November 11, 2011
Mozambique Initative News
5A Born in Africa: Relationship not deterred by distance
By Casey Andrews Family was not something I
thought too much about growing up. Leaving for college taught me to really appreciate what a bless- ing family is; an “adopted sister” taught me that blood is not what creates family ties; and a relation- ship between the Cassville and Maratane UMCs taught me that family bonds can cross oceans and cultural differences. I have had the privilege of
watching the relationship between Cassville, Missouri and Maratane, Mozambique flourish over the past decade. The journey began when I was a 7th grader on the administrative board of the All Faith UMC in Eagle Rock, and I heard the adults talking about their covenant partnership with a church in Mozambique. When my mother and I transferred to Cassville, I started asking why Cassville didn’t have a covenant partner. God got busy. Since the signing of the cov-
enant letter, Cassville has visited Maratane twice and we have witnessed the Holy Spirit spread like wildfire across the Nampula district because of a little church
in the heart of the Maratane United Nations refugee camp. The camp is full of refugees from the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, and others. Worshipping in their sanctuary is like what I imagine Pentecost felt like. The covenant partner- ship has enabled so many mission opportunities. Bibles have been purchased in multiple languages. A chicken project was started to help the church be self-sufficient. A motorbike was donated to the pastor, and now the pastor trav- els many kilometers out of the refugee camp to witness to area villages. Medicine was delivered to alleviate a cholera outbreak. And currently, a well project is underway. While all of these mission suc-
cesses bring absolute joy to my heart, it is the relationships with my friends in Maratane that bring me the greatest sense of purpose. Once you go, the spirit of Africa gets in your blood, and you can’t wait to go back! It’s like you leave a little piece of your heart there, and you are never the same.
One of Joan Andrews Fataki
my fondest memories is with Pastor Fataki’s little girl Sarah—she held my hand and danced with me for
2 hours while our team paraded out of the camp at dusk, singing praises to God, waiting for our van to pick us up from our last day at the camp. Sarah was 3 years old at the time, and although we had a significant language barrier between us, we communicated through smiles and laughter per- fectly. I don’t know how the dis- ciples spoke in other languages on Pentecost, but as I held those little hands in mine and she twirled around, I realized that you don’t need words to share the Gospel. On October 9, 2011, our
church received word about two new joys: the Maratane church, through donations made possible by our partnership, was able to purchase another set of bibles for area villages; and Pastor Fataki’s wife Julienne gave birth to their eigth child, a baby girl. They named this child Joan Andrews Fataki, after my mother. She has been the heartbeat of this mission, and I have learned so much about extravagant generosity from her. The people of Maratane call her Mother, and I could not be more proud to be her daughter. In the words of Pastor Fataki, my mother “has been born in Africa.” For any churches considering
beginning a covenant relationship with a Mozambican partner—do it. It will change your life. It will bring you joy beyond compre- hension. It will bring pleasure and delight to our God. And you will relearn the very definition of “family.”
Before (above) and after (below) pictures of Maratane UMC.
Bibles written in the local language are distributed. A member gets baptized in the river.
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