AGAPE

Dearest Friends and Family,

I trust this letter finds you well and in good health! We have not heard much from ‘the other side of the ocean’ lately and were embarrassed to remember that we have not communicated lately with you all eitherJ So we will take a few minutes of your time today to update you on our lives and progress here in Northern Mozambique.



In terms of our health, we have been doing pretty well lately. No one has had Malaria, praise the Lord, but there has been a kind of a flu going around and the kids have caught of bit of the bug. Chloe and Ian have had little fevers and everyone but Judah has had some congestion and runny noses. We are feeling better today but still on the road to recovery. Delia was quite sick with the flu for 2 weeks but is now recovering well.



One bit of exciting news that the boys would like to share is that they are taking riding lessons! A family from Zimbabwe has a farm just outside of town and as we have gotten to know them a bit and they have several horses, their daughter offered to teach for free Judah and Ian how to properly care for and handle horses. They love every minute of it and are learning a lot! We go out to their farm on Saturday mornings for lessons and even Chloe and Gabriel get to ride sometim
In regards to our team function and progress, we have two teams in two Language groups and they are in the midst of language and culture study right now. This process takes several years as these languages are unwritten and so there are no study helps or dictionaries or any materials! These families will have to make those materials up as they go along. During this stage of the Church Planting process, it is very important for these families to build strong relationships and friendships with their neighbors, demonstrating Christ to them before we even share the message of salvation with them, so that htye will see the reality of our message when it comes time to teach. This is a major prayer request as you think of the work going on here in Mozambique! Please pray that the Lord would soften and prepare the hearts of these people to receive the Truth from the Word of God and that He would enable these families to learn the language quickly so they can teach that much sooner. It is a sad reality but there are several funerals each week in these villages and people are dying without hearing the Gospel in their own language!

I do want to pass on some wonderful news from some friends who are working in Papua New Guinea. They have been in the village of Mibu for several years and have recently come to the place where they were ready to teach. This teaching process has, I believe, taken about 5 months but here is their report of the results the Lord God has worked among this remote group of people!



In regards to our service here in Mozambique, I have been asked by our leadership to pass on a request for prayer and for help. One of my main responsibilities here in Northern Mozambique this term is to help the different couples in language study by traveling to their homes in the village to evaluate their progress and give advice on their study methods. As I serve in this role and responsibility, I am required to travel much more, sometimes by plane and sometimes by truck. What I would like to present to you is a training seminar that I am scheduled to attend this June in Papua New Guinea. Typically, our Field can pay for a large percentage of this type of trip, as I am being sent by them to receive this training for the benefit of the Field. However, as we are a new Field and still very small in numbers the Field does not have funds to pay for this trip. The cost is around $4000, including flying within the country to visit a village location. Please pray with us that our confidence would remain in the Lord for the provision of each one of our needs and that, specifically, these extra funds would be raised for this trip in June. I am quite excited about the opportunity to visit PNG but also, we as a Field desire to do the best job we can and I am excited for the benefit and help this training can bring to our families in the future. We expectantly look forward to wha the Lord will do in our lives to glorify His name!!!



We also just want to say that we have really been blessed by you through the different ways you are involved in our lives and ministry! We truly stand in awe of the great support team God has raised up for His ministry through us. We feel that your prayers and encouragement have been the most valuable thing for the Lord’s work here and we look forward to telling you all the stories in person of how the Lord used you here in Mozambique. Although we know some stories can only be told by the Author and Finisher of our faith, Christ Jesus.
Recently, I was reading Psalm 105 and was reminded to openly praise the works of the Lord. This came to me when I was down about the hardness of living here and the Lord reminded me that instead of dwelling on my circumstance I need to praise Him for what He has done and to dwell on His greatness! This truly is where He wants our focus to remain and I praise Him for reminding me of this!!!!



Joash and Delia Tiarks