Missions

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Friends and Family,

     We hope you all are well and that the year has begun well for you. We are thankful for all your prayers regarding Maggie’s health. She has made a complete recovery and has been able to do all her normal activities since coming back to Mozambique (including climbing a number of mountains!). In the end, the doctor said that it was impossible to say what exactly she had been sick with, though it is likely it was a combination of two different illnesses. Had they run the tests earlier they might have been able to get a more conclusive result. We are grateful that so far this year we have been mostly healthy and things are back to normal.

     In the past few months we have been able to continue to minister to the refugee community living nearby. Many of the people had hoped to return home this past year, but with ongoing fighting and an unsecure situation, most of them opted to stay here. Others returned home, only to come back a few months later having fled a second time. Most of the crops that people grew were insufficient, so hunger was an issue this year. We were able to help out with giving some food relief, providing seed and insecticides for their farms, and school supplies for their children. Thankfully the harvest is beginning and people are starting to have food again. Sometimes it is complicated helping the refugees, because some immature Christians will begin to feel jealousy when they see others receiving help when they are also struggling to provide for their families. Usually this is a sign of a person’s lack of spiritual maturity, because most church leaders understand the purpose of this help and see its necessity. In one church though, we are trying to work through some conflicts in the leadership that have been exacerbated by these immature attitudes among some. Feeding the hungry is a command of Jesus. We continue to obey his commands, recognizing that how people respond to our obedience is ultimately between them and God.

People gathering on a riverbank for baptisms
People Gathering for Baptisms at the Refugee Camp

     For most of 2023 the fighting remained in the north of our province, far away from us and the areas we work in. About two weeks ago, that changed. A group of insurgents had been attacking several villages and moving south (though still a long ways from where we live). A little while later they headed west and began to attack several villages in Chiure where a number of churches are. Many families that we know fled into the bush or went to nearby towns where they had relatives. Unfortunately this happened at one of the most critical hunger times, right before harvest. In one of the villages where we have a large church, the preacher and his wife fled into the bush. They lost track of two of their kids for several days because they had been playing at a friend’s house. Although the insurgents were nearby, the preacher returned to the village so his house wouldn’t be robbed by opportunistic thieves. His family remained in the bush where they were afraid to light a fire so as to give away their location. The military was able to chase the insurgents back into the bush and the situation has returned to normal. This all happened in an area about a 3 hour’s drive from where we live.

Car parts, new car part
Can you spot the new parts?

     The main road that we travel to get to the next major city has really gotten bad over the past year. The potholes are so bad, that what used to take us two hours is now a three hour drive. Sometimes it is just unavoidable to hit potholes and, even with slowing down, our truck takes a real beating. Thankfully our missionary mechanic friend, Brad, is always there to help. He told me I needed some new rubber bushings on my truck because the old ones were worn out. After driving six hours on the pothole covered road to buy the parts needed I was able to go to his house to get the work done. When he got up under the car he noticed I needed about seven other new parts! He said things were so bad that I shouldn’t take the car anywhere where I could hit a bad pothole or a big bump. That naturally meant that 90% of roads were off limits. After some more work we were able to get all those parts replaced. 

Mozambique Update - March 6, 2024

From Chad and Amy Westerholm

I was really grateful to Brad, because I could have been stranded on the side of the road had he not done those repairs. Around this time my air conditioning had also gone out and Brad was able to fix that. A month later I had an issue with my alternator going out just as I was leaving town to take some Bible Translators to the airport. Thankfully we hadn’t gotten very far out of town, but unfortunately they missed their flight and had to catch one the next day. The day before, some American missionaries who work to the north of us broke the axle on their car trying to return to their home and our teammates had to go rescue them. However, after they got back our teammates’ trucks were making all sorts of rattling noises and needed to be looked at too! Driving in the rainy season can be a bit challenging! Thankfully our truck is back to running normally!

group discussing Psalms translation
Discussing the Draft of Psalm 34

      Our Psalms seminars continue, and we had one in November and another one in February. So far 41 Psalms have been translated. In the coming weeks I will be hosting two shorter two day seminars. Usually someone is there to help out, but this time I am the only one in town. This means I will have to run all the logistics of food and lodging as well as facilitate the workshop. We will be working on Psalms 6 and 127 in the next few weeks. It is usually a lot of work to organize all the food and other logistics as well as prepare to facilitate the meeting. Recently one of the participants wrote a song based on Psalm 124. His village had fled from insurgents, his nephew had died of hunger while hiding in the bush, and his house had fallen down in the rains. When he sang the words of this Psalm “If the Lord had not been on our side..” (Apwiya yahari ni hi) and “our help is in the name of the Lord” (nkavihero ehu uri mwa ncina na Apwiya), it was evident this Psalm had touched his life.

     I have also begun teaching a New Testament Survey night class at our Bible School. I have a few new students as well as some old students. It is my first time to teach this class, but it is going well. This particular class likes to ask lots of questions and we go on a lot of rabbit trails in our discussions, but they seem to be really beneficial conversations. I am thankful we have created an environment for people to question their assumptions and can look to the Bible with fresh eyes.

woman sitting under a tree, Maggie and Jane on a mountain hike.
Maggie and Jane on a Mountain Hike

     In other news we have celebrated a lot of birthdays: Jack’s 8th, Jane’s 15th, and Maggie’s 18th! The kids are busy with school and learning a lot. We are preparing for the shock of Maggie going to college in August. I am building a tank to catch rainwater. Amy has been having some meetings with Maggie and Rayna to help prepare them for life in the States. In light of recent insurgent activity, we have been revising our security plan, since it has been four years since we first wrote it and a lot has changed. These are just a few of the many things that fill our lives here. We pray that Christ be seen as we live for him.

Praise God for...

  • Maggie’s full recovery
  • Our teachers, the Bunches, received their visas!
  • Continued progress on the Psalms translation
  • People in Chiure are able to return to their homes
  • A good harvest this year, especially for the refugees

Please pray for...

  • The insurgency to be stopped and peace to return to Cabo Delgado
  • Upcoming Psalms seminars and the translation of Psalms 6 and 127
  • The students in the New Testament Survey class to continue to grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s word
  • Problems of jealousy and division to be resolved in the Balama church
  • Our car to remain in good and working order

Matthew 28:19

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..."

What do you do when you have good news? You share it with all your friends and family. We feel that way about the Good News of Jesus Christ—that God made a way for us to be able to come to Him anytime. That news is so good, we are dedicated to sharing it all over the world by supporting missionaries and agencies that do just that.

Global mission Support

Here's a list of the global mission sites we financially and prayerfully support

  • Kisumu, Kenya – Ring Road Teachers
  • Makua-Metto, Mozambique – Chad & Amy Westerholm
  • Western Mozambique – Owen & Eunice Ruraca
  • Kitali, Kenya – Children’s Home
  • Frontier Ventures – Darrell & Linda Dorr

For those areas where sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is illegal, we protect those who represent us in that part of the world.

  • West Africa – Pioneer Bible Translators
  • Pakistan 
  • Central Asia
  • South East Asia
  • Zimbabwe 

Pentacost Offering, May 28, 2023 - Goal: $70,000

  • Thank you for supporting this effort. $70,000 given and pledged
  • This funds our Global Mission efforts. 
  • Please be praying how you can support Missions on Pentecost Sunday 2024.

Our Mission Outposts

The NWChurch global impact is shown in the video map to your right. 100% of what we do and where we are is “mission.” Every location is a mission outpost. Every pastor – a located missionary. Every member – an ambassador.

Your support through regular offerings and special offerings fund mission activities at home and abroad. Thank you for your support of these global mission sites of the NWChurch.

On Pentecost each year, we take special time to focus on global mission sites. This traditionally is a day when the NWChurch takes up a special offering for special needs and projects, and remembers the global view God has for His Kingdom.