Lichinga, MozambiqueSaturday, 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
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
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