Bush Bush of Africa

What’s up guys! Another amazing week in Mozambique Africa! I hope all of you guys are enjoying the cooler weather while it gets hotter every day here. No longer is it a joke about going outside and cooking stuff on the pavement, because from 10-3pm I probably really could. This week I just want to purely tell about my experience in the bush bush of Africa. There are so many things to tell and explain but I really genuinely just want to tell you how amazing and fun it was and try to paint the picture of true Africa outside the city and city villages, otherwise known as the bush bush.

The bush bush is anything basically 2 hours drive or more outside of any city, which basically means that about 90% of Mozambique is considered bush bush. If you go about 10 hours drive or more from a city it’s called the bush bush bush haha. We only had a six hour ride to our destination which was very interesting. We managed to pack about 12 people in the back of a big truck and the roads are anything but paved haha. After about 3 hours it started to poor and it just so happened that our trucks cover was torn all over. Therefore we stopped and fit about 25 people in the back of one bigger truck. We were soaked and now standing or kneeling on the bumpiest ride ever haha it was quite exciting! The bush bush is like nothing I have ever seen before. Whoever said over population is going to happen is quite unintelligent because there was enough open land to fit millions and millions. Nothing but dead trees and dirt for hours everywhere around the village we arrived at. Now if you remember when I stayed in the village about 10 minutes from where I am staying kids were a little scared of white people. Some of the kids in the bush bush were literally scared to get within 10 yards of me until they got warmed up to me.

The kids were by far my favorite part by the end of the trip. Forget everything I have ever told you about poverty in Pemba (the city I am staying by). Being in true Africa amongst the village gave me a whole new idea of poverty. Some kids were walking around with no pants while others had rashes all over their head. I know I have mentioned poverty quite a bit but this last story changed me forever and thought it should be shared. After breakfast we had some left over rolls and thought it would be good to share it with the village kids. So one of the mommas of the village started handing out the rest of the bread rolls one by one. Everything was going smoothly until one person soon realized there wasn’t going to be enough for everybody. Madness broke out amongst the children and fights started everywhere as I literally saw the box fly in the air. Although it was over quick it seemed like it lasted forever. All I could do was look at the ground and try to process what I just saw. One moment they act like they are all related, and the next they are punching each other in the face for the last piece of bread. Even the Christian Mozambiquans take part in this and other situations similar. The Lord began speaking to me that it is because the principality of poverty that exists over these people, they may fight for a piece of bread when they have rice and beans waiting for them at home. It’s almost like the devil lies to them and sais they must steal and fight to survive when it’s not true in most cases.

After breakfast we split up into teams to go house to house and share the gospel or encourage other Christians. The first house we stopped at was 5 guys and a woman sitting outside the house hanging out. We soon figured out 3 were muslim and 3 were Christian. I learned so much from this house. The problem here in Africa if any of you come will soon find out is discipleship. Most of these Christians say they are Christians because they accepted Jesus as their savior and Lord one day a long time ago which definitely makes them saved. But after that day of being saved they were never once told how to live a life full of Jesus and living out the destiny that is prepared for them. And the majority of Muslims have never heard the true gospel. They only get the messed up version that their mosque feeds them. After about 45 minutes of talking the one Muslim wanted Jesus and the husband and wife of the house were going to go to church on Sunday but said they were not ready to accept Jesus. It amazed me how simple the questions these people were asking! Missionaries come here all the time and preach the gospel in huge meetings but no one ever stays to disciple the village. I am so serious when I say any of you who know Jesus that are reading this could easily come to a village that has about 1000 people and disciple the whole village to growing into intimacy with the Father. It’s not a joke. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few has become so real to me. We visited a couple other houses that ended in many simple questions and answers that I’m sure most of you could have answered. This is just an example that Jesus just wants us! These people just wanted us and the simple answers and friendship we had to offer. We weren’t some crazy bold people walking in with the anointing of apostle Paul. We just gave these people our time and lead at least 5 people to Jesus. Yea I guess that’s a decent morning.

After relaxing and hanging out with the kids for the rest of the day we began to get ready for the night. The whole night consists of us driving another hour to the other village, meeting the chief, king and elders of the village, play around with the kids for a couple hours and then show the famous Jesus Film on a projector screen for everyone to see. After arriving we all got on our knees and met the king who is basically the overseer of three different villages and this was one of them. He was a wonderful man that was full of laughter. It was funny to think that even the chief and elder had ripped up clothes. Before I knew it I found myself in front of about 200 kids imitating everything I did haha. If I raised my right hand they raised their right hand, if I jumped they jumped etc. It was basically a huge game of Simon Sais accept nobody gets out. They thought it was quite funny. About 30 minutes later I got asked to play in a soccer game against the villagers. I hate soccer and I am not going to explain how the one goal we lost was my fault ha. After all the playtime it was game time. Everybody started setting up the sound equipment and the film screen while the village began to crowd around.

Before I knew it there was about 4-500 people right in front of our faces ready to listen to whatever we had to say. At this moment things were shifting in the spirit all around us. Battle broke out that we couldn’t see but could feel all around us. One of our girls immediately started throwing up, and another one began to get severe attacks from the devil. Others noticed stuff happening all around the crowd that could easily be scene as schemes of satan. So they all began to intercede as me and the girl went up to share our testimonies before the film. I never enjoyed being in front of 4-500 people so much in my life. After sharing my story and giving a quick little preach it was time for the movie. Needless to say they love watching movies haha. After a 2 and a half hour movie of the life of Jesus and what he did the lead pastor came up and preached. After a quick sermon the entire team came forth and boldy told anybody with sickness to come down to the front to receive prayer, whether it be for a blessing which mostly was, or to be prayed for healing. I could sit here and say everybody got healed that I prayed for but here is the reality. Although many kids gave me thumbs up and smiled and did all sorts of things after being prayed for healing I don’t speak one bit of their language and their was no true way of knowing because most of their sicknesses were in their stomach and head, nothing physically scene. There was one momma though that couldn’t even raise her shoulder before me and two others started praying and by the end she was doing windmills with her shoulder and stretching it in every angle. Hundreds stormed the front to where literally bigger kids were shoving little kids out of the way to be prayed for first. I have never seen people so hungry in my life to receive prayer it was amazing.

The goal of the whole experience is to plant a church and disciple the village with a local pastor. This experience will be remembered for the rest of my life. To think I am going to be doing stuff like that for two weeks in Zimbabwe gets me pretty pumped! I only have 10 full class days left and a little over two weeks total before I go to Zimbabwe! I might not be able to post a blog next week just a heads up!

Thanks again for taking the time and reading what’s going on in my life and over here it really means a lot! And a special shout out to my bros from Allen you guys know who you are I love yall so much! Have a great week everybody may it be overflowing with joy like Paul spoke of!

Darkness in Absence of Light

Hey kunyas (it’s the new word for caucasion)! Haha it’s good to get back on here again and let you guys know what’s been happening. Jesus has been taking me on such an adventure the last two weeks on the inside of me for the most part, but it’s been amazing. I had one of the most amazing experiences going into the village and living with the family for a night! I also want to share some testimonies of experiences in town that occurred at night. One is positive and one isn’t so positive. And then I have a couple more stories in between. Get your popcorn ready because it’s about to be good!

Last Saturday was a night I will never forget. It was a night full of adversity, new beginnings for the future, and joy all mixed in with a dose of humility that would not exactly be seen in the Western World. It’s something that all the students go through called Immersion, where they drop three of us off at the village with a pastor and his family and we live with them for 24 hours. I have seen the village homes from afar and walked in through a few of them but never I have gone deep like I did this time. After getting dropped off as far as the car could go we had another 20 minute walk to get to her house. The walkways between the houses were narrow and filled with trash. As we began to go deeper and deeper being lead by the wife off the pastor, you could tell it got less and less common to see a white person. The houses were just as if on the commercials of third world countries and the way they live. Some lived in shacks but for the most part it was mud huts that consisted of 2-3 rooms and a little walkway to split the rooms. Most had straw roofs but some had tin. Mostly everybody sleeps on either mats or day beds, which is like straw made beds. I think very few actually had mattresses. With her lot and everything included on it everything could probably be bought for about 100 US dollars. And the only thing I am including is the bamboo sticks to help the mud stay, about 3 or 4 pots and then the day beds, along with 1 table.

After reading that you might think man what do they eat? Probably rice and maybe some beans and bread but probably not all the time. The rest of what I am about to share is going to be a testimony of how Jesus came to serve not to be served. And that doesn’t just mean letting someone borrow something. Jesus came as low as He could and gave the best that He could. Not only did I eat spaghetti and fish that night, but the next morning I had eggs with French fries, bread and tea(who knows how long they saved to do that). They also gave their bedroom up for the couple that I was with and let them sleep in their mattress and under their mosquito net while the pastor and his wife slept in the kitchen/kids room witch had no mosquito net. The momma would not let us do anything! Even if we tried sometimes she would not let us do it because in her eyes we were at her house and we were their to be served not to serve. It was probably the most relaxing enjoyable 24 hours I have ever experience. I just had to relax and rest in my Father’s hands while I was served.

The kids in the village were a whole different experience. We weren’t there for more than 30 minutes before 20 kids were outside the gate of the house looking in at the couple and me I was with. Haha most were too afraid to come into the gate. This was just too easy for me to have fun. Of course I went outside the gate and started chasing them around and watch them laugh hysterically while running away. Only a few were legitimately afraid of me haha the rest didn’t know what to do. But it’s funny because love transcends all languages and within 10 minutes we were all having a dance party in the middle of the houses. I never felt like a child of God more in my entire life! I knew that by me just being there and abiding in Jesus and being around these kids that heaven was being released. Us Christians have heaven inside of us, it’s just a matter of us releasing it so that His will could be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here is an example of heaven not being on earth.

I am beginning to realize that Satan is attacking the younger generation more and more not only because the majority of the population is under 20 but because the key to the future of the Kingdom lies heavily on the upcoming generation. To watch how violent many of these kids are is one of the most disturbing things I have witnessed since being here. As I was hanging out with some of the kids about 10 yards over I see two kids about 12 years old fighting as if they were two men at a bar. Both swinging as hard as they could with absolutely no rules. I helped separate the first one but after that I was in shock. As they continued to be separated they brought them back together to make peace as one of them got close enough to cheap shot him right in the face. This continued for about 15 minutes where they would break up and then one of them would break through the kids and cheap shot the other. Everything from kicking in the stomach to punching in the face. These 12-14 year old kids had more testosterone than most 17 year olds in America it seemed like. I was in such shock as I stood afar not knowing what to do anymore and seeing that the multitude of kids didn’t want me involved or help. The more I see the more it makes me want to destroy it. Last night was one example.

The Lord is really destroying the fear of man that is in me so that I can walk closer to his fullness. Last night me and two friends decided to go get some frango which means chicken at this restaurant. I say restaurant but it really turns into a bar at night flooded with darkness (prostitutes, pimps, and foreign men in town looking for sex). I believe I was told that the average prostitute is sold for 7 mets which is about 25 cents in US dollars. So anyways we were hungry for food and to release the kingdom of heaven on earth. After getting our food and eating my friend had a brilliant idea of starting a dance party in the middle of the place and worship Jesus through our dance to release heaven and angels in that place to replace the demons that had stronghold over that place. So while about 15-20 guys are playing pool and drinking beer and about 5-10 people eating we began to dance to the loud club music. Within minutes we had 3 to 4 others that were dancing with us. Two of which were drunk haha but that’s okay. All we could do was be faithful and worship Jesus in the midst of darkness the results are not our responsibility. Did half the place look at us like we were stupid, you bet your bottom dollar they did haha. But I am beginning to care more about saving souls and releasing heaven than what people think of me. On the way home we stopped off at the Rahab ministry that Iris does on Friday nights which takes in prostitutes and mommas that want their feet washed and to be prayed over and get their nails done and all that fun girly stuff. It didn’t take long while we were there for a pimp to come up screaming at us about why were here. Men literally come up to the stand that Iris has for the ministry and yells out at the girls how they want to have sex and explain it in the most vulgar language possible. Just being real with you guys.

As more and more darkness is being opened to my eyes more and more revelation about how to defeat it is coming. Romans 8:7-8 sais “[That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot. So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him” (Amplified). This is saying that when you are constantly thinking about things of the flesh like what you’re going to eat what you’re going to wear, what is your boyfriend or girlfriend going to think or anything that is not feeding your spirit, you cannot please God. Dying to self doesn’t just mean okay God I’ll get up early and read my bible it means literally yielding control of your whole body to the Holy Spirit so that you may experience the fruit of the Spirit which is love, peace, joy, kindness, patience and all the other cool things that people want. When possessed by the Holy Spirit all the joy peace and love comes from within and floods out. That’s why the world should look at Christians and says “why is he so happy or why does he have so much peace”. Where as when in the flesh things from the outside make you happy inside. This includes food, drinks, TV, sports, drugs, alcohol or anything else that was created to fulfill the pleasure that was designed to be fulfilled by Jesus. I realized that as more and more I live possessed by the Holy Spirit the Kingdom of Heaven flows from within into the world. You can still have the Holy Spirit and not be controlled by it because obviously we still sin and the Holy Spirit would not lead you to sin. But as the Spirit more and more controls us, the less we will sin, and the more light we will be to the world!

One way to do that is have a prayer meeting from 11pm-5am haha. We did it last night and it was very good. The more we soak with Jesus the more room the Spirit has to move. We have to understand that it is never God’s fault that evil is as prevalent as it is. I am sick of people in the West saying why would God let people suffer like that when their driving 10-30,000 dollar cars and could buy beds for an entire city with it. The reason there is so much evil is because the Church has not risen! He has chosen to use us!!!!! What an honor! It is possible in this moment right now for nobody in the world to be starving if the West would help. “Oh well it’s their fault they live like that.” Yea you’re right it’s all these hundreds of millions of kids fault they were born into a family with no money and no way of going to school and barely being able to find a job. I’m telling you right now the Kingdom of heaven is based on the talents. Some of these people who never get out of the village will be living in a mansion in heaven because of their humility, while many pastors houses will be half the size in heaven because of their selfish ambition and seeker friendly church that desires to please people. With much given much is expected. Just about all of you are in the top 10% richest in the world. Much is expected of all of us!

I go on outreach next weekend to the bush bush! Which is basically in the middle of no where. We will preach the gospel and pray for the sick! Be expecting some cool testimonies next week. Only two maybe three blogs left before I go to Zimbabwe for two weeks and then I will have one last one when I get home! Oh and I also found out more information about my trip to Zimbabwe! Wow I can’t wait to tell you what God does I already know it’s going to be amazing! I love all of you so much I know I might have come off a little harsh but my heart is to encourage that mustard seed in us all and not to condemn. We can all change the world!

A quick shout out to my family back home being supportive of me as well! I love you guys so much and I would never be able to do any of this without each of you!