For decades, the people of Mozambique have known only war and poverty. More than a million of them died during the cruel civil war that rocked their country, pitting citizen against citizen. Then a Marxist government demolished the economy and oversaw the disintegration of mainstream church and religion. This, combined with grinding poverty and one of the highest AIDS infection rates in the world, caused church leaders in the capital city of Maputo to cry out to AE to bring the Gospel to this hurting city.
Because of your support, AE evangelists spearheaded an evangelistic mission to Maputo from in the fall of 2011, offering a powerful message of hope in Christ and drawing 1,300 people to make commitments to Jesus. During the mission, Stephen Lungu, AE’s International Team Leader, addressed a crowd of people desperate for this hope. As they heard his astonishing testimony of finding God even after growing up as a dirty, abandoned street kid, a man cried out from the midst of the crowd in anguish. He was desperate for God to rescue him also. So he sprinted forward, eager to embrace his Savior. As he fell to his knees, Stephen assured him that “God can take a nobody and make them somebody!”
Tears cascaded down the desperate man’s face as Stephen assured him, “My mother threw me away. But the Lord knew where I was. He loved me, and He loves you!” In response, this previously lost man put his life in Christ’s hands for the first time, now experiencing tears of joy, of relief and of new hope.
Indeed, few cities in the world are as desperate for the hope offered by the Gospel as Maputo. With one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world, currently estimated at 48 years, and 46 percent of the population below the age of 14 years, Mozambique faces many challenges that are all too familiar across Africa. This is why the mission to Maputo was so strategic. Your prayers and generous partnership were essential to the success of this outreach.
Many Mozambicans live in spiritual obscurity, consulting witch doctors and praying to ancestors. They hope that black magic can bring them riches. Or that a witch doctor will give them a special herbal remedy to heal their debilitating sickness.
But your support allowed AE to shine the light of the Gospel of Christ into this place of darkness. Our evangelists took the Gospel to every sector of society in Maputo during the mission week, including street corners, hospitals, factories, offices, prisons and stadium events. Plus, AE’s Foxfire youth evangelists helped to draw young people to faith in Christ through their innovative dances and songs which appealed to young Mozambicans.
Maputo, capital of Mozambique, is a city filled with people desperate for the Good News of Jesus Christ. Just how desperate was illustrated on Sunday, Sept. 25, when AE launched its citywide evangelistic mission to Maputo. After AE's Stephen Lungu shared his testimony of being rescued from the streets as a kid, the man in the photo to the right cried out from the midst of the crowd to God in anguish. He was desperate for God to rescue him also. So he ran forward, eager to embrace his Savior. Stephen assured him that “God can take a nobody and make them somebody!”
As tears cascaded down the desperate man's face, Stephen said, “My mother threw me away. But the Lord knew where I was. He loved me, and He loves you!”
In response, a previously lost man put his life in Christ's hands for the first time, now experiencing tears of joy, of relief and of new hope.
As the meeting drew to a close, many young boys, amongst others, responded to the invitation to meet the same God who had so totally transformed Stephen’s life. It was a joyous evening, with much dancing and praise under the open African sky, as many people came into the Kingdom for the first time.
Read the latest news from AE's evangelistic mission to Juba, in Southern Sudan, in the mission blog.