MOZAMBIQUE 2012 - Washing Feet

Pemba, Mozambique

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

.

Washing Feet

This past Sunday we went to church [here] at the Pemba Iris base. We had a really great time and I particularly enjoyed seeing the indigenous Mozambicans getting filled with the power of God, [being] ignited by God’s passion and then being sent out from there into their villages to live out the gospel. It was also awesome to see Mozambicans praying for the westerners that were in church that day. It was an overall amazing day!

.

Two days later we took the opportunity given to us to lead worship for the morning class at Harvest School of Missions. It was such a great time to see the presence of God touch the hearts of all the students and staff. For those that know me, leading worship and seeing heaven touch earth so that we never return the same is absolutely one of my favorite things in the world.

.

Today’s class was so impacting! We were able to witness the act of foot washing, one of the most humbling acts, between both students to Mozambicans, and then Mozambicans to students. It was so good to see, and to watch both groups be able to bless and pray for each other as well. Overall, we’ve had a busy, but amazing time at the Harvest School of Missions (HS16) in Pemba, Mozambique.

.

Jonas Young

MOZAMBIQUE 2012 - Arrival in Pemba

Pemba, Mozambique
Saturday, June 23, 2012
.
Arrival In Pemba

After many long flights and layovers, we safely arrived in Mozambique. We are settling in to our new home in the student compound here at the Iris base. We are so blessed as they literally just finished our room the day before we arrived. We have our own bedroom and bathroom and share a kitchen and dining room with two other families.

.

We've hit the ground running. We have been connecting with many of the students and staff daily. The day after we arrived Nathan and Sarah passed the mantle of leading the school onto us in class. Then we got to listen to Heidi Baker speak. She and Rolland are my favorite teachers, even though so many anointed international teachers come to speak here at the Harvest School of Missions. Later that night we got some "floor time" with Nathan, Sarah, Pamela, Tony and Papa Rolland at the Maxwell's home. Yesterday we had three separate staff meetings in order to get to know all 39 staff members better, pray for one another and hear their hearts. Today an Australian student drove me into town where I picked up a small 50cc motorbike for dirt cheap in order for us to be able to get around town while we are here. We named our new motorbike, "Revelation." We are so excited to be here and Holy Spirit is crashing in on us at HS16. Everyone has so welcomed us in the Spirit as the new school leaders. We feel so at home. Please continue to pray for us. We are so desperate for more of His presence and for the strength to be able to complete the task He has placed before us. Love to you all!

.

Christian Young

JAPAN 2012 - Iris Relief Japan VIDEO

PERU 2012 - NEW Amazon Jungle Adventure VIDEO

UNITED STATES 2012 - SEVEN YEARS of FacePlant Skate Church VIDEO

PERU 2012 - Our Journey Through Peru

The solid black lines are where we traveled by car and bus. The dotted black lines are where we traveled by plane. The double black lines are where we traveled by boat.

PERU 2012 - Machu Picchu: Claiming the Inca Empire for Jesus

Aguas Calientes, Peru

Sunday, March 25, 2012

.

Machu Picchu: Claiming the Inca Empire for Jesus

I feel blessed beyond measure that our team was able to travel to Machu Picchu, which is considered one of the "seven wonders of the world." We flew from Lima to Cusco last week and stayed two days in order to get acclimated to the elevation of 10,000 feet. From Cusco we took a bus two hours north, then hopped on a train for another hour and a half and arrived at the city of Aguas Calientes. We stayed at a nice hotel, but were only able to get a few hours of sleep since we were wanting to travel to Machu Picchu early in the morning in order to watch the sunrise over the ruins. So at 5:30 am we boarded another bus that would take us a half an hour up the mountains to Machu Piccu.

.

The only word to describe the ancient city of Machu Picchu is breath taking. We were able to climb different trails in order to get different views of the ruins and also explored the ruins. As a part of our group package deal, we were able to take a guided tour of Machu Picchu. Our guide was a Quechua man who filled us in on the very interesting history of Machu Picchu as well as the Inca civilization itself.

.

The city of Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911, and was most likely built in the 1500's. Machu Picchu is one of one hundred Inca sites, all which have a tremendous amount of importance to the indigenous people. Many people make pilgrimages to all one hundred sites, which represent one hundred constellations, and perform various rituals that are required. The Inca people worship the sun which they call, "Father Sun," and the earth which they call, "Mother Earth." Every morning the residents of Machu Picchu would welcome "Father Sun" with singing and dancing. Machu Picchu is the name of the large mountain overlooking the Inca city. No one really knows the name of the city. Within the mountains that overlook the city one can see what the people say look like a condor and a puma, both which hold spiritual significance both to the Inca and the pre-Inca civilizations. The condor was said to be the vehicle which would carry the spirit of the deceased to "heaven," and the puma represents strength, which marked the Inca empire. The Inca were hard workers, which enabled them to not be conquered by the Spanish until later in their history. In fact the Spanish never made it to Machu Picchu. There is the Inca trail which runs 84 kilometers to Cusco. This is significant because it helps modern historians understand better the relationship between the different Inca cities. In fact, in order to get messages from city to city, relay runners would be camped every two kilometers along this trail and hand off ropes made from different colors and with knots in various places, which the Inca would easily be able to decifer. Each Inca city, including Machu Picchu had a high priest who would never eat meat and had demonic powers to be able to know the past, present and future. There is even a hidden city called, "Paititi" which is said to contain ancient Inca gold. The Spanish took 1% of this gold on boats back to Spain, but 99% of this gold is still said to be hidden in the jungles. It is also said that the Inca guard this treasure and that anyone with the spirit of the white man can never see it. In fact, some of the tribes in these regions are still cannibalistic who kill and eat foreigners. In the midst of such darkness, there are many things in the Inca culture that we believe would be eternity in their hearts, yet have been twisted by the enemy. For example, the Inca use the rainbow flag and it represents their anticipation of the last Inca who will return someday to save their people. We were able to glean quite a bit about the Inca civilization from our Quechua guide.

.

All of this insight into the Inca empire caused our team even more so desire to worship, take communion and in unity usher in the Kingdom of God into the region. And this is just what we did. We believe that the strongholds of the area were confronted as we pleaded the blood of Christ over the land. We sang together. One of our team members had a song that God had given her to sing at the top of Machu Picchu. She also heard from God that we should shout a call and response from Machu Picchu. It went like this, "Who enters the gates?" The response being, "The Lord strong and mighty! The Lord mighty in battle!" Our team linked arms and yelled this chant at the top of our lungs. As we did this, a security guard came and blew his whistle in our faces ordering us to stop. He said that we were yelling like crazy people. Full of laughter, we responded, "Somos locos por Jesucristo," or in English, "We are crazy people for Jesus Christ!" We saw the security guards heart melt with the love of Jesus as we hugged him and loved on him. What a great way to end our day at Machu Picchu. Heaven knows the full extent of what took place as our team gathered in warfare prayer on behalf of the indigenous people who have been in bondage for centuries.

.

Christian Young