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Rolland
& Heidi Baker have been in Mozambique for a number of years and within
the last few years they have planted over 3000 churches. They not only preach
and see people saved, healed and raised from the dead, but they also care for
a few hundred orphans and see food multiplied miraculously. Some time ago
Heidi started traveling internationally, speaking at conferences. She's a
powerful woman of God and I can only recommend watching those videos! (There
are two meetings you can watch online by clicking on these links: http://www.tacf.org/livetv/schedule/ctf2001/sb.asx and http://www.tacf.org/livetv/schedule/ctf2001/sh.asx)
From the very first moment I've felt something like a kinship with Heidi
(I've never seen her live), maybe because what she's does is close to what my
vision for Mali is. For that reason I've been praying about visiting her in
Mozambique, something I'd like to do within the next year.
Be inspired and stirred as you read this report - and do look at those photos
if you can!
Claudia
______________________________________________________________________
JESUS ON THE MOVE
Rolland and Heidi Baker
Iris Ministries, Inc.
Maputo, Mozambique
30 April 2002
[Photo links at end of message]
PEMBA, MOZAMBIQUE -- It is late Saturday night, and again we are meeting in
the moonlight among the poor in a far corner of Mozambique. A crowd is
gathered at the front of our unfinished mud, stick and rock church watching
the Jesus film. Children are sitting in the dirt in front of the screen,
squeezed in by adults straining to see over each other. This is Pemba, a
strongly Moslem town on the northeast coast, but everyone we talk to is
hungry for Jesus once they hear about Him. The film goes on and the people
are completely absorbed. They have never seen anything like this.
But I am sitting in the dark off to the side under a tree talking with one of
our pastors, Antonio Tanuekue, from Nampula to the south. He is telling me
about two more resurrections from the dead. A lady from far out of town was
taking her malaria-stricken three-year-old girl to the hospital. On the way
the girl died. The mother knew Pastor Antonio, and she carried her daughter
to his house, which was nearby. For three hours Antonio's wife Florinda
rocked this child's cold, dead body in her arms and prayed for her as the
mother sobbed. Then the girl's head began to get warm, and Florinda and
Antonio began to pray more excitedly. Soon the girl was alive and restored
completely. But at first the mother was so afraid she would lose her daughter
again that she stayed in the pastor's house for three days.
On another recent occasion a mother lost her one-year-old baby girl to
malaria also and brought her to Florinda wrapped in the folds of her African
skirt. And again after about three hours of prayer, this child began to warm
up and came alive too. I find out that many people come to Pastor Antonio for
prayer from all around. They come at any time of day or night, sometimes at
three in the morning, and many are healed. Antonio is very understated, like
our other pastors, not at all anxious for publicity, and concerned that too
much talk will detract from his anointing. But we do want the world to know
that our Jesus does raise the dead, that it is not any more difficult for him
than healing malaria or any other disease, and that it should not be
considered incredible. It is the normal life of God poured out in revival.
Such miracles bring wonderful church growth, and greatly increased devotion
among the families and friends of those involved.
Antonio is our provincial pastor of Nampula Province, also a Moslem area. It
is far from our center in Maputo and we only had our first conference there
last year in a small mud church. Yet in this short time twenty-five churches
have been added around the city of Nampula, and the people are crying out for
more teaching and conferences. All over Mozambique the poor in spirit want
the presence of God more than food or clothes, even in their extreme poverty.
We are often asked what brings about church growth here. Is it our Bible
teaching, Bible school structure, bush conferences, strategy, what? Many
things may be involved, but our own pastors tell us that it is miracles that
bring the people. They go where Jesus heals them, loves them and does things
for them. We might say those things shouldn't be necessary, but our people
are very simple. They don't want to go where they can't feel or appreciate
the presence of Jesus, even if the place is a beautiful, traditional church.
They don't want to exchange their powerful witch doctors for a powerless
church. They want a living God involved with their lives who can be trusted
in everything, and who has more power than any opposition.
In return, of course, our pastors love and serve God. They do so on tiny
amounts of income. They journey huge distances on foot and on jammed,
dilapidated buses over rough roads. They keep preaching and leading the
people without complaint even in famine and disaster. They are burning up
with fervor to bring all of Africa to Jesus. Our national directors are led
by the Holy Spirit. They tell me their dreams and visions. They seem
incapable of negative thoughts. They know our God is in control. They just
want to spend and be spent for Him. They are normal children of the King!
We are just now expanding into Cabo Delgado Province, where Pemba is located.
Heidi and I flew up here to secure an amazing piece of roperty located on a
hill by the ocean surrounded by the grass huts of the poor. It's a big
property, but filled with squatters, and in the center on the very top is the
ruins of a large, old building. We'll repair the walls a bit, cover the
structure with a simple roof, and we'll have a rough shelter for meetings of
thousands of people. We'll just let the warm sea breezes blow through all the
big holes and gaps and make the place a spiritual lighthouse set on a hill
for the whole Moslem community to see.
We are restless and want even more fruit. We can't stay in Maputo and keep
doing the same things. We want more of His Kingdom and His righteousness. We want revival to
keep spreading through Africa, among the poor, among the Moslems, among
everyone, high and low, who is hungry for a Savior who can truly save.
Now it's Sunday back in our little church where we showed the Jesus film last
night. Our local pastor began with fifteen people here and built this place
next to our big hilltop property in anticipation of our arrival. One hundred
fifty are here now, and all want Jesus. We call up our leadership commission
of six for prayer. The Holy Spirit falls on them. They are weeping intensely
and laughing with great joy. They are on the ground worshiping and praying in
tongues. They are hugely moved by the emotions of God Himself. They will lead
our church planting team, and they are supernaturally motivated. The harvest
is ready among the Moslems of the north, and we want to be there.
Back in Maputo at our main center we send out a revival team that comes back
every week with the most wonderful reports. Churches are planted through
miracles. Last week they went up to Xai-Xai, about three hours' drive north
of Maputo. Two years ago the people along the Limpopo River there experienced
the horror of record-breaking floods, but this year they have been suffering
from drought. Our team preached, but the people cried out, "Give us
rain! Pray for rain! Can your God bring rain?" And so the team prayed.
That night an amazing deluge poured down on all of southern Mozambique. The
heavy rain continued for six hours through the night. And the next day 1,200
people showed up at the start of our new church. That's how the Holy Spirit
plants churches...
Up in Malawi where there is serious famine we are grading an old airstrip in
Bangula so we can fly in relief goods. A container is on the way and more are
being planned. Your offerings are coming in. A house is being made ready for
teams, and we have a warehouse for food. Conferences are coming up,
bush-style. Teams are heading that way. Offers of help and cooperation are
arriving from other mission groups. Conditions are still severe. Most
children no longer go to school, as they cannot even eat. The weakest are
dying already. But Jesus is on the move, and we pray the fruit will be great.
May we know Him intimately enough to know exactly how to respond.
Your help and participation with us in the Gospel move us daily. Visitors
keep arriving, saturating our atmosphere with love and intercession, and in
return they are transformed by the grace of God they see among the poor in
this faraway, little-known country. May Jesus have His way with us all. The
Body of Christ is beautiful!
In His great love, Rolland
--
PHOTOS (click on these links when online and your browser should open them)
1) The white building on the hill under the big tree is our property,
surrounded all around by a big Moslem population in their poor huts. http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0416.jpg
2) Inside the ruins on our property, where we have a vision for great revival
meetings for the entire community. Construction teams willing to take on this
challenge and at least put on a roof are welcome! http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0383.jpg
3) Another view of our future church! http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0380.jpg
4) Looking out from the hilltop back toward the community http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0391.jpg
5) Another view of the community from the ruins http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0392.jpg
6) The hilltop building from the outside http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0394.jpg
7) Our first church in Pemba, next to the white ruins http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0393.jpg
8) Heidi speaking in this little church http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0400.jpg
9) The children receiving Jesus http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0407.jpg
10) The children with Heidi, all happy in Jesus! http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0336.jpg
11) That's me, behind the excited kids. http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0338.jpg
12) Our leadership commission receiving prayer http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0409.jpg
13) Touched by Jesus
http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0410.jpg
14) Our children playing, posing and braiding each other's hair on a gravel
pile where we are building more housing at our Zimpeto children's center http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0419.jpg
15) Our Sunday morning gathering at Zimpeto, showing one side of our L-shaped
meeting room, which is actually our dining room http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0433.jpg
16) Our Monday morning staff meeting in our round grass "prayer
hut," where our visitors and Mozambican staff come together to worship
and seek the Lord. http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0437.jpg
17) In our medical clinic at Zimpeto, where a man is being treated for a
severe ulcer on his leg http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0298.jpg
18) Heidi with a lady who came to us in her poverty unable to feed her
triplets because her man ran out on her http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0307.jpg
19) These three form the core of our Mozambican leadership in central
Mozambique. Surprise Sithole, on the right, is our national director. Pastor
Rego, left, and Pastor Joni, right, are provincial pastors of Sofala and
Manica provinces. All three have raised the dead, receive frequent visions
and revelations, and have powerfully fought witch doctors, healed the sick,
planted churches and spread the Gospel with fiery preaching. All are humble,
simple and lowly, and extremely full of the joy of the Lord! http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0241.jpg
20) Surprise, Rego and Joni, along with our missionary Tanneken Fros, in
front of our church at our Dondo property near Beira in central Mozambique
where we have many outdoor conferences, a mud hut Bible school and a medical
clinic. Tanneken moved up to this area from Maputo to help us lead our
northern churches, and is such a hard-working and fruitful servant-lover of
Jesus. http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0242.jpg
21) Some of our Bible school students at Dondo in front of one of our dorms.
These pastors live with the poorest of the poor, are extremely resourceful
and uncomplaining, and are thrilled in their work. http://irismin.org/Media/photos/IMG_0243.jpg
--
Rolland and Heidi Baker, Directors Iris Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 563 No.
654/29 Zimpeto, Av. Mozambique Km. 11 Maputo, Mozambique Tel: +258-82-303-068
Rolland@irismin.org
U.S. mail and support:
1900 Via Sage
San Clemente, CA 92673
USA
Visitor inquiries (dates, travel, preparation, etc.): hospitality@irismin.org
Inquiries regarding container shipments, needs and logistics: Gordon Haggerty
ghaggerty@attglobal.net
Malawi contact:
Pamela Bryan, representing Iris Ministries in Malawi Cellphone in Blantyre:
+265-922-998 pbmalawi@yahoo.com
Web site containing photos, past news, background, visitor info, etc.: http://irismin.org
Los Angeles fax and voicemail
(will be converted and sent to us by email): +1-213-330-0293
Address for packages of donated goods sent by surface mail: Iris Ministries,
Inc. P.O. Box 20017 West Acres 1211 Nelspruit
Canadian support (for tax-deductible receipts): Cheques and money orders
should be made payable to TACF and an accompanying note should indicate the
gift is for Iris Ministries. Donations may also be made using VISA,
Mastercard and American Express by supplying your card number and expiration
date. Mail to: TACF Financial Office 272 Attwell Drive Toronto, ON M9W 6M3
Telephone: (416) 674-8463; Fax: (416) 674-8465
Iris Ministries (UK) Ltd
PO Box 33531
London E2 OFW
UNITED KINGDOM
info@irisministries.co.uk
http://www.irisministries.co.uk
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