Just before we move out to the language training place in a couple hours, we wanted to let you know some great news! After several Sunday messages and visits in homes, several families are seeing more of the light of the good news! One pastor, near and dear to us, has had a wife who has been pretty resistant. Missionaries have worked with them over the years but to little avail. This is the Moniz who along with Antonio planted 1 rural church that planted another and now 5 churches have resulted. The wife comes to church but has had a wall up to any real conversation. She grew up with a mother who was a witch-doctor and as a young woman had many problems with spiritual attacks and threats. God tremendously blessed the messages. Most believe they are a Christian but are not. She wanted to hear more. Melissa and I met with both of them, yet the wall was still up. Enough had been given for her to understand that there would be no way for her to understand Christ's great love for her on the cross until she understand her sin - the reason he had to died. We prayed and prayed. One morning they called us to come talk with them. Wow! That morning I had awakened with an accusatory dream where pastor Jeff Klick of our home church was questioning me as to who I thought I was to be helping them. So, I started to praying for them. When we met, they said she had had a bad dream of being taken to prison which scared her and that they had been up for hours talking about her condition before God and the good news through various Bible stories. They both also confessed a sin they had committed together that made them feel as guilty as a criminal. After hours of conversation with her, she understood, turned from sin, and trusted Christ! She and her husband thought it best for her to be re-baptized, since the one 12 years ago only had been with no understanding and just to follow the group. What a change we see in her! Now she is not afraid to have eye contact with us. She is joyful. She is asking questions about the Bible now for the first time. The Light is on inside! She's free. Now, there are more families where the same gospel needs to be presented, either personally or in a group (teaching chronologically through). Our time is very short, being here only partially on the weekends, so please pray for God's wisdom on how to proceed, and pray for a continued harvest! Thank you for your prayers,

We’re so glad we’re able to get our December update out on time - Mozambican time, that is! 

First of all, our deepest gratitude to you for your sentiments and blessings that made our holiday season so memorable.  You are our joy!   Some of you may have tried to call us over the holiday season on our skype-in phone number 913-871-6490.  Thanks!  We apologize that our internet service is often unreliable or unavailable.  We'll be traveling out of town to see some missionaries next week; otherwise, feel free to call us this month.  The best time to reach us from Missouri/Kansas is between 9 a.m. and noon your time.  

*** Check out our pictures with captions via the link in the right margin.  They almost say it all! 

Also, check out The Times December 27^th article (http://tinyurl.com/8awby2), titled:  As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God

Elijah:  Tuesday, I was sitting at the computer when I realized a storm had moved in.   Lightning hit quite closely twice and the third one was a biggie.  It came through my ear-bud that was blown out of my ear, making my whole body jolt.  Thankfully my guts didn’t blow out.  I checked under my shirt and all was ok!  Whew!!!   That same day I fell out of a mango tree (Ouch!) but landed on my feet. 

   Right now I’m enjoying exercising, memorizing 1 Peter, practicing the drums, and hanging out with MK buddies.  Miss everybody!

 

Esther:  I miss my family in the U.S.!... 

We have a huge mango tree here I love to climb.  Also,  I’ve been playing the piano a lot!

 

Melissa:  I appreciate your prayers so very much!  God is giving us peace in the midst of our challenges.  I’ve had a few “doozie” days when I submitted myself to the family for counseling.  Of course, God has refreshed me from His Word and communication from some of you, our loved ones.  I sure do miss you and am so thankful for you. 

 

Daniel:    I have been working on a series of three messages in Portuguese, giving the second one this coming Sunday to a nearby church.  Friday and Saturday, I’ll be visiting some of them in their homes to be a friend and to better understand where they’re coming from.   Most believe they are saved because they’ve done the right religious things and are leading a good/friendly life.  Pray that the conviction of sin and the Glory of Christ would break through to their hearts.

  I’m also very excited that the first week of February I may be able to attend a “world-view” shifting seminar by a missionary and cognitive anthropologist who has lived for decades here in Africa.  I’m praying this will also help us bridge the gap from Christ to their culture.

 

Starting Macua Training – Disappearing for awhile!:  On February 8^th, we begin the Macua language training course – full time!  We uproot here and move to a nearby village into a true dorm/camp house.  This training is Monday through Friday.  Breakfast is at 7:00 a.m.. Classes go from 8:00 to Noon, and 2:30 to 5:00 p.m., with supper at 7:00 p.m.  As you can understand, with all the things we still need to take care when we return each weekend to our home here, we will as much time for correspondence, as we attempt to put our focus on getting the most out of this language training.  There is a three week Easter break in April when we will brief you on our progress for the first quarter.   This course will end August 21^st.  At that time we will continue language learning through private tutors in our home.

   Please pray for Elijah and Esther during this time of significant isolation.  Pray they’d be able to maintain a sense of focus in their independent studies.

Koxukurella!     This is Makua for "Thank you very much!"

We practiced saying this many times during our last trip to the bush.  
Click here to check out our November photos online!

We're so thankful for...

• Your generosity which enabled us to take costly well-digging tools two new churches.  All their life they've had to walk over 1 to 2 miles to get water.  This water often makes them sick because it's bacteria/parasite laden dirty ground water which other animals also drink.  Their view of God's goodness and greatness continues to change!
• Witnessed the beginning of a new church in the Namicuco area this last Sunday with over 40 baptisms.  They had covered the key stories of the Bible from Genesis to Christ.
• We're finally getting to take the vacation trip into Malawi as a family.  A number of trips have been cancelled, including the time we were getting into the car to head out, when a call came to rescue my mother from the bush by towing her car many hours back into Nampula.   Please pray all goes well at the border with our car documents as we have not yet been able to change the title into our name.
• Our very encouraging movie, "The Gospel of John", (one of Melissa's all-time favorites!) from the Visual Bible Series.   This would make a great Christmas gift for a friend or family.
• Being able to get our roof sealed in a million places so mosquitos, bugs, rats, and rain don't get in.
• God's provisions of the first rains for planting the harvest.  A tremendous refreshment during this very hot period of November/December.  January to March brings the big thunderstorms.

Please pray with us for...

• Wisdom and patience in teaching a different culture
• Good progress in creating dialog questions in Makua for all the key evangelistic Bible stories.  We're 1/10th of the way through.  This will greatly help the message be more clear and will keep it consistent with each new church plant.
• Timing... We're very excited about starting a Makua literacy program next year in new churches in oral communities.  Many Makua primers will need printed, chalk boards and chalk provided, along with teacher instruction.  As a reward for all their study, we'd like to make a Bible very affordable to every new reader.  A recent love offering from Wallula Christian Church will get us off to a great start with this literacy project.

Koxukurella for joining us in the eternal venture!

We love you,

Daniel and Melissa

with Elijah and Esther

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P.S.

Since some have asked...

Personal gifts can be mailed to our daughter who will deposit it into our account:

    Daniel & Hannah Winter

    1209 E Westerfield Pl

    Olathe, KS 66061

Tax-deductible gifts for the mission can be sent to our forwarding agents:

    Tom & Linda Ledford

    31625 Summit Ridge Dr

    Crystal Lakes, MO  64024

Letters or Packaged gifts can be mailed directly to us at:

    C.P. 688

    Nampula, Mozambique, Africa 

    (There is no zip.  List our Ph# 82-403-1184)

Calls:   At little cost to you, call our Kansas Ph# 913-871-6490 which will route over Skype and ring on our computer here.  If we're gone, leave us a message.  Thanks!

Website:  www.beatoday.org

E-mail:    mission@beatoday.org

Hello Dear Prayer Warriors,

 

(See www.beatoday.org for this news and updated pics to be there by Sunday.)

 

My wallet disappeared last night with bank cards and $200.  I couldn't remember any time I had laid it down in the house anywhere.  The only thing I could remember is that I had been to a meeting at the "Mustard Seed Training Center" here in town and on my exit, outside the building, I had someone pass by very close to me.  I asked a friend to check the building today.  He returned with my wallet!  He found it thrown into the entry way looking like it had received a good scuff in the throw.  We had prayed it would show up!  It had $200 missing from it (we have to operate on cash here, not debit cards...) and all my credit cards were removed from the pockets but together in the money section!  We had one attempt on one credit card to withdraw money.   It'll be a task to get them replaced from here in Mozambique. We praise God the wallet was found. 

 

Now, we have a special prayer request.  In May we started the process to get our car documents in the capital, Maputo.  I have to travel with them, always...  We took a great risk and made the trip up here in May to Nampula without these documents in hand because we had the pressure to get the required Visa's by our presence in Nampula.  Well, now after 5 months, the documents are still not being produced by the goverment in Maputo!  The missionary there can hardly afford any more time chasing the documents for us and is asking that we come down to Maputo and personally put pressure on the government by our daily presence in their office.  This would cost us over $1000 in car fuel alone to make this trip, plus housing costs down there, and most importantly, stalling some great advancements that are occuring the furtherance of the gospel here.  It might be that we'd have to stay there from 2 weeks to 2 months.  So, please pray that there can be a breakthrough.  Thanks!

 

More Good News!  A couple guys came my Mom's way who work in ANA-MED, an international organization that trains people how to do community health and agricultural training.  These fellows are from a religious church but have very little knowledge of God's Word and have many questions.  They also realize that the Good News would also open closed doors to their training and they want to know how to convey the gospel.  They themselves have many questions and aren't saved at this point.  I am working with Antonio, a Makua Christian "king", to get all the key dialog questions to cover for the storytelling starting in Genesis.  We make the 1st list of questions in Makua for Genesis 1 and 2.  This is VERY Big, because at the most, a few things are in Portuguese, but that is not their heart language, so getting it in Makua for future generations of Christians and church planters will be a HUGE advancement.  We met the first time today to start in Genesis 1 with four men plus Antonio and I.  Wow, it's amazing how many strange ideas people have about God, this world, etc.  But the men were grateful to have some direction.  If we have to go to Maputo, this will slow our progress in getting the questions into Makua and also accompanying the Bible storytelling and discussions.  Rejoice with us and pray for God's deliverance.

 

Now for more GOOD NEWS. At the beginning of October I (Daniel) made a trip out of town with two families to new works.  These new churches are growing.  We took them bibles and did some teaching.  It was quite a cultural experience eating out of same bowl with them every day with our hands instead of silverware.  Their physical poverty is extreme.  Their biggest need is for water.  The women have to walk over 1 1/2 miles there and again back to haul daily water in containers on their heads.  Especially during the dry time during November and December, when the water is scarce, animals are also drinking from the same water, etc., they get very sick!  We praise God they we have researched how to help them build a good water well and how to bring this gift to others.  They are so enslaved to think they can do nothing but now they are being freed even more to bless themselves and others. This will also help the gospel spread to the spiritually and physically thirsty!  Our next trip is set for November 7th and 8th to get them trained and started on the wells.

 

More Praises To our Lord:

*  His greatest gift.  Jesus bore all our sins on the cross.  We are completely forgiven!

***  Our daughter Hannah gave birth to Adonia October 17th!  They're doing very well.  (see pics online soon)

*  We have been able to start painting projects in Elijah & Esther's bedrooms and so are feelilng more "at home".

*  For the idea God gave us that if we just think of our living curcumstances here like that of being "at camp" then we can accept them with (greater) ease.  Esther made a sign for the bathroom door as a cheeful reminder.  It reads "Camp Mozy Bathroom."

*  Mom/Grandma (Pat Maddux) has been blessed in doing a training on health and herbal medicines people can use here.  She is leaving for the U.S. this coming week to raise funds for a bore well here and to go to Brazil to see her daughter Angela give birth to her first daughter.

 

 

God hears,

Daniel & Melissa with Elijah and Esther

September Update

Praise!
* Hope Family Fellowship provided Daniel & Hannah with funds for camcorder so we can enjoy watching our granddaughter grow up!
* Your faithfulness to lift us up in prayer before the Father
* $ for Makua Bibles and Bible Story Books - Elijah is helping give and sell these.
* Elijah spared from severe head injury while helping put up a water tower. He had a blow to top back right side of his head by a metal platform for the tank and suffered hearing loss and sense of touch on right side of face, but is now almost completely better.
* Church planting workshop went well.

Prayer
* Homesickness more acute as:
   - Hannah nears her Nov 7th due date with our first grandchild (Little Princess)
   - U.S. holiday season approaches
   - our six month mark is coming up quickly when, as we have been told, a new missionary family senses "the honeymoon is over" and can feel drawn back to their country of birth.
* Strength, encouragement, and wisdom as we deal with:
   - the daily physical difficulties (water pressure for only a couple hours at night, rats in the cabinets, our camera memory card broke and challenge to replace here so getting by on little 32MB card, etc.)
   - the sad part of life here... Our dear brother, Lazaro, who worked honestly and diligently in our home these past months one day per week died Sunday morning from an illness his body could not fight because of AIDS. Our family grieves for him but we are quite certain it will be the first of many such loses here. His funeral was held in a small chapel area near the morgue at the hospital. When Daniel was asked to speak at the graveside, he reminded the believers of Jesus' resurrection and His power over sin and death.
* Completion of water tower project
* Daniel will be traveling with Antonio and Moniz and their wives to two villages on October 7-11th. They will need wisdom to discern the spiritual needs of the people and what Bible stories would best address those areas of need.

Love you all,
Daniel & Melissa, Elijah, & Esther Maddux

Dear Fellow Prayer Warriors,

We praise God that we can kneel together with you, thanking and requesting our heavenly Father for this upcoming training. This is for church planting, discipleship, and leadership training through storytelling. What a blessing that God has enabled me to finish translating the video text and written materials into Portuguese and to have made one revision! This is the initial training and is with two Christian men who work for us here and with who I am developing a close friendship. They are Antonio & Moniz, who started a church together several years ago. Their wives and Melissa will also be attending. The training is planned to be from 8 am - Noon, Monday through Thursday, including breakfast, a snack, and lunch. This is laying the groundwork for training of a larger group I hope to give in January. Please pray for the spiritual protection of all involved in this training. The wife of one has been having nightmares lately - she grew up with a mother who is a witch-doctor. Peace in relationships has been threatened. We do sense the battle around us! May we be victorious warriors. As a followup to the training, from October 7 - 11, some of us plan on visiting a couple remote churches that have been started similarly and are expanding, to see what the Lord might want done to strengthen them and to spur on church planting efforts. Please pray for physical strength, for wisdom in all relationships, insight into God's Word and Ways in a different culture, and that people see Christ through us.

Hugs,
Daniel & Melissa
with Elijah & Esther

Isaiah 45:23-24a I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, 'Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.'

August/September Newsletter
Thanks so much for thinking of us here and praying for us!

How are we? A missionary asked me that question the other day and I said, "Divorce is never an option." He knew what I meant, having lived here longer. It is hard adjusting in many areas, but we are trusting God, our Fountain of Living Water, the Source of all we need to be like Him and accomplish what He purposes.

We're very grateful that Elijah and Esther have made friends here among the missionary community. It is a little harder to establish African friends with language and cultural differences. Each week the missionary kids join together for a Bible study time that is encouraging for them. Several weeks ago Elijah asked me (Daniel, Elijah’s proud Daddy) to help him put together some things he wanted to share with the youth from the Bible and life. We worked on it together and Esther reported that God used it to spur on so much good conversation that they didn’t have much time for games afterward. They really enjoyed their trip to Beira and worked very hard with the group putting up a church structure. Thank you so much for your prayers as God protected them when on the ride home the Land Rover Elijah was riding in went off the road at a high speed and was miraculously spared when the driver woke up from a doze and was able to navigate back onto the highway. Elijah was riding shotgun and said he was sure he was going home to be with Jesus. There were youths from 3 different families represented in the vehicle and we thank God for His mighty angels who serve Him.

Wow... What major cultural differences we are encountering! I wish I could give you a book to read that would give you a taste of it. I don't even know where to begin. It seems like every day it's something new regarding the way Africans think about God, communication, possessions, relationships, jobs, finances, conflict resolution, marriage...

Makua Marriage Culture –
Soon after puberty very commonly a girl, 14 to 16 years old, seeks to secure a guy a little older. In short, boy meets girl, boy asks girl’s parents if he can marry, they work out details. If yes, two days later the boy moves in with the girl’s family. The boy lives there until he can build a house for himself. He is on probation until a child is born. If his wife does not get pregnant after several months of marriage, the wife may be advised to divorce him for a more “fruitful” partner. The girl is instructed from her puberty initiation rites and her culture that just as a woman who is cooking puts three rocks under the pot to hold it up, so she should have three or more men in her life (to give her clothes, food, sex,…) The extreme poverty drives MANY women to prostitute themselves for food money.
During a recent Sunday meeting the church had a discussion on marriage relationships. The Makua believers explained that man treats the woman as a tool or slave. If she complains or tries to boss him around he demands, "Did you marry me? No, I went to your father and married you!" In other words, “ I got you. Now you're mine to do whatever I command ”. At the root of the marriage relationships we see a lot of insecurity, jealousy, manipulation, and fear. Most of the families still have clan property outside the city where they grow some food to supplement their poor diet. If the husband and wife travel together, the man will carry his radio while his wife carries their child wrapped with a cloth on her back, and also the hoe, the husband’s machete, and other belongings on her head. On the way back she will carry the baby on her back, the harvested food in one hand, the tools in another, and firewood on her head. (They are pro's at carrying things on their head. We see it every day.) So, while the men do work, they have no sense of compassion or real love for their wives. In fact when they "marry" the husband is not considered part of the wife's family. He is from another family and is mainly there only to bear children for the wife’s family. Usually the children take on the mother’s last name rather than their father’s. The men usually come home from work and are served their food away from their wife and children. They are very disconnected. The Good News of Jesus is here to enter into the sin and muck of their lives to restore their relationship with Him, family, and others.

September marks the beginning of the hot months here in Mozambique. It will be extremely dry until the rains start in mid to late December. For a city of over half a million, Nampula is not adequately equipped to provide for the growing demand for water. Besides, two of their four pumps are broken with no promise of being replaced. We live on a four+ acre property with three other families. It is common to daily not have water for hours at a time and the pressure isn’t strong enough many times for use of the shower, washing machine, and sometimes the bathroom sink. Elijah and a couple of his friends have started the process of digging a hole for a reservoir and we plan to have a water tower up within the next couple weeks. Please pray for us to have wisdom and lots of grace in our relationships as we deal with these types of character building events, as we tend to get stressed at times, a bit discouraged and sometimes sin by complaining. Our Lord Jesus, the Faithful One always takes care of everything and we are truly overjoyed to serve the Wonderful Master.

How can you best pray for us?
- We need wisdom to understand the Mozambicans and how to express honor to them
- Safety from thieves
-That God will somehow provide for us a long term water solution (ie, a bore well)

Rejoice with us about…
-God providing Gito to teach Melissa Portuguese a couple times a week
-Overall good health in our family and Daniel’s back is much better
-Trust that is building in Daniel’s relationship with Moniz and Antonio, Christian brothers we employ
-The gratitude of the people here as we share some food, clothing, anything with them
-Our dogs, Roxy and Tipper, that add such joy to our days! (And protect us from harm)

Love you all,
Daniel & Melissa
with Elijah & Esther

P.S. We pray for you and would love to hear how you are if you have the opportunity to write. Thanks you so much for those who have written!