MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - New Land and Building Project in Assumane

Assumane, Mozambique
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
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New Land and Building Project in Assumane
God has truly blessed the new church plant in the village of Assumane. The church has outgrown the 20ft X 40ft grass building in a matter of four months. We now have between 15 and 25 adults and well over 100 children attending the church service every Sunday morning, not to mention all of the ministry that takes place during the week in Assumane.
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Assumane is a village of great destiny. There have been so many prophecies over this village, many of which speak about it as being a key to reaching the other villages north of here, others about the Lord bringing about revival through the children of Assumane. We believe that Psalm 24:7 is a key verse to this village’s destiny, which says, “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” With this in mind, we knew that there would be a need to expand in Assumane.

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Earlier this year, Jesse and Peter met with the village secretary and obtained a 20m X 20m plot of land for 600 Meticais (about $20.00) where the existing grass church and latrine was built. Just a few days ago, after praying for more land, Jesse, Victo and I met again with the village secretary, sharing our vision with him about the church and the children’s ministry. We originally began to ask him for 5 more 20m X 20m plots to the left, right and behind the existing church. Can you believe it? He ended up giving us a 60m X 820m plot of land, all the way to the river!!! And we only paid him 600 Meticais (about $20.00) for 5 hectares of land! Praise the Lord for His favor!
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We have started to draw up plans for two new, permanent brick buildings with metal roofs to be built on this new land. One will be a new 40ft X 80ft church building, where we will have combined worship with the children on Sunday mornings. The other will be a new 40ft X 120ft children’s ministry center with four classrooms and a huge open area. The children will then go to this building during the time of teaching on Sundays to receive age-appropriate teaching. And there will be much, much more going on in these buildings during the week. We just haven’t had any place suitable to house all the things we’ve been doing in Assumane as of yet. Along with these two new buildings, we will be constructing a new sign and planter bed, and new well to be dug that the entire village can come to get clean water (thanks to Remnant Christian Fellowship of Walnut Creek, California, my dad’s church and our other home church where we have ministered at during different seasons over the past 16 years, raising money during this past Christmas season). Also, there are future plans for a playground, a parking lot, a place where a future care-taker can have a home and machamba (garden), and a covered fellowship area. Construction of these new buildings costs so little in comparison to what it would cost in the U.S., yet still adds up. Please join with us in prayer for the release of finances for this new building project. Already we have saved a portion of our personal financial support for this construction, but we will need much more. Where God guides, He provides. Let us know if God stirs any of your hearts about giving toward this project specifically.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - Christmas Time in Lichinga

Lichinga, Mozambique
Friday, December 25, 2009
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Christmas Time in Lichinga
With the birth of Jesse and Tanya’s baby, things around here have been a little hectic. We were able to spend Christmas Eve last night at the Wilcox home, where all of us missionaries with IRIS spent the evening together (except for Jesse, Tanya and Zoe who stayed back at our place). We had a time of prayer, a gift exchange and shared a meal together. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve.

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Usually on Christmas morning we have had a tree and done gifts with our own family. Here on the mission field, it isn’t exactly the same. We bought each other gifts last week and just gave them to each other then. This morning, I took the flatbed truck, “Faithful” up to Asumani, picked up most of the adults from the church there, and traveled to Paul and Graca’s church, “Igreja Dos Santos,” where we had a combined Christmas celebration with both churches. There was a lot of singing and dancing, prayer, testimonies and teachings from the word of God. I got up and gave my testimony in a very animated way which had a lot of people laughing. I gave a message from Luke 1-2 on the coming of the King, Jesus, and about God sending John the Baptist to prepare the way for the King. I talked about how when a king was going to travel through a land, he would send out messengers before him who would announce his coming and literally clear the roads of debris. I talked about how we need to clear the road into our heart from the debris of sin, that Jesus, the King, may enter. I also talked about the second coming of Christ, and how we are all messengers, preparing the way for His second coming. Victo translated into Yao and Paul translated into Chichewa. I also served communion and had Paul assist me so that he can continue to serve it in his church. We then shared a meal of rice, beans and fish heads.

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After we drove everyone back to Asumani, I just came back home and have been enjoying this Christmas afternoon with the family. I pray that the Lord would bless you all this Christmas day, and would draw you closer to Himself.

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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - A New Edition to the Family

Lichinga, Mozambique
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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Zoe Joy Gellatly – A New Edition to the Family
Tonight, the newest edition to our family and missionary team came into this world. Zoe Joy Gellatly was born to Jesse and Tanya Gellatly, our dear friends and fellow missionaries here in Lichinga, Mozambique. She was born at 9:32 pm and weighed in at 8 lbs, 1 1/2 oz. Tanya is really a hero. She had the baby in our home with the help of her midwife, Sandra (a YWAM missionary here in Lichinga) as well as from some others. No hospital. No delivery room. No medication. Just all natural, here in Africa. Little Zoe is the cutest little thing as you can tell from the pictures.

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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - A Christmas Message

Assumane, Mozambique
Monday, December 21, 2009
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A Christmas Message
Had a Christmas service today at the church in Assumane. It was a wonderful time of celebration. It is a wondrous sound, hearing the Yao believers singing praises to their Savior, Jesus Christ. I gave the message today out of Matthew 1:18 - 2:16 and told the story of Jesus’ birth. I also talked about how Satan, through king Herod, wanted to come after and kill Jesus after he had heard of his birth, and talked about the similarity of how Satan also tries to come after us and kill Jesus in us after we give our lives to follow Him. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I had some volunteers come forward and play the part of the lion and the animals the lion hunts, showing that the lion waits for the weaker animals to stray from the herd and chooses them as its’ prey. We talked about straying from God and from the body of Christ. I talked about how many times after conversion, problems arise in life, or we get persecuted from others, and that the enemy often whispers into our ears, “See, things were better when you weren’t following Christ. Go back to your sins and it will all be better.” We had a time of prayer where people were given opportunity to return to Jesus who came to the earth as a man many years ago. There was more singing and worship.
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After the service, those who were present, which was about 140 children and 30 adults, walked together to Phineas’ house where some of the IRIS missionaries, especially Rachel and Melissa, had planned a Christmas party for the church. There were games, chicken and rice, bottles of soda and then at the end, balloons given away as the people left. It was a wonderful time. Rachel’s church back in England funded this party, and the people were so happy. This was our Christmas celebration here in the village of Assumane as a church.

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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - Seven Baptisms

Lichinga, Mozambique
Saturday, December 19, 2009
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Seven Baptisms
A little over a week ago, some friends named Paul and Graca came by to meet with us at our house. Paul and Graca have an amazing testimony. Graca was saved maybe two years ago at a makeshift grass church building that once existed right in front of the house we now live in (it just fell down while we were in Pemba, but had been unused since the church in Asumani was planted in September), under leadership of Jesse and Tanya and other missionaries on the IRIS base. Soon after her salvation, Graca began to have incredible encounters with the Holy Spirit, being baptized and filled with the Spirit. Not much later, Jesse and Tanya water baptized her in a murky fish farm. Graca’s husband, Paul, had been a believer, yet was not walking with God, but trying very hard on his own to begin businesses, raising chickens and selling mobile phones. Yet God has such a strong call on Paul’s life, that his businesses never really thrived, and God had been telling Paul that he was only to serve Him in ministry. About a year ago, Paul fully surrendered to this call of God on his life.
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Paul and Graca have planted a church on their land in their village in Lichinga. The building they use was once the place where Paul raised chickens. The name of their church is, “Igresia Dos Santos.” Paul and Graca have continued to stay very close to our hearts and a huge part of our lives. Paul has attended our leadership conferences at the IRIS Bible School, and both Paul and Graca have accompanied us on evangelistic outreaches. These guys are ON FIRE for Jesus. They have lengthy prayer meetings daily at their church, often with periods of fasting. Many, many people have come from their village and from other places because the healing power of God is so great at their church. Even people from other churches are coming to them because they aren’t seeing the power of God in such mighty ways at their various churches. They operate a bit like a hospital. People come and get healed. Some stay and become members of their church. Others go back to their own churches. Paul and Graca don’t mind. Only that God is glorified. They are being faithful with what God has called them to. One lady was paralyzed and now can move and walk once again. Another lady was mentally handicapped and couldn’t talk but now is in her right mind and speaking once again. God is showing up in huge ways at Igresia Dos Santos.

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For some reason, these two lovely followers of Christ who should be teaching us how to walk with God came to us over a week ago with various questions. This time, as they came over, they asked us how to do water baptisms and how to serve communion. We answered their questions and agreed to accompany them as they were to have their first ever water baptisms with new converts from their church this Saturday. So today, Jesse, Bona, Victo, Carlos, Jonas and I all rode motorbikes into town to their church and, after a time of singing and praying, took a walk for many kilometers up and down many hills spotted with houses and machambas (gardens) all the way to a river big enough to have baptisms. Paul and I got into the very cold water waist deep and baptized six women from their church. Paul had been teaching on water baptism for the past couple of weeks at their church, but I said some things about it’s significance before we had the baptisms. There was prayer, singing and rejoicing as these excited new converts decided to take that step of obedience to Christ and symbolically die to their old lives under the water, and come up out of the water as new creations in Christ in the presence of their peers who walked with us to the river. Carlos also wanted to be baptized, so Victo, who has been discipling him, got into the water and baptized him as well. Thank you Jesus, for letting us take part in these baptisms today. Please continue to pray for Paul and Graca, as they relentlessly serve Jesus, day in and day out. They are not paid to be full-time pastors, yet God miraculously provides for their every need.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - Salvation and Healing at the Hospital

Lichinga, Mozambique
Monday, December 14, 2009
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Salvation and Healing at the Hospital
Today I had the opportunity to accompany some friends and fellow IRIS missionaries to the hospital in Lichinga to do some ministry. My friend Tyren started this ministry a while back here in Lichinga and let me tell you, it is an awesome ministry. Tyren, Victo, Melissa, Chanito, Peter and I all headed to the hospital at around 3:30 pm today, praying as we drove through Lichinga to get there.

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We all went together into various hospital rooms where Mozambican men, women and children were staying, many of them with the look of fear or desperation in their faces. Our purpose in going? To share the love of Jesus, to pray for the sick and to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to them. Most of them I had the chance to pray for were professing Muslims, yet their children who were sick had witchcraft from the witch doctors tied around their necks. I was able to talk to them in Portuguese, explaining to them that we were believers in Jesus, and that Jesus has the power to heal their children, but that the witchcraft around the necks of their children displeases God and will actually hinder them from being healed. Both sets of families actually were very open to cut the witchcraft off of their children and have us pray for them. I had Peter and Chanito explain the gospel of Christ in more detail. Not only did the families forsake the witchcraft and have us pray for their children to recover, but they all received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. It was amazing!
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We also prayed for others, many of them children. Others also prayed to receive Christ. So significant was the fact that we were able to share the love of Christ with them all, through a touch, or a smile. Tyren even gave a brand new Portuguese Bible to one of the nurses there, praying and prophesying over her. I truly believe that this is where Jesus wants us to be…among the sick and the hurting…bringing hope to the hopeless. Jesus hung out around sick people all the time when He walked the earth…and the people were healed. Jesus said that “greater things than these” we WILL do and that “these signs WILL follow those who believe…they WILL lay hands on the sick and they WILL recover.” His will is that we do His will. “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven there is no sickness or pain. We simply want to invite the Kingdom of heaven and the will of God to invade this earth realm. I pray that wherever you are right now, that God would stir your hearts to lay hands on sick people and watch the Kingdom of God take place through you.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - Learning the Yao Language

Lichinga, Mozambique
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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Learning the Yao Language
We believe that part of being a successful missionary is learning the heart language of the people who you are ministering among. This is something we have been able to focus on lately here in Lichinga, among other things, during the rainy season. So we have been hitting the language studies.
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The Yao language is in the Bantu language family (as is Swahili and other languages) and is a very unique language. Learning the language is more than just trying to read and say words and phrases in Yao; it is listening to the Yao people speak, and trying to use what we learn in everyday conversation with the Yao people.
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We are so blessed to have a few resources in Yao to make learning the language easier. We have two sets of written material, one that also has mp3s along with it, so you can actually hear the Yao speaker and try to follow along. We all have notebooks that we copy this written material into by hand, and then practice speaking as we listen to the mp3s on our iPod. This has been helpful. I have also been blessed to find one out of print Yao New Testament (which I purchased from another missionary at a moving sale), that is more of the Malawi Yao, but still understandable to those here in Mozambique. I’ve been bringing my Yao Bible to the villages and just reading Scripture passages to the people who gather to hear. This helps in language learning, to be able to read it aloud.

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Maybe you would like to learn a few simple Yao phrases with us. One greeting we often give is to say, “ntendele” which means, “peace.” To greet someone in the morning you would say to them, “Adjimwiche wudi?” which literally means, “have you passed the morning?” The response would be, “Nyimwiche, kwadi ajetu?” which literally means, “I have passed the morning, and you?” One of my favorite phrases in Yao is, “Isa akunonyela mwejo n’nope,” which means, “Jesus loves you very much.” This are just a few simple phrases. Please pray that God would give us acceleration in learning the Yao language, that we would be able to communicate to the Yao people in their heart language, pray with them, and even teach God’s word to them. Using interpreters is okay, but speaking to them in their language really opens up the doors to their hearts, and brings big smiles to their faces as white people attempt to speak their language.
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Christian Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2009 - Graduating from Mission School

Pemba, Mozambique
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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Graduating from Mission School
Two days ago, our family, including Jonas, Jordan and Justine graduated from IRIS Harvest School of Missions HS11. It was a glorious time. We actually were graduated five days early as we needed to get back to Lichinga for Tanya to have the baby. So with all of our fellow students and the mission school staff present, Heidi and Rolland Baker had our family come forward where they graduated us.

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Graduating from mission school was much more than just receiving certificates of graduation from Heidi and Rolland. They actually laid hands on us, along with Mel Tari, author of “Like a Mighty Wind” and a key leader in the Indonesian revivals, prophesying over us and speaking words over our lives. We actually got it all on mp3, which is cool. Even the mission school staff and students came up and prayed over us and prophesied. It was amazing! They also had Jesse and Tanya come forward to pray over us as a missionary team. There were a lot of things said about being a new model for missions, reaching the unreached peoples and even a future boat ministry going from island to island. Heidi Baker even ordained us missionaries with IRIS Ministries. I feel so unworthy, yet so honored and favored by God to be a part of such a wonderful family in IRIS Ministries. It was a wonderful finish to the past couple of months of mission school. We have been deeply impacted because we attended the school and God has fanned the flame of the Holy Spirit within us, preparing us for the next season of our journey as missionaries.
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Christian Young

IRIS Harvest School of Missions HS11 2009 Staff and Students