Mozambican Beacons
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about our friend Calmito working into the refugee camps in Mozambique. Here is a short interview with him and some of his team conducted when they were at the training base recently for a conference and training.
Above, from left to right, Domingo, Horacio, Augusto and Calmito.
They’re from the same region of Mozambique, around Maputo city, but they represent different denominations – 3 churches travelling and fellowshipping together. Calmito and Horatio have been together for 20 yrs since they were at bible school. Before the interview, they had spent a few hours looking intently at the concept of Sabbath: Jesus is the true sabbath and the fulfilment of all that the sabbath pointed to! It was kinda mind-blowing!
Here’s a well-used bible and some well-used brains, wrestling with some big topics in 2 languages simultaneously ….
Q: “So, you’ve been to bible school and you’ve got decades of experience and wisdom. You’ve planted lots of churches and seen amazing fruitfulness. Why would you travel all this way (3 days?) to come and learn more things?”
A: “We speak things but we don’t really understand them and sometimes we get told to stand up and speak! Pastors have to preach but now since my time with Colin it’s fine, I’m saying, “Nobody can lie to me now about the sabbath!!”
Q: “Please can you tell us a little bit about the people in your country and their traditions and faith?”
A: “Well, it’s Portuguese so the Catholic faith dominates. People are turning away from that, and running away so we are praying for them for revelation. We need good teachers. A pastor will start another movement after preaching 10 times! He thinks he’s better but he doesn’t know his bible. He says, ‘I’m leading by the spirit! The spirit is upon me and I am the man, I don’t need to learn, it’s a waste of time!’ Then he passes this on to others … he doesn’t want to receive but you can only give what you have received….”
Q: “Wow. So, we commend you guys for not being like that! You are still willing to learn and to build good foundations. What are the main needs your churches have in Mozambique do you think?”
A: “Moz needs good teaching because although people receive the gospel easily, they don’t have a deeper understanding. They come to church but they don’t come to Jesus and they don’t have their thinking challenged. They don’t have this challenge of thinking about what they’re involved in when they accept Jesus. They are busy following the crowd.”
Q: “OK, so there’s lots of people reading this, thank you. How would you like them to pray for you?”
A: “It’s a blessing for us that we can take this message home and preach with more understanding. Pray for Mozambique, for better understanding and for God to open their eyes and for everyone to see. There’s clapping and singing but no understanding because there’s nobody to teach the people. We pray for revelation to come and for scholars who are gifted by God.”
AMEN. We also had a bit of fun testing out a bit of Portuguese from google translate. Have you ever had that experience when you finally share your prepared words but everyone looks at you blankly? Eventually they realise you’re trying to speak their language, and they start giggling …. !