Sunday, July 20, 2008

Sixth Week

Sixth Week

Adjusting to the culture and climate of Mozambique, we have enculturated quite well. However, we miss our family, our friends, our home, and American food.  Last week we ended with our 4th of July feast with our home group which included a Scot and a Canadian. It was a blast, but we all realized just how much we missed home.

This week Heidi was having a hard time. Having just returned from the Middle East, she had endured quite a bit of persecution. So she skipped a few verses in her series on the Beatitudes and went right for Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted…” She shared about many times in her journey about how she has been persecuted and God has brought her through. It encouraged her to remember those things, and it encouraged us not to give up when things get hard.

The second time she taught us she went back to where she left off at verse 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” She shared stories from the children she has cared for over the years. One of them was about a little boy who had no family to take care of him because they all died. He came to live and go to school at Iris but he was intent on staying true to his roots as a Moslem. He insisted to them quite beligerantly about how he refused to convert. Heidi took him aside and told him he didn’t have to become a Christian to live here and go to school here, that they would all love him just the way he is regardless of his religion. She went on to say that almost instantly once she revealed to him that he had a choice and it was his choice to make, he told her, “OK then, I really want this Jesus, pray for me!” Heidi encouraged us to look for Jesus in the children, the bible school students, the villagers, etc. Here are a few other points that I took down in my notes but that don’t necessarily go with the theme, as we get off topic quite a bit at times:

-                    Not one of the students or staff present raised their hand when asked if anyone received Jesus in an evangelism meeting.

-                    The hungry always get fed, but not always as soon as they ask. This is a spiritual metaphor for dry times.

-                    Spend time with the broken in hospitals, mental institutions, nursing homes, the homeless, the poor… not to teach them anything or to fix their problems, just to spend time with them and love them.

We also learned from a guy named Paul Black, from Fredricksburg, VA. He taught on the difference between the soul and the spirit. He talked about how once we became followers of Christ, we were predestined to become more like him. That is our destiny. Basically, the difference between the soul and the spirit is that the soul is focused on me, and the spirit is focused on Christ. It’s up to us to discern between the two. He also taught on slavery verses sonship. This was some amazing teaching and he teaches a program called the School of Enoch. He said if anyone was interested  in having him come teach this to their church to contact him. The website is www.cornerstonefellowship.net - we should do this Stephen!  

XOXO,

Darryl & Mimi

P.S. Thank you for all your comments! It blesses us to know you are reading and how it is blessing you to experience with us. I know some of you have had trouble with posting comments, but I know you're reading - thank you. :)

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