MISSION TRIP RETURNS

S.o.S.: New Hope Church members and friends "Sharing our Strength" in Mozambique, Africa this summer

What started as a personal invitation to go to Africa from Monty Jacobs, long-time Maranatha Volunteers International (MVI) board member, to friend Dave Wooster, head of "S.o.S." missions at New Hope, somehow blossomed into a group of 39 people on a mission trip to Mozambique. On Sunday, July 13, the group of members and friends of New Hope in Fulton, Md headed to Africa for a 2 1/2 week mission trip. After a 17 hour plane ride to Johannesburg, S. Africa, the group boarded a bus for a 9 hour ride to Maputo (the capital city of Mozambique) where they stayed in tents at the MVI volunteer camp which was their home for the next 12 nights.

Mozambique, among the poorest nations in the world, was chosen by MVI to receive 1001 churches, 8 schools and a water well for each of those structures. MVI moved into Mozambique in February, 2007 and has currently completed around 50 churches (with more under construction) and is working on their 2nd school, with the assistance of the New Hope group on this trip.

The New Hope group divided into 4 crews for the specific missions that were planned for this trip:

1) A BUILDING crew helped to construct a 400-capacity school in the area of Mahotas. The crew consisted of anywhere from 20-24 people of all ages, with only one person in the group having laid brick before. Approximately 40% of the school was completed while they were there.

2) A WATER WELL DRILLING crew assisted Garry Berndt, who is heading up the water well project in Mozambique. The New Hope group helped drill 4 water wells, 2 of which were at the school property. The first well they drilled at the Mahotas school was designated as a community well, providing water at no charge to the local community, who were there daily, anxiously watching the whole process.

3) A MEDICAL MISSION team went out into remote villages and treated over 900 people in 8 working days. Most everyone they saw suffered from illnesses as a result of poor nutrition, dehydration, and parasites in their drinking water, in addition to AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis, etc.

4) A VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL team shared the simple and pure gospel message of God's love with a group of kids that grew from 80 the first day, to over 500/day by the end of the trip. The kids were also taught about simple hygiene and given bars of soap that New Hope sent over after learning how precious this item is in Mozambique.

What struck the New Hope group most about Mozambique was the overwhelming amount of poverty that they saw: people living in little more than shacks, children taking care of children (often scarcely dressed with no shoes), and rampant hunger and disease. The medical team drove 1-2 hours one-way, everyday, to remote villages to offer medical care to those who have no money or means to get it on their own. "The poverty was so overwhelming that we didn't even realize until our third day on the same route that there was an ocean laying just beyond - "The poverty was just so devastating, it's all we could see. It was like watching a bad movie." commented one team member.

The primary goal for this trip was to follow the Matthew 25:35 principle, which states "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Being the "hands and feet of Jesus" and meeting basic needs in this tangible way was the most powerful evangelism tool we could ever use.

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