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Maputo, Mozambique - Global Awakening Report
June 30, 2004

"Tom Ruotolo" tom@globalawakening.com

Children's Center Report

On June 2, 2004 our team of 17 arrived in Maputo Mozambique at Iris Ministries Children's Center. There were also 14 of the travel team with us the first 3 days. Their report has already been sent. We had bonded quickly with all of them and had some powerful fellowship as a group before they left for the bush and northern Mozambique.

The team at the Children's Center came from all over the United States, ages 11 to 69! None of us had been to Africa before. We were in awe that God had chosen us for such a mission. Everything felt strange. Because we were in Africa we had come with low expectations for our accommodations. We were pleasantly surprised to have bunk beds, mosquito netting, warm blankets, and a pleasant (though very basic) dining room in which to eat and hold our casual gatherings. Iris Ministries does an extraordinary job in caring for visitors. It is a drain on them because the flow of visitors is constant, about 1200 a year, and yet they showed us only grace and love.

Every Monday evening lists of possible outreaches were posted. We could sign up for whatever we felt led to do. There was no pressure to do anything. In fact, we could have slept all day had that been our desire! But we were eager to experience all God had for us.

Being on the compound itself was life changing. The place is swarming with 550 children, all in need of love. Not all are orphans. Many have been abandoned by their parents. Many have been removed from their homes due to abuse from step fathers. We walked in the compound with children hanging around our necks, arms around our waists....they needed endless hugs. We sat in the thick sand and told them about our families and heard about theirs. They love to hear about America. It was a pleasant surprise to find many speak English, some better than others, so we always had an interpreter at our side.

Many mornings we joined them in their dining hall for a breakfast of bread and tea. They have this good bread six days a week. There is no butter or jam. They are the fortunate ones who have breakfast every day. We also had lunch and dinner with them on occasion, which was always rice with a bean or vegetable sauce. Like they always do, we sat on low benches and ate with our hands. Not a morsel of their food goes to waste! One boy told me, "I have it very goot here....God is very goot to me. I have a bed, and I have food. Jesus is the best part here." His desire is to grow up and preach in America. He knows America is falling away from his "goot" God.

We also had our hearts broken in the Children's House. Several AIDS babies are there. At 4:30 every afternoon part of our team tried to take part in the daily prayer time for these sick children. One baby had been brought to the Center by the police the day before we arrived. The mother of this child had left the baby on the doorstep of the police station. The baby was given a name and a birth date and now has a home at the Center. Team members spent hours holding and praying for that tiny child. The fact the police brought the baby is indication of growing favor Iris Ministries has in the community. It was not always so due to distrust of white people.

At the present time there are 70 pastors in the Pastor's School at the Center. Every morning they are up 5:30, praying at the gates of Iris Ministries. They attend school on the compound for three months, then go out to minister. This schedule is repeated for 4 years before they graduate. We were impressed with their commitment to Jesus. We came to know several of them quite well, as they were our guides when we went to the outreaches. Their hearts are to reach their people, to minister to those in darkness every day. We attended two Pastor's meetings where we heard their testimonies and joined them in lively worship with dance and much joy!

We had heard much about the Boccaria, or dump. This is where Heidi Baker began her ministry, bringing in children from the dump. We had seen its fires as we flew into Maputo. The following day we loaded onto a flatbed truck and drove to the Boccaria. Many of us walked the dump, horrified that people actually lived in that awful place. The dump seemed to go on and on for acres. It literally looks like a mountain range of garbage. The stench was awful as were the flies. The slime of the garbage covered our shoes with every step. We walked crying out to God, "how can this be?" We choked back the sobs as we saw men making their homes on or under a rock. People flocked to the big garbage trucks in order to be the first to go through the new deliveries. They were the fortunate ones. We watched women hunched over a huge pile of wet, dirty garbage, picking out anything worthwhile with a stick. The flies were everywhere, giving the pile a dark, black look. No one refuses prayer. We were grateful for the Portuguese we had learned so we could pray for these precious people in their own language. We hugged them and told them Jesus loves them, and invited them to church.

And there were several hundred children who filled the small reed structure for church. We all sat in the dirt as Heidi preached, all the while holding a child in each arm. Each of us had many children in our laps. Such dirty, dirty children. Such precious little people! And they send a chorus of praise to our Father that He must absolutely adore! Many adults were there too. We had communion of bread wetted by water. We prayed for the sick, for those who wanted Jesus, and we gave out huge, huge sacks of big chunks of bread. And we were amazed that people in Africa who have nothing still sing of a God who fulfills every need.

One afternoon part of our team walked the Boccaria in the section where there are homes. These homes were made out of towels, burlap, burned tin (originally intended to be a roof), and some were concrete block homes Iris Ministries has built. We were invited into a tiny home made out of junk. It looked like it would collapse with a whisper of wind. We entered that filthy hovel and prayed for the mother who had broken her leg climbing the dump in search for food. We knelt on the bed because it filled every inch of space in the house. Later we brought her food.

In another tiny dwelling a young teenaged girl lay in the dirt burning with fever, probably from malaria. Her brother, probably 9 or 10, had a swollen face from infection. There is no antibiotic, no penicillin, no Tylenol. Though we gave out what we had. In Africa you don't fear lawsuits from giving medication. This girl and her brother represent the many Iris Ministries has rescued.

Public transportation was a hurdle many on our team had to jump. It didn't look particularly safe. Most conquered that fear by riding the Chappas often. These are small white vans, most in terrible condition. They never turn down a fare, so even if there were 6-8 of us needing a ride, a full van would stop and somehow we'd pile in. Our African pastors took wonderful care of us, many times turning down a Chappa in order to choose one they felt was safer. There were times we gave extra money in order to bribe a driver to take us back to the Center!

Our visits to the hospital had a powerful impact on our team. It was a large group of buildings, all very dirty. We were appalled this is where people came for health care. In the States these buildings would have been destroyed. Before we entered the hospital we purchased bananas, oranges, yogurt and other foods sold in little stands by the families of the patients. This was their way of raising money to pay the hospital bill. We gave out a lot of food because patients are responsible for their food, bedding and even bandages when in the hospital. So, if a patient has no family, he has no bedding or food.

The first patient we encountered the first time was a tiny baby whose head was the size of a large oval watermelon. Jesus was allowing us to look into the eyes of a baby we'd only seen on television. This time we couldn't turn the channel. Our African guide from Iris fed the baby yogurt. He goes there every day because the baby has no one else. We prayed for healing for many, many patients. There were several burn victims. There was no medication for pain. We saw many children with faces swollen horrifically. One girl also had a mushroom-like growth that covered her entire mouth. Every room was a fresh onslaught of misery and seemingly hopelessness. And the hospital itself was filthy, pills dispensed from rusty jars, with no sign of IV's hooked up.

And yet, we felt Jesus filling that place! As praise and worship went to Heaven, He sent His presence. We didn't see the miracles ourselves, but later in the week when team members returned, 61 people had been dismissed, and the following day, 21 more had been dismissed. Maybe God didn't allow us to see the miracles in order that we'd not think it had anything to do with us!

There were members of our team who had opportunity for 1-2 nights in the bush. They returned with glowing tales of salvations, baptisms and healings. They walked in the dirt and rode in the back of trucks. They were awakened every hour in the night to a cackling rooster! And they "bathed" with a square of a wet one! Yes, there was humor too! Almost everyone had opportunity to preach through an interpreter---and with no prior warning!

One evening 4 of us attended the weekly homegroup in one of the boys' dorms at the Children's Center. During their rousing worship (we'll never forget their worship) one of the boys whispered, "will you preach?" I said no, of course not, assuming the educator (men in charge of the dorms) would preach. This boy insisted I preach and seemed so disappointed I had refused him. Sure enough, after worship the educator asked if we'd like to preach! What a thrill to "preach" with this young boy as my interpreter.

The week we were in Maputo an African Council was being held in the city. The government took the street kids into a large park in order to minimize the embarrassment the homeless might cause. One of the Iris pastors took this as his cue to minister every day to these kids. We were in that park most days and evenings that week. Again, the darkness was startling in contrast to the bright light of Jesus in the Children's Center. But now we were reminded that the 550 children in the Center came from this kind of life. These kids' lives were the street. Joanne was a young woman we'll not soon forget. She was very sick, lying in the dirt with a thin, thin sheet wrapped around her. We treated her eye infection and slipped granola bars and a bottle of water under her sheet in hopes it wouldn't be stolen from her. One of our team members gave Joanne her lovely sweater, another gave her jacket.

In early evening we had a church service, led by 2-3 pastors from the Iris Center. We encountered warfare. A gang of young men seemed determined to interrupt. Even when we moved away from their commotion, they followed us. Suddenly one of the young men made a dive with a broken bottle in an attempt to tackle another. One of our team members made a flying leap to intercept the bottle, his Bible in one hand, his ukulele in the other! When he got him to the ground, he told him Jesus loved him! As we continued to pray, sensing danger all around us, God's Spirit overcame the darkness and during that meeting 15 young people gave their hearts to Jesus. When I prayed initially for Anna a demon immediately began to manifest. Niko (the African pastor who went with us) and I prayed and the demon left, after which Anna gave her heart to Jesus!

Every day we encountered the life changing difference of Jesus Christ. He makes ALL the difference. Even in Africa He is enough! He has given these children a future, and a hope. And they know it! More than once they were given opportunity to pray for us. Oh my, the power of God in their hands---we knelt in the dirt or the concrete and wept and wept, knowing God was changing us through their prayers. We loved them. We brought them home in our hearts. They have been rescued, but they are still without mother and father. Hugging them was one of the greatest privileges God has extended to us. The cry of our hearts is, "God, complete what You began in us....show us what is next."

If any of you are considering a missions trip, if you sense God is pulling you in that direction, say yes! Every member of our team could tell you stories of God's miraculous intervention as He made it possible for the Mozambique trip. Financially there was ample supply even though it looked impossible for many. As individuals faced fears, God took over and produced radiant faces of joy! It was something to behold watching people blossom with the joy and confidence of God! If He calls you, He has ever detail already figured out. He is faithful, a very "goot" God!

Thank you for the privilege of reporting what our team encountered!

Pat Windel for the 17 Global Team members who were at the Iris
Ministries Children's center
Mozambique, Africa

http://globalawakening.com


Location: Mop, Mozambique
Website: http://globalawakening.com