During our stay at the Iris Ministries centre in the Mozambican capital of Maputo my wife and I, with another visitor from England, spent 24 hours with a pastor in a rural village some distance from the city. We shared in the Sunday morning worship with adults and children in their tin-roofed building.

Rafael is in his twenties. He was married but his wife died last year. He cares for a small church in a village community where witchcraft and drunkenness are both very evident.

On the Saturday afternoon he suggested we went and did some evangelism in the centre of the village, talking with people and giving out leaflets.  But first we would go and pray for a short while in the church.

While we were in the church he believed God was telling him not to evangelise today but to walk quietly together around the perimeter of the village and pray for it. We did this for about 40 minutes and claimed the lordship of Jesus over the community.

When I happened to meet Rafael again ten days later he was telling me what had happened on the most recent Sunday. 15 entirely new people had turned up unexpectedly and many had been clearly touched by the worship and preaching.

We believe he heard God correctly in this instance. We believe God will bless his church with further growth.

Teach us to pray > Village of Bobole