4/26/08
Mountains upon montains of garbage hovered by smoke of burning piles of sorted trash. There are hunters and gatherers here. Those that hunt for food for themsleves and their families to eat and those that gather recycleables or anything of value to sell on the streets. Everyone knows the schedules of the garbage trucks and when they come it is a madhouse. Fights break out over scraps of rotting food, everyone elses trash is their lifesource. There are some that live in the dump and others live in the community surrounding the dump. Iris Ministries started and built a church amongst the houses immediately surrounding the bocaria. The children sing, dance, and play as they worship Jesus. These kids are more playful and joyful than I’ve ever seen! They jump and hang all over us, longing to be held and touched. I have become a human jungle gym, I never imagined that my lap was big enough for eight kids but I know it is now. We then go up on the bocaria to pray and witness. We pray for two ladies rummaging for food. They are both Christians and one tells us her child is sick and she can’t get a job (Mozambique has 90% unemployment rate) but she refuses to be disobediant to God and steal so she digs for trash to support her sick child. Wow! Such great faith! I see two boys standing at a distance. I hear the spirit say go to them. I grab a “translator” and we go to them. Through his broken english and my very broken Portuguese we tell them about Jesus. When I ask them if they want Jesus inside their hearts they say yes. We pray for the Holy Spirit to fill them and tell them to come to the church to learn about this Jesus that lives in them now. We then go to a group of men atop a mound of trash. One wants nothing to do with us but others ask for prayer. One man (Zito who became my best friend and evangelistic brother) is witnessing to his friends in the dump and so we pray for filling of the Spirit in him to equip him for this ministry. As I am on my knees with my head bowed I see bugs everywhere. Bugs I’ve never seen before crawling in and on everything. By the time we are done praying my pants are covered with these things. One man we pray for is eating a bowl of the healthy diet, beans and worms. After the adult church service we distribute the bread, where I almost got my head ripped off, and we pile into the back of our truck and head back to the Iris center. It doesn’t get much worse than that. I don’t know what to think or do. What can I do? What does Jesus want me to do? I do not know and so I sit and wait on the Lord.
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Christian Taylor
- Break June 3, 2008Hello and goodbye my faithful readers! I have decided to take a break from the blogging world for the time being. My break is indefinite and I will return when I wish. Until then, adios!christiantaylor
- Street Ministry May 23, 20084/30/08 I do not understand God. I went on the street ministry outreach with three 18 year old boys from the center (Manuel, Ernesto, and David) and a woman pastor. We split into two teams in the city. My group went to a police station where we bribed the guards with bread to speak with [...]christiantaylor
- The Boys May 21, 2008During my stay in Mozambique I spent most of my time hanging out with the boys at the Zimpeto Iris Center. There are 300 boys and 30 girls living at this center. They live in dorms, go to school and church at the center, and play on the centers grounds. Ages go [...]christiantaylor
- Genocide in Zimbabwe! May 16, 2008This is a letter from a man living in Zimbabwe right now. While reading it this morning I felt an urgency to share it with you. Zimbabwe is directly west of Mozambique. While I was there we constantly prayed for the situation in Zimbabwe and Iris has been sending teams and relief. I [...]christiantaylor
- Mozambique Culture May 14, 2008During my stay the differences in culture fascinated me. I recorded as much as I could to present you a more holistic view of the country. Mozambique is a very superstitious country. Witchdoctors are prominant. Many who come to faith in Jesus were formerly involved in withchcraft. Cats are feared [...]christiantaylor
- Healing? May 11, 20084/27/08 Instead of going on a weekend outreach I decided to stay at the center and hang out with the boys. My choice was well worth it. Today at church I sat behind a young boy in a makeshift stroller/wheelchair. The boy is sick, very sick. I found out later that he [...]christiantaylor
- Bocaria May 10, 20084/26/08 Mountains upon montains of garbage hovered by smoke of burning piles of sorted trash. There are hunters and gatherers here. Those that hunt for food for themsleves and their families to eat and those that gather recycleables or anything of value to sell on the streets. Everyone knows the schedules of the [...]christiantaylor
- Hospital Ministry May 8, 20084/25/08 Today I went to the hospital to minister and pray for the sick and their families. Pastor Domingo heads up this ministry for Iris. I love this guy! He is my age (23) and training to be a pastor. His training is to head up the hospital ministry which he has [...]christiantaylor
- Love & Joy May 7, 20084/18/08 Love… This is the input and output of a Christian. It is the most important thing. When we think of a Christian, love is the word we should think of. I want to love Jesus more. I see these young pastors here who are in love with Jesus (They look younger [...]christiantaylor
- Return May 7, 2008Hello! I returned yesterday from Mozambique. The 36 hours of travel home has definetely provided a bit of jet lag, but in a couple of days I will be back to California time. I had a wonderful trip filled with amazing experiences. Due to the lack of internet accessability I was [...]christiantaylor
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