Pemba Women’s Goat Project by Jim Taylor

A project designed for abandoned mothers and widows with children.

The ladies arrive in two’s and three’s… walking in from the village. We begin the classes at 8 AM .. supposedly .. but many do not arrive until quite some time later. None have watches. Some walk for 45 minutes one way and often there are things that delay. Time does not have the same meaning here as it does in the west.

All of them have hard lives. They live under conditions we from the west find hard to imagine. They are not “poor” in the sense that they are no worse off than most of the community they live in. All have seen death of loved ones from starvation, malaria, cholera, HIV or any number of other diseases.

When they gather in the hut at our house they visit with one another. We serve them juice and a bread roll. We also encourage them to drink water. It is one thing that many do not get enough of. They chatter happily with each other, eating their bread. Soon one lady will lead out in a song and they all harmonize, singing worship songs to the Lord. During some songs a few of the ladies will get up and dance. It is fun to watch the transformation from “hot and tired” to “joyful”.

Usually toward the last of their singing – which will last from ten to twenty minutes – the songs become slower, more worshipful, and often the presence of the Spirit of God is almost tangible. At the last song all will begin to pray. They will all pray for quite some time, asking God for help with problems, praying for the Mission and the Missionaries, for their families etc. As the prayers die down one will lead out .. “finishing” the praying as it were. When all say “Amen” they then clap their hands. It is time for class to begin.

I wish you could join us and experience it.

People with nothing – by our standards – yet full of happiness and joy. Not griping and complaining but joyful in what they have and what comes their way. We can learn a lot from them.

Our classes are teaching them:
– sanitation, nuitrition and disease prevention
– budegting, saving and starting a small business
– goat care and management

The class is one year in length. At the end of the class each lady will be given a goat. It is our hope that by that time they will understand that if they do not sell the goat or eat the goat, they can use it like a bank. Within three years they will have goats to sell or they can be selling goat meat.

Our goal is to help improve their lives and give them a chance they would never have otherwise.

Thank you for praying for us!

Yes. I believe my friend will experience the reality of Jesus abiding…. authenticated by his being healed. amen.

I have a friend with cancer that appears to have spread. I expect
Jesus abides in and about my friend. Jesus does not have cancer. It is
my belief, my friend should not have cancer either. I will pray.

I will pray in Jesus abiding…. that His perfected will and purpose
will engulf my friend’s body and the cancerous cells will take on the
perfected identity and DNA makeup of Jesus in His abiding….

Yes. I believe my friend will experience the reality of Jesus
abiding…. authenticated by his being healed. amen.

===================

The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have
anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else
is already in.” Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start
walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll
and walked off.

Pray to see things we’ve never seen; hear things we’ve never heard so we can do things we’ve never done before.

Posted by my friend, Jim Taylor, The Pemba Cowboy.

March 12, 2012

Kris Valloton speaking:

It’s been a learning journey for us (Misha, Kris' granddaughter, and Kris). Misha said, “This is the best week of my entire life!!!”

Prayer for spirit of revelation, to see things we’ve never seen; hear things we’ve never heard so we can do things we’ve never done before.

Iris is a great example of just this: titles don’t matter. When Jesus promoted His disciples, He called them apostles, not priests, rabbis, patriarchs, or prophets. He called them apostles. Apostle was a philosophical term . . . “to be sent” AND “To be sent from a place to another place and to make that place look like the place you are sent from,” like “when in Rome, do/act as the Romans.”

There is a difference in solely conquering lands and acculturation. The Romans would appoint some of the generals to not just conquer but to “change the culture.” Jesus promoted them and sent them with just this prayer . . . “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Do we live from earth toward heaven, or the other way round . . . from heaven toward earth?

From earth to heaven . . . we will always be living in reaction; from heaven toward earth, then prayers become prophetic declaration and our words become/are creating worlds (creating circumstances).

Apostolic prayer: pray this way . . . that it would be on earth as it IS in heaven. Our ministry is to bring heaven to earth  . . . to bring His kingdom wherever we go, until the kingdoms of the earth are the kingdoms of His kingdom. The goal of our ministry is that we would bring what we see in our heavenly place to our earth . . . no sickness, crime, etc. Iris is one of the best examples of bringing the kingdom that he’s seen in the world . . . we aren’t just bringing food, but the kingdom. And THAT is exciting!!!

Can always be looking at what needs to be done . . . example-outreach . . . always room for more kingdom, but at the very least they are starting to have a kingdom mentality. Ways that kingdom changes society . . . we call them our revivalist graduates . . . teach them and send them out, thinking “You are going to change the place that you are sent to.” They return discouraged. As a father, it’s hard to see them suffer like this. Encouraging picture of a boiling pot of water and a refrigerator . . . boiling pot of water put into the fridge. We think that the fridge will get hot. On the contrary, the boiling pot gets cold. There is an ecosystem all its own in the fridge . . . “new” concept in sending out . . . Instead of going, why don’t we apostle/send them?

What’s the difference? When someone goes, they are independent. When someone is sent, they are interdependent. There is still resourcing, connection.

Back to vision: plug in the pot to the electricity. Counter culture . . . the fridge and the pot each have powering systems. The next level . . . how to unplug the fridge. How do we unplug the ecosystem of the fridge? How do we become the culture, not just influence it, but actually change and become the operating system?

When those that we’ve trained stay plugged in, it is a good thing. But when we can then transform the culture by taking the power out of the existing culture/kingdom powered by evil, it is better.

Another example . . . human trafficking. If I rescue them but don’t teach them something else, it only perpetuates the problem. We are dealing with the problem/symptoms . . . which is fine, but we cannot expect this alone to solve the issue.

God is sending us into the culture in different ways. Evidenced in 6 ways in the Old Testament:

1.  Joseph and Daniel – friends with kings; transformed countries through honoring kings

2.  Elijah and Elisha – hostile relationships with kings; changed countries from the outside in

3.  Jonah – to the unsaved

4.  Hosea and Amos – prophesied to the people, not the kings; created people movements (“Grass roots movement”) that then changed culture

5.  Nathan and Gad – became friends with King David – helped king personally; not connection with the people

6.  Kris can’t remember at this point . . .

John the Baptist – before he was born, it was prophesied that he would not drink wine and have no razor to his face. He would have only one message – REPENT! He didn’t need any notes!!! Jesus born six months later, makes wine, goes to weddings, drinks wine, called a friend of sinners and a drunkard (But was definitely NOT a drunkard). Jesus went to parties, hung out with sinners, ministered to women. John preached in the wilderness.

When Jesus meets John, He asks him to baptize Him. “I can’t do that. I am not even fit to untie your sandals.” Jesus’ reply, “It is necessary.” John, who preaches repentance, is baptizing the only one who doesn’t need baptism for repentance. (Jesus had no reason to need this baptism.) Immediately, the Father’s response is to send Holy Spirit . . . who REMAINS!!!

When you can honor the ministry of another who does it differently, when you can honor in a way that recognized the difference in calling (inside the walls, outside the walls), something happens and the Holy Spirit comes and remains. Jesus honoring John’s ministry was the first example of this.

Iris in the beginning stages of bringing heaven to earth. John the Baptists, Daniels and Joesphs, Nathans and Gads, Jonahs . . . lots of different faces to this ministry working toward the same end of transforming culture!!!

“There is nothing you can do that will cause Christ to love you any more or any less.”~Luis Rey

I met with a few friends this evening, to enjoy each other's company and Jesus showed up.  

One friend was sharing about the life of Paul and how he concluded it…

I was impressed with how wrong we can be in our thinking about living a life for Christ.  Take Paul's life as an example.  He certainly used it as an example and others wrote about the incredible adventures he experienced as a believer, sold out for the love of Christ.

As he wrapped up his life and looked toward running the last lap, he summed up his life as insignificant compared to the love of Christ.  I think he passionately wanted us to understand, he didn't do what he did to gain the love of Christ or to be labeled a Christian.  He simply loved Christ with all his heart and what he did was a natural result.  It was Christ's love for him and his reciprocated love of Christ, that his life produced fruits of the Spirit.

Let me try this one more time.  As Christ centered believer, it is not what you do that creates a deeper love for Christ or makes you a better Christian.  It is Christ's love for you and your reciprocated love of Christ that produces what you do.   The thought is so important and so not understood in today's religions.  

More simply put, my friend Luis Rey would say, "There is nothing you can do that will cause Christ to love you any more or any less."

Be real.  Be Christ!

archie
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http://www.isrv.org
210-617-3137

After the dump, the streets of downtown Maputo are one of my favorite places….

Helena’s Story — (from Heidi Baker)

After the dump, the streets of downtown Maputo are one of my favorite places to pray with people. When I met Helena she was a prostitute, a maimed, malnourished twelve-year-old child forced by poverty to sell her body on the streets. Years before, the reed hut she shared with her grandmother and brothers caught fire and burned down. She was so badly burned that one leg was actually burned off. I could see her scarred knee where her leg ended. Helena survived the fire, but because she was disabled her grandmother decided she was of no use. She had become a burden to her family and decision was made to kill her. Helena’s brothers were instructed to take her out to a field and stone her.

They dragged her to the field and threw rocks at her until she passed out. Assuming she was dead, they left her. A man passing through the field discovered her, severely injured and unconscious, but alive. He picked her up and took her to the hospital. In such cases the government hospital is free. Helena spent six months there recovering, and during her entire stay she didn’t have one visitor.

I found Helena one night during our street outreach. I told her of my Father God’s love and forgiveness. I told her what Jesus did for her. She fell apart in my arms and wept. She asked me over and over, “Jesus would do that for me? Jesus would die, for me? That is so beautiful. That is so lovely. I want to know Him and follow Him.” That night on the street Helena came home to live with us.

God began to do a deep healing in her heart. She went through a lot of deliverance. Her family was deeply into witchcraft. Once she was set free from demonic influence she was completely transformed. This young girl who had endured so much hardship, trauma, ridicule and abuse was now consumed by the great love of God. She was indebted to Him. Her immediate reaction was, “He has forgiven me for so much. He has set me free. I forgive my grandmother and my brothers. I want to go and tell them about the love of God.”

Helena risked her life to go back to the family who had tried to murder her so she could share God’s love with them. She has returned to her home three times. She was not received well, but she refuses to give up. Her grandmother is still very strongly involved with the occult and hasn’t responded. One of her brothers has disappeared, but the other one is listening. Helena continues to pray for her family every day.

…..
Helena was 10 years old when she started working the streets! A small ragged one-legged prostitute barely makes enough to stay alive. She is in poor shape when Mama Heidi found her. But she is doing well today!!

There is more to the story .. the latest news being her brother gave his life to Jesus!

The above is from Heidi Baker’s book “There is Always Enough”