What God did

This is from my friends Mark and Jen. I met them in Mozambique and they are from all places...Dallas, Georgia. They went back to Mozambique and took a brief leave to go to Portugal to learn...Portuguese. They should be arriving back in Pemba next week. While there they have been supporting a young missionary, Erica who is working with the flood victims in Mozambique. They share in their newsletter about the current flooding in Zambezia and an awesome story of a woman being totally healed. Check this out:


Note the calluses on her knees.
That is her STANDING in front...in the (ahem) sports bra-ish thing.

"Flood relief in Zambezia has been quite eventful these past three weeks as we have gotten to be a part of God doing some amazing things in the midst of much suffering. The first week we went to a camp with 693 families and we were able to build relationships with the families throughout the week returning with different supplies specific to their needs. We brought over 200 bags of rice and and 700 hoes and over 700 bags of corn seed for planting so each family received materials! More importantly than their physical needs, they were so spiritually hungry and God met them in their hunger. We preached the Gospel and prayed for the sick and just sat among the people encouraging them and hearing their stories. On the last day we handed out Bibles and there were near riots as people were so hungry for the Word and one old man even yelled, "I do not care about rice, just give me a Bible in Portuguese".Last week was equally eventful as we went to two new camps and were able to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven coming down to earth. Our truck went back for a second load of rice and crashed but God used this trial for His glory as we were all stuck at the camp until after 10 p.m. and were able to sing, dance, preach, pray and encourage the camp ABUNDANTLY! At another camp, a woman and her family gave us their ancestral idols to burn and then received Jesus. This woman had not been able to walk or stand for 7 years and after praying for 20+ minutes with our faces in the dirt in the pouring rain, Jesus healed her and she stood up and walked! These are just a few of the stories..." -Erica Grimaldi

Natty and Me

Cheeks

Baby Feet

Dimples?

my nephew Nathaniel Asher Fallin

What can I say? There are no words to describe the joy, the beauty, the excitement, the miracle...

Get this!

http://www.wanderlustproductions.net

'I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.'-Count Zinzindorf

Winnie Banov Quote

“If you’re waiting for your physical death to be set free from sin, then death has become your savior, not Jesus Christ.”

flooding in mozambique

This message is from Noberto Sango, a Mozambican who works with Iris Ministries. This is his report on the current flooding. There is very little media attention about what is going on there...today.



"I left Monday with Joe, we flew to Morrumbala. We tookoff from there to fly over the Zambezi river. As wewere flying about 200-300 feet high, I was so shockedbecause I had never seen so much water in the Zambezi.It is true that there was more water this year than in2000 or 2001 or the flood we had last year. I've neverseen so much devastation from a flood - I would sayhundreds and hundreds of houses under the water. Wefollowed the Zambezi from Morrumbala toward Caia. Wesaw so many people that were still being trapped bythe water. I believe the government still did not seemany of those people because you could only see themfrom the sky or a boat. I believe it would be really easy to rescuepeople with a boat because there are many places youcannot drive to. And also looking down, I found a lotof people have lost 1000's of acres of farms and Ibelieve so many of our churches near the Zambezi werewashed away.Basically every house is underwater and there wasnothing we could do. I was just really praying andthinking that I wish we just had a helicopter becausethere was so many people just waving and needingrescue but we could not pick them up because we werein an airplane. We did fly a little bit in Beira andwe found that even in Beira a lot of places have beenflooded. Then we flew into Tete where there had neverbeen any flooding. We flew at 4500 feet and lookedover Tete - the flooding was really bad and the waterhad taken over many places in Tete. The Zambezi hadcut lines through the city, wiping out everything inthe low places and leaving many people stranded onislands. A lot of people were waving and asking if wecould help them, but there was nothing we could do.I went with one of the teams to take the food to thecamps. It's not fair to see people living in thosekind of conditions because a lot of people don't haveany medical supplies or food. We took trucks with 200bags of rice and 18 bags of beans to the camp. Youcan see that the people had been waiting a long timeand were only living on black fish they got out of theriver. A lot of people don't have any tents and weremaking houses out of grass that they had cut. Thehouses were about 10 feet by 10 feet and some of thefamilies had 6 people in that small house. The landwasn't very clean like the land we saw last time -basically that people are tearing everything withtheir bare hands because they don't have machetes orhoes to clear the land. There was a lot of joy when wehanded out the food to the people, but there were somany people at the camps we passed that looked so sadbecause we had no food for them. It is true thatthere is so much more help that is needed and manypeople that need food and need to be rescued.On Wednesday evening, I went to speak to a man who wasa victim and ask him a couple questions. I asked himhow bad the floods were, and he told me that they hadnever seen so much water before and he had never seenso many of the farms wiped away. Everything had beenwashed away by the current including their pots andpans. As we were talking, he told me that the daybefore the team got there, there were 6 people in twocanoes trying to cross the river. The current caughtthe canoes and flipped them. There were 4 men and 1woman with a baby in a capulana. The woman managed tohang onto a stalk of sugar but when she looked behindher the baby had slipped out of the capulana. Thewoman was the only survivor, and the man took me tothe place where it happened. I was sitting with thisguy and he told me so many people were trapped by thewater.On the 6th, while one man was trying to catch fish tofeed his family, a crocodile came up and ripped offthe flesh off the man's left arm and thigh. There wasa man that came alongside and started beating thecrocodile until it left the first man alone. I couldnot take pictures because I did not think thegovernment would want me to. The man got taken toKilimani hospital, but already the man had lost somuch blood that he was not coherent. There are somany crocodiles and many people have been attacked oreaten by the crocodiles. There are many people thathave tried to cross the floodwaters and so many ofthem have been attacked by crocodiles. It's reallyhorrible.For a lot of people it's hard because their houses arein the water and they cannot stay on their roofsbecause they don't have the nice metal roofs. Ibelieve disease is going to be a real problem becausemany people are just standing in a couple inches ofwater. Malaria is going to be really bad and so isfoot swelling because everyone is just standing inwater all day. A lot of people really need clothesand plastic bags on the roofs. The kids need clothes,blankets, and plastic bags and they really need teamsof people to play with the people and tell them Jesusloves them and that someone cares about them. Ibelieve this is an opportunity for the worldwidechurch to come and show God's love to these people.There must be people that are willing to go and playwith the kids - a lot of the schools are under waterand the kids can not go to school. Instead of justfeeding people, I believe there is something else theHoly Spirit wants us to do - if we can buy rice seedand bean seed and corn meal along with hoes, thepeople will have a harvest in a couple months. Thiswill help the people a lot because most of the peoplelive through agriculture anyway. We feel like thiswill be a tool to help us invest in the people andgive them something a lot more lasting than a littlerice.From what I've seen, this is a really huge disaster.I don't know how long Mozambique is going to take torecover from this. So many schools are underwater andmany bridges were destroyed. The people need food,they need help, they need Jesus - they just need a lotof help. We have a team in Morrumbala buying andhanding out food, but we need so many more people.But this isn't the worst of it - I heard that Zimbabwe(or Zambia) has 5 dams that they are going to open upsoon. It's not Zimbabwe's fault - they really have nochoice or their country will be flooded too. When thishappens, the damage will be unbelievable...Pass on the message for people to pray about how theycan help us. Whether they send money, food, or comethemselves to help, we need all we can get."Send my love to all,
Norberto Sango

mean ole stinky devil

I hate to even give the creep any credit here, but we must realize what we are up against. It is not profound that we all waging war in a constant battlefield of the mind. "Happiness is a state of mind". In the book The Art of War, most likely written during the 4th century BC Sun Tzu writes, "All warfare is based on deception. An indispensable preliminary to battle is to attack the mind of the enemy." Guy Chevreau's book Spiritual Warfare Sideways expounds on this and is quite enlightening:

"This is precisely how our enemy works against us; he is continuously attempting to deceive us and attack our minds. The devil's first ploy was to dishonor the character of God, and it is that which he ever hopes to perpetuate. In the Garden of Eden, the devil manifests as the serpent and asks Eve, 'Is it true...?' Those three words shake creation to its very foundations, and eternity hangs in the balance. 'Is what God said true?'

In answer to the question, Eve repeats what she has been told. 'God has forbidden us to eat the fruit of that tree;...if we do, we shall die.' With compelling assurance the serpent responds, 'Of course you will not die.' The sly one promotes himself as the truth teller and subtly implies that God is the one who misleads. This is ever the deceiver's method of attack: He attemps to erode our faith in the faithfulness of God.

'Why is there victory for everyone but me?'

'Why do God's promises come true for everyone else?'

'God doesn't love me. He doesn't care what I'm going through. He's deaf to my prayers.'

The strategems of the evil one are such that we will be tempted in all sorts of ways to believe that the Kindgom has not come near, at least to us. Lying voices try to convince us that we're still strangers to God's love, grace and mercy, that we must still be bound in our sins, that we are still under condemnation, that we are still unworthy.

Sun Tzu was right. 'All warfare is based on deception.' Our enemy is ever whispering lies about God, lies about our soulds and lies about our spirits, our minds and our self-images. We're lied to about what's most important in life and lied to about what we really need. We're lied to about our past and our futures. We're lied to personally, corporately and socially.

Our enemy uses a second strategy against us, one that is also based on deception. It merely has a different focus. Regrettably, it's not an either/or attack but rather a both/and attack. While the devil is attempting to cause us to find fault with the nature and character of our heavenly Father, he is also ever drawing us to find fault with one another. It is the essence of the distorted promise he makes to Eve: 'You will be like God himself, knowing both good and evil.' This deception is the telling of two half-truths. One is an understatment, the other an exaggeration. Firstly, the serpent lied, for we are not 'like God': we are made 'in his own image.' Secondly, while we know both good and evil, it is an imperfect knowledge, something considerably short of God's full understanding. This partial knowldge is the source of the fault-finding and judgementalism that tears at our relationships. Interestly, the origin of the Greek word daimon-'demon' mean 'to disrupt, to rend and tear.'

The enemy attacks our minds and seeks to rend our relationships through fault-finding, often with and by those closest and dearest to us. Our spiritual forebears were victimized by this very strategy. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect freedom with one another and presumably took complete delight in one another's nakedness. But once 'the eyes of both of them were opened,' they could no longer be so vulnerable to one another.

Perhaps it went something like this. Adam looked down at himself and then looked at Eve. He looked down at himself and looked at Eve again. Then he said, 'Eve, what's wrong with you? Why don't you have one of these?' She looked at Adam, looked at herself, looked at Adam and said. 'I don't know, but I'd rather have two of these than one of those silly-looking things." And with those accustaion, they wounded each other so profoundly that they had to hide themselves from one another.

The third deceptive strategy comes agsinst us as the consequence of the second. After Adam and Eve find fault with one another, they try to hide, not just from one another but from God. When the Lord comes calling, Adam defensively answers, 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' The enemy's influence profoundly distorted Adam's self-understanding so that a sense of fear and shame pervaded.. In this Belial, the 'unworthy one,' ever attempts to impart feelings of unworthiness to his victims.

Just as we each find someting of our 'original' self in the account of Adam and Eve's creation, temptation and fall, so we also find something of our deepest self in the parable of the prodigal son. When he finally comes to his senses and heads for home, his confession is a mixture of both truth and distortion, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

The lie is preempted by his dad's unconditional love and unfailing mercy: 'Quick! Fetch a robe, the best we have, and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and is found.' Because the Father's love so competely restores all that sin destroys, the feeling of unworthiness have no place or grounding.

The dynamics of the Lord's high priestly prayer can appropriately be applied at this very point, not only for the prodigal but to the prodigal in each of us: 'I do not pray you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one...Consecrate them by the truth; your word is truth.' It is but one aspect of divine mystery that Adam and Eve's eyes were 'opened' when they succombed to decption, yet it is a revelation of truth that redeems, restores and sets us free."

- Guy Chevreau

another update from Sarah on the situation in Maputo

just wanted to send another update and ask everyone to keep praying. the riots are still pretty bad all around the city and they say they will get worse tonight. our boys who were out in the city for school made it back. they had to walk for 4 hours and are all pretty shaken up by the violence they witnessed not to mention the tear gas they had to endure. one of the boys who works in my garden, manuel, passed out on the street while walking back and the other boys had to get him up and make him keep walking.
the power around the city has been cut off as well. at the center, we are running on a generator but we will run out of gas soon. some of the men have ventured out to try and buy more but all of the gas stations have shut down and many of them have been destroyed. it really is chaos out on the streets. but again i want to stress that i am perfectly safe and all of the children are fine. we have guards that work 24 hours a day and they will be watching the walls very closely tonight to make sure no one comes into the center.
please keep praying for peace to be restored to the city. many of the younger kids are quite scared by the gun fire and smoke everywhere so pray that the peace of the Lord would guard their (and all of our) hearts and minds. and continue to pray that the angels of God would surround this center.
thanks everyone and i'll update you again soon (as long as the power/internet is still on). love you all!!!!

message from sarah

Sarah was my roommate in Mozambique and has returned to Maputo, in Southern Moz as a full-time missionary with Iris. Sarah went to UGA and is from Lawrenceville, GA.

this morning at about 7:15 (just after midnight in georgia) as i went to get breakfast from the kitchen, i was greeted by a pastor who i am friends with named solomon. in portuguese, he began to tell me about something going on out on the streets. i was impressed that i picked up bits and pieces of his story before i got him to talk to me in english! he had been on a bus on the way to the center this morning and the bus was stopped because of a roadblock so he had to walk the rest of the way. as we stood outside of the kitchen, we could hear crowds of people yelling in the distance.
last week, owners of the public buses known as "chappas" met to discuss a price increase. the price was 7.5 meticai, which is equivalent to about 30 cents in us dollars, and because of rising fuel costs they wanted to increase the fare to 10 meticai or 40 us cents. in my eyes that is nothing...i think riding a bus to the city for less than half a dollar is amazing. you'd never find that in the states!!! but when i think about the fact that most families live off of one us dollar a day, that extra 10 cents is a big deal. today is the day the prices increase was to go into affect. the mozambican people are not happy and have organized riots all over the city. in america, you would see unhappy customers boycotting the bus or protesting with signs. but not here. the people have blocked the roads and are refusing to let any bus or car pass. if a car tries to drive threw, they throw rocks at it.
i stood on the soccer field with many of our kids watching everything taking place outside the walls of the center. outside of the main gate of our center, about 100 yards down the road, rioters rolled tires out into the street and set them on fire sending up a black cloud of smoke. looking to the left down the street i see the same thing about a quarter of a mile down. apparently people are rioting all over the city with larger and larger mobs the closer into the city you get. at one point, our guards opened the front gates. a few seconds later a car came speeding in being chased by rioters. it was one of our kitchen workers. he had been stopped earlier by the mobs and forced to leave his car and walk into the center but then decided to go back and get his car. our older teenage boys go to school in the city. this morning, not knowing about the riots going on, the minibus left the center to drive the boys into the city. they were stopped by rioters throwing rocks at the bus. the boys were allowed to exit the bus and the driver had to leave it there. we are praying the bus isn't destroyed in the chaos. all of our boys are okay and will walk back to the center later today. multiple times, trucks full of police and soldiers drove by firing rubber bullets in an attempt to break up the crowds. however, the people only got more riled up and began throwing rocks at the police and setting more fires. the police eventually left and after a bit of cheering, the crowds calmed down some. a friend in the city phoned another missionary and said she heard on the news that 2 people had been killed not far from our center.
for now, things appear a lot calmer. we've gotten all of our kids into the church to watch a movie. looking out the window of my house i can see lots of people walking by outside the center and they appear to be going about their normal work. however, there are still no cars on the streets.
here are some things you can pray for:
please pray for the people to calm down and the riots to end.
we are safe here in the center. pray that safety is preserved.
pray that the boys who are out in the city will be able to safely return soon.
pray for protection over our minibus that was left in the city.
-- In Him,Sarah Olds
solds19@gmail.comhttp://www.sarah-n-africa.blogspot.com/
Sarah Olds
Suite 337 Private Bag X11340
Nelspruit 1200
South Africa

message from Rolland

This is a recent message from Rolland and includes his response to Mo's letter describing the flood situation in Moz.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again Mozambique has been hit by severe flooding. Few countries inour modern world have been hit by disaster so often and devastatingly.Already one of the poorest countries of the world, it struggles withoutthe mechanisms of modern countries that can deal to a great extent withregional weather fluctuations, food shortages and medical emergencies.Its transportation infrastructure barely exists. There is hardly anysafety net for the poor. Much of the world suffers from "compassion fatigue," and well-known relief agencies in Mozambique struggle with funding and distribution challenges. Christians hardly know what to do with still more pleas for financial help. We are all tempted to run and hide, and try to find some protection from all the assaults on our peace in this world. Forces of evil seem to get away with so much. But we are not helpless, and even in our weakness we find strength. We have a source of never-ending goodness and energy. This source is noti mpersonal and remote, unlikely and sporadic. No, this source is a personal and perfect Savior, the only person who can make sense of our lives in this world. He makes Himself available to all who call upon Him. And to those "who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life" (Rom. 2:7). Rather than seeing discouragement on all sides, we preach power and total salvation in every circumstance. Every disaster leads us to lean on our Savior all the more, and to depend on Him alone. Our joy is to be able to encourage believers everywhere even while facing the most overwhelming damage done by the enemy. In such situations, we cannot afford to be doubtful and down, depressed and immobile. No, in every circumstance we are called to be "more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37). If we look into His eyes, there will always be enough, because He died! As I write, Heidi is returning to Mozambique after an Asian speaking tour, and with me she is seeking the Lord about our response to the flooding. We have seen the churches of Mozambique explode in number and fervency after previous major floods, and we look forward earnestly to what Jesus will do now. I am in the States, and will be there as soon as possible, accessing flood regions with my plane as Jesus leads. Meanwhile, our missionaries in Malawi, David and Joanna Morrison, are at work. Their location is not far from central Mozambique where the flooding is worst, and David has already visited this flood zone and written a report, which I would like to quote here at length: "We went to Mutarara District in the province of Tete and there learned that over 116,000 refugees have fled the flood waters. Thousands are still trapped on higher ground waiting to be rescued by helicopters and boats. All resources are concentrating on this emergency rescueoperation. Soldiers are assisting rescue workers as the banks of the Zambezi River continue to overflow and the threat of increased floodingis very real. For some, the idea of floods penetrating so far inlandf rom the Zambezi River is too obscure. However, the threat is real andi n some situations people are removed by force. "I was amazed at the vast amount of water and its destructive force. Fromt he vantage point of a boat on the Zambezi River, it looks like an endless sea. We traveled with the Mozambique navy in a little rescue boat several kilometers inland from the Zambezi River to one of the areas of evacuation, called the Inyangona region. The reality of the cost of the flooding was evident everywhere: the tops of drowned crops and banana trees, and even the roofs of houses. It was hard to imagine how just a few weeks previously people had walked where we now traveled by boat. And now, village life has been silenced by a sea of waterleaving only protruding tree tops and isolated highlands. We finally arrived at an island where desperate people patiently wait for a rescue boat. Helicopters were also flying overhead and assisting in the evacuation of people in more remote areas. There is calm and out of the misery, the people politely greeted us with a smile, gave us the nicest places to sit, and at one refugee camp I was even offered their last bananas -- I just wanted to cry. "Our Iris Team met with the District Commissioner and was invited to join the weekly debriefing meeting involving all the government officials and NGOs helping with this crisis. Although there is great progress in the rescue operation, the process is time consuming and more boats are needed. Some of the refugee camps are now becoming too large and it maybe necessary to establish even more camps. Some of the resettlement areas from last years flooding must now be relocated because they too are being affected by the flooding. Sickness and hunger are two growing concerns and the DC encouraged us all to try to mobilize food into thecamps as quickly as possible. We have been appointed to participate inthe relief effort and have been given freedom to assist however possible. "On our journey we visited eight refugee camps all of which are threatened by disease and hunger. Some of the refugees have been in thecamps since the beginning of January but none have received food. Many left in haste as their homes collapsed in the path of the rising water. A fortunate few had carried maize left over from last winter's harvest,but most are eating grass seed, water lily bulbs, bugs and mice. Wells are few so most drink the flood water which is resulting in dysentery.Many children have bloated stomachs and eye infections are common. This is malaria season, an added threat for the refugees who sleep withoutthe protection of a mosquito net. "In each camp we witnessed the arrival of new refugees. Hundreds are arriving everyday. They are quick to make a shelter out of branches and grass to provide a little protection to the family from the next rain.These tiny houses sleep families as large as eight people. We didn't take much with us, but managed to carry enough soap to give one bar to each family at three refugee camps. We also provided about 500 families with a good supply of water purification packets. A bar of soap is such a precious gift in situations such as these! "Everywhere we went desperate people quickly gathered and listened carefully to every word that came out of our mouths -- they were in search of hope. We gave them hope -- the message of God's love. So as we preached under the shade of a tree in the refugee camps, the precious poor, those who have lost everything, wearing only dirty rags, welcomed Jesus just like they welcomed us. There is good news to report: In themidst of great suffering and loss, Jesus is moving in the hearts ofAfricans! "So what are we going to do next? The only accessible road into this region of Mozambique is through Malawi. We are therefore prepared tohelp in any way possible. Actually we can't help but help! We believe God wants us to care for the refugees located in camps along the roadfrom the border of Malawi. "Malawi is also affected by the flooding. The swollen Shire River has destroyed crops and hundreds of people have been displaced. People living on Nchalo and Ngabu Islands in the Chikwawa District are evacuating - about two thirds of the islands are under water now. Acrossthe river from Bangula is another area vulnerable to flooding. We are monitoring the situation here carefully and expect that we will need to support 1000 additional families with food from now through June. Thisis on top of the 1,600 families we already assist each month through our feeding program." Already David "Mo" is loading up three trucks and leaving early Wednesday morning in a convoy to take seventeen tons of food to the flood area. Many have helped already, almost instantly, and we are pressing forward all the more to what lies ahead. Pray that corrupt Malawi officials at the border will not be able to block passage of thefood. Heidi and I, and all of us at Iris Ministries, want to thank oursupporters who voluntarily have enabled us to do so much in Africa. Welove the Body of Christ. We are proud of you, and look for what may becredited to your account (Phil. 4:17). Thank you for taking us to this point, and participating with us in the gospel and in the divine nature we share in Jesus. May you be richly, powerfully and lovingly blessed! Much, much love, Rolland

Message from Heidi

January 2008
Dear friends, I pray that your holidays were filled with joy celebrating Jesus' birth.As I think through the greatest gifts of our lives, we are most gratefulfor friendship and family in Him. Thank you so much for your prayers forRolland. Jesus has faithfully been healing him. The Lord spoke to me to still go on our Asia tour. We ministered inSingapore, Seoul, China, Hong Kong and Philippines with our good friendsChe Ahn, Dennis Balcombe, Lesley-Anne Leighton, Shara and Norberto alongwith a wonderful team. It brings my heart such joy to watch my spiritualsons and daughters preach alongside me as we run together as carriers ofHis glory. I am slowly learning to rest. I want to see more of God'sbeautiful children released to soar. How it encouraged my heart to hearfrom Dennis that many of the orphans (now in heaven) whom Rolland'sgrandfather raised in China still have a profound spiritual impact onChina today. We are trusting the Lord to release a generational blessing on our ownMozambican children. He caught the Chinese children up into His glory in"Visions Beyond the Veil." They saw the Lord in heaven and fell in lovewith Jesus. These children were either martyred or, if they survived theterrible persecution, they became pillars in the underground Chinesechurch. How I long for our sons and daughters to become the nextgeneration of leaders in our nation of Mozambique. We desire to see evenmore of this outpouring in our nation. My greatest desire is to live each moment in His glorious presence.Please pray that the Holy Spirit completely overshadows our ministrythis year. We started off our Asia journey in Singapore where thousandsgathered in an exposition center. Jesus' glorious presence came. A womancrippled in a wheelchair got up and danced with King Jesus! Of coursethe best thing was the Holy Spirit in and among us. Many gave theirlives away as full-time servant lovers of Jesus. There was a tremendoushunger among the people of Korea. God was so faithful to come with Hismanifest presence and fill the people with a greater measure of Hisglory. I loved being with God's people in China. It was a lot of fun tobe able to speak Cantonese again. Please pray for us as our nation has been hit yet again with terribleflooding. We long to feed 100,000 people a day. Some times I feel likerunning away from all the suffering, or at least not looking at it for awhile. Then I hear Jesus asking me to look into His face and believeagain. There is always enough because He died. Jesus will multiply thefish and loaves in His hands to feed our nation in our time of need.Because He died, there is more than enough! I will return home from Asiato mobilize our teams to minister to the people affected by the floods.Thank you for standing with us. Our friends are treasures to us. Much love in Jesus, Heidi

Floods in Mozambique

January 11, 2008, Flooding in Mozambique by David (Mo) Morrison, Malawi
Dear Friends,
The challenges before us each day are always great – we keep looking to the Lord who faithfully carries us through – we give praise and glory to Jesus. Some days are really hard as it seems as though we only move from struggle to struggle. Humor helps to bring us a little relief. We have a saying among us here, "We don’t have problems in Malawi, only disasters!"
Once again, impending flooding is upon us but more seriously to our neighboring country of Mozambique. This disaster has caught us all off guard. We knew it was possible but didn’t realize the severity of it so early in the rainy season. The media is just starting to report about it. I suppose delayed because of many other troubling headlines from around the world. The number of households affected by the floods has risen, with widespread destruction of homes and livestock, displacement of families and outbreaks of disease.
We made contact with one of our Iris pastors in the area of Mutarara, Mozambique (120 km south of us). He has confirmed about the destructive flood waters. Right now, people are fleeing to refugee camps and re-settlement areas from their submerged homes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 5,000 people in Mutarara are trapped by the flood waters and are being rescued by boats and helicopter right now. The situation is sure to get worse as rains persist. World Vision field staff stationed in Mutarara confirm that the Zambezi River has been rising rapidly. The number of displaced people is growing as small islands scattered across the district become inundated. There are still 50,000 people being assisted in this area who were affected by last year’s flooding. Thousands of acres of potentially good crop harvest have been lost. In Malawi, up to 1,400 households have lost homes and livestock. Many people living on Nchalo and Ngabu islands have been affected. In Mozambique, up to 55,000 people have been affected by the flooding of the main river basins in the central region, according to authorities. The country is on red alert, the highest level of emergency warning.
Serious floods occur annually in January and February. The current adverse weather conditions are largely a result of the La Nina effect, and flooding could become very serious in Southern Africa during the latter part of the rainy season of mid-January to March.We don’t know what the Lord will have us do but we’re getting prepared. We can’t just sit idle. There are too many suffering. I’m trying to get my visa processed for Mozambique so that I can travel there and make a personal assessment as soon as possible.Please pray that the Lord will reveal His purposes for us, and His provisions for those affected. We are willing to do whatever He calls us to do. Pray too for the supernatural. Nothing is impossible for God! Believe with us in prayer that the destructive rains would stop and the flood waters will quickly recede.Thanks for your prayers. With love, Mo.

message from Heidi and Rolland

The cool wind of the dark night blustered against our faces, and most of us were wrapped up snugly with jackets, sweaters, blankets and wool hats. We were gathered up on a little hill, and so felt exposed to thewind all the more, but we felt especially secure. It was the coziest, safest spot on our main Iris base in Pemba, and all who were there didn't want to be anywhere else just then. We considered it our hiding place in Jesus because it was our new prayer house built as a gift from Bethel Church in Redding, California. Our beautiful house had a round, thatched African-style roof on wood pillars, a plain cement floor and a short wall, and then nothing but a panoramic view of Pemba and the ocean by day, and the mysteries of the stars and town lights by night. Afreshly-planted garden and winding walkways adorned our wonderfulgathering place for prayer, worship and warfare, both for a few solitarysouls or for a whole intense army of God-lovers crying out to Him withall their hearts.This night was especially intense because we were fighting back,resisting witchcraft and strengthening ourselves in the Lord after anextraordinary series 0f unusual attacks, setbacks, accidents, threats,failures and discouragement. So we called for a night of prayer andwarfare like we had never had before. We brought out our drum set andour African drums. We turned up our guitars. We danced with all ourmight, declaring the goodness of the Lord. Most of the base was there --our children, missionaries, students, Mozambican staff and visitors, andwe never felt so united, worshiping Him with one voice and heart. Withan exhilarating beat and a rich blend of voices we delivered thecontents of our hearts to all who were listening, both in this naturalworld and the spiritual world.We love our God! In the Name of His Son Jesus we resist every evilinfluence against us. We will delight in our perfect Savior, and He willdeliver us from every deadly peril. We seek His face and worship Himalone, and trade our rags of sin for His righteousness which comes byfaith. We cry for peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, poured out withoutmeasure, and every treasure that comes with the Kingdom of God. He willreveal His goodness and power, and is able protect and enhance Hisreputation in this favored haunt of demons that is Pemba and oursurrounding Province. Tears flowed freely as we delighted in Him all themore. Joy came too, as we contemplated an eternity with our perfectLover and Friend.Like many others, I lie down the concrete to soak in the Spirit and praywith even more concentration. A dozen little Mozambican children gatheraround me, lying right beside me and even on top of me. I felt warm andloved. They laid hands all over me, crying their little hearts out thatJesus would take care of and protect Mama Heidi and Papa Rolland. Theysang with their amazing African voices, and some even gave me lovingmassages and huge hugs. It was the perfect place to be.No one was in a hurry, and more arrived as the sounds of our evening ofwarfare and worship spread far across the center and beyond. In time ourwarring music turned to softer sounds of love and delight. Some lostthemselves in the Lord as they danced and spun lightly on their feet,hands raised freely to heaven. Smiles and laughter broke out too as theSpirit came closer with all His variety. It was a beautiful night, aperfect night, and no one was in any mood to leave. I realized we wouldwant to do this often, and make it a beautiful habit. But it was alsonecessary for our survival in this very occult town of Pemba we calledhome.But the night finished very differently. Don Kantel, our base director,knelt down beside me, put his face between all the little children onme, and stated simply that our entire center, along with our othercenter and Heidi's and my house, would be destroyed by a powerfultsunami in sixty minutes. A wall of water up to ninety feet high wouldcome at us at hundreds of miles an hour because of an awesome earthquake in Indonesia. The Indian Ocean's new tsunami warning system had produced a mass reaction as cities up and down the east African coast were already undergoing mass evacuation. Friends in South African watching their television news frantically began calling us. "Get the children to the highest ground you can!" they said.Quickly the children grabbed their mattresses and bags of clothes andmoved up to the top of our sloping property in the far back away fromthe ocean. Some stayed at the prayer house to pray earnestly against thetsunami. I quickly drove home to see what I could save by throwingvaluables and necessities into my red Land Rover. It looked like ourfunky little beach house that Heidi had so lovingly made into a home wasgoing to be history in minutes. I debated in the Lord how long I couldstay at the house to save belongings and get more news. I also stood inmy office on the roof and shouted at the devil, "No! You cannot takewhat Jesus has given us here in Pemba for His work. No!"I stayed another minute to check news off our satellite Internet system,and then got a phone call from Pretoria. My friend Peter Wheeler therehad just heard the latest. When the tsunami passed the Seychelle Islandsin the middle of the Indian Ocean, it was no more than a mild high tide,and the alert was off. As it turned out, the ocean floor did not buckleso as to cause a huge tsunami, even though an earthquake of thatstrength could potentially produce such a buckle in other places. Ithought about sleeping upstairs when the high tide came at one a.m. inthe morning, but decided to trust all the reports, sleep downstairs, andnot even go out to check the tide.For one hour the fate of so much of our work in Pemba was in thebalance. No human response on the planet could have had any impact onnatural forces so great. We live fragile lives in this world, withoutthe slightest wisp of ability to contend with the power that God canunleash at any time He chooses. We have no security of any kind apartfrom our Savior. Our hearts cannot function without a safe haven, ahiding place, a solid rock, a guaranteed future -- and Jesus is allthese things and infinitely more.During that hour many of our children stood their ground in the prayerhouse and prayed. No one panicked or cried. The Holy Spirit's Presencewas thick. We simply threw ourselves on His mercy yet once more, knowing we had no future unless the King of the Universe smiled on us andshielded us as only He could.The evening ended with a kind of party out under the stars at the top ofour property. The children lay on their mattresses and played as dinnerwas cooked and brought up to them. Some of us sat on the hoods of ourtrucks, drinking Coke and hungrily feeding ourselves rice and beans. Welaughed, shouted and cried, and loved our God very, very much for beingso faithful and reliable on our behalf. For us, life without knowing Himis no life at all. So now, that crisis past us, we face the future withmore faith in Him than ever. Moving from glory to glory, we mount higheron wings like eagles until every evil power arrayed against us fallsaway and we are united with God our Savior, the Lover of our souls.

--In November I flew Heidi east from Pemba deep into our province of CaboDelgado and landed at the town of Montepuez. We left our Cessna at thebarren little airport there and continued by Land Rover over a roughdirt road until we finally reached our destination, a remote village. Wewere holding a bush conference there for our church people in theregion, and two hundred of our leading pastors were waiting eagerly forus. Men, women and children were wild with excitement. We and ourcontingent of missionaries, staff and visitors, who had come all the wayby road, pitched our tents in a dirt courtyard by mud huts. Just as thesun set we ran over to the meeting where we had the Jesus Film showing.Preaching off the back of our big flat-bed truck, Heidi again invited anentire village to Jesus. She was born for this ministry in Africa, andher golden face and voice have been crafted by the Master for this time.Our friends call her a "light bulb" for Jesus, as her light attractsmultitudes to Him all over Africa.But this conference is more significance than it looks at first. Ourpastors here have proven themselves to be heroes of the faith, and Ifelt like I was on hallowed ground. In the past this mud hut village hadthe reputation of hosting the most intense witchcraft in the province,maybe in the country. The entire village had been under the control ofwitch doctors and their attendant evil spirits since far in the past.Its people were constantly fearful and in serious bondage. But duringone morning of the conference, we stopped everything just to heartestimonies.One-by-one our hardy, weathered, lean pastors told their stories. Theysounded like the Apostle Paul, "counting their lives nothing if onlythey could complete the task given them to testify of the grace of Godin Christ Jesus." And so braving hardship, hunger, cold, wild animals,quicksand, deep rivers and crocodiles, even when they couldn't swim,they spread the Gospel to "the least of these" in all directions.Barefoot and poor, without a roadside inn or a convenience store, Godbegan to use the men just as He pleased to end the domination of evilspirits in this area. Today, this village is almost completely cleanedand free of witchcraft, and a spiritual example for villages all overthe country. Its people know the joy of the Lord and power of His hand.Every morning brings them supernatural strength from above. Thismotivates us to keep preaching, keep serving and keep believing allGod's promises so that we don't fall short and miss out.

--In August Heidi and I joined Georgian and Winnie Banov for outreaches inTurkey among poor gypsy neighborhoods. Again we found that the poor andhumble typically receive us with the great excitement, and theirChristian leaders are so hungry for more and more pursuit of revival.For this reason Eastern Europe is strongly on our hearts, and we mustreturn as much as Jesus lets us.From Turkey I joined Georgian and an Iris team for a trip to theDemocratic Republic of Congo. The nine of us entered the border by roadfrom Rwanda and spent almost a week with our Iris Congo director, JosephMushengezi. Our churches there have grown from 35 to 85 in a year, andJoseph has a fiery vision for evangelism all across Congo. God has givenhim favor with the government, both locally and nationally. He has beenprovided with a national radio program, and is in a key position toadvance the gospel radically in this nation.DRCongo has been ravaged by deadly violence and poverty for many years, and our own people are becoming refugees, suffering terribly from lack of shelter, food and medical care even as I write this. Our churches are so far mostly in the northeast corner of Congo, and at the moment there is dangerous fighting around Goma, the main city in that area. We would like to supply each pastor there with a bag of rice and beans so that they can remain to encourage the people.Our photo gallery shows pictures of our trip to Kalonge, Joseph's hometown, located in a forest and mountain area that has in the past beenthe stronghold of rebel troops. We have a simple tin-roofed church therefull of eager worshipers who know that Jesus is their only answer, theironly true and faithful lover. We bought a large piece of land on ahilltop overlooking a beautiful valley, and our vision to establish asimple conference center where we can hold revival meetings and trainpastors from all over Congo. The logistics would be such a challenge, asthe town is reachable so far only by digging our way through deep mudfor hours and hours even with a 4WD truck. Those with engineering androad-building skills are desperately needed. But we have reached theends of the earth, where many children have never seen a white person,and have no way of imagining the luxuries of life in the West. Butagain, in the most unlikely and lowly places God loves to revealHimself, and we want to press forward so that Congo will experience whatMozambique has tasted -- the Holy Spirit poured out in ever increasingmeasure. We set no limits in our work, but instead our imaginations havebeen fired by the Holy Spirit to see God's best in a nation that hastasted what Time Magazine has called "the world's deadliest war." Let usknow if in the Lord you want to participate!We bless you this Christmas, and pray that we may be of hugeencouragement to you by His grace. Your sensitive, major generosity isan ongoing miracle in our lives that brings great blessing and eternallife to the most desperate we can find. We feel so loved by Jesusthrough you!
In His great love, Rolland

--From Heidi:I have been extremely blessed by your love and prayers for Rolland andme, and for our Iris family. We are focusing on beautiful Jesus andtrusting Him for His healing power to be manifested. Rolland is stillrecovering, but he is receiving lots of healing prayer and anointed helpfrom medical doctors as well. We thank you all for your patience in thearea of communication. We are not able to respond quickly to emails.Please know we appreciate your kindness.I am thrilled to be home with all my friends and beautiful children inPemba. My heart is filled with joy seeing the fruit in this movement Godhas birthed through His Holy Spirit. Our mission school is an absolutedelight. I see the love of Jesus poured out all over this place. Thestudents' hearts have become so abandoned and surrendered to God.This sizzling hot Sunday in Cabo Delgado we worshiped in the dust andsurrendered ourselves again as a movement to feed the poor with breadfrom heaven and bread from the earth. It is time for greatermultiplication. As we release the sons and daughters into their harvestof fruitfulness, we see greater glory. As Pastor Supresa says, "The joynever ends!" I was thrilled to be able to do some of my favorite thingsthis week: baptize our new Makua and Makonde believers in the ocean,bless the missions students to live in the Ezekiel 47 river of God, andhave a huge, holy chaos Christmas party with all our gorgeouschildren!!!!! What a tremendous gift from Jesus for me to be able tocome home. There were plenty of gifts, candy and pops for all. I thankGod for the amazing people who made it all possible. Swimming with thekids and seeing aunties splashing around in our warm, turquoise ocean, Ifelt the Father's heart. He smiled on us!Thank you again for your generous support. Please don't stop praying. Weneed you. I will be going to America to spend time with Rolland and myfamily for Christmas. I pray you live deeply inside the huge heart ofJesus glory love. I thank God for the powerful gift of Jesus, who byemptying Himself for us and coming as a baby became incarnational lovemanifested on the earth.
Much love in Jesus, Heidi

me...forgive?

My dear friend Mama Deane sent this to me. I have printed it out and have it posted on my bulletin board above my desk. It serves as a daily reminder...

"The most creative power given to the human spirit is the power to heal the wounds of past a past it cannot change.

We do our forgiving alone inside our hearts and minds; what happens to the people we forgive depends on them.

The first person to benefit from forgiveness is the one who forgives.

Forgiveness happens in three stages: we discover the humanity of the person who wronged us; we surrender our right to get even; and we wish that person well.

Forgiveness is a journey; the deeper the wound, the longer the journey.

Forgiveness does not require us to reunite with the person who broke our trust.

We do not forgive because we are supposed to; we forgive when we are ready to be healed.

Waiting for someone to repent before we forgive is to surrender our future to the person who wronged us.

Forgiveness is not a way to avoid pain but to heal the pain.

Forgiveness is the only wait to be fair to ourselves.

Forgivers are not doormats; to forgive a person is not a signal that we are willing to put up with what he does.

Forgiveness is essential; talking about it is optional.

When we forgive, we set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner we set free is us.

When we forgive we walk in stride with the forgiving God".

To Finish Well- Message from Heidi Baker

This is a short update to thank you for your love, prayers and standing with us during our time of greatest need. As most of you know during these past three months, we have experienced fierce trials. Jesus has recently spoken to me about finishing well. I am fixing my eyes on Jesus. I am looking away to Him. I am coming forward with boldness to the throne of grace in my greatest time of need. Hebrews 4:1, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."
In this time of reflecting, the Lord came to me and asked me, "If I had known ahead of time all that this calling would cost, would I still be willing to receive the call." And still my cry is yes. I have nowhere else to go. I have no one else to run to. Jesus is my life and He is altogether lovely. Through everything, it is still my joy to say that I gladly give my life for Him.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

an aerial view

Today I went up in one of these, a Chinook. According to Wikipedia, the Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a versatile, twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. The counter-rotating rotors eliminate the need for an anti-torque vertical rotor, allowing all power to be used for lift and thrust. Its top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h) was faster than utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s and even many of today. Its primary roles include troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply. There is a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks. To me, it was just a big ole, loud, huge helicopter with a massive hole in the back.

I sat in the very back there in the last seat where the hatch-y thing-a-madoodle drops down. (No, they wouldn't let me fly it and I knew better than to ask). So I had the best seat in the aircraft as I got to experience this awesome, unobstructed view. The weather was perfect, nice warm weather and not a cloud in the sky. I got to fly over what USA Today has titled one of the top 10 most beautiful places in America and a city that often ranks among the top 10 travel destination cities in America by Conde' Nast. I got to fly right over the amazing and always breathtaking Talmadge Bridge, the 2nd largest port on the east coast, and over the beautiful lighthouse at Tybee Island. All this, with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face and neon yellow earplugs in my ears.

It was all breathtaking and kinda surreal, as you are flying pretty low and just don't realize that all that is separating all of you from all of this is a seatbelt. You are right there, flying right over the bridges and the buildings, feeling as if you could reach out and touch them.

We flew over subdivisions, timber land, storage facilities, ball parks, power plants, the Elba Island Liquifiable Natural Gas facility, trailer parks, golf courses, Wal-Marts, manicured lawns, dirt yards, wetlands, drylands, streams, roads, universities, neighborhoods, resort hotels.

It was so much to take in.

I thought about it all. About how, the power plants sent electricity to the trailers and the country club. About all the cargo on all those ships, going onto all those trucks and trains. About the people on the planes and the Gulfstream jets being made beneath my feet, with their luxury leather and fine china inside. I thought about the kids playing on the baseball diamond down below and wondered how many had gotten bruised sliding into home plate. I wondered if the people in the big houses were happier than the people in the little ones. I wondered why Wal-Mart had to be full of so much junk and why we needed so much stuff. I wondered about the science behind liquifiable natural gas and wondered about the men down their researching it and its future. I wondered about the dolphins off shore at Tybee and hoped one would surface, just for me. I wondered how many people worked their entire lives to be able to build one of those little bungalows down below. I wondered a lot of stuff. Maybe it was the coffee with the amazing spinach omelet I had for breakfast, or maybe this is just the way I am. But my mind raced. It raced at the awesomeness and the vastness and the enormity of LIFE!! It's huge! It's bigger than we can ever know.

Physically, I can only really know what is going on within...maybe 100 yards of me at any given time. But an aerial view, woah, it'll blow you away. It is chaos, but completely organized at the same time. The traffic, the people, the boats, the tides, it all flows, we flow. There was a beauty to the rhythm of it all.

It was constant entertainment to watch the cars and see their destination, to watch the boats and know where they were going and even see the little pilot boat awaiting their arrival. It made me feel empowered as I could see so much of my surroundings. I didn't like being back on ground where I could only see what was simply right in front of me. I wanted to see my future and even all of that behind me, where I had been and what might be following me. I liked the aerial view.

How cool that the Creator of the universe and you and me has a 24/7 aerial view?! He sees everything! He has this amazing view of our lives in every aspect. He sees our little houses we struggle to keep tidy and in order, our yards we sweat (or pay someone else to sweat) over, he sees our destination before we arrive. Even better, He sees inside, and he knows our hearts, our deepest desires, our wishes, our hopes, what makes us happy, even what just makes us smile. He sees us sleep and wake. He sees our laughter and our tears. He even hears us when we speak and when we pray, and even knows our thoughts...before we even think them. He subtracts the numbers of hairs from my head as I stand in the bathroom, blow-drying my hair. He knows where I am going in my life, with my career and my relationships. He knows everything about us and he holds our future in His hands. He looks down at us and He loves us because He created us to worship Him, to commune with Him, to talk to Him, to seek Him. So since He has the aerial view, I wanna know what He sees up ahead. What is in my future? What does it hold? So if He sees my future and wants the best for me because I am His child, I want to seek Him in every step I take as I am going there. He knows where traffic is stopped and the quicker route. He knows where there is danger ahead and can show me a safe way. Cool, huh?

Hebrews 2:5-9 The Message Translation reads:

9God didn't put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we're dealing with here. It says in Scripture, What is man and woman that you bother with them; why take a second look their way? You made them not quite as high as angels, bright with Eden's dawn light; Then you put them in charge of your entire handcrafted world.When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don't see it yet, don't see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made "not quite as high as angels," and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory "bright with Eden's dawn light." In that death, by God's grace, he fully experienced death in every person's place.

He is so bigger than you think. And He created US to be in charge of His handcrafted world. He wants us to delight in it, enjoy it, and take care of it. And we are His, to delight in, enjoy and take care of. He has a spectacular view of you and your life. I don't ever want to make a choice based on my little view here on earth, from 5'4" above the ground. I want to trust in the Creator as He looks over all of creation, galaxies and the universe, and yet He sees...me.

Sailing the Indian Ocean en route to Ibo Island

New Video Footage

There are three new videos to the right. One was created by James, a mission school student from England. He shared this story one afternoon under the tent, about how we are like the street kids in Pemba. We were well into mission school and had been bombarded by so many kids, all begging, following us and calling our names outside the gate to our compound. No one really wanted to admit frustration, after all, these were poor children. Yet, James found a parallel in us and them. One type of kid begs constantly, but doesn't even know your name. He doesn't spend time with you, he just comes up to you and begs. The other holds your hand awhile, hugs on you, sits in your lap and then asks for your watch. When you tell him no, he leaves. Then there is the child who waits on you. He is outside every morning anticipating just walking with you from the gate to the tent. He is there to walk with you to the beach and sits right beside you, holds your hand and never begs. We as Christians can often become these kids in our treatment of God, we beg, we don't know Him, but we just constantly ask Him for stuff. Then there are those of us, who try to "warm up" to Him, tell Him we love Him, and then ask for the stuff. And then there are those who just want to spend time with Him, hold His hand, wait on Him, and be in His presence.

A Prayer from Terra- my dear friend in Kenya

TB's Prayer- Oct. 8 Oh sweet Jesus... Where do I even begin to think through all that you have laid on my little heart. Sometimes I wonder if you realize that my heart is not as big as your is. I can't handle all of the pain, confusion and heartache that you can, but then I'm reminded that I asked for your heart to be inside of me, and then I smile through my tears. I saw you yesterday Jesus. It was just a glimpse into your eyes, and it filled everything inside of me with delight. I spent the day feeding your children; your lying, dirty, angry, deceptive, beautiful children.Ha-I see myself in them every time I go there. It was 'holy chaos' as Heidi Baker likes to call it. Ok- maybe it was just chaos, but still... I sat on the curb trying to stay out of the way, out of the pushing, shoving, yelling and grabbing. I held one of my friend Mary's twin sons. His name is Shadrach: Jesus, will you let him live up to his strong name? He and his brother are probably 2 years old, tiny and frail. Most of the time he doesn't have paints on, today he had on little dirty undies. He can walk but most of the time is carried by his mother Mary or one of the street boys, they all take turns playing the role of older brother. This day Salmon played the older brother role. As I was holding Shadrach, this older brother walked up and wiped the snot off of his face with a piece of trash he had found on the ground. I was frozen for a moment by the sight that i had just seen. Jesus my heart hurt, that trash was rubbed on Shadrach's beautiful frail face, but then it burned inside with such love watching Salmon tend to the needs of this little one. They are all family, we are all family. I want to run away with this little brother of mine. To give him everything he deserves. So that his dirty, frail little face would be cleaned with wet ones, or Kleenex with aloe. So that his little feet would have baby Nike's on them the way mine did; so that he would be laid down in a clean crib with clean blankets the way that i was. So that he would go to school when this 5th birthday came and grow up taking packed lunches to school and getting on a school bus with his friends, I don't know maybe even playing on a little soccer team after school. But instead I had this moment with him, this moment to hold him and surrender my ability to do anything at all but love him with your love Jesus and get him and help get some milk and bread into his little hungry belly. My heart is restless inside of me Jesus. I need you to come and bring your blessed presence and wash over me. What do I do? How can I be so selfish as to complain over missing the comforts of home when these beloveds of yours have never even known what a home might feel. I can't hardly even speak Swahili and I'm desperate to let the ones you love let them know that you are with them in their desperation. But maybe in a loving smile, a gentle touch, and or a big hug you will tell them that. Oh Holy Spirit, I am desperate that you flow out of me onto them. Father, you took my breath away today. You showed me the face of your Son. When it finally came time to leave and we had said goodbye to all of our street friends, we turned the corner and walked away. Just about 20 ft. down the side walk we ran into some more of the boys though (this is not an unusual occurrence). They came running up to us with smiles on their faces, but one was preoccupied by peeing on the sidewalk. He was wearing an oversized tee-shirt and cut off pants with a pair of high-heal zip up women's boats that his feet clunk around in. What a funny sight he was and as soon as he finished his business he immediately ran over to walk next to me, putting his pee-hands in my hair. Jesus this is for you I said out loud, and when I looked down into this little boys face I saw you. He had this huge goofy smile on his face, so big that he couldn't keep his mouth shut and he was covered with some unexplainable joy that instantly came into me to. I saw you in him Jesus, and I was captivated. What an unexpected place to see you, what a perfect place to see your loving eyes, in the smiling face of this little funny looking boy who was rubbing his pee-hands all in my relatively clean hair. Yes, you are in this place, and you are pursuing my heart right in the middle of all of it. Oh how i love you Jesus.

totally changing the way we think

written by bill johnson www.bjm.org

How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased their healing? Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins? Were the stripes He bore only for certain illnesses, or certain seasons of time? When He bore stripes in His body He made a payment for our miracle. He already decided to heal. You can't decide not to buy something after you've already bought it. There are no deficiencies on His end - neither the covenant is deficient, nor His compassion or promises. All lack is on our end of the equation. The only time someone wasn't healed in the Bible (gospels) when the disciples prayed for them was with the tormented child (Mark 9). Jesus then came a brought healing/deliverance to the child. Jesus Christ is perfect theology - He is the will of God. We can't lower the standard of scripture to our level of experience . . . or in most cases, inexperience. It's a very uncomfortable realization - not everyone can handle it. Most create doctrine that you can't find in the person of Jesus. He is the will of God.How do we fix the problem?

1. Realize it's not God's fault.

2. Learn from others who see miracles. Have them pray for you. If you don't know people who see miracles, find them. Books will help, if the author has a miracle lifestyle. (Don't try to learn from those who only have the theory of miracles.)

3. Do what Jesus told His disciples to do when He addressed the problem - pray and fast (not just for a specific problem, but for a lifestyle anointing.)

4. Take risk - pray for people (NOT - "if it be thy will" kind of prayer. In the thousands of people I've seen healed, I've never seen anyone healed from that kind of prayer.)

5. It's hard to hurt someone's faith by praying for a miracle. Not praying for a miracle gives them no chance for increased faith. That is what hurts faith. The real goal is to show people God's love. And faith grows in the display of God's love. His love is seen when we show compassion and display God's power.

6. When God heals people, give Him thanks and praise. Learn from it so it will happen again.

7. If someone isn't healed, realize the problem isn't God, and seek Him for direction as well as personal breakthrough (greater anointing for consistency in healing). Also, don't take it personal. There are other factors involved besides great faith. That is only one element in the equation. Just learn to do your best to be faithful to His gospel, and honor Him for the results. It's also not wise to blame the person who is sick.

8. There's a difference between a miracle and healing. Miracles happen in an instant and healing happens over time. It is important to recognize the progress of what God is doing in a person's body and give thanks, because healing increases in an atmosphere of thankfulness.

A Message from My Friends in Mombasa!

This was taken from their blog...there is a link to more of their adventures in My Links (or here: www.iriskenya.blogspot.com). Their stories get to the heart of the matter and are the cry of my heart. I encourage you to go there...without leaving the comforts of home! Their message is simple, yet it will change your life.

This message is from Jamie- my California surfer girl and snorkel buddy.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Why Mombasa? Why Us?
So I'm not quite sure how to write this or what exactly to say, but here we go. Once upon a time, there was four kids, from four different places in America, with four different stories that have nicely intertwined for a time such as this. What time is this, you ask? Well, as one of my favorite MCs would say: "It's Hammer Time!" Okay, but really. As another one of my favorite MCs would say: "In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." (John 18:37). Jesus was radical, the MC among MCs of his day, a rebel, a passionate lover of God's children, a teacher, a friend, and the Son of God. He wasn't just revolutionary, he is the revolution to this thing we call life. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the mediator that lets me stand before my Father in heaven. Because of Him, I am "to God the aroma of Christ" among people ( 2Cor.2:15). And because of Him, I am here in Mombasa with three other amazing people who just want to know this Man better.

Here is how our stories came together: My name is Jamie. I'm from San Francisco, California. Topher is from Boston, Massachusetts. And Carly and Terra are from Gaylord, Michigan. We all met in Mozambique, except for Carly and Terra, in a little Missions school called Holy Given School associated with Iris Ministries. Carly and Terra had just graduated from Taylor University and were ready to explore what the Lord had next (whether that be: being a surf bum in my beloved Cali or being 22 years old living in Kenya for a few months, falling in love with the Lord and His people even more). Topher was about to start med school at Tulane University, but was surprised to find a good friendship and a strong pull toward the same calling we all felt. And I was approaching my Senior year at San Francisco State University, but couldn't resist the Father's call to this awesome adventure.

In Mozambique, at Iris Ministries, surrounded by 'laid down lovers' of God, we had two months devoted to learning what missions really is. We each took something different away from this experience. I learned about missions, about the Father's heart, what it means to be a lover of Christ, what it feels like to be a 'whitey' in Africa, and, most importantly, to never forget to wear sunscreen. The list could go on. But in all reality, what I learned in Mozambique was the theory of Missions. And instead of just going back to my San Francisco life, the Lord has set it up so that we all could actually put the theories we learned into practice. I was in no way prepared for this journey to Kenya when I came to Mozambique. I didn't have a clue, and I didn't have my contact lenses.One of the greatest things I gained was some good friendships, not only with these two cool chicks from Michigan and a dude from Boston, but one very cool guy from Kenya. His name: Robert. After a few fun days exploring the city of Pemba and talking with them about his vision for ministry back in their home city, Mombassa, the Lord started to put a desire in all of our hearts to come alongside our Kenyan brother in helping build a foundation for Iris Ministries in Kenya.

Why Mombasa? Well, we asked that same question at first. Actually, we are still asking that same question at times. Everyday we ask God for wisdom. Jesus, what next? Where now? And everyday, He is faithful to give us an answer as we sit before Him and seek His face. Our mission: To fall even more in love with Him. As we fall for Him, we fall in love with the street kids who have been abandoned and rejected, who sniff glue all day long just to escape the pains of everyday life, who fight to stay alive on the streets, and who are burdened with health problems. As we fall for Him, we fall in love with the little neighbor boys who come to our house everyday for a soccer ball and guitar lessons. As we fall for Him, we fall in love with the Kenyan faces and culture of many new found friends. And as we fall for Him, we fall in love with each other in friendship and unity.I'm excited to see what is ahead, to see the fruit of what the Lord is going to do.It puts my mind at ease to think that the Lord can take the little I have and make it something beautiful. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch on its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32). That's the Kingdom of Heaven for ya though. This upside down kingdom where the Lord uses the weak, the unworthy, and the small to create the most glorious picture of who He is.As Paul says in 2 Timothy: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful appointing me to his service." And even better, he equips those He chooses. So we walk by faith, trusting the Lord for each next step, knowing He will equip us with everything we need. As I said: We're just four kids, walking hand in hand with Jesus.
~Jamie

If you are waiting for your physical death to be set free from sin, then you have made death your Savior. - Georgian Banov

the girls' bathroom

I just had to include some commentary and actual text from Rob Bell's book Sex God- odd title I know. I picked it up in South Africa and it's one of those books you purposefully don't pick up because you don't want to finish it. I've limited myself to two chapters a week. The book is profound and everyone should read it...I've attempted to summarize Chapter Five. It's that good.


He begins the chapter by retelling a story from his youth of asking a girl to dance. Her response was running into the girls bathroom. But he tells the story to illustrate making a move toward someone and the risk that is involved. The person can say yes or no. In putting yourself out there you give them power. What happens when our love is not reciprocated? He then tells another story, one where a friend admits having an affair. Bell recalls being at this guys wedding and witnessing their commitment to one another. That evening, the betrayed wife comes to his door, sits on his couch between him and his wife, and cries and cries and cries. Bell writes that there are a lot of different cries, “someone I love is dying” cry and even the “I just hit my thumb with a hammer” cry. But her cry on that day was of someone who had had their heart broken into by a lover. “It comes from someplace else. Someplace far inside a person, deep in the soul. It’s a cry with a certain ache. It’s the ache of a broken heart” (91).

He then uses the Bible’s collection of love poems, Song of Solomon to illustrate risky love. The young girl sees her “beloved” and he is coming toward her but cannot get in. He is standing behind her wall and looking through the window. She most likely lives at home and is very young. Her life is safe and predictable. Her family is there to care for her. But he is calling her to a life away from them. It is a risk she has to take. It may not work out. He may not be who he appears to be. What if he says this to every woman? What if he cheats on her? Love is risky. “The heart has tremendous capacity to love, and to ache. And this ache is universal.

“You can put women from all over the world with nothing in common in a room together and they may not have a thing to talk about until one of them says, ‘And then he cheated on me,’ and instantly you have universal sisterhood” (95). They all have heartbreak in common. Heartbreak is not just about lovers, but parents and children, friends and co-workers. “It’s universal because we’re feeling something as old as the world. Something God feels” (96). In Genesis, God gives people freedom. They have freedom to love God or not love God. Genesis 6:6 reads God, “regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled” and “then YHWH (God) was sorry that he had made humankind on earth, and it pained his heart.” God has a heart, one that feels, responds, hurts and fills with pain. And we are the source of His grief.

“People God made who have freedom. Freedom to love anybody they want. And freedom not to love anybody they want. God takes this giant risk in creating and loving people, and in the process God’s heart is broken” (97).

“The story the Bible tells is of a living being who loves and who continues to love even when that love is not returned. A God who refuses to override our freedom, who respects our power to decide whether to reciprocate, a God who lets us make the next move” (98).

“Love is handing your heart to someone and taking the risk that they will hand it back because they don’t want it. That’s why it’s such a crushing ache on the inside. We gave away a part of ourselves and it wasn’t wanted.

Love is a giving away of power. When we love, we give the other person the power in the relationship. They can do what they choose. They can do what they like with our love. They can reject it, they can accept it, they can step toward us in gratitude and appreciation.

Love is a giving away. When we love, we put ourselves out there, we expose ourselves, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

Love is giving up control. It’s surrendering the desire to control the other person. The two- love and controlling power over the other person- are mutually exclusive. If we are serious about loving someone, we have to surrender all of the desires within us to manipulate the relationship” (98).

So God, creator of the universe, doesn’t overwhelm us by showing up in great power with bolts of lightening and making things happen. If He did, he’d scare us away. “The last thing people would perceive is love” (99). So He expresses His love by stripping Himself of all things that come with power and authority. “That’s how love works. It doesn’t matter if a man has a million dollars and wants to woo a woman (or vice versa), if she loves him for his money, it isn’t really love.

If you were an almighty being who made the universe and everything in it, you would need to meet people on their level, in their world, on their soil…like them.

This is the story of the Bible. This is the story of Jesus” (100).

Throughout the life of Jesus, He chooses love, not power. “Connection and solidarity rather thank rank and hierarchy. Touch rather than distance. Compassion rather than control. He comes on a donkey, not a horse” (101).

In Philippians it says that Jesus, “who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:5-11).

“There is a weakness that is actually strength. And a strength that is actually a weakness” (102).

Managers and bosses who use their position to bully others to get things done have a strength that is actually a weakness. Their authority only comes from a title, one that can me taken away in an instant. They appear strong, but are actually weak.

Bell uses Ghandi as a prime example of this in his commitment to nonviolence. He was able to stand up to the British Empire!

And this is the approach of Jesus. “In His emptiness, He shows us how empty the way of the world really is. …Jesus is God coming to us in love. Sheer, unadulterated love. Stripped of everything that could get in the way. Naked and vulnerable, hanging on a cross, asking the question, ‘What will you do with me?’”.(105)

Thus the cross speaks to us of God’s suffering, pain and broken heart. “It’s God making the first move and waiting on our response” (105).

If you have ever given yourself to someone and had your heart broken, you know how God feels. If you have ever given yourself to someone and found yourself waiting for their response, exposed and vulnerable, left hanging in the balance, you know how God feels. If you’ve ever given your heart to someone you loved deeply, only to have them lie to you, cheat on you, use you and rip your heart into pieces, you know how God feels. The cross is God’s way of saying, “I know what it’s like”.

So often we get angry at God, raise our fists in the air and tell Him how unfair He is and how He has no idea what we are going through or how much pain we are in…But the cross is God’s way of saying that He does know.

In seeing Him in this way we come to a place where we realize we are not alone, “where we find strength to go on. Not a strength that comes from within ourselves but a strength that comes from God. The God who keeps going. Who keeps offering. Who keeps loving. Who keeps risking. A God who knows what it’s like. The cross is where we present our wounds to God and say, ‘Here, you take them.’

Our healing begins when we participate in the suffering of God. When we don’t avoid it but enter into it, and in the process enter into the life of God. When we see our pain not as separating us from but connecting us to our maker. And in this connection, there’s always the chance we’ll find a reason to risk again”. (107)

If you’ve had your heart broken, risked, offered, been lied to, deceived, used, there is something divine in your suffering.

“You know how God feels.

Really good people get hurt. It’s the way things are.

It’s when we choose not to love again that there’s a problem. A decision not to risk again is a decision not to love again. In matters of love, it’s as if God has agreed to play by the same rules we do. God can do anything- that’s what makes God, God. But God cannot do everything. He can’t make us love Him- that’s our choice. Love is risky for God too.

Which is a bit like a boy asking a girl to dance” (109).