Into the Dump
Most of our team had the opportunity to visit Maputo’s Bocaria – the garbage dump where Heidi Baker began working when they first arrived in Mozambique a number of years ago. With such a large number of people, we split into two groups to go out into the surrounding homes. It’s amazing to see what God will do when you really are working with “the least of these.” Here are some highlights:
The first group prayed for a woman who had ongoing and recurring illnesses, she was clearly in pain and said she hadn’t slept in days. We prayed for healing for physical pain and then, by a word of knowledge, asked her about some heart issues and bitterness toward men who had hurt her. We led her in prayer for forgiveness and were able to share how those heart issues can connect to our physical sickness. After we left there we met a woman whose baby was in great distress and cried constantly. There was a cord around its wrist with a “charm” or fetish to “help” the child grow up strong. We spoke with the mother about witchcraft and how we can actually open doors to the enemy – and that Jesus is our ultimate protector. The cord was cut off the baby. The last person our group spoke to was a woman in her home who had just started attending a local church – but she didn’t yet have a personal relationship with Jesus. After some sharing, Angie prayed with her for salvation. God is good!
A woman with tuberculosis was the first person met by the rest of the team. She felt like there was something restricting her breathing and after prayer felt that there was a “a big release.” Two other women with sickness, one with a fever and one with back pain, received prayer and afterward the fever seemed to break. These woman wanted to be healed so they would be free to go minister to others like the team was doing. There were two men who received salvation after team members shared the Gospel and another man who was suffering from stomach pain periodically for the last month who was pain free after prayer. Our last encounter in the Bocaria was with a man named Vidale, he was actually the first person Heidi Baker had met when she came to the Bocaria and he had been radically saved at that time – two years ago his wife passed away and he had returned to drinking. The team was able to pray with him for healing of his broken heart and he seemed to take steps forward toward a fully restored relationship with the Lord. Clearly the Lord is serious about capturing the hearts of his people!
It is impossible to visit the Bocaria without being changed – most of our team commented on seeing an increase in compassion for people, both the adults and the kids who so desired to be close to us. May that compassion continue to increase!