“How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” Ps 133:1. The leaders of the church who meet on our property felt they needed to get together once a month as couples because of the lack of trust between them. For their second encounter, we’ve invited them for popcorn and the movie, “Grace Card”, which has been translated into Portuguese.
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| Training at rural church |
Friday, July 20th, marked the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan fasting and prayers for world domination. Missionaries throughout Africa and the Middle East sense the intensified spiritual conflict during this time. In addition to that, a colleague here who has lived in multiple open African countries over the years said, “The demonic pressures on missionaries in Mozambique are more intense.” The enemy is well aware of the powerful Gospel message that God has blessed us to complete and to be translated into Makua. His attempts to discourage us with attacks to our most vulnerable areas have caused us to re-evaluate our strategy for dealing with stress here.
For example, I spent a full week investigating our mission property’s constant power failures. We had a few sporadic hours to run the refrigerator and check e-mail. The hired “expert” told me that because of my trouble-shooting abilities, I could teach at the tech school in town. It’s astounding how we take for granted basic life skills that most Mozambicans don’t have.
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| On orphanage property. |
Our dear brother, Antonio, came to me recently for advice on reaching out to a leper colony near the orphanage property he recently purchased. The desire and initiative he has shown in ministering to his own people is very profound and extremely rare. Please remember him and his wife, Rabia, in your prayers as they continue to grow as leaders here. Also remember our trips to the rural churches.
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| Building a chin-up bar for Hercules... |
God is providing for our needs in allowing Elijah to be with us and for Esther to return to Mozambique in a few weeks. Please pray for us as we balance the needs for ministry and family.
We are SOOO grateful for you remembering us before our Father. An excellent book that is fortifying our faith is Philip Yancey’s ‘Disappointment with God’.
Hugs,
Daniel and Melissa Maddux
with Elijah and Esther
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| One of Africa's beautiful creations of God |
