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Claire Weddell from New Life Church in Newcastle upon Tyne shares about the importance of the local church in Mozambique and her part in equipping and mobilising.
‘I Will Build My Church…’
As in many mission situations, the work here is multi-faceted. The church is God’s chosen instrument to communicate the Gospel to every nation, therefore it must be strong and healthy in order to serve its purpose effectively.
The Mozambican church has tremendous potential, but is often inward-looking and lacking in understanding of the ‘bigger picture’ of God’s plans and purposes. Consequently, a significant part of the work is to address this and to mobilise the church to fulfill the Great Commission. This is done through seminars (including both urban and rural churches), teaching in Bible & Discipleship Schools, presenting the Kairos Course, and through other practical ministry opportunities.
Thankful for Clara
We asked church leaders to share about the church development work Claire (Clara) has been carrying out. They commented:
“Missionary Clara has been a blessing to us in Missão Fé Apostolica Church. We had few believers and now we have many zones where there are services…. and we have quality leaders through the Bible Study that missionary Clara teaches us and walks with us. We thank God for this ministry he sent to Africa and thank you very much.”
Pastor Isidro Gimo, Igreja Missão Fé Apostolica.
“Missionary Clara… is a person with lots of love, peace, is humble and patient, she likes to pray and she speaks the truth. She helps anyone in God’s work and we are helped by her in our ministries…. With the teaching of missionary Clara my church is growing a lot and has many zones through the help of this teaching. The church does not want her to return (to England) now as she still has much work to do and to go to many places here in Mozambique.”
Pastor Isaias, Igreja Revelação Crista de Moçambique
I teach both at the Bible & Discipleship School and at the Leadership School, as well as having involvement with various outreach activities and supervising students. I love being part of this team, and greatly appreciate this opportunity to work with others who are passionate about serving the Lord and investing spiritually in the lives of others. The students are encouraged to reach out with God’s love, and they regularly minister in various locations, including local churches, a primary school, a centre for disabled people and in the prison. It is a joy to see lives touched and changed and to see people equipped, developing their potential in God, and released to serve him effectively.
The Kairos Course is an excellent mobilisation tool to help believers recognise and fulfil their part in the God’s plans. Here in Mozambique we have faced major challenges, not least with the project to translate the course into Portuguese. Hopefully, by the time you read this the dubbing of the DVDs for the course will have begun again, enabling more Mozambicans to benefit.
In word and deed
The Bible records many instances where Jesus reached out to the sick and disabled, to the marginalized and rejected. As his followers, he calls us to do likewise and we encourage the students in this. Last year I met a group of young people who are deaf and began to build friendships with them. It was much later that I learned that the deaf community in Mozambique is officially recognised as an unreached people group! God had led me to initiate outreach to the unreached, and I hadn’t even realised!