Prayer letter from Joel and Joanie Troester – Mozambique – May 12, 2012

God continues to direct our steps. Our Brazilian co-workers in the last church in which we helped are needing to return to Brazil once again. They need to work on some health and retirement issues, raise funds for the purchase of land in the city for their church and help with the arrival of a new grandchild. This means that we will be taking up their ministry once again in July. With their leaving we will be moving into their house which is located in the area that we want to live.

We have looked around for a place to locate our church in our old neighborhood of Liberdade. There are a number of open lots. One in particular is very visible and accessible and well within walking distance for our original group. I have not heard yet what the price might be. If we can offer to teach the community English and computer and other things, it is possible for the city to give us the land! For this we need money in hand to build and then fulfill our promise to offer classes. Our community is growing exponentially. Now is the time to move ahead. Prices will only go higher. Three new banks have come to our area in the last year. Other large businesses are opening. We have new restaurants; even a store that sells wave jumpers – go figure among so many poor people.

We have a very special prayer request. There is a Mozambican pastor named Martinásio who has been faithfully serving the Lord in our area. He is married with 3 children, the latest just born a week ago. He has a very large cancerous growth on his stomach. He has done chemo therapy but it has not been effective. He has been to South Africa and just recently to a new hospital here in Maputo and they say that they can surgically remove the cancer. The cost will be $7,000.00. For a Mozambican this is impossible. Some Brazilian churches have helped with other expenses up until this point. This dear brother and his family need our prayers and some financial help at this time.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Mother’s Day, like many others. This will be the first time that we are having a special service for the moms of our gang in Liberdade. We covet your prayers in your morning services as this will be about the time that we will be meeting for our evening Mother’s Day service. None of these mothers have yet been out to our Bible study.

There is a tremendous opportunity for some Bible school teachers here in our city. A pastor is desperate to find some men who hold our theological position and have the call of God to focus in the area of teaching. We have helped some but believe that our focus needs to be on our churches and our flock. There are pastors and lay people looking for help and training. We will be going against what many have been taught their entire lives. Some listen and others reject but the impact can change the lives of thousands as these men go back to their churches and begin to teach the truth. College students and seminary students, please consider Mozambique. The civil wars have ended. It is time to teach and train men the truths of the Scriptures.
We thank you with all of our hearts for partnering together for the lost souls of Mozambique.
Joel and Joanie Troester