Madduxes are Safefly in Nampula Thanksgiving   * It meant so much to us for each of you blessing us to return here to Mozambique.  It was just what we needed.  Thank you so much! * Our flights went well!  Nothing in checked luggage was stolen. * One trunk didn't make it through initially because of an air-soft gun in it.  Yikes, it had all our toiletries thrown in too. But after security removed it, they sent the trunk on up. Yeah! * Our missionary colleagues, Dan and Robin Been, helped us with meals and a few groceries to start out with.  They even shared some of their cache of peperoni on pizza! * Our Mozambican friends were very happy to see us here and we them!  They're planning a reception party for us with some Mozambican foods.  How generous! * We're thankful for our good U.S. washer that is washing the mold out of many things stored over the last year.  * We'll have to get new pillows, etc. but have a PEP store here. * Elijah and Esther are glad to be here!  Elijah enjoyed soccer today! * 10 single missionaries we knew a year ago from this Nampula area in different missions are now mostly all engaged to be married soon. God is amazing! * We now have internet! (though very slow an unstable by U.S. standards) You can contact us by e-mailing, or by skyping us at user id: heartransform, or calling the U.S. Kansas phone number 913-871-6490 which will ring on our computer wherever and whenever we're connected to the internet. Prayer   * That our visa application will be accepted.  Immigration said they no longer allow a person to be gone a year, so as we were waiting for my Mom's health to clear to travel, we are using that as the explanation for our "late" arrival.  Please pray all the paperwork will be accepted to process through up here and that in the weeks ahead in the capital in the south it will also be accepted. * Pray we can find a good car battery and tires. Most go to South Africa for quality items, but things a getting better here in Nampula, though prices are high. * Pray God gives us wisdom for our finances.  The cost of food and travel has greatly risen in the last year.  We've enjoyed mostly a lot of good rice and beans these last few days. Reminds me of growing up in Brazil. * Melissa is doing a little better today, but is still feeling achy and run down.  She's doing a great job organizing the house.   Love you all, Daniel and Melissa with Elijah and Esther

http://beatoday.org Madduxes Flying to Africa     Looking forward to writing you from the field... June 29th, 2011 Hi We're flying out of KCI this Wednesday and on to Africa out of Atlanta in the evening.  We arrive in Johannesburg Thursday late afternoon, then flying up to Nampula on Monday, July 4th. (Enjoy the fireworks for us!)   We praise God for each one of you and special time we've had to see you again.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers.     We love you and will be remembering you as well. Daniel and Melissa Maddux with Elijah and Esther  mission@beatoday.org or Call   (913) 871-6490 www.beatoday.org

Click here for the Maddux Mozambique 2011-2012 Prayer Letter - (A printed will be mailed to each church.) Additional News: Hello dear friends and family!  We had a special time of refreshment in Colorado during the 'Debriefing and Renewal` in March.  Thank you so much for giving toward this to minister to us!     Surprise!  Besides Esther returning to Mozambique with us, Elijah has also felt led to do so.  He plans on volunteering at the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (M.A.F.) hangar in Nampula.  They have too much to keep up with at times, and have welcomed him.  He'll check out other opportunites upon arriving.     Esther also continues to improve in her piano playing and hopes to accompany some for the Sunday night English service.     And, can you believe it!?  We are scheduled to fly out of KCI for Africa on June 29th.  Our Mom, Pat Maddux, will also be with us.  Please pray we can keep things in an eternal perspective, as we have much to do to get ready for this departure.   Love you all, Daniel and Melissa with Elijah and Esther

To better view and print this as a pdf, Click here. Hello Dear Friends, We are excited about what God is going to do in 2011 and our growing to be more like Christ - Whose majesty, power & name is above all names in this age and in the one to come.  How we need and want to trust Him totally! — LATEST NEWS & EVENTS — Thyroid:   Now, all the challenges in Mozambique seem to have thrown my (Daniel) thyroid off kelter and I'm seeing a doctor soon after blood results are in. Thyroid problems seem to run in my family.  Melissa also needs a similar checkup.  We are praying to be in good health by our return to Africa in June.  D.A.R.:  We praise God that all the funds have come in that we needed for Melissa and I,  Elijah and Esther to attend the 'Debriefing and Renewal' week for cross-cultural workers February 27th - March 4th in Colorado.  Thank you for your generosity! Good News!  Esther will be returning with us to Mozambique! Makua Freedom:  You may remember that the last time we asked for prayer for the evangelist, Antonio.  As he is planting churches based on storytelling a gospel of grace, the legalistic side of the denomination is very uneasy.  The discussions at their monthly city-wide church conference brought peace for a time.  He continues to ask for prayer about how to resolve this tension long term.  Another factor is that that most of the churches in the denomination are part of a different culture and dialect, Lomwe, who only try to reach their own, while Antonio and others desire to see truly Makua churches who can experience the freedom they have in Christ. Visiting You:  We've had fun and been very blessed to have time with those at Milford Christian Church (pictured here) and others.  We'd love to come see you and present the vision God is giving us for our return.  So, we need to schedule a time to get with you all at: O'Fallon, Stockton, St. James, Northside in Warrensburg, & Mulvane (KS).  The rest are scheduled.  The dates we have open are:  February 6th, 20th; March 27th thru May 15th. Can you please let us know within 2 weeks what would be a good date for you?  You can e-mail or call 913-240-0433.  Can't wait! Vision:  As you know, we've worked with several evangelists and rural churches planted, gaining needed experience.  On our return, we are asking the Father's blessing to train a core group of evangelists (with additional involvement & help for their wives) in leading a team to see a village:      Break Free from Spiritual Destitution to New Birth in Christ:        *  Storytelling the gospel from creation to Christ to plant Makua churches        *  Taking their 1st steps to growing in Christ and as a body of believers      Break Free from Demonic Oppression of the Family to Oneness        * Discovering God's beautiful design for marriage and family relationships.      Break Free from Poverty to God's Abundance        * By Farming with the best principles and methods God has given us.          (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2028:23-29&version=NIV esp. vs 26 & 29)            See a recent documentary:                http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/11/preview-mozambiques-growth-not-benefitting-poorest.html       2011 - Give toward Spreading the Good News!       In light of this, there are several key opportunities to give toward fulfilling this vision:       $  850     1 Pico-Projector w/extra battery... to show God's Story movies          $1000    10 NTM laminated Bible story picture sets.       $  400    10 Portuguese NTM Firm Foundations books         $  350     2 sets of leather drums for evangelistic teams       $  300     Garden seeds subsidy for rural development       $  600     Point One Filters ($60/ea)   http://www.givecleanwater.org       $  500     Subsidy for Bibles at 1/2 price         $  300     1 Video Cam - for church trainings       Cost of Living and Ministering in Mozambique, Africa The mission has a crucial need for $2500 by June to cover the cost of visa's which went up to $1000 per person, per year. Along with this there are some budgetary needs to address.  To see all this, click here.  Our desire is to lay all this before you now for prayerful consideration, so we can focus on other things throughout the year.       What incredible opportunities we have to share in Mozambique!       Could you and your church prayerfully consider funding one or more of these? We thank God for your faithfulness in giving.  We are confident the Lord will abundantly provide for everything, for even the birds outside our window are being fed by our awesome God. Grace and peace to all those who love our Lord with an undying love, Daniel and Melissa Maddux http://www.beatoday.org/ 913-240-0433 Contributions may be sent to: Brazilian Evangelism Association c/o Tom and Linda Ledford 31625 Summit Ridge Dr. Crystal Lakes, MO 64024 Phone: 816-630-0918 E-mail:  mailto:thomasledford@sbcglobal.net P.S. You may remember that our e-mail was hacked into in May, while in Mozambique.  We recently discovered that the hacker changed the "Reply To" address so we were not able to receive any of your replies since the summer time. It has now been fixed.  We apologize for this inconvenience. We feel badly for not receiving any letters you may have sent us in response to a newsletter during that time.  Please feel free to respond now to either mailto: hearttransform@yahoo.com or mailto:mission@beatoday.org.   We love hearing from you.

Hello Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas!  Christmas music via radio is fantastic!  We missed it in Mozambique.  We're looking forward to our first sledding event too, once we get our first big storm.  We're looking forward to spending this season with our kids, with 2006 being our last Christmas together here.  

As we're already planning for our return to Mozambique mid 2011, we have a specific need that we'd like you to pray about with us.  Mission Training International is hosting a week-long 'Debriefing and Renewal' time for cross-cultural workers that we'd like to participate in.  Read more about it at: http://www.mti.org/dar.htm.  We believe this will greatly benefit our continuing ministry in Mozambique, as we've faced significant cross-cultural hurdles.  One aspect of that is that Mozambique ranks 5th from the bottom of all 169 countries on the 'Human Development Index' - http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/. The debriefing and renewal is scheduled for the week of February 27th - March 4th near Colorado Springs, CO.  If you are considering giving a Christmas gift, this is how we'd like to use it.  

Also, please pray now for Antonio, the lead evangelist in Nampula.  Within the 8 or so churches of Christ in Nampula, one fellow is doing everything to be the boss.  He doesn't like the fact that Antonio is freely spreading the gospel of grace and planting rural churches not coming under his umbrella.  He has ordered Antonio to stop this work and to pastor the church Antonio is a part of in the city.  Antonio has explained that God has gifted him and called him to this work, but his answer is unacceptable to the leader, so they asked him to defend his case before at the upcoming monthly Sunday conference of the all the city churches. Please pray that God would give Antonio peace in his heart and courage to speak the truth in love.

For some time I've felt a great need to connect with other men for mutual prayer and personal encouragement.  Last night, the Lord worked it out to get together with Greg Sarenson from our home church, and Dave Coleman & John McKnight from Wallula Christian Church near us.  What a wonderful gift to be able to open up, share, and feel close to fellow warriors of Christ.  How are you?  Are you, by the grace of God, striving to be a light in this dark world?  Certainly, and you're a target for the enemy.  Who might God bless you to connect with today?

We're so thankful for you and your prayers!

May God bless you,

Daniel and Melissa & Esther Maddux

www.beatoday.org

913-240-0433

We are now rushing up to Des Moines, Iowa, to be with family, as Melissa brother, Kem, just passed on this morning.

The rest of this was written a few days ago.

Thank you for praying for us in our time of setting up in our Leavenworth home.  We are close to the end of major repairs and are so grateful  for those who came to help in various ways.   

What a treat to see the beautiful changing of the seasons while we are traveling to visit supporting churches.

People have asked us what it is like being back in the U.S. again.  There are so many contrasts to the  American and Mozambican culture that it is difficult to give a simple answer.  One aspect  that is so shockingly different is the easily accessible books and “knowledge”  resources here, including our public library system, Christrian radio and book stores...

The Makua however have been struggling to educate their rural populations since their civil war ended in 1992. Most of students do not have access to a library and computer resources are few.   Their lack of knowledge leaves them vulnerable to superstition.

Please pray that the knowledge of God would spread all over  northern  Mozambique through the Bible materials Daniel and others are preparing and teaching.

We pray that the church in the U.S. would boldly speak the Truth of the Gospel while there is still time to do so.

Hugs,

Daniel (913-240-0433)  & Melissa (913-240-0448)

Hello Dear Friends,

Our missionary colleague, Don Hulsey, in the capital of Mozambique, just sent us this urgent request for prayer for the country.  Also, catch other important news of ours at the end.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Don F. Hulsey
Sent: Fri, September 3, 2010 1:29:28 AM
Subject: Riots in Mozambique
Urgent Prayer Request:  Please pray for peace in Mozambique.  By now
perhaps you have heard through CNN or another news agency that
Mozambique has had two days of protests against the rising cost of
living (bread, water, electricity, fuel, and basic food staples) that
turned violent and left more than a dozen dead and hundreds arrested
and injured, mass looting, burned vehicles, and general unrest.
Although the government called for peace and an end to the violence,
the words were not received well by the people as they heard no plan
of action to alleviate the current situation.  Instead the government
has said that the price increases are irreversible.

We had heard rumors of potential protests Wednesday but were assured by
our embassy that the planned protests were postponed until next week.
So Wednesday I drove Aleta and Zac to school in Maputo city and it was
obvious from the lack of vehicles on the road that tension was in the
air and the public transport vehicles were for the most part staying
off the road.  We began to hear of rioting in the outlying areas of
town and police shooting at protestors and decided to leave
immediately for home.  As we drove home we did encounter two locations
where tires were being positioned in the roads to block traffic which
is then followed by rocks being thrown by any vehicles attempting to
continue forward.  We also met a huge crowd of youth who were blocking
the road and forcing a public transport bus to back up.  Fortunately
this blockade was coming at the place where we turned off the main
road to head home.  Throughout the night we continued to hear gunfire
and shouting around our neighborhood which is located 10 miles outside
the capital city of Maputo.

We are safe.  We have armed guards at our property.  The gates are
locked and although more protests expected throughout the weekend,
currently we do not hear anything outside.  We thank you for your
prayers and partnership in ministry.  Mozambicans are loving and
generous people but as is true anywhere, there are opportunists who
will take advantage of unrest and use it as an excuse to rob and
commit acts of violence.  The poverty is very real here and people are
barely surviving.  The rising costs of basic essentials has led some
to acts of desperation, including rioting and stealing.

Together in Christ, Don

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel & Melissa continue...

We are SO grateful for God's provision for us these last three years.   Our fellow colleagues in Mozambique recently informed us that the government is increasing the yearly visa renewal charge from $100 to $1000 per person.  This increase as well as others is certainly affecting the missionaries in Mozambique and will be an additional cost we need to begin saving for.  This exemplifies one of the reasons that we need to continue with God's truth in Mozambique - to break the spirit of dependency and poverty with the message of the abundance we have in Christ.  Also, the foundations for farming is a practical way that they can see God's blessing on those who trust Him and take responsibility to put His ways into practice.

Love you all,

Daniel & Melissa and Esther Madux

913-240-0433 - Daniel

913-240-0448 - Melissa