Loving the nations in Afrika

Beautifully located, surrounded by mountains, in Central Mosambik, in the Province of Manica, close to the simbabwian border you find the city of Chimoio where our ministry here in Africa is currently based.

When we first started in Mosambik in 2005, we stayed in Dondo, which is near Beira, the second biggest city, in the Province of Sofala, for about two years, then moved to the Province of Manica, first to a town called Catandica for a year and a half, then to Chimoio.

Our heart is to give a home to children that have lost their parents and are not wanted by anyone else of their family, who’d be on the street if they couldn’t be with us; at this present moment we have 20 orfan children living with us, but will have many more as soon as we have room for more (have built other houses).

To us both is important, that they’d be raised as children knowing and loving God as well as giving them food, shelter, clothes, good education and skills with which they can make a living once they leave our children’s centre.

We’ve been planting maize and vegetables on our property, mainly that our children would learn how to plant and grow their own maize and vegetables so that they’ll be able to survive as mosambicans once they leave our centre. Also, of course it is nice when we don’t have to buy these things. We raise animals, at the moment we have started with chickens. All our children help cooking and cleaning … .

Besides helping with things in our children’s centre we’re on the move a lot (with a team of local leaders), running a food distribution program in cooperation with Iris Ministries with which we are supporting mosambicans who have taken in orfans into their families, by giving basic staple food, basic healthcare, teaching and enabling people to be self sustaining through different projects… doing relief work whenever necessary and finances are available as well as evangelising and planting new churches, visiting & ministering to existing churches, training pastors and leaders … .

Once a week we are going to the prison (to do a service & counseling) and to the hospital (to visit and pray for the sick) also once a week. Another day we are ministering to the children who live on the streets, feeding them, giving clothes, checking on their health, loving on them and teaching them various things. Some of them we managed to reintegrate into their families, others are living in children’s centers, most of them are going to school by now… .

We’ve also been going to Simbabwe since 2008. Seeing the state of the country and the desperation of the people we had an increasing burden and desire to help in some way. In 2009, at a time when there was no more food in any of the shops and people were literally starving we were given finances to bring truckloads of food into the country. It was not an easy job during a time when foreigners had been forced to leave the country; it took a few miracles to get it in and bring it to some of the most needy people (sick people, widows and orfans), but God has been faithful, taking care of every detail, so we could show His love and His heart to them. I am constantly amazed at what God is doing, what He entrusts into our hands. I trusted the Lord for a place to live and He provided. We needed a car to do the various kinds of ministries and preach the good news and He gave it to us. We needed houses for our beautiful children, beds, matraces, moskito nets … and the Lord took care of all of it. We needed a truck to bring food to the orfans taken care of by mosambican families we’re supporting in cooperation with Iris Ministries and God gave it us. I could go on and on. God always provides for the things that are on his heart!

If you are flexible and can handle living in a simple way (without running water and electricity, don’t mind using african toilets and showers, eating their food…), if you want to get to know us, give yourself and serve the poor and lost with us, you can come and visit us … if you have any kind of practical skills you are welcome to do something with our children, teaching them, building something or you can just join and help us with whatever is happening at that moment … .

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, as the bible says, so we are praying that the Lord will send labourers into the harvest, also to us!!

We have many more ideas, visions and dreams …