This 3D virtual image was taken on the playground at the Machava Ministry Center run by Iris Ministries outside of Maputo, Mozambique.
Last week, the AR team and Pastor Vincent traveled to Maputo, Mozambique, to visit Iris Ministries, a ministry started in 1995 by American missionaries Rolland and Heidi Baker. We first learned of Iris through the book Always Enough, which Nate and I each read a few months ago. We found the book very challenging, as it relates the incredible story of revival sweeping through Mozambique (especially following the devastating floods of 2000) and of the total abandon to God and the Holy Spirit that the Bakers live by daily.
We saw for ourselves that God is at work in a big way there. To us, it seemed like Mozambique is to South Africa as Mexico is to the U.S., except that Mozambique is perhaps poorer. As one enters the country, immediately, one feels the poverty and the lack of viable economy; even the roads turn to sand in parts. The Portuguese influence gives the country a Central or South American feel, and the communist regime of years ago still has its authority as photos are prohibited of certain monuments and sights downtown. From the sight of the dilapidated buildings in Maputo, it’s obvious that Mozambique was once a thriving and beautiful country but is now the shell of what it once was. But despite being hit hard by twenty years of intense civil war and horrendous natural disasters, Mozambique is beginning to turn a corner and one gains that sense of hope when one sees how God is using Iris Ministries to transform the lives of the next generation.
When the Bakers first arrived in Mozambique, they were overwhelmed by the number of children abandoned, orphaned and/or displaced as a result of the country’s infighting. The Bakers simply stepped out in faith in offering these children a safe home. Over the years and many more steps of faith, God has blessed Iris in allowing the ministry to expand throughout Mozambique and into Malawi; as a result, Iris now cares for thousands of children and teenagers, raising them up in the ways of the Lord and providing them schooling on-site, a church home, loving dorm parents and an environment in which to thrive. We stayed at the Zimpeto Center in Maputo and also visited the Machava base nearby, and at each place, we were amazed us by the care the children receive, the love of God that they know, the freedom they are allowed, the responsibilities they grow into and the hearts for Jesus that these kids are developing.
We are finding it hard to process all that we experienced, but for me the main take-away from our time in Mozambique is that God is transforming what would have been a lost generation into followers of Christ who will no doubt have a great impact on their country. We had the opportunity to get to know some of the young men at Zimpeto (85% of the 300 at Zimpeto are boys), and we left very encouraged by how the Lord has blessed and used this ministry, taking it from something small to something big by His grace alone.
More reflections are forthcoming as we continue to process things, but hopefully the photos will give you an idea of the beauty of Mozambique’s children.
In early February, the AR team plus our good friend Nate Massey journeyed 9 days to and from Cape Town. We traveled there via the Garden Route that runs along the South African coast, and returned home via the direct route, which meant 18+ hours in the Vito from Cape Town to Pretoria.
The whole trip I found myself continuing to be so impressed by this country’s beauty. In our six months here, we have visited several provinces—Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal—and on this trip made our way across the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape, the Free State and crossing into the Northern Cape, leaving just one province we haven’t at least passed through or explored. And so far, all have been strikingly beautiful in their own way.
We took our time making our way along the Garden Route, stopping over for two nights in the surfer town of Jeffrey’s Bay and two nights with friends of Will’s in George, where we were introduced to a very talkative and ornery parakeet Pauli and were unhappily blasted by sand on the windy beach of nearby Wilderness the next day. Along the drive, we stopped and leisurely strolled about the coastal towns of Plettenberg Bay (see Nate’s short video clip below), Knysna and Hermanus, each lovely; but interestingly, each coupled with the likes of a township or informal settlement nearby—it seems one is not immune to the reality of poverty anywhere. As Cape Town approached, the scenery became increasingly more and more breathtaking, with impressively masculine mountains jutting directly into a calm and rhythmic sea.
Cape Town was the culmination for sure. It is a stunning city and, in my opinion, totally underrated among the cities of the world. We stayed in an area called Fish Hoek for four nights with views of both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from our guest house and ate seafood, seafood, seafood. Among the memorable things we did were meeting with missionary Floyd McClung (read Allan’s blog post about our time with Floyd), almost getting blown off the continent of Africa by gale-force winds at Cape Point and, my favorite, hiking Lion’s Head Mountain for the incredible view of iconic Table Mountain and its accompanying Twelve Apostles at sunset. The scene was truly incredible.
Back at work this week in Mamelodi, many of our friends at the Powerhouse excitedly inquired about our trip while expressing a longing to “make it to Cape Town someday” as if it were an impossibility. These conversations put us in check, reminding us that to travel is a luxury and not to be taken for granted; indeed, we are incredibly grateful. We were quick, though, to encourage our students not to consider Cape Town a distant dream, but to consider it a goal, even more so than the always-fantasized-about visit to America someday. Cape Town is a gorgeous city within reach, and by bus or even by plane it can be reached affordably. So however imperfectly, we found ourselves challenging our students, little by little, to save to someday enjoy Cape Town and, after all, the beauty of their own country.
If you, too, are interested in experiencing a different bit of South Africa’s beauty—the beauty of God’s hand at work in Mamelodi—check out our latest addition to the blog and download free Mamelodi Stories desktop wallpaper. Enjoy!
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.—Psalm 40:2
Abandoned Babies for Christ Ministry was started by Robyn and Gerry Richter more than a decade ago and is located in the mountain village of Bulembu in the northwest corner of Swaziland. HIV/AIDS has decimated the population of the country to less than 1 million, leaving tens of thousands of orphans behind, vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Taking in abandoned and unwanted children from all over the country, Robyn and Gerry are living out their calling and supporting the Bulembu vision of restoring a dying race of Swazi people through education and God’s love, raising up the leaders of the next generation.
Click the image below for the audio slideshow on ABC Ministry.
You need the Flash Player to view this audio slideshow about ABC Ministry in Bulembu, Swaziland, where their vision is to care for the orphans of the country, raising them to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Robyn tells a story predating ABC, when she and others fed and clothed children in a squatter camp near their home.
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Robyn shares her husband’s story and the cost of following Jesus.
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Many thanks to Robyn and Gerry for allowing me into their extremely busy lives to take photos and record their stories. Thanks to the ABC staff for letting me get in their way. Thanks to my wife for her support and assistance in editing the audio and selecting the photos. Most of all, thanks be to God for supporting and sustaining the ABC Ministry.
In early December, the AR team traveled to Bulembu, Swaziland, for a week for the dual purpose of visiting a friend of Allan’s from seminary, Lee-Ann McFarlane, who runs a ministry there that provides early care and education to children ages 2-6, and to check out whether Bulembu could serve as another site to which to send AR interns in the future.
Bulembu is nestled in the highveld of the northwest corner of Swaziland, just over a tiny border crossing from South Africa. It is a beautiful place with a remarkable story—God’s fingerprints are everywhere there.
A few years ago, a team of Christian entrepreneurs and social developers saw the potential of Bulembu and the spirit of its people and, when the town went up for auction after the closing of the mine, purchased the 7,000-acre town with the vision of restoring it, little by little. What one sees today when one visits Bulembu is a picture of God’s redemptive hand at work.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.—Isaiah 58:12
The entire town is a nonprofit, run by Bulembu Ministries Swaziland (BMS), and is infused with the vision of creating a totally self-sustaining community by 2020. For what purpose? More than two-thirds of Swazis living on less than $1 per day and national unemployment is at a staggering rate of 40%; but on top of this, HIVS/AIDS which has ravaged this tiny kingdom. In fact, Swaziland’s HIV/AIDS rate, at 43%, is the highest in the world. The HIV/AIDS problem has left an orphaned population of more than 80,000 children, predicted to grow to 120,000 by 2010. Swaziland is considered a fatherless country, with little male ownership of unwanted babies and a frightening lack of male leadership and positive role models. Taking a business-based approach, BMS has the vision to make Bulembu completely self-sustaining in order to care—physically, emotionally and spiritually—for Swaziland’s orphans. By 2020, this little town has the vision to care for at least 2,000 vulnerable girls and boys, taken in from all over the country, and to rear these children as the next godly leaders of Swaziland.
Today, although the mine remains inactive, the town is beginning to grow. The population has increased from just 100 people to more than 1,000, more than 500 jobs have been created, buildings occupied by local cows and birds are being renovated and occupied and several industries—including timber, honey, bottled water, an arts & crafts gift shop and the Bulembu Lodge—have been established to contribute to the vision of self-sustainability. BMS acts essentially as a umbrella ministry, overseeing the overall progress of the town’s mission, while other ministries, including Lee-Ann’s, work in cooperation to care for and ultimately rear the children of Bulembu.
While it took us a few days to get our heads wrapped around this very unique, totally unconventional place, I continue to ponder why I consider Bulembu a very special place. Death is necessary for rebirth. We see that all over the Scriptures and of course most poignantly in Christ’s death and resurrection and His gift to us of new life. In Bulembu, we saw for ourselves a picture of a town’s physical death, necessary for God to start from scratch rebuilding and reconstituting a place, wholly in His name. Bulembu is a place where the Lord’s work has full permission to reign, and to an outsider, this is clearly felt. For me and Nate, God’s mighty redemptive touch was most obviously seen in the lives of the children there (watch one story of a Bulembu ministry, Abandoned Babies for Christ). Additionally, the community there, though we’re aware it has not always been easy, is genuine; and the ways in which the missionaries and ministries work side-by-side as collaborators and not competitors is something for which to praise God. The people we met and spoke with were always candid with us that Bulembu is a work in progress and that they, admittedly, are figuring it out as they go, trusting God’s direction and provision. I am thankful for our week in Swaziland, enjoying the beauty of that country but most especially the beauty of God’s work unfolding, simply by His grace and by the obedience of followers of Jesus.
If you’re interested in learning more about Bulembu, we encourage you to visit the town’s website and, in particular, watch the town’s video.
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