News From Mozambique

Dear friends and family,

It has now already been two weeks since Michiah and Isaac Lancaster returned to the USA.  We thank the Lord that He brought these two young men to visit, as they were a help and encouragement to us.  We are so grateful for the precious time of fellowship we had with them!  The photo on the left was taken as we said goodbye at the airport.

While we are on the subject of the Lancasters, June 19 marked the 1 year anniversary of Joy and Seth joining our team here!  In one way it feels like it has been much shorter than a year ago that they joined us, yet on the other hand it feels like it has been much longer.  They have become part of our family, and we are grateful to have them with us.  We have learned so much together!  Joy & Seth, we are grateful that you followed the Lord’s leading as He brought you here, and we pray that the Lord will continue to lead you in His perfect way, and that He would cause much fruit to be born in your lives here in Mozambique.  Friends and family, join us in giving thanks to the Lord for sending them here!  And please pray for them, that they would grow in their love for the Lord Jesus, and that they would be pure and useful instruments in the Hand of our Lord.

Over the next few weeks some of us will be doing some travelling, so we would appreciate your prayers.  My father and Seth will be attending a pastor’s conference in Maputo (capital of Mozambique) on the 17th and 18th July.  I will be going for a week of Early Childhood Development training in South Africa, starting next Monday.  Then on the 22nd of July I will be leaving for 2 weeks to house/dog-sit for someone at a town called Bilene.  Though I will be doing some work while there, it will also be a time for rest and catching up on some reading.  Please pray for the Lord’s protection and blessing in our travels.

In regards to ministry, the Lord has been good to us.  This 3rd quarter with our children at the Learning Center has gone very well so far.  It is a delight to see the children learn so well!  Yet more than just gaining knowledge and education, it is our greatest desire that each of them would come to know the Lord.  Please pray that for them.

The weekly Bible classes we hold for children at a Nazarene church have also been going well.  In the winter we usually have less children attending, yet even so we have had over a hundred almost every week.  It also has been encouraging to see how Joy and Seth are progressing in the language, as the children are understanding them better now than when they first began teaching.  In June we had a special Sunday for the children, it was altogether a 4 hour ordeal.  I am glad we expected a crowd and had helpers from the church, as about 400 children came!  They had a BLAST though, and we are so grateful for the Lord’s help.  We played games, had puppet shows, singing, and Bible lessons. It was a blessing! I am including a few photos of that at the bottom of this post.

Our Sunday afternoon Bible study for young people has also been blessed by the Lord.  Recently there was a time we were praying about whether to continue with it or not, as most of the young people seemed too busy to come.  We are grateful to say that the Lord has been bringing the young people again, and we believe that He wants us to continue with this group of about 20.  There are several of them we believe are truly saved, and we ask you to please pray for them to grow in the Lord.  There are several who also attend but are not saved.  They are seeking, but don’t know the Lord yet.  Some of these include two ladies who are twins, who have lately been very convicted and seem to be seeking the Lord.  Also one teenage girl, Delfina, started coming a week after her young mother’s untimely death. Please pray for them!

I would like to close with a few prayer requests. Please pray:

• for the Lord to give us a greater love and passion for Himself
• for the Lord’s leading as we make decisions over the next two months in regards to ministry next year
• for our health, as my mom and brother Juan both had malaria recently
• for the children at the Learning Center, that they would learn well and especially come to know the Lord
• for the Bible classes, that the Lord would send His Spirit to work among those precious children
• for the Bible study, that the Lord would caused His children to grow and that the lost would be saved

Thank you, dear brothers & sisters in Christ, for your love, prayers, and support.  We thank the Lord for you, and we pray that the Lord would bless each of you richly.

Below are the photos from Children’s Day party at church:

 

~ Isak Westraad

Pray for Arlindo

Many of you have probably read various times in our prayer requests and updates on the Bible study about a young man here, named Arlindo. He has been coming to the Bible studies since the beginning, and has been very open and responsive.We don’t know if he is saved yet, and he says he doesn’t know either, but he is really seeking, and seems to be very close to the Kingdom. At first, when he started coming to the studies he said he was saved, but now we can tell he’s really beginning to understand what salvation truly is, and think deeply about it.  He has a very hard time with his family situation though. His wife  is entirely opposed to anything related to Christianity, and has left him multiple times.  He said there is only one person in his family that he can talk to about spiritual things. As often is the case, he lives very close to much of his extended family, in a little hut right next to his parents’ house.

 We went to visit him and his family at his home a little while back. Here is a photo of him, his wife, Irlenia, and little boy, Jackson (about three months old).

Please pray for Arlindo; that he would be truly saved, and have full assurance of salvation, and also for his wife. She is very hardened toward the gospel, but we were able to talk of spiritual matters and pray with Arlindo while we were visiting, and she listened politely. We pray that the Lord will get a hold of her heart.

Please pray also for Jackson, their little boy. One of Arlindo’s friends told us yesterday that the baby is sick right now. Arlindo himself was not able to make it to the Bible study yesterday, as he had to attend a wedding.

Thanks to everyone who labours in prayer for the work here!

May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering.

For His glory,

L. Joy Lancaster for the Mozambique team.

Update on Biblestudy

Dear friends in the Lord

Here is an update on the Bible study we had this afternoon.  The Lord really was just SO good, and He was with us.  He also showed us something special today, which was encouraging.  As most of you know, this is a new Biblestudy we started 5 weeks ago, and is a way reaching out to the adults and also to give the opportunity for the older children in our Bible classes for kids to learn more from the Bible.

 

When we got to the church, there were already 3 waiting for us, 2 girls (12 and 14) and one boy (11).  Soon others came, and there ended up coming about 20 attendees, the oldest being 16 and the youngest 9. The majority were between 12 and 14.  At first I was somewhat discouraged, looking at all these children with no adults among them…..and that is after we handed out all those tracts and invitations in the area too.  Then I realized something: who are my most faithful attendees? Who are the ones who listen so carefully, who concentrates the most on what is being taught?  Who doesn’t sit and whisper giggling to each other? Who are the ones who don’t come walking in the door as I wrap up, but are actually on time?!  Who hunger after the things of God? The children.  These preteen and young teens….they are the ones.  They come much more faithfully than any adults have, they don’t fall asleep while I teach like the adults do, they are on time usually, and they (for the most part) actually listen.  

 

When we moved to Mozambique, right from the beginning the Lord gave a great burden for the children and widows of this country to my parents.  Over the years it has mostly stayed our burden, and our main area of focus.  Don’t get me wrong, in no way do we want to neglect reaching out to the adults….on the contrary we will continue with the tract outreaches and speaking with people as we are able. But more and more, it seems that those who are the most open to the Gospel are the young teens, and preteens.  What a blessing to be able to share the true Gospel with them now, before their minds are filled with all the lies and false teachings that surround them.  What a wonderful thing to see some of these children be saved before they are scarred and marred by the terrible sins most older teens commit here.  The Lord has given us a special burden for the children of Mozambique, and we ask for your continued prayer for them.  This is the next generation…..what a privilege and heavy responsibility to have a part in shaping their lives now.  May God help us!

 

As I saw all these dear precious young souls, I realized something else too…..  I had prepared for an adult Biblestudy, which will not work with these kids! (too many difficult words, etc)  And that is why I’m so grateful for those of you who were praying for me, because the Lord really helped me.  I used my outline as a basis, but simplified it and did what I could to make it applicable to the lives of these dear children.  Most are lost, and there were several who looked convicted.  2 boys esp come to mind, about 14 both I would guess.  They listened well as I taught on regeneration, and about having to be made a new creation.  I emphasized that they must examine their lives, and ask themselves, “Am I a new creation?  Or am I just the same as I’ve always been?”  Towards the end it almost looked like they were teary (very rare), but it was hard to tell.  Anyways, I could see they were moved by the message.  Please pray for their salvation.  

 

I can only praise and thank God for His help, because without His carrying grace and mercy, I would not have made it this afternoon.  What a faithful God we have, and He does truly equip us for the task He gives us.  A great tool He has given me is the book Justification & Regeneration by Charles Leiter.  I am using this book as a basis for most of my studies, and it has been such a help and a blessing!  If you have not read this book yourself, I very much encourage you to do so.  Its available to read online, or you can order it very reasonably priced.  If you would like to know more about the book, just email me or leave a comment below.

 

May the Lord bless each of you, and thank you for your continued prayers.  

 

 

Update from Mozambique

Thank you so much all for the prayers and support, we are truly grateful.  I just want to update you all on what is going on here.

LITERACY CENTER

Tomorrow morning Anneke will have a meeting with the mothers of all the students we picked, a total of 30 children.  None of them can read or write.  Most of the students are from the area where we give the Friday Bible class, which is a very poor area.  None of the children in that whole neighborhood can read…..it was shocking.  We filled up our students list very quickly!  the youngest are in grade 2 at 6 years, and the oldest at grade 5 or 6 at 17 years.  None can read.    Anneke starts on Tuesday, 15 October.  We are very excited!!  Please pray that all goes well with the meeting tomorrow, and for the Lord’s blessing on this new work we are beginning.  We praise the Lord for this door He has opened for us, as it truly is a wonderful opportunity to be a light for Christ!

Due to us now starting the Literacy Center, we will no longer be able to continue with our Friday Bible class for children.  Today we had our last class, and the children all got candy which was a very rare and special treat for them!  Most of the students from this Bible class will be students in the literacy center, so they will continue to be exposed to the Gospel and the Word of God.

BIBLE STUDY

The Biblestudy has moved to the Nazarene Church, they have been kind enough to let us use their building.  Please continue to pray for me as I teach and lead the Biblestudy, its a completely new experience for me and I’m learning as I go.  I’m busy teaching on justification right now.  The first Biblestudy we had about 7 attendees, and this past Sunday we had about 20, though half were young siblings of older children who attended.  

TRACT OUTREACH

Tomorrow, Saturday, I will have my first tract outreach with the older children from my Bible class.  Please pray that the children will remember, and pray for the Lord to help us.  We need boldness, courage, wisdom, and love.  Pray that this ministry may be fruitful!  Lord willing, we will do this every Saturday.  

That is a quick update for now, thank you so much for praying. May the Lord help and bless each of you, and make His face shine upon you.

In Christ our Life,

Westraads

Update from Mozambique

Dear ones,

Its high time I send put an update out on what has been going on here!  The Lord has been so good to us, and I just want to share a few things that has happened since our last update.

Two weeks ago, we received 110 Portuguese Bibles! Praise the Lord for that!! We thank those who were so generous in helping with this, we are grateful.  When the people from Maputo came to drop they Bibles off, they gave me some little booklets for teens and others for younger children, 1000 of each.  This they did for free, very kind of them!  We have already given several of these Bibles away, and we continue to do so.  We do not go out and just give out Bibles, since they are not very cheap and we want to be certain a person would read it.  Once we are sure the Bible will be read, we gladly give it to individuals.

The materials for the literacy center has also arrived!  As I have told you before, we are starting a literacy center for older children in higher grades who cannot read or write yet.  Its not uncommon to find children in grade 6 or even 7 who still cannot read at all.  This is a great need here, and one we believe the Lord has called us to fill as we are able.  Our main goal is to share the Gospel with these children, though.  We will have 30 students at this first center, 15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon; we are using materials from A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) which has excellent materials; I was homeschooled using this curriculum from grade 1 until grade 12, and we have always found it to be Biblical.  The Wesleyan Bible College has graciously agreed to let us use one of their rooms for the center until February 2014.  We have requested the community to donate a piece of property to us, and if they give us one, Lord willing, we will build a classroom before February so we will be able to move there.  So on October 14 or 15 Anneke will officially start the literacy center, and in February 2014 we will relocate to our own building, Lord willing.  Currently Anneke is preparing the materials and getting students ready, etc.  

The Bible study which we began a while ago at Pedro’s house, we are relocating.  We live in a small neighborhood of Xai-Xai, and are about 10 minutes away from the main town Xai-Xai.  We have felt the Lord wants us to move to the main town, and so we have been searching for a place to hold the weekly Bible study.  We would have liked to do it at someone’s home, but there are no street addresses in Xai-Xai so it would be very difficult to explain to strangers where we have the Bible study.  Because of this, we have decided to use the Nazarene church building, and they graciously agreed for us to use it on Sunday afternoons.  Tomorrow will be our first Sunday at the new location.  Please pray for this Bible study, that it will grow, but above all that the Lord will save souls.  Pray that the Lord will grant me grace and wisdom, I lack greatly.  

Tomorrow morning after my Bible class with the older children (11+ years) I will be going with some of them to give out tracts, and we will be telling people about the Bible study.  Please pray that the Lord will grant us all boldness and wisdom, and that He would help us to be a shining light for Him!  Lord willing, we want to make this a weekly ministry of giving out tracts, and I believe it is a wonderful way to help the saved children in our classes evangelize.  

I have updated our blog a bit recently, as it was rather out of date.  The information under the “ABOUT” pages have been updated, and I have also updated the “PHOTOS” page.  

We appreciate your continued prayers for us, and we thank you all so much for your help and prayers; we are truly grateful!