We arrived back from America and immediately went straight back into our lives here as if we never left. It truly has been a wonderful thing to see the lives that we are blessed with touching, and the opportunities that the Lord provides for us to minister in. As many of you know we drove to Reno, NV. to catch our flight back to Mozambique only to find out the morning of our flight that New York airport had been shut down due to a blizzard, to us it is just another thing that has occurred in this adventure we call our lives. Many people would naturally be annoyed with this but we were so blessed. In secret we talked about how we wished we could stay just one more week to attend a good friend and leader in our church's funeral after he had passed away suddenly the week before we were scheduled to leave and also we desperately wanted to attend staff retreat with our Faith Tabernacle staff members. So we praised God for this time that we were able to have with friends. At this retreat we talked so much about of personal visions in ministry, one desire that I have had on my heart is working with the preschool that is here on our base. Although many would look at it as a practical mission, to me it is so important and the children deserve to be treated well and educated. I shared this with the staff while we were there but had not expected the door to be opened to me so quickly.
Our preschool caters to children that are from the most needy families in the community, this includes, orphans being cared for by widows, those whose parents have no source of income or are handicap/disabled. We also have children placed with us through social services for various reasons. We went from 65 students last year to 93. This jump has allowed us to open a third classroom, we have children from ages 3.5 to 5 years old. Having free education for children in these types of situations is a huge blessing, it allows them to learn the things needed before entering primary school without the struggle to pay for materials. We provided each student with their needed school supplies and breakfast, children are taught many subjects but the school itself provides a strong biblical understanding through devotions and worship. This task is not a small one. As I have spent many days in the classrooms listening and giving suggestions I have come to realize just how different things are than what I am used to in America. As I sat in class one day listening to the teacher give devotion and explain creation she discussed how God created plants, she asked the children what are some types of plants. I watched as the room was silent and she drew a on a piece of paper, pointing to it she asked "what is this?" and again, and again, finally she had the children go outside underneath the giant mango tree in the middle of the playground. "What is this?" silence filled the air, I had to ask if she was not saying the question in a way that the children could understand but that was not the case. It hit me, all 27 of these 4 year olds did not know what a tree was called. As I thought about this I began to see the difference between how we raise our children and how around age 2 the children here begin to spend their time among other children not much older than themselves while their mommas tend to newborns and crops, never having the much needed talks about trees, and birds, sounds in the air and colors, their curiosity never explained. I am thankful for the new eyes that I have been given to see where these children need love and guidance, so that they can strive to meet their potential that is usually over looked in such a young person. I wish I could say that it stops with the children but I am also on a journey of showing the teachers new ideas, in a place where they have only been taught a little with no resources I am able to spend times showing them new creative ideas on how to reach the minds of these precious children and see them advance. The teachers have requested that I teach them one new idea a day, so I make my way down there around 1:00pm and show them how to make owls out of paper plates and turtles from used egg cartons. All of these ideas are new to them, I find such Joy in being able to teach them. Please pray for creative minds in the children and teachers, I would love to see all the children go into primary school advancing in knowledge. Bless You Tawnya
1 Comment
We have been extremely blessed to have the opportunity to pour into the lives of the people here in Mozambique. Several months ago Eric and I had the opportunity to begin talking with a young man who grew up here at the center about the characteristics of Godly leadership in the church. This young man was actively participating as a worship leader at our church on Sunday mornings as well as helping with some translation during our evangelism outreaches. He was faithfully attending the services but at home his lifestyle was not a pure reflection of the standard of leadership the bible speaks about. He has been “married” to a young woman whom he has a beautiful baby girl with, unfortunately here in Mozambique “married” doesn't mean the same as it does in the west. All you have to do is get permission from the parents and begin living with one another to call yourselves a married couple. Many times this is placed upon young people because the woman will end up pregnant and then the man is “stuck with her” in the eyes of her parents. We encouraged him to have a marriage ceremony in the church and make things right in the sight of God, and to step down from his leadership role until things were settled biblicaly. After some time he and his girlfriend came wanting to get married (for real) and they would do it at the church in a small ceremony during Sunday service, this kind of wedding is not common here, the smaller the wedding the less serious it shows that you are about the relationship, much money goes into elaborate weddings and food just to appease and satisfy family and the community. Eric and I agreed to move forward with the wedding ceremony but they two would need to meet with us a few times before we would preform the ceremony, we really wanted to make sure that their hearts were in it for the marriage not a leadership role (which is very important among the people, position is what matters in many areas of their culture). The first night that we met with them we shared what the difference between lust and love is, that lust is only in it for what you can personally gain from the other person and when they are not “preforming” to your standard you simply leave, but love is something that is selfless you are in it to give what you can to the other person with out expecting anything in return. We also discussed friendship, which is so important in a marriage, we asked simple questions and gave biblical advice. During the second meeting the young man discussed how he would get so frustrated when his girlfriend wouldn't have the house in order or meals prepared when he came home from work and how she would disrespect him and call him names in front of his friends. We gave some advice and asked a simple but controversial question “When was the last time that you coked dinner for her?” All we got at first was a laugh, but we were serious. He laughed because that is a “woman's job” and if he did that his friends would laugh at him, and heaven forbid what if his neighbors saw him doing this? We asked his girlfriend “what would you think if he made dinner for you one night?” she smiled and said “ that would make me so happy”, even in that moment you could see a bit of joy in her heart. We met a couple more times after that just discussing what they have learned and what they are changing in their home. A few days after our second meeting the young man came to our house and said that the night we talked about him cooking dinner he actually went home and started to cook dinner for her, (the first time in the 5 years they have been together) and through his laughter he said that while he was trying to light the charcoal stove that the two of them laughed because it was so awkward and really for the first time were friends and they were enjoying one another. Another time he said that she went into the city with the baby and he cleaned the house and dishes and made lunch so that when she returned home it would be finished, and the neighbors actually came over and asked if she left him because why else would he be doing these things? On March 29, we preformed our first wedding ceremony here in Mozambique to the happiest young couple we have seen. It was small with no fancy dresses or cakes, but as Eric had them say their vows the young man stood on the stage with tears running down his face and through a huge smile he said “ this is making me so happy right now”. Since the first meeting with us their entire home environment had changed, they have been reading the bible together daily and they are helping each other with day to day tasks around the house, not only has their home become a peaceful place but he also received an internship with the cities electrical department and their corn selling business is booming! We have shown him that if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness ALL things will be added to you. God is so faithful and a small step of obedience has gained this young man and his new wife a huge amount of favor and blessing. To top it all off, he came to us just a few days ago and told us this story: For many years him and his wife would fight a lot, and I do not mean argue I mean FIGHT, fists flying in the air, their house was actually known by the neighbors as “casa de loucos” the house of crazy people, but since our meetings it has been a peaceful place full of laughter. He said there has been many rumors going around their neighborhood about them, finally one day a woman had the courage to come and ask about it. She said that everyone is talking about them because they went from crazy to calm in a short time, she said that her husband is mean and that he spends all of his money on alcohol and never helps with their children, that when she is sick he just says “ that's your problem” but when he is sick he expects her to serve him. She wanted to know what witch doctor he went to and if he could take her there so that her husband would be a better person. The young man said, well my witch doctor isn't a witch doctor, I received advice from some missionary friends, she asked if she could meet with us sometime he said yes but he also said, the main reason that I am different and the only way your home can be better is if you have Jesus in your heart. He and his wife meet at their home regularly now reading the bible and teaching her about the love of Jesus!! A small act of love is changing the community around them, while the neighbors and friends laugh at him while he cooks dinner, there are some waiting to find what they have. Jesus and intimacy. Welcome to 2015! I cannot believe that it is that time already (plus a couple weeks, but who's counting right?) I apologize for my lack of blogs the last... well ... 3 months, I (Tawnya) got super sick, after 2ish months, multiple tests and blood draws I can only credit my recovery to a miracle. One day I was so sick and the next I was fine, praise God But now that all that is behind us lets talk about Mozambique! Late November our Base leaders Brian and Lorena headed up to Pemba to teach at the Harvest School that was in session, what was suppose to be 2 weeks turned into a little more than a month when their son came down with malaria and was put in the hospital, while they were gone we were in charge of running things here on base, this was a great opportunity to see things in a new light, really get to know the workers that we have here on base but mostly gain a much greater appreciation for what they do to make Iris Central run the way it does. During this time we celebrated Thanskgiving, yes I missed all the food (again, since we were in Pemba last year) but it was nice to have a quiet day, - minus the rat that decided to make our BED his. Lets just say that it was his LAST holiday. Lincoln turned 5 years old on December 10th, it was an amazing day and was such a huge surprise for him, we stopped talking about his birthday mid November and decided that we would decorate the house on the 9th so when he woke up on the 10th he would be surprised! We were able to find balloons and a had a Disney Cars themed birthday, with a few gifts, cupcakes, pizza and time at the beach. December started in to a busy time for us, we had two students come straight from Harvest School and stay on base for a couple weeks, during this time Peniel church in Beira had their 4 day youth conference which brought in about 2000 youth from all over Mozambique. Although we were not in charge of the event Eric facilitated a ride for any of the youth from our church that wanted to be a part of the conference, so he was there every night. Immediately after this we hosted a youth conference for the provinces that we cover through Comunhão na Colheita (the churches through Iris Global) here at our center. We were able to share the word, encourage and also plan for future youth seminars and conferences through out central Mozambique. Eric was able to take our visitors out on some 1 day evangelism’s in a nearby town, we were also able to continue with our Tuesday night youth discipleship and Thursday evening village outreaches, where we take some of the youth out and visit with members of the local villages, sharing the word but mostly just taking the time to pray and talk with people, it is a great way for the youth to learn how to stop and take a look around at their local communities and spot a need, or learn how to approach people and love on them and show Jesus in their daily lives. Christmas was a success!! We found a tree (plastic of course) and the kids made out well with new bikes, baby dolls, pirate ships, stockings and even a package from Grandma Carol in America, packed full of things we wrapped up for them to open on Christmas morning! It was a small quiet day, but it was special and the kids had a great time. The best part about Christmas to me was that we were able to bless some of our friends/helpers with chickens, beans, pineapples, and a little extra cash so that their holidays could be extra special. It was so awesome to see the excitement when we were able to just wish them a Merry Christmas or Feilz Natal and give them what cost us so little but made all the difference to their families over the holiday season. New Years eve Eric helped with showing some christian films in a nearby village for a friend of ours, me and the kids stayed on base and had a Mozambican firework display, --I was just surprised to see any thing like that here, the kids were to, but I am not sure how impressed they were after seeing the firework displays on the 4th of July in America. Now its January, on the first Sunday of each month we invite all the churches we are over to come to the base for a big church service, since it was the first Sunday of the month and of the new year we decided to provide a chicken lunch to each person, lets just say we bought enough food for 600 people and there were no leftovers, it was a crazy busy day but we were able to bless our churches and have fellowship. Last week we had a leadership conference here with the commission leaders from three of our privences. Our base directors have written a series of foundations of the faith books that we use to teach the leaders in areas and then the material is used by them to teach and strengthen the local churches We were also able to go over the calendar for the next few months and schedule training seminars and evangelism outreaches. We have a womens seminar this week, widows distribution, where we distribute food and supplies to about 150 handicap and widowed locals, we have Friday night evangelism and Eric and Peter will be going to a nearby town to teach the a leadership training book that was just written. Our Base is in the process of purchasing land to build houses on for widows in need, currently we are fixing up the houses that they are living in now but we would like to have our own housing that is used for the purpose of proving shelter for the widows or handicapped that we care for. We are also in the first stages of making the structures for a “church in a day” where we build steel trusses and have them ready to take to local villages in need of a church and set it up with a nice roof so that they will have the skeleton of a church and can build the walls as finances come in, immediately providing then with a dry sturdy place to have church in the mean time. We have so much going on the next few months I am very excited to share with you all of the things that we are able to be a part of here in Mozambique.
Thank You all for your love and support. The Weavers Eric , Tawnya, Lincoln and Haley I can not believe the things of the devil that exist to the magnitude that they do and so many people are so unaware of it. Maybe you're aware of it but don't realize its demonic, maybe you know its “evil” but you just don't think its a big deal. We watch movies and tv shows like Paranormal Activity and Once Upon A Time. We play games like Magic: The Gathering or read Harry Potter books. Maybe you don't watch this but you allow your children to watch it because “its JUST for fun, its JUST a movie, its JUST a book, its JUST a game”. I wrote an entire post of what we see here in the spirit realm titled Peek into my window: Witchcraft in Africa, and I simply could not post it. I do not want to just write an entire blog about the demonic realm in Africa, I could blog for days about sacrifices and cultural rituals, or about how people pay fortunes to hang plants in the homes in hopes of healing. All of these things are true, yes EVERYONE here practices or has practiced witchcraft, and EVERYONE here believes in spirits. Instead I want to discuss a few things that I have realized over the past 5 years or so and have been made more real since I have called Africa my home. Why is it that the people of Africa encounter the spirit realm more? Be it light or darkness? I believe that we as westerners have been desensitized to the spirit realm. I love red box don't get me wrong- but when I go there I cant help but notice ALL of the gazillion horror films. As we watch these movies for pleasure we blatantly go against the scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:6 Says Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. If we believe that God is Love then we should read this as God does not delight in evil and if God is in us and we in Him then we should not delight in it either. Delight: n. joy; happiness, something that gives great joy. Pleasure: n. a cause or source of enjoyment or delight Habakkuk 1:13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness Behold: v. To observe; look at; see This is just two scriptures talking about looking upon and finding joy and pleasure in evil things. I have never read the Harry Potters series but I have read many articles about it and its relationship to the occult, you can research these articles on your own, if you are not aware of the relationship to the occult and demonic realm and you read these or allow your children to, I would suggest researching it, one thing I found important in the articles was the use of spells in the books and how they are actual spells and the names of some of the characters are actual demons that the occult summon. My point in mentioning books is that we read stories about witches and wizards and think its just a fantasy world, well I am here to tell you that it is not a fantasy world and we encounter these people here in Africa, its not made up and it is in the western world as well. Books and “fiction” have warped our view on reality. There is a game out called Magic: The Gathering, I know MANY people who play this game so I decided to research it and of course there is quite a bit f controversy out there from christians whether or not it should be played by believers. Some have a strong NO and some have a more justified approach that “its just a game” and that there are “good spirit” cards too. Basically there are different color cards that do different functions, wizards, spells blah blah blah. I am not going to get into how to play it and all the reasons that its definitely demonic not to mention a great way for open doors to your spirit, but I will say that in my bible it says in Galatians 5 that sorcery is a work of the flesh, -you can also put “lust of the flesh” which is why so many people have a desire for darkness. Sorcery: n. The art, practices, or spells of magic, black magic, witchcraft, powers granted by evil spirits Again I said that I believe that we have become desensitized to the spirit realm because we allow so much darkness into our lives for the pleasures of our flesh. If we looked at these things through the eyes that Habakkuk mentioned that we ALREADY HAVE because we are a child of God then we would guard our lives from darkness. Are you aware of they enemy’s tactics in keeping the western world in darkness or are their areas where you need revelation? What do you thin that it would take for you to become aware of the tactics of enemy in this area? These are just some things that I have been think about lately since we deal with so many demonized people here in Africa. Please if you want leave some feed back I would love to hear what you have to say or discuss any topic further. I just wanted to share what I have had on my mind, especially as America is going into the Halloween season and my facebook, pinterest and instagram, social networks are being infiltrated with, goblins, ghosts and zombies, it has me wondering. Love you all and hope you are all enjoying some delicious pumpkin lattes, and beautiful fall colors. Blessings Tawnya Remember way back when we made that beautiful trek to Zimbabwe? We went there to obtain a special visa in hopes that when we returned back to Mozambique we could easily submit documents and get a dire which is a year long residency visa, the dire in the long run is more cost effiecent than leaving every 30-90 days and paying for visas. And it guarantees a visa for a year where when you go out to apply for a visa you are ln t always granted a new one.
When we returned home from Zimbabwe on July 28 we had 30 days to obtain our dires before we would have to renew our visa (leave the country, pay a bunch of money and return). Well sometimes the enemy just creates havoc and this was one of those times. August started a month of trouble with some of our district pastors and with the correction that took place some if them were pulled out of leadership and the battle begun, day after day week after week issue after issue with the Department of Religion, ( they do not SEPERATE church and state here) . It doesn't seem like such a huge deal for us but when we need a signed document from the department in order for us to get a dire it's a HUGE deal. With the amount of corruption here we were really having a hard time getting the correct documents, we arrived at the department of religion 5 days before our visa expired and the man working was NOT happy to see us. He was very angry that his friend was no longer a pastor at our church and was even more upset when we didn't offer him a bribe to overlook the situation. So we left and went to immigration to put in a plea for an extra 30 days to get the documents for our dires. We got it and it expired September 25. On top of the issue at the Department of Religion, we started hearing about many missionaries getting deported after years of being here and visas getting denied with no entry into Mozambique, the chances if us NOT getting a dire were growing. Every couple days we went into the department of religion and asked for them to sign our papers and one excuse after the next we left empty handed. With the month almost over we looked at our options, either we would leave Mozambique and decide what to do next or we would need a Miracle from God to obtain or dire by September 25. The beginning of the week of the 14 we were told that they would sign our documents for a large "fee" since they have worked so hard to help us and they had done so much extra. This is common here to take advantage of your situation and since we only had just over a week we were in a bad spot, but we refused to pay the bribe and wait it out. Finally we returned home from an outreach on Thursday the 18 with good news, they signed our document!! Friday with our hopes high we went to immigration to apply for our dires. In order to apply for residency in Mozambique you have to have FBI clearence which we had obtained while in America, but the documents are only valid for 90 days, upon submitting the papers to immigration they informed us that we needed new FBI clearence. This is obtained by fingerprints which we would have to do IN AMERICA. Obviously we didn't have a record since we had been in Mozambique since April but they weren't so excited about what we were saying, so we submitted a plea once again to the director at immigration to allow us to use our expired police papers. This was Friday the 19th, immigration only works on dire applications until noon Monday-Friday. We left the office and waited until Monday to learn that they hadn't even looked at it and MAYBE they would the next day Tuesday just 3 days before our visas we to expire and we would be kicked out of the country. We leaned that Thursday the 25th( the day our visaS were to expire) was in fact a national holiday and that no work is done on that day - so now we sat there on Monday with 2 whole days to get permission to stay in Mozambique. Tuesday afternoon I received good news that the director okayd our request to use if expired report!! So finally I can say that we the weaver family have officially submitted and paid for our dires to become a resident of Mozambique! And despite or situation we didn't even have to pay a bribe!! You all have no idea what a miracle this is, if we didn't get our papers okayd TODAY then we would be packing bags right now to go into the unknown. Thank you to those who have been praying. We love you all The Weavers The beginning of August started a huge international seminar in Biera a city about a 45 minute drive from our base, at a church called Peniel, Eric facilitated daily rides to the siminar for our young adults that we teach in our weekly discipleship class. The siminar ended with 4 nights of teaching from Reverend Emmanual Eni from Nigeria, this particular man was a satanist, he gave his testimony and many people were delivered from demonic spirits over the 4 days he shared. I will share more information in my next blog about this. Immediately after the seminar at Peniel our base put on 2 seminars back to back first was a 3 say worship siminar. Worship in Mozambique is something that desperately needs to be taught, the people love to sing and dance but it is typically not done in a reverence toward The Lord. We had the privilege of having two missionaries from Lichinga a town in northern Mozambique in the Niassa Provence, come and teach the pastors and congregation about worship and praise. When this finished we went straight into a teaching seminar on a new book that was written to teach the local pastors foundational knowledge to bring back And teach to their churches. After these seminars we had quite a bit of down time with the exception if getting rooms ready for visitors and starting some new construction for a family that is arriving mid September. The kids stated school on August 11th, so far it has been an exciting change in their schedules. We are in the process if applying for our dires (year long visas). We have run into quite a few road blocks due to corruption in the government agencies that approve these types of visas. We have sent our documents to a neighboring province to see if we can get help from them , with our fingers crossed we wait for good news that we have been approved for our dires. Please be in prayer for this to happen quickly. We are still learning the language, Eric has stated helping with the worship team in the area of organizing practices and running the sound systems. We had an evangelism the last Friday of the month where we went to a village called Malola. This village is located behind a huge sugar plantation in Mafambese, when we arrived we had to get clearance to pass trough the plantation, we were informed that no private entry or exit was allowed after 5:30pm, it was already 4:00 when we learned this news, so we planned on driving out to the village and telling them we would have to cancel and return to stay the night the next week. When we got to the back exit gate the guard allowed us to stay until 6:00 then changed it to 6:30 IF we gave him a solar bible. ( we don't have access to these ). We went to Malola to visit and when we arrived a crowd was waiting for us to set up the film and being evangelism, unfortunately we didn't have time so we were trying to figure out how to minister when one of the guys we brought called the guard at the gate and asked for more time, ( he got his number so he could contact him if he was able to give him a solar bible) praise God he gave is until 8:00 so we set up, showed half the film spoke a message AND had alter time, we arrived at the gate at exactly 8:00!! It was an amazing night of miracles and heavenly favor. Please be in prayer for open doors and wisdom, we would like to start doing bible studies at peoples houses several days a week in the neighboring villages, we need guidance and clarity on where we can do this. We have church and discipleship here on base and several come but anytime that us white people go anywhere we draw a croud so why not use it to HIS advantage and preach the gospel. We are loving it here, I am however sad to be missing yet another Fall season since it is my favorite but blessed to be here among the people of Mozambique. We would love to hear from you, also anyone interested in visiting please contact us and we can give information, we have housing for singles, couples and groups up to 50 people. Love you all The Weaver Family I know that many of the blogs that we write are about things that we do, what we are doing for the kingdom and so forth, I love to share these things with you all because I want to keep you updated with what your support is allowing us to do. I have had a lot on my mind lately and I typically seem to be a very transparent person so I would like to open up our lives to you all in a bit more personal way so that you can see into it a bit deeper. Sometimes when I write a blog or even read one that belongs to a missionary it has the typical fluffy hoo rahs of ministry in them, I don't really ever read or even feel comfortable my self to write some of the things we are faced with on a daily basis on the field, because first I don't ever want to come across as complaining, second I love the people that I come into contact with and have grace for them despite their shortcomings, and third I just assume people at home will simply not understand, and then I will hear all the reasons why I am crazy for doing this whole missions things. OH MY!!
But despite my hesitations I really want to share some personal things with you all so that you can be in prayer with us, for Mozambique and see our lives in more of a reality. Lets start with the obvious, WE ARE LIVING IN AFRICA, this is both amazing and challenging. When we moved here 3 months ago I didn't even know how to make rice – I Know Right- Jalapenos Taco Shop did just fine for me, I knew it was a 2:1 ratio but yea, I have had several black bottom pots (which aren't actually pots as we know them, basically its a plethora of melted down metals that they are making in the dirt in an open market). So, just getting in the habit of making all my food with limited resources was an adventure all on its own, but I have surprised my self, or maybe I’m just hungry?? There are things that you just have to get used to, that really are not a big deal but can be awkward for a bit, like buying fruit and hoping its not ridden with tiny little maggots inside – this isn't Walmart, you don't get a refund here, I have never seen so many fruit flies in my life , they seem to like my counters, but at least its not cockroaches right! Everyday my daughter asks me if the power is going to go out, we just say yes because I am sure at any point it will, so we may as well be prepared. These are all minor things to me and just make me laugh at where God has placed me, but some times my laughing turns to tears and I think “God help me through this”. As I raise my two young children in a third world country I cant help but see all the things they are “missing out on ”, with cousins having birthday parties, lake days, baseball games and water slides, camping, playing, well lets just face it- FRIENDS, I cant help but feel sad inside that I have decided to move my family to a country where my children cannot communicate with anyone their age, pretty much any age, my son and daughter are their own best friend and worst enemy, they have no one else but each other, so they play pretend and I have the joy of petting puppy doggies, twirling princesses and saying "ahoy" to pirates throughout the day. They have adapted as well as they can but I hear a lot about us flying back to America tomorrow, more like begging that we will and how much they miss home, which brings me to tears all over again. A few other things that we face with having youngsters in Africa is knowing that they can never leave our sight because frankly I don't know if I will see them again, teaching them that they cannot go outside with out shoes, because sand worms love toes, and digging these critters our of you kiddos feet is horrifying for a mother. One thing that I have found particularly hard is honoring the culture while still preventing sickness, many times my children are offered food that another child is eating off of, this is where speaking English and not being understood by locals is a benefit. Quite possibly the only benefit. They start school August 11th and are so excited to be learning, and doing something – well, normal kids do. There are many things that I could add to this list that have already come and gone, all of which I have had to deal with in my heart, and more to come as they hit each milestone, I count the cost daily and still cannot find a reason to throw in the towel. So as I mentioned above WE LIVE IN AFRICA and WOW I cant even believe that God had give my family the honor of doing this, when I say family, my kids are included in this, I heard once that when the Lord calls you to the mission field he knows you have kids and they were called too. As I walk with my kids through the curvy paths of the village in to the bush, I watch them play, dodging puddles ridden with fruit peels and trash, listening for motor bikes so they can move when they drive by, I think this is great, my kids are getting something in their childhood that not many western children get, thank you God for choosing us. They see and are a part of hundreds of people getting saved, healed and delivered, they are there when we give new shoes to orphans, when we pray for sick mamas on Sunday morning they place their precious hands on their heads or backs and “pray in their quiet voice”. I really am so blessed that my kids are “ missing out” on some things in life, because when we we choose to die to ourselves, that is when we truly live. This is just a few short things, I will be posting more blogs about daily things that we are facing, everyday we are staring in that face of the demonic, witchcraft, and corruption, we see poverty, war and we manage friendships in a country where people are so easily persuaded they could turn their back on you in an instant, I want to share these personal things with you, and invite you into our world, and in return I ask for prayer, not prayer for me to make it, but prayer for lives to be changed and a nation to be turned to their Father, because when they know Him, they will know LOVE. - Tawnya As July comes to a close I look back and think WOW this was a BUSY month!!It started with Eric having to take a quick trip to Maputo to get a new passport ( the municipal office here in Dondo “lost” his.) After weeks of government communications, police reports and tribunal hearings they ruled in our favor that the Dondo municipal office is to pay all fees and flights that we have had to pay to get a new passport. Its been a month since this ruling and we haven't had a knock on the door yet. It has been quite the adjustment coming from America to Mozambique and seeing the structure or lack of in the government/officials. It's an area that needs continual prayer for breakthrough, corruption is a very common thing here especially in anyone who holds any sort of title, please stand in prayer over this area. We also had the amazing opportunity to have Kenzie and Laura (two young ladies that we had in our youth group years ago) come and spend three short weeks with us. We did six outreaches, many village house to house visits and hospital ministry one of the days. Again we saw many healed, saved and delivered on these outreaches. Not only was it amazing to do ministry along side of these ladies and see them bring the gospel to the people of Mozambique but it was our privilege for them to come all the way to our side of the world and be a part of our everyday lives. It is one thing for us to write a blog and post some photos of where we live, our new friends, and what we do, but to actually have people who we know come and live with us, even for a short while, is so honoring. I have asked the girls to please write a blog that I can share with you in their own words, there were many things that happened spiritually that are better told by the person that encountered them. One particular night on outreach we went to a village about an hour and a half drive into the unknown, Eric delivered the Gospel message and around 100 people raised their hand for salvation, there were about 400 people there that night so we decided to do corporate healing, many raised their hand for healing and many raised their hand after declaring they were healed, God is so amazing. I was standing to the side a bit and a pastor came to me and told me that a woman was needing prayer because she had a hard time hearing in her left ear, as I prayed for her she began to manifest ( which is not uncommon) and then after a short time stopped and said she was better, the same pastor told me that the woman two people down from her could not hear in her left ear, I prayed for her but only saw slight improvement, a few minutes later there had formed a short line and after praying for about five people who were having a hard time hearing in their LEFT ear I got the hunch that there was definitely a spirit over that area of deafness, we called all the deaf or hard of hearing upfront - we prayed for many more people that night and a several testified to being healed. After the girls went home we sat around all day sobbing eating bon bons (you can actually buy these here) - in mourning. Then we packed our bags and headed to Zimbabwe to renew our visas (this means we have been here for 3 months already ). Crossing over the border was quite the adventure to say the least but we managed to get to the other side, after arriving at the Mozambican consulate in Zimbabwe we realized that we were very unprepared and had none of the correct documents to renew our visas, so we ran around trying to get what we needed with little prevail, after four days we crossed back over into Mozambique with a visa stamped with Residencia on it. We have 30 days to apply for a dire to get a one year temporary citizenship permit. While in Zimbabwe we had some good moments despite the chaos, we woke up Sunday morning to dozens of monkeys running ramped on the grounds around our hotel (even one trapped inside), the kids loved it (us too). Later this day we were out for a drive through the Vumba mountains which over look the border of Mozambique and Zimbabwe and we came across a group of baboons crossing the road, then to top the day off we went to a nature reserve and saw a crocodile and two elephants. We are home now, we got some flower beds put in at our house and we planted a bunch of plants and STRAWBERRIES!! It has been an exceptional three months here, we are still doing language learning everyday and planing outreaches, visits and seminars. We are excited for what is to come and the support that we have from home. We love you and miss you all. We would love to hear from you- God Bless You all The Weavers We have been in Mozambique for two months now, and we have really been enjoying all that the Lord has called us to. Time seems to be going by so quickly as we have been involved in so much already and our days are usually very full. A few days after we arrived a team of 17 YWAMers came from their base in South Africa. They were here for almost 3 weeks. During this time we did 11 evangelism outreaches. This is when we go out into different villages and show the Jesus Film, preach, and pray for the sick. Sometimes we just go out for the night if the village is close to the base. If the location is further out we take tents and stay out in the bush for a few nights. Throughout these 11 events we conservatively saw 500 people make a decision for Christ and we witnessed countless healings. We saw God heal the mute, blind, lame, and sick. We were also able to go to some unreached places. Three new churches are in the works to be planted in those areas. After the YWAM team departed we began to get all of our practical day to day things in order. We set up our house a little more to our liking. We also started our language learning. Every day a young man comes over for two hours and does his best to teach us. We enjoy having fun with him. The last two Sundays I have been able to preach. The first Sunday our family went to a village. We had an amazing morning and saw God move mightily and many were healed I also just received a testimony from that morning that a baby that was very sick had been completely healed. Nothing that the doctors did could help but the baby was healed in Jesus' name. We have also started to do more outreaches. We're still building our team and working out the bugs, but God's grace is revealed continually as many people are making decisions to follow Christ, and many are healed and delivered. We always make a point to take the whole family on these outreaches so that Tawnya has opportunity to serve and minister and Lincoln and Haley always have the opportunity to see the hand of God moving. The other area that has opened for us to minister is within the youth of the base church. We meet with these kids every Friday and share with them the kingdom principles and equip them for the work. We are hoping that a lot of our evangelism team will be built from the youth. We have already taken a couple of them on outreach with us which they greatly enjoyed. Tawnya and the kids have been doing very well. We are enjoying the strength of the Lord within our family. Everyone has been very happy and healthy. The weeks to come will be very busy for us. We will be hosting Kenzie and Laura who are good friends and former members of the Faith Tabernacle youth group. They will be coming in a week and staying with us for three weeks. We have many outreaches planned and expect to stay busy with the girls. During the time that they are here I will also be taking a quick trip to Maputo, which is Mozambique's capital. I will be visiting the U.S. Embassy to get a new passport since one of the city municipal offices lost mine. This has been a ridiculous situation as we had to work with the police and the court. We won the case against the municipal office so they have to pay all my expenses for a new passport and visa and pay for my airfare for the trip. Now the big question is going to be if they will actually pay. The likelihood of them having that much money is very low... Please continue to pray for all the ministry and expansion of the Kingdom through all the evangelism and discipleship. Also, we appreciate your prayer for strength in our family, health, and protection. Again, thank you all for your support in all the forms it comes. We are so grateful for God's calling on us and all that are walking along side us and sharing in the reward of the Harvest. We love you all. God Bless! The Weaver Family We're Here!!! We have arrived at our new home in Dondo Mozambique! The last few days have been a whirlwind with packing, traveling, unpacking, and trying to get settled in our new house. I was having trouble earlier today even remembering what day it was. But, we are here, God is so good, and we are excited for what's to come. The last week has been amazing and filled with so many blessings. All of the farewells were very tough, but we were so honored by the support and sending off of our friends and family. We were able to meet up with much of our family in San Francisco for the day before we caught our flight. We enjoyed our time with you all. Thanks for making the trip! Traveling went absolutely flawlessly. We even got extra seats on the our flight from New York to Johannesburg. And then we were blessed with probably the greatest miracle of all. All our baggage arrived safe, in tack, and all at the same time! We also were able to get through customs here in Mozambique WITHOUT even opening one bag! This was such a blessing because they tax on everything they think we might sell. Our house, the base, and even the city has all exceeded our expectations. It truly is beautiful here. Our house was finished just before our arrival. It looks great and is quite comfortable. Just within our first day here we were treated to many things that we did not acquire in Pemba when we were here at the end of last year. Some of those things being: Milk, cereal, real hamburger, and wheat bread in a loaf that actually has equally cut slices. Oh yes, and we can even flush our toilet paper. So to ease many of your thoughts that we were going to be living in mud huts, carrying water on our heads from a murky river, and doing our business in a hole under the stars, sorry to disappoint, but non of those things are a reality. The people and the atmosphere is much different here than what we experienced in Pemba. So far it seems to be more laid back. The people are kind. The kids aren't nearly as aggressive with our kids which is helping Lincoln and Haley adapt a little better than before. Lincoln and Haley are doing very well. They are enjoying our new house, which has actual flooring instead of just concrete so they are able to play on the floor with their toys. We have a team of 17 YWAM missionaries coming from South Africa on Friday, so these next few days are for resting, getting back on schedule, and gearing up for the team to arrive for 20 days of discipleship meetings, conferences, and ministry any many forms. We are thrilled to be here, our next step is learning the language so that we can communicate with people, we have been talking about putting Lincoln in the preschool here on base 3 days a week so that he can start to lean the language and make some friends. We are not sure what our day to day tasks will look like yet but we are ready to jump in where ever we are needed. We will continue to keep you all updated on what's going on and how God is moving here as we continue to get settled and see where He leads. We love you all and thank you for your prayers, support, and involvement in our lives. The Weaver Family Eric, Tawnya, Lincoln & Haley |
Archives
May 2021
Categories
All
|