Jul/Aug 2013
Jul/Aug 2013 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of our Lord. Luke 4:18-19
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22
Dear Friends, A
fter graduation in June, Jeosafá ventured out on a follow-up excursion to two different areas in the Zambzia province. This is a vital part of our ministry and pulls the whole vision together into completeness as we can minister to men on the field and be an encouragement and source of accountability. Leaving at Nacala at 4am and braving the Mozambican ‘special’ transport (see pictures!) for 14 hours before stopping for the night and carrying on another 7 hours the next day, Jeosafá took Pedro, our new carpentry instructor, to Magiga to interview past graduates of the Vocational Centre and see how they are doing. From there they travelled west another 15 hours to Milange, where we have a high concentration of graduates. Being July, it was winter in Africa, and decidedly cooler with cloud cover and rain and low temperatures! It takes courage to ride a truck for hours in that! We are proud of Pedro and Jeosafá for their commitment while they connect with the men, encouraging them to continue applying the knowledge God has given them, which enables them to live an abundant, fulfilled life in all areas.
Travel by Chappa ~ anything that will stop and pick you up for a fee! Cover photo: Raimundo Marques at his house/workshop in Milange.
Ernesto Mbamo outside his workshop in Milange.
Armando Ernesto lives in Mauza and is married with three children. He came through the carpentry school a year ago and is pastoring in the area. His workshop is next to his house and he is very dedicated to his work, which is well finished and good quality. He has acquired more tools, and has enough work and a stable monthly income, but he does not know how to take what he has and use it to expand his business to the next level. Ernesto Mbamo attends a local evangelistic church. He has a great workshop in his home, and has all the tools he received in school, and does an excellent job with the wood. His designs are of good quality and finish and he earns a stable monthly income. Taunisio Candieiro lives in the town of Belua where he is the local pastor and has a good reputation in the area. He has a family full of girls! He does good work and acquired more tools ~ he bought a handsaw and hired some workers to fell trees to get his own wood. He has a good monthly income, however, he did not know how to manage his business now that it has grown beyond his original plan with such success! That is a good problem to have! Raimundo Marques was the top student of his class in 2012 in terms of quality of work. He has not slowed down, and is undoubtedly the best carpenter of all visited. His work is perfect and very well finished. Joints and plaining are excellent. He has many customers and received much praise for his work. On a borrowed motorbike through mud and rain and bitter cold, Pedro and JeosafĂĄ set off to visit Tonequesse Malela. He came through the carpentry school in 2008, and is a man of advanced age, but a hard worker who shows great affection for his wife and is pastor of the local church. His workshop is in his home and does his work with satisfactory quality. On the other hand he has few orders and so has not been able to develop his business further.
Costa Savala and Agostinho Marques are leaders of the local church and work together as neighbors and business associates. The workshop is at Agostinho’s home facing the road where people have good access. Costa and Agostinho have developed good quality work and acquired new tools with the profits. They have an electric drill with a set of keys, doors, clamps, planes, hammers and squares all purchased with the proceeds of the woodwork. Their monthly profits are good and Agostinho has a vision to build houses on his plot to rent and thus increase the monthly income.
Inhaminga Inputs
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nnual conference time at Inhaminga was incredible. The first of two weeks of meetings started with the General Conference, Inhaminga Bible School Graduation and a Pastoral Leadership Conference. The second week was set apart for Team Time - Afrika Wa Yesu team members being ministered to by their leaders, a spiritual ‘refuel’! During conference time the AWY Team organised a very special Kids’ Conference, for all the AWY team kids. The theme was “Missions Around the World”, and the kids ‘travelled’ to different continents on different days, learning about cultures and languages and well-known missionaries who have gone to those areas to tell people about Jesus. They boarded a plane each morning (chairs pushed together with belts attached for seatbelts) and watched a simulation of a plane taking off, Captain’s announcements, and so on, with a video projector. For ‘in-flight entertainment’, the Kids Team had put together videos of the lands they were travelling to. It was all so well done and the Kids Team had as much fun as the kids themselves!
Pastor Oliver Raper from Christian Vision in Cape Town, ministered the Word with authority and clarity. It was an honour to meet and spend time with him and his precious wife, Brigette.
New Students... New Classes!
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eturning from Inhaminga conference time with renewed vision and vitality, we all dove into organising the school for the second term of this year - calling students, cleaning, calling more students, discussing coursework, planning menus, calling students again... This term we are training AWY ministry team members in practical maintenance matters - a D.I.Y. course! They will learn to replace broken pipes, fix electrical outlets, secure broken door handles, and all manner of little things which need to be taken care of to enable the ministry to continue in excellence. It’s a privilege to pass on practical knowledge in a way that will literally keep the wheels of the ministry turning. We have 11 students for the DIY course and 13 students in the carpentry school. They are full of life and joy, ready to learn and embracing the opportunities set before them. It makes such a difference starting the term off with AWY Bible School graduates, fresh from conference, full of the Holy Fire, worshipping together in unity. We are so privileged to have other AWY ministry team members with us in Nacala, and we are S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G toward great things in Jesus!
Developing computer literacy skills at the learning centre in the city
All the students are studying the Business Course first - Pedro had his first chance of teaching in a classroom setting when he took on “Family and Finances” and “African Family”, and did an excellent job. Chris found a computer training facility in town and in the afternoons the DIY group are learning how to ‘drive’ Microsoft... Word, Excel, Powerpoint and so on. The students
report that the teacher is very thorough and they are all ejoying these computer classes in town! We also see it as an excellent way of benefiting the community, utilising what we already have in hand, and letting the city folk know the Gospel through contact with Afrika Wa Yesu! Their instructor is a new convert from Islam and hungry to know more about the Living Word! The carpentry classes have received their tools and started their practical lessons in the afternoons.
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ur family is doing well and continue to grow in wisdom and statture and in favour with God and man! Debs is really learning a lot through reading at the moment, and full of ideas as usual. The trick is to implement them! Thank you so much to all of you who worked so hard to keep us fed, warm, happy and healthy, not only physically but also spiritually, while we were at Inhaminga. The kids had such a fun time with the Missions Program and we all enjoyed spending time with you. Thank you for your prayers and support. We are really anticipating with joy all the action that will take place over the next few months - there will be a Women’s Conference in Nampula, Rod and Ellie are here for a few weeks continuing construction on their cottage, and the school courses will be evolving more. Keep in touch and remember to follow the Vocational Centre on Facebook for more pictures and updates! Together for His Glory, Chris and Deborah, Gabriel, Ashira and Mikayla and all at the Afrika Wa Yesu Vocational Centre
Budding carpenters receive their tools and DIY students put their hands and hearts into physical work!