Visit to Marlow (England)

My visit to Marlow in the United Kingdom was a very busy time and I would like to give you a glimpse in some of the activities I participated in.

Walks:

We went on a several walks with sometimes only one or two friends and on other occasions we were groups of members from other churches. It was around 0 degrees Celsius on most of the walks but that did not stop us. The walks helped to build relationships and we had good conversations and prayed together for the work in England and in Mozambique.

Our Marlow friends prayed and will pray a lot for the work in Mozambique, for the future of the Taking Hands ministry and for the work in Gods kingdom also in England. They testified that this visit was a blessing for them. It helped them to feel closer to one another and it created a new peak in their enthusiasm for their calling. The visit also cemented our long distance friendship and together we are determined to keep our zeal alive for God and His kingdom.

Talks with other dominations in Marlow and neighboring towns:

In Reading there is a weekly meeting of leaders from many denominations. In the first meeting we had about 35 people and when they were introduced to me, they asked me to speak of the work in Mozambique. I used the time to tell about the challenges of the church to make the Kingdom of God visible. We have many churches but mostly the Kingdom of God is still not visible outside the church. We talked about the challenge of being church but without an influence on the community.

I told them how I and pastor Ualize visited the house of a Lomwe speaking elder. We found him in his garden and helped him for a while before going to his house. There we sat down on small wooden benches about 10 cm high. After greeting and talking about family, he told us about his past. How he dreamed about a man that was convicted and died but was innocent. Later this man rose from the dead. Only years later he discovered through missionaries that this man is Jesus. He dreamed another dream where this man asked him to go to the protestant church. From that time he participated in the church and became an elder, but he do not manage to pray. Firstly I told him how God see our problems and want to help, the way He did it, was to become a human himself. He came to the earth. Today He continues to do that by living in us and as we visit one another we demonstrate His presence to one another. I went and sit before him in the dust and demonstrate how God came to His house not to judge him, but to be with him and to serve us.  So today he may know that God is in his house even closer to him than me sitting before him. I told him what He did to our sins, so we can be free to be near Him. Do not feel afraid or burdened by our sins and weaknesses. Then I told him that we do not have to use good language or beautiful words like some in the church. I asked him if he can talk to me. He replied, yes. I told him that God is in his house like me and that he can talk to Him even in Lomwe, like he talk to his wife and children.

This is a small story to demonstrate to the Lomwe man that God came to his life in his house, this story can be in a business or factory or parliament etc. If God are the reason for what we do, life will be transformed. You change from being a receiver to a giver. You change from looking at membership and buildings to look at a life that serve and change corruption to righteousness, etc. Gods Kingdom is becoming visible in our community. We can’t accept a structural church with a lot of programs but without making His kingdom visible in our communities.

Some of the leaders came back to me to talk more about this challenge and how to help the church to be effective in influencing the community. They were touched by this challenge.

We had a second meeting with more than 40 leaders. I heard about many initiatives of working with people that do not have enough to eat, with prostitutes, with youth and ex-offenders. Furthermore they prayed together and had joint meditations.

Chefs for Jesus and Costa Coffee:

I visited two other interesting programs. One they call “Chefs for Jesus”. They give food and clothes to street people and some members are available to listen to people, evangelize and pray. It was still snowing when I was there, but still there were people coming in, eating and talking. The other program is the initiative of the minister of the Marlow congregation. Richard Becher sits in a coffee shop every Tuesday with a sign that he is ready to listen to people. Some people do come up and talk at this table in the corner of the shop. Richard is also involved in the Hospital Chaplaincy and I had the privilege to visit the Hospital with him.

African Evening:

To put the focus on mission work we also had one evening where the church asked a chef from Kenya to make African food and they had decorated the hall in African cloth. They had invited people from all churches in Marlow and the neighbouring areas to come and 55 people turned up. I spoke about the importance of relationships in mission work. The evening was rounded off by a half hour choir concert of the local school, singing gospel songs. The local paper also reported about this evening.

Seminar:

I  also ran a seminar called “God’s Plan for Us” which was 4 hours long and spread over two evenings. We made a short analysis of the community of Marlow and then talked about the roots that cause the problems of the community. We then talked about the new roots in Christ and how we can grow to be rooted firmly in Him. Then we talk about transformation of communities and how we can create a better future through service. We all walked away with a homework assignment to practice doing small deeds of service.

I preached the Palm Sunday and was given the text of Phil 2 and some verses in Mathew about Jesus on the donkey. We looked at a King who demonstrated His kingdom through service.

Maundy Thursday:

On the Thursday we had a meal together in the church with Holy Communion and meditation. I lead this meeting and talked about the reality of God as the basis of everything. It has a specific liturgy, but I enjoyed this experience. They call it the “Maundy meal” in remembrance of the Lord’s last supper with his disciples. They served traditional food like lamb, unleavened bread and basic vegetables. A part of the service is to wash people’s feet as humble servants, just like Jesus did.

Good Friday:

On Good Friday the Churches together in Marlow arranged a walk through town with a cross. After the walk we met in the park where we praised the Lord together and had a meditation. Then we went to the big Church of England across the road. It is a big building full of symbolism and many graves, candles etc. I was asked to talk about the two murderers that died with Christ and the promise of paradise. I talked about the criminal who could see hope and something special in the life of this man Jesus and how he gave himself to this man in his final hour on the cross. I talked longer than they asked me to, but according to people who were there, God blessed us together. It was a unique experience to talk in one of those old massive churches with a lot of symbols and traditions. I think that church should be about 700 years old.

On Sunday the minister and I jointly performed the church service. I talked about Mary who went to the grave and thought that Jesus was the gardener. How Jesus called her name and demonstrated how He committed Himself to a relationship with us within all our pains and fears. How He brings new hope and future.

Time to see the sights:

There also was some time to be a tourist. One day we went to London and saw Trafalgar Square, Buckingham palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, bridges, Art Museum, travel shop, Science museum and the underground trains. In spite of the cold we bought ice cream. It did not melt! Another day we spent visiting the Queen’s castle in Windsor and heard about its amazing history. On another day I went to Oxford the university town, another town with a huge legacy. We saw the places where they made the Harry Potter films in Christ Church. In the church were names of many South-African towns in the Free State, because in these towns some of their members died during the Boer-war in 1902. 

The radio interview:

One evening I came on a discussion of the local radio station in a program called Faith Matters on Marlow FM 97.5.  Richard Becher was the interviewer and he interviewed me and two other ministers. Between playing Christian music we talked for two hours about discipleship and I shared stories from Mozambique.

Christian men’s night:

One of the highlights was an evening meeting with a group of Christian men. We really shared very honestly about our faith and challenges of the church. The challenges in our days are big challenges, but we also shared about a hope for change much bigger than that. Our God is bigger than our understanding and therefore also bigger than our questions and doubts. We believe that He will bring transformation through us. They confirmed later that they really enjoyed this evening, the Mozambique stories and the challenge to think where the church happens from Monday to Saturday.

All in all, I was blessed and my world became much bigger than before. As my life was enriched, I intend to share myself more and more where ever the Lord will place me next. It is also good to hear that the conversations we started are still continuing. Together we are planning and thinking about the future and believe that it is part of Gods plan, although we do not know how it will look like. Thanks guys!

Agenda for Danie Murray's visit in Marlow

Danie, It is becoming clear to me that we want to learn about your mission and explore how we can shape our own mission better
Martin


18-Mar Monday Depart Cape Town
19-Mar Tuesday Arrive Heathrow
20-Mar Wednesday 
   9 am Reflections by the Thames, Sharing
   Easy afternoon, 8pm dinner with "missionaries"
21-Mar Thursday 
   10 am Meet with minister Richard Becher @ his house, Sharing about World view and                                                                                   basics of faith learned from Mozambique
   8pm Talk: Taking Hands in Mozambique @ St. Andrews Sharing about Christians and their challenges in Mozambique
22-Mar Friday 
   9 am Reflections by the Thames
   Boulters Lock, Brewery, Pub lunch
   2 pm Wycliffe, tea at Alison's,
   8pm Dialog: God's plan for us (part 1).
23-Mar Saturday 
   11 am Visit Chefs for Jesus in High Wycombe. Food for the needy
   6:30 pm Dinner: Gospel and Outreach @ Christ Church Outreach principles and discuss how does a small church far away make a difference.
24-Mar Sunday 
   10:30 am Preach to Christ Church Congregation
   2pm Church walk - Marlow Donkey to Bourne End Walking and talking Meet people from another church
25-Mar Monday 
   Spend the day sightseeing in London
   8pm Dialog: God's plan for us (part 2)
26-Mar Tuesday 
   9 am Reflections by the Thames, then Costa Coffee
   7:30-9:00pm Crypt Café - then Marlow FM interview at 9:15 pm Faith and cultures? Young people in Crypt for radio conversation.
27-Mar Wednesday 
   8 am Meet ministers at Grefriars / Hospital Chaplaincy
   8 pm Meet the Wargrave house group in Wargrave Teaching and Challenging
28-Mar Thursday 
   Visit to Windsor castle, tea with the Queen
   7:00 pm Maunday lamb dinner at Christ Church
29-Mar Friday 
   10 am Good Friday Service, inter dominational. 20 min talk Christ as base of mission.
   Meeting friends from Holland
30-Mar Saturday 
   9 am Prayer Breakfast, then Moz 2013 plans @ Christ Church Everyone prays, then open agenda
31-Mar Sunday 
   10:30 am Worship with Christ Church congregation
   Dinner @ George's house
01-Apr Monday 
   9 am Prayers on Winter Hill with CTM, Lunch minister and Elders
   7pm Depart for Heathrow for 9pm flight Martin
02-Apr Tuesday Flying to Capetown

Future Process of Mission in Mozambique

The blue line on the Graph is the line of visible growth in the IRM in Mozambique. From a few Prayerhouses in 1994, the church grew very quickly till there were about 300 churches. After about 6 years I discovered that the invisible part of Church growth (Green line on Graph) did not grow. It is so easy to have the appearance of Church, but do not have much influence on the culture of the members and community.

People accepted the Lord and after that they were baptised. A lot of my time went in organizing congregations to do administration, organize training for children and youth, studies for leaders and members, elders and deacons, creating the culture of marriages etc. In many places the leaders wanted the pastors to baptise new members and on investigation I often found that they did not understand who Christ is and that they have no personal relationship with God through Christ.

Pastors continued to baptise new members who didn’t have knowledge and experience of faith. The thousands of members came to the church but they also continued with a life based on traditional beliefs. This is the point on the graph with the vertical line. It was a big crisis in my ministry and I struggled for about two years to find a more effective way of ministry. We discovered that to change the visible actions of the church and teach people to help the poor, needy, widows and unevangelized, did not bring the long term transformation. People started doing that work but the results were on a visible level and it did not last. Real lasting transformation happens only when you change a value system. A value system changes only when you work from a new belief system. It starts with the reality of accepting that there is a real Good God and a character that became flesh in Jesus and continue His work through us as His church. In other words, when you know the character of Christ you can start demonstrating this new character through your deeds. This insight not only changed my ministry, it also changed my faith.

On the graph the emphasis of my ministry changed towards the green line, the foundation or worldview. On this foundation you can build your understanding of church and community, calling and destination. Changing the focus of my work on this level resulted in more personal contact and focussed training through conferences. Listening is a very important part of it. Later the IRMTumbine synod decided to use the conferences as their main tool in this faith growing process. They also asked me to continue to support pastors and help congregations with strategic thinking and planning.

I do not want to say that the mission work before the vertical line had no effect, but according to my understanding the ministry became much more effective afterwards.

This process developed through the years. I myself is still in grade one in my learning process, but I belief it as the right direction.  It is a very sensitive process to work with leadership style, working more and more with local Mozambican resources (not depending on outside help), understanding partnerships. It was a challenge to approach the mentality that says “there is no future” or if people live out of the reality of good and bad spirits and depend on them or when leadership is done through power and manipulation or with strong tribalism and many other cultural preconceptions. For sure our Western culture also has its own lies.

To bring the light of the Word as the point of reference is a long and steady process.

God’s Word bring a alternative to many traditional ways. He is giving us a new mentality with good consequences. The green horizontal line represents this process. As you can see on the graph, based on what I have seen, this new process was steadily growing in last years. I could tell you many stories of transformation on this level, that started to influence the visible part of the church.

Future involvement with Mozambique, will not focus on building the visible part of the church, but we will continue the process of working on the invisible, the foundation. Many of your, as supporters, efforts are working towards this process. I am sure that building the foundation is the right thing to do even if the visible part of the church is showing cracks. Transformation on this level is real transformation, not pretence. I can tell you many stories that illustrate this progress, where new Biblical ways of thinking has visible consequences.

The way I see the road to the future for the work of God’s Kingdom in Mozambique, is as follows:

1. 1.   Continue to focus on building the invisible foundation and don’t be too concerned about the visible decline. As long as we have open doors in Mozambique, we need to continue the good work and demonstrate that our Lord is their friend and saviour.

I am aware that we need to tread carefully in giving materially. Giving without a relationship, mostly have more negative consequences on the process than positive. For a relationship we need to grow in compassion, mutual understanding of our vision (mostly we do not understand our written vision in the same way. There are too many assumptions from different backgrounds), understanding how partnerships function, understanding the values that we are working with and knowing our Good God behind everything. The relationship will not grow automatically. There are some tools to help us give in such a way that it will result in the growth of the relationship with God and therefore also with one another.

1. 2.  As we became more uncertain about agreements with the Church, I belief that we accept the uncertainty as part of our sacrifices. We will find time to help the church on this aspect. To fight for our interests as we understand it now, will not help the growth of the Church.

I am still available for a few months to think about implementation, to find new approaches and to develop concrete plans in line with building the invisible foundation.

My vision is to see that blue and the green horizontal lines on the graph will soon meet. (The blue line will not decline under the Green line). From there I can see a steady growth. There are still so many opportunities for us to be the representatives of Christ in Mozambique. Our sacrifices are not in vain.

Afskeidsbesoek aan Mosambiek

Die besoek aan Mosambiek was noodsaaklik en ons het in die tyd duidelikheid gekry oor ‘n paar goed. Ek het saamgegaan om te gaan groet. Die Saterdag aand het die dagbestuur van die sinode ons ingewag en verwelkom. Van die begin af het hulle ons hartlik ontvang en ons kon saam met hulle eet. Sondagoggend is ons gevra om die preek in die gemeente waar te neem. Die lot het op my geval, die ander twee het meer ondervinding in oortuiging. In die begin van die diens het ek die dagbestuur eenkant geroep en gevra of ek die gemeente kon groet teen die einde van die diens. Een van hulle wou eers keer, maar die ander drie het dadelik ingestem.

Tydens die diens het ek myself uitgeleef in die boodskap. Op ‘n stadium het ek gevra hoe God se hart lyk teenoor ‘n dronk persoon. Wat sal Hy doen? Die een persoon antwoord toe dat hy hom sal wegjaag. Toe vra ek of daar dalk iemand is wat ‘n dronkaard was en toe na die Here gekom het. Daar staan toe ‘n man op en verduidelik dat hy baie gedrink het. Ek vra hom toe “wat het die Here gedoen en wat was op Sy hart toe jy voor hom gaan staan het?” Hy antwoord toe dat hy vergewe is en dat God genadig is. So het ons baie voorbeelde gehad om te verstaan hoe God se hart lyk en die boodskap is dan dat omdat Hy so is, ons ook so word. Ons word gestuur om soos Hy te wees in die wêreld. Ons word soos hy mense wat dien, vergewe, regeer oor alles en reg te help en die omgewing te herskep. Ons bring God weer nader aan mense soos Jesus dit gedoen het. Ek het dit as ‘n besonderse geleentheid beleef.

Teen die einde van die diens het die moderator opgestaan en dankie gesê vir die werk wat ek deur die jare gedoen het en toe vir my kans gegee om te groet. Dit was emosioneel om die ouderlinge en volwassenes in die kerk te groet. Toe ek daar gekom het was van hulle, die seuntjies wat vreeslik opgewonde was om agter op die bakkie te spring en te gaan help om sand uit die rivier te gaan haal vir die bou van die huis en die kerk. Ek het ‘n paar staaltjies gedeel en dankie gesê vir wat hulle vir ons beteken het, hoe hulle ons opgepas en geleer het hoe dinge in Mosambiek werk ens. Sonder om redes te gee, het ek dan net gesê dat ons tyd om daar te werk, nou verby is.

Die vergaderings waar Herman en Kobus, baie ure met die leiers gespandeer het, het daardie middag begin. Die gesprekke het in ‘n baie goeie gees plaasgevind. Hulle besluite is gerespekteer, maar baie vrae is gevra oor die manier waarop dit gedoen is en ook verduidelik hoeveel implikasies besluite soos hierdie het. Die beëindiging van Handevat  se werk was maar een van ‘n paar drastiese besluite wat geneem is. In Chiconono is ‘n evangelis gevra om sy werk te stop en die drie personeel lede van die geletterdheids kantoor is ook gevra om hulle werk te beëindig. In beide gevalle was dit ook baie nodige handelinge wat bewys dat daar ‘n poging is om verantwoordelheid te neem. Hulle het nie hulle werk gedoen nie en het die motorfietse misbruik ens. Die een persoon wat na hulle terug gekom het en om verskoning gevra het, is op die ou end weer aangestel.

Kobus en Herman het aan my verduidelik dat die leiers om verskoning vra en erken dat hulle nie die sake goed hanteer het nie. Hulle het ook bevestig dat daar niks negatiefs gebeur het wat hulle verhouding met my vertroebel het nie. Van hulle kant af is daar niks wat hulle teen my persoonlik of die werk wat ek gedoen het nie. Hulle het ‘n groot waardering vir die werk en wil graag dat dit moet voort gaan.

Daar is ook ‘n brief opgestel om vir die ondersteuners in RSA te verduidelik wat aangaan. Die brief was baie mooi bewoord, maar het nie baie gesê oor die redes van optredes nie en ook nie die spesifieke gebeure en besluite verduidelik nie. Kobus en Herman het toe saam met hulle die brief aangepas wat toe aanvaar is. Lees die brief by: http://handevat.blogspot.com/2013/01/letter-from-tumbine-synod-to-all.html

Ek was net een keer in die vergadering om die omvang van die tweeling verhoudings tussen gemeentes in Mosambiek en gemeentes in RSA te verduidelik.  Die res van die tyd het ek mense besoek en gegroet. Ek het ook vir Bileam (die motorfietsie) verkoop.

Woensdag oggend is ek na die sinodale gebou om die leiers te gaan groet. Ongelukkig was die ander al weg en het ek net vir Ualize gekry. Ek sê toe dat ek ‘n boodskap het vir hulle en wil graag hê dat hy dit aan die ander moet oordra. Hy gee my toe ‘n stoel en ek sien ‘n diep bekommernis op sy gesig. Ek verduidelik toe dat die besluit wat hulle geneem het, ‘n goeie besluit is. Ek was van ongeveer die jaar 2001 die oudste predikant in die sinode. Ek ken al die gemeentes en ken die geskiedenis van al die streke. Soms gesels ek met dominees en dan praat ek van gemeentes wat hulle glad nie ken nie. Omdat die kultuur nog sukkel met selfbeeld het dit natuurlik veroorsaak dat hulle dikwels in my skaduwee gewerk het en ek het dit nie genoeg raakgesien nie. 

Ek het verder kontak met al die ondersteuners en weet wat orals aangaan. Inligting is mag en alhoewel mens juis verantwoordelikheid en eienaarskap probeer oorgee het, het ek in die pad begin staan van die self realisering van die kerk. Ek verduidelik toe vir hom dat ek dit eerste moes gesien het en daarom vra ek om verskoning. Ek kon op sy gesig ‘n geweldige verligting sien en ons kon ons verhouding weer bevestig. Ons verhouding met mekaar is nie verbreek nie en hy nooi my uit om nie heeltemal uit hulle lewens te verdwyn nie. Ek moet weer besoek.

Hier moes ons meer tyd gehad het om verder te gesels, maar ongelukkig was dit net voor ons vertrek het. Nou eers was die spanning en ongemak gebreek dat mens meer openlik kon gesels. Die situasie was dus vir hulle baie spanningsvol en daarom glo ek is baie besluite onbehope geneem. Ek glo dit is ook die rede hoekom hulle nie ‘n rede kon gee vir die beëindiging van Handevat se werk nie. Ook hoekom hulle nie my nie kom groet het voor hulle geloop het nie. Dit was vir my sleg dat hulle Dinsdagaand vir my sê, dat ons more oggend groet en toe glad nie opdaag om te groet nie.

Wat my rustigheid gee is dat die werk wat tot dusver gedoen is, baie waardevol was en nog vir lank ‘n invloed behoort te hê op die toekoms. Verder ook om te weet dat die besluit reg is ten spyte van die foute wat gemaak is in die manier waarop dit oorgedra is. Ons hele gesin het ‘n rustigheid oor die gebeurtenisse en die lesse wat ons hierdeur leer, is vir ons baie werd. Ons weet ook dat die toekoms aan die Here behoort. Soms is mens bekommerd oor die spesifieke planne vir die toekoms, so as julle iets van die Here hoor, laat weet gerus!

Met die gebeure is dit dalk tog moontlik dat daar weer 'n rol op 'n ander vlak, in Mosambiek kan ontwikkel! Alhoewel dit nie so is nie, sien die kerk my as 'n pa. Indien die pa se kinders kinders het, mag die oupa nie meer inmeng in die manier waarop kinders groot gemaak word nie, maar die oupa het nog 'n rol. Met die spanning wat gebreek is, is dit dalk moontlik. Dit is net nou baie belangrik dat, in so 'n geval, dit 'n inisiatief van Mosambiek moet wees.

Letter from Tumbine synod to all supporters

Igreja Reformada Em Moçambique

Fundada em 1908 em Mphatso, Angónia-Província de Tete

SÍNODO DE TUMBINE

C.P. 4, Milange-Zambézia, Moçambique

E-mail: irmtumbine@gmail.com

January 22, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Ruvuma partnership and supporting congregations

Greetings to you from IRM Tumbine  Synod.(IRM hereinafter)

We are proud to partner with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRC hereinafter) and the Ruvuma Support Partnership (Ruvuma hereinafter).  The DRC and Ruvuma played a critical role in the history of IRM and we all look forward to work together to make an impact for Christ on young people, communities and the world for many years to come. Our partnership  is  the heart of our ministry, together as partners in ministry, we'll stand with each other, believe in each other and support each other and we firmly believe miracles will become commonplace.

At the Synodical meeting in August 2012 a new executive was elected. The new executive is :  pastor Ualize as moderator, pastor Sousa as vice moderator, Pastor Zalimba as actuary and Pastor Cezar as secretary. We had a need as new executive to evaluate all our ministries and to clarify our vision, strategies and responsibilities. At the Synodical meeting in November 2012 every ministry was evaluated. Steps were taken to align their activities with the vision of the IRM.

In this regard the ending position of Pastor Danie Murray in the IRM is not the end of our relationship with the DRC in South Africa but it is a result of this evaluation. As we journeyed deeper with pastor Danie more than 20 years into different ministries we began to understand how to be church in the community. We came to realize that it wasn’t about increasing the size of our congregation but how we could be church in our everyday lives. We developed intentional habits that allowed us to open our hearts and minds to listen to God and let him lead us into His preferred and promised future. One of the most important habits we developed was the Dwelling in the Word. This allowed us to let God into our conversations, instead of trying to proceed on our own agenda.
We therefore have much appreciation for the work done by Pastor Danie Murray. In many ways we will build on it in future. The time has now come to take responsibility ourselves for the conferences and training that he has done within the IRM.  We will in future communicate directly with our supporting partners . Pastor Jose Matique was appointed liason officer in Pastor Danie’s place and he will see that good effective communication are done with our partners and supporting congregations. Specifically we have decided to continue with the vision conferences and will liaise with facilitators involved.
At Chiconono we are busy arranging a meeting in February with SIM and Aubi Banda and leaders from the local congregation to plan the ministry as well as the radio ministry.
Also as part of the evaluations we have restructured the Literacy ministry. This included some staff changes. We will shortly liaise with the supporting congregation in South Africa on these matters. We however want to stress the hugely positive influence of this ministry. This restructuring will keep this project on track.
The medical project are currently in a stage of consultation with partners in South Africa and the Netherlands. Hopefully this will be on track shortly.
The agricultural project are on track with minor administrative issues that will be talked through with the supporting group in South Africa.
Pastor Kobus Eksteen and his wife Nana are now appointed to serve in a youth/children ministry. We await eagerly their return from holiday to support them in this new venture.
We are still fully committed to the ministry amongst the Muslims in the Quionga area. We encourage the Thiarts to further community relations in the area. The IRM offer their help if needed.
The ministry at Namavi by Johan and Enna Dames is an encouragement to many Their positive involvement in the community serves as a witness to the work they do.
God takes good care of us, and like Paul, we don’t request your partnership with us because we just have to have your money. Sure, we could do more and go more places if we had more money, but that really isn’t the point. There is a benefit to you in partnership that we can’t take credit for, any more than we can take credit for the anointing flowing through us. It just happens. If you partner with us, you will have a share in everything we do. That’s the nature and purpose of partnership.

We are heading a time of even more uncertainty and change. We need each other even more .
We trust that you would gain confidence in our leadership. This will and must result in even better cooperation and unity in future.
May His name be Glorified

Pastor Ualize
On behalf of Tumbine Executve

Story from South-East Asia

In one Southeast Asian country, a small church made up of 10 families had received training through a DNA partner. After they completed just the first training, they wanted to show God’s love to a family whose wife was having heart surgery. They decided to help by harvesting the family’s crops while the wife was recovering and the husband was tending to her in the hospital. About 30 people from this tiny church set out to the couple’s field—pulling up crops, bagging them, and delivering them to the couple’s doorstep. When the couple returned from the hospital, they were stunned. They had worried about what to do with their unharvested crop. Even though they faced high medical bills, they assumed their harvest would have to be abandoned. The couple opened their hearts to Christ after receiving such a practical example of his sacrificial love for them. On top of this, nine other families in the community witnessed this event and also asked to receive Christ! “They said they wanted to believe in God because they had been seeking love but had never found any until they saw the love in the church,” reported our partners in Asia. The love of Christ is a uniquely powerful thing! And if we wish to be used by God to heal the world’s brokenness, it is, in the end, the only thing that works. I took this story from the web from: (You can read their whole letter here.)

God in a Lomue house

We walk down the hill over the bare granite rocks to visit an Elder of the congregation of the IRM (Igreja Reformada em Mozambique) in Ile Mozambique. The people received the gospel for the first time less than 100 years ago. The Lomue people are very traditional and as I start to understand something of the culture, I am amazed at the joy, humanity and respect in their relationships. It is something to experience, although you have to be able to lay down your own thinking and cultural setting. The congregation is still very young and the people are in the church for different reasons witch I will not call Biblical reasons. Then you get people like this man whowas sent twice in dreams to become a Christian. In the first dream he met a person whosuffered and died and then rose from the dead and invited him to come to him.
He hadthe dreams in the colonial times when the Catholic Church was the only Christian church and unfortunately was closely linked to the government. They did not train people and had a lot of strange ideas. They even persecuted the then new Protestant church by burning churches and killingleaders. In this setting the second dream then sent him to the protestant mission.
I think that he believes that the forefathers sent him. So first we talked about a God whogives you choices, and that he may choose for himself.  He is now a leader in the church, but he does not manage to pray. If he tries to pray, he starts crying. I explained to him the basics of prayer and that going to church with a well dressed pastor and other members and using different words than the normal conversations gave us a wrong idea of what communication with God is. The other lie is that the Lomue people see themselves as not worthy and made in a class very far from God. They believe that you need special ways to get your words to God and mostly they believe that it is not possible to talk to God.
Firstly I told him the story of the ants. How someone wanted to help the ants in their struggle to carry their food to the nest. Each time he wants to help them with his finger the ants attack him or flee. So he discovered that the only way to help ants is to become an ant himself. Then I went and sat on the ground before them to illustrate this. I asked him if God knows his house. He said yes, then I told him how the curtain of the templewas torn when Jesus died, the curtain to the holiest of holies and the people. He could interpret the significance. As I sit here before him, so God is here and incarnated as a Lomue whospeaks Lomue. He knows all the struggles and shareshis house with him, like me sitting here before him. I asked him if he can talk to me. Yes he can and then I told him that Jesus likes more to hear him speaking normal Lomue. If he speaks normal Lomue, he can express himself better and therefore it is better for God also. The same way he talks to his wife and children he can talk to Him. Further that crying is one of the best prayers, because you show Him your heart. The traditions that tell him that he is far from God is a lie. The idea that prayer is a church thing and a formal thing is a lie. We do not have to impress Him with clothes or any other thing. I also had to tell Him how God does not push him away when he doesthings wrongly or make mistakes. We treated Him as enemy, but the day that we talk to Him, He accepted us, because the price for the bad relationship was already paid!

To go and sit down before the man also touched me, because it became clearer for me, how God incarnated in our lives in so many different settings. This attitude and identity of God of having compassion and then incarnate it in our lives to help, is the same Identity or new life that God gives us. Now we start to incarnate in the lives of others in other cultures. Not thinking of our position, but serving. Phil 2:6.

In the second house the deacon and his wife told us that they do not have a very good relationship. We listened to some wonderful ideas of him in his business to serve others. Then we identified the problems of his family as the most important matter to start with. His marriage relationship is the foundation for his business and his position as a leader in the church. If that foundation is not strong the rest will also suffer. I took the agreement between God and man as the basis for our relationships because Paul did the same. We first tried to understand Gods agreement with us. Firstly it starts because God is good and He cares. His identity is becoming ours through Jesus and therefore we learn first to care. To have the heart of God for my husband or wife is the first vision that we can strive for. We should have our partner’s growth as our aim. After that we took the fruit of the Spirit of Gal 5:22 as part as our vision. We took for example peace and that it means to accept all weaknesses of the other, to have gratitude towards God for the other. To have patience is important and tomake your agreement with God more important than the hurt you receive from your partner. Especially Kindness was very important in a culture where power en control is so important. Self control is also very important in what you want, also for the sexual relationship towards your partner or when you are outside in the community. It is very useful to start from God and His covenant with us and then identify it as God’s Identity. From here you understand that God is recreating His identity towards us and now we are living that identity towards, firstly, our spouses and then towards church, friends and at the end enemies, reflecting God’s Identity like a mirror. In our conversation it is good to take for example kindness, understanding howwe can be kind and then see how a kind person treatsa situation differently.

I picked up some challenges for the pastor and his wife and working with the deacon I could see that he translated everything with enthusiasm. I believe that he took the challenge and vision also for his own family.

In the previous congregation we talked a lot about service and the pastor started the next morning to sweep around the house, something he hadnot done before. Further he helped in making food. How much do we value these things in money?

I think you can understand why I enjoy this work and also why it is so important to visit people in their homes. It does not mean that the sacrifices do not sometimes make me struggle. This thing about TIME is for example sometimes terrible. You are in a hurry to be back before dark and the pastor is also in a hurry, but apparently in a very different way!