offer a time of testimony...at least 5 people go up and tell of the little things God has done in their lives this past week. It is incredible!
This morning we finished up pictures of the Bible College staff and students and attended chapel there again. We are about to head back to the school to help Sergio in the Audio Scripture studio. Some of the students also asked if we could record us singing and playing a song, so that will probably happen today or tomorrow.
We're not sure if we will be able to write again until we are home, so we ask for your prayers for our return trip. We leave for Maputo on Wednesday and fly out Thursday morning. We will be home, God willing, sometime on Friday. We've gotta run right now, but our prayers are with all of you at home as well. Also, please pray for Jason as he has not been feeling well the past few days. Thanks! We'll see you soon!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
NEW BLOG POST!!!!! FINALLY!!!!
So you may be wondering where we've been and why we haven't given an update in a while. We apologize, but the internet connection is at a different house than what we are staying at and we have minimal time on it when we get there.
Anyways, as we had expected, our plans have changed. The maintenance work that Jamison was supposed to do was on a house that Jason and Rachel (the missionaries we are living with) are in the process of purchasing on behalf of their organization, Unitas International. It is intended to be a permanent residence for them, as well as a temporary housing facility for the numerous work teams that come into Xai-Xai. When we were in Kruger, they got word that there are some issues with contracts and legal disputes about the purchasing of this facility.
Since there are issues, they decided it was best to halt the construction until things smooth out. So, this left Jamison with other tasks. One of them, believe it or not, was babysitting Tristan, the 2 year old son of Jason and Rachel. He is having so much fun with him! They love playing dinosaur; basically, they just run around the house acting like a t-rex and hunting one another, it's pretty entertaining to watch! For a while, Tristan was only referring to Jamison as Mr. Dinosaur.
We have also been working on developing a curriculum for an Intro to Christian Education class for Rachel. She is teaching a 3 week module on this topic in a few weeks. Also, it is customary here in Africa that whenever you get invited to go to a church, they expect you to preach at the service. Not just give a testimony, but actually give the message! So, Jamison had some experience preaching today at chapel. :o) He did great! On Sunday, we gave the childrens message. Rachel thinks she's going to turn us into pastors before we leave. Not so sure about that. :o)
Jamison also planted about 1,000 pepper plants with Jason yesterday. He also helped till and weed a large section of the garden in preparation for planting.
We worked in the audio scripture studio with our friend, Sergio. We took some players along with us to Mozambique that we were able to purchase from the extra money we raised. We loaded the whole Bible in Portuguese onto them for distribution. We were able to load 22 in one afternoon- and I think he said he needed 100 done total for a distribution trip he is going on right after Easter. It is a very time consuming process! It was great to catch up with him again as well.
Kristen has also been doing a bunch of different activities. She has been assisting Rachel in cleaning and selling chickens, peppers, and narchies (tangerines) from their garden project to a bunch of resorts along the beach. There has been a large influx of South African tourism into this area in the past few years. A bunch of families are coming from SA and trying to start up beach resorts and other businesses, so Rachel has extended her outreach to these families...especially the women. We have been visiting with them, praying with them over particular struggles in their lives, and just befriending them. The devil is certainly trying to break this group apart through gossip and other issues, so we really have been interceding with prayer over the whole situation.
Kristen has also been going to the Bible College each day with Rachel. Last week she helped her grade some projects that her students were working on and got a feel for how the children's ministry was run. This week she led the children's worship time on Monday and Tuesday (Jamison joined in on Monday). The kids are so precious!
Today she took photos of the whole Bible college- staff and students, then some photos of each individual student and their families. Hopefully she'll be able to make up some thank you cards to send to the donors who support each student's tuition.
We have done special music a few times...the students in the chapel today loved that we both played guitars! We had so many cell phone cameras on us it was ridiculous! :o)
We cannot finish this post without saying a word about the food. We are eating good! We have had a few South African braais (barbeques), a Russian cookout, an Indian restaurant experience, and a traditional Mozambican meal with a family that Kristen got close to on her last trip. Mmmmm. Oh, and the weather has been sunny and in the 80s. Today it feels more like 90's. :o)
We are seeing a lot and having a GREAT time. We can see God at work in this place, but we are also really seeing how the devil is trying to ruin the good things that are happening. But we know that the enemy has been defeated and that the Word of the Lord prevails! And the people here are hungry for it!
Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
Prayer requests:
-Thank God that we have stayed healthy so far
-Thank God for all of the blessings that he has given us
-Pray that the issues with the house Jason and Rachel want to purchase will be resolved and that, if it is God's will, they are able to raise adequate funds/get loans soon
-Pray for the Bible College- that the students stay healthy and are open to learning about spreading the Word
-Pray for the staff as they empower the students in their learning
-Pray for Sergio as he prepares for a distribution trip with players
-Pray for healing for all the Mozambicans and South Africans who are struggling with malaria
-Pray for blessing over the garden and the plants that were planted
-Pray for the South African group and the tension between them
-Pray that the hunger for the Word will continue to grow and that people will continue to be called up to meet this need
-Pray that racial tension would cease both in South Africa and Mozambique. There is huge tension between South African whites and blacks, as well as some between South African whites and Mozambicans.
Thank you for sticking with us for the longest post of time, but it was past due that we let you all know what's been going on. God bless!
Anyways, as we had expected, our plans have changed. The maintenance work that Jamison was supposed to do was on a house that Jason and Rachel (the missionaries we are living with) are in the process of purchasing on behalf of their organization, Unitas International. It is intended to be a permanent residence for them, as well as a temporary housing facility for the numerous work teams that come into Xai-Xai. When we were in Kruger, they got word that there are some issues with contracts and legal disputes about the purchasing of this facility.
Since there are issues, they decided it was best to halt the construction until things smooth out. So, this left Jamison with other tasks. One of them, believe it or not, was babysitting Tristan, the 2 year old son of Jason and Rachel. He is having so much fun with him! They love playing dinosaur; basically, they just run around the house acting like a t-rex and hunting one another, it's pretty entertaining to watch! For a while, Tristan was only referring to Jamison as Mr. Dinosaur.
We have also been working on developing a curriculum for an Intro to Christian Education class for Rachel. She is teaching a 3 week module on this topic in a few weeks. Also, it is customary here in Africa that whenever you get invited to go to a church, they expect you to preach at the service. Not just give a testimony, but actually give the message! So, Jamison had some experience preaching today at chapel. :o) He did great! On Sunday, we gave the childrens message. Rachel thinks she's going to turn us into pastors before we leave. Not so sure about that. :o)
Jamison also planted about 1,000 pepper plants with Jason yesterday. He also helped till and weed a large section of the garden in preparation for planting.
We worked in the audio scripture studio with our friend, Sergio. We took some players along with us to Mozambique that we were able to purchase from the extra money we raised. We loaded the whole Bible in Portuguese onto them for distribution. We were able to load 22 in one afternoon- and I think he said he needed 100 done total for a distribution trip he is going on right after Easter. It is a very time consuming process! It was great to catch up with him again as well.
Kristen has also been doing a bunch of different activities. She has been assisting Rachel in cleaning and selling chickens, peppers, and narchies (tangerines) from their garden project to a bunch of resorts along the beach. There has been a large influx of South African tourism into this area in the past few years. A bunch of families are coming from SA and trying to start up beach resorts and other businesses, so Rachel has extended her outreach to these families...especially the women. We have been visiting with them, praying with them over particular struggles in their lives, and just befriending them. The devil is certainly trying to break this group apart through gossip and other issues, so we really have been interceding with prayer over the whole situation.
Kristen has also been going to the Bible College each day with Rachel. Last week she helped her grade some projects that her students were working on and got a feel for how the children's ministry was run. This week she led the children's worship time on Monday and Tuesday (Jamison joined in on Monday). The kids are so precious!
Today she took photos of the whole Bible college- staff and students, then some photos of each individual student and their families. Hopefully she'll be able to make up some thank you cards to send to the donors who support each student's tuition.
We have done special music a few times...the students in the chapel today loved that we both played guitars! We had so many cell phone cameras on us it was ridiculous! :o)
We cannot finish this post without saying a word about the food. We are eating good! We have had a few South African braais (barbeques), a Russian cookout, an Indian restaurant experience, and a traditional Mozambican meal with a family that Kristen got close to on her last trip. Mmmmm. Oh, and the weather has been sunny and in the 80s. Today it feels more like 90's. :o)
We are seeing a lot and having a GREAT time. We can see God at work in this place, but we are also really seeing how the devil is trying to ruin the good things that are happening. But we know that the enemy has been defeated and that the Word of the Lord prevails! And the people here are hungry for it!
Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
Prayer requests:
-Thank God that we have stayed healthy so far
-Thank God for all of the blessings that he has given us
-Pray that the issues with the house Jason and Rachel want to purchase will be resolved and that, if it is God's will, they are able to raise adequate funds/get loans soon
-Pray for the Bible College- that the students stay healthy and are open to learning about spreading the Word
-Pray for the staff as they empower the students in their learning
-Pray for Sergio as he prepares for a distribution trip with players
-Pray for healing for all the Mozambicans and South Africans who are struggling with malaria
-Pray for blessing over the garden and the plants that were planted
-Pray for the South African group and the tension between them
-Pray that the hunger for the Word will continue to grow and that people will continue to be called up to meet this need
-Pray that racial tension would cease both in South Africa and Mozambique. There is huge tension between South African whites and blacks, as well as some between South African whites and Mozambicans.
Thank you for sticking with us for the longest post of time, but it was past due that we let you all know what's been going on. God bless!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Here we are in Xai-Xai
Friends!
We are finally able to give you an update after being away from a computer/internet and having no power due to a lightning storm (very cool!).
Our safari was absolutely amazing! We saw many animals in the wild: elephants, zabras, girraffes, lion, wildebeast, kudu, even saw some exteremely rare animals such as black-back jackyl and wild dog! South Africa is a beautiful country and seeing God's great animals up close was amazing! It's a very humbling experiense when you are surrounded by a heard of elephant, cape buffalo, or impala and the warm wind is rushing over the plains and all you hear is the wind and the animals moving around in the grasses. God is amazing!
Well, we made it to Xai-Xai with essentially no problems. No mechanical issues, no diseases or bug bites, and no problems at the boarder. The family we have been traveling with and are staying with in Xai-Xai, the Helms, have been very helpful and we have been learing alot from them about the different cultures, customs, etc. about South Africa and Mozambique.
The past couple of days, since we arrived from our safari, we have been following the Helms around and learning about missionary life and all of the things that are goin on in Xai-Xai. We will start doing more work tomorrow.
Well, that's all for now. Keep praying for health, safety, and that God's Word will continue to spread in Mozambique. Until next time! Caio!
We are finally able to give you an update after being away from a computer/internet and having no power due to a lightning storm (very cool!).
Our safari was absolutely amazing! We saw many animals in the wild: elephants, zabras, girraffes, lion, wildebeast, kudu, even saw some exteremely rare animals such as black-back jackyl and wild dog! South Africa is a beautiful country and seeing God's great animals up close was amazing! It's a very humbling experiense when you are surrounded by a heard of elephant, cape buffalo, or impala and the warm wind is rushing over the plains and all you hear is the wind and the animals moving around in the grasses. God is amazing!
Well, we made it to Xai-Xai with essentially no problems. No mechanical issues, no diseases or bug bites, and no problems at the boarder. The family we have been traveling with and are staying with in Xai-Xai, the Helms, have been very helpful and we have been learing alot from them about the different cultures, customs, etc. about South Africa and Mozambique.
The past couple of days, since we arrived from our safari, we have been following the Helms around and learning about missionary life and all of the things that are goin on in Xai-Xai. We will start doing more work tomorrow.
Well, that's all for now. Keep praying for health, safety, and that God's Word will continue to spread in Mozambique. Until next time! Caio!
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