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Mozambique Trip: You Love Us

Yesterday was a cultural experience never to forget. The team was heading to Manicha were WorldVenture has done a lot of work in helping to grow a local body of believers there who are concerned about the problems facing the community. This little church decided to tackle the AIDs problem (about 58% of the people are infected) head on. As a result they found another problem; their people didn’t even have food, let alone a proper diet, for the AIDs medicine to work (about 90% of Mozambique is unemployed). Then in trying to tackle these two problems another one arose. Deaths from AIDs was leaving a generation of orphans. So this little church is struggling in what seems like an up hill battle against these three monsters. Progress is slow, but their joy and love in Christ is high!

So we went to visit these faithful brothers and sisters. When we arrived we were invited to a funeral of a 10 year old boy who died due to a lack of knowledge on how to take the medicine given to him. It was a moving experience as the Mozambique women sang and wailed. We ceremonially were escorted to view the body and then to the grave site that had just been dug by hand. The mother had to be literally held up because she was limp with grief as snot and tears mingled down her face.

After the funeral around dusk, we journeyed back to the church/orphanage to have a meal and stories around the camp fire. As we sat and listened to the history of Mozambique, 2 live chickens were slaughtered and cleaned behind us. One of the little boys, who was quite shy, climbed into my lap and quickly fell asleep in my embrace in front of the fire. We ate the recently alive chicken and rice, which is an expensive meal to serve the guest. Then we headed off to our homes for the night.

Our team of 8 was broken up into pairs as we headed in different directions to spend the night as the majority of Mozambique people live. The gentleman that took JJ and I in, was a brother in the faith and eager to practice his English with native speakers. We had a great night sleep, waking up to a rooster sitting on a papaya tree. As we talked, he asked me why I would leave the comfort of America to come and be with his people and even to live in Mali. He said that “not even the higher-ups in his own country come to stay with his village, but you Americans have. Why is this?” As I thought about that question, only one answer came to mind. I answered, “We have come to eat and stay with you because of Christ who lives in us and gives us a love for you.” He smiled and said:

"even when our own people would not, you left your comfort to come and cry with us, eat with us, stay with us, and praise with us. I know that you love us.”

Praise God for shining His light through me to be an encouragement to this brother.

We gathered together for church in a customary Mozambique style. The believers gathered and praise instantly broke out with dancing, swaying, clapping, and singing that would receive a noise violation in the States. It was a sweet glimpse at the praise which will take place in heaven.

I am exhausted, but to be with my brothers and sisters here is certainly unforgettable and well worth the baggy eyes.

Mozambique Trip: Ministering With, Not To People

So… jetlag is setting in and the piercing sonar of the bat right out my window doesn’t help with the rest factor, but God is good to allow me to sleep well.

Yesterday the team had a city wide scavenger hunt that took us to the 4 corners of Maputo. This city of about 2 million people is full of life and energy. You have the wealthy and the slums (about 100,000 people living in the city garbage dump). We were able to see, smell, touch, hear, and taste Mozambique! (Mozambique coffee is great by the way!) We all arrived back to our Oasis tired from the journey of the day, but excited about our time here.

Today the team prepared for our 3 VBS programs that we will be doing in 3 different neighbourhoods. Then the girls had a cooking class with local girls and the guys went away on a “secret mission.” JJ (a team leader), Jim Thorp (Americas director for WorldVenture), Roger Schmidt (Church planter in Mozambique with WorldVenture), his 2 sons, and myself went and had a wonderful conversation (and coffee) overlooking the beautiful bay waters that stretched to the horizon. I was able to bombard these 2 giants of experience (Jim and Roger) with questions about holistic life in Africa. I was so blessed and encouraged at the wisdom and guidance and discernment that poured from these 2 men. At one point Roger told me something that greatly helped him, which struck me as well. He said that

“Before you get here you need to decide if you are going to let people in your front door or force them through the window.”

He meant that I need to make a conscience decision if I am going to seclude myself off from the people and in turn “minister” to them or will I open my life and home and heart to minister with them (even if stuff gets stolen). Isn’t that the question that all Christ-followers must face on a daily level? Are we going to be untouchable to people “ministering” to them or ministering with them?

Our churches in the States have had to ask this question and sadly I believe (coming out of the extreme fundamentalist movement) they chose wrong, they chose to minister to people, not with them. This has filtered down to the individual believer as well. People find connection in the church, they find entertainment in the church, they find hobbies in the church, they find friends in the church, AND THEN try to invite strangers to the church. I agree that the lost should come and observe the church, but the church is NOT Old Testament Israel. We are the sent out ones by the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit! If we want to play softball, play in a work league not a church league! I grew up in the church consuming life mentality and I am just now developing redemptive relationships with the lost. Get out of the “Christian church bubble” and be among the world. In fact, pop the bubble and go have a beer with a buddy from work (even if he is gay and voting for Obama). Daily make a conscious decision to minister with people not to them. We cannot save anyone! Our job is to be beside people as an ambassador of the One who does save.

Mozambique Trip: Catching Up With A Bit Of My Heart

So I made it to Mozambique!

I flew out of Denver the 21^st of July and will be here till the 3^rd of August. It was an uneventful flight (as far as problems are concerned). We received all of our luggage and got settled into our Oasis, which is absolutely beautiful.

The team had an 8 hour lay over in London, so we jumped on the underground and went to Piccadilly Circus. The history and beauty of London is astonishing. We went into a free art gallery just to use up time, most of us reluctantly, but it was a true blessing! I actually saw the original Marigolds painting by Vincent van Gogh! I always saw that painting in books as a kid, but it was captivating to view it in real life. I stood speechless at the talent and artistic ability that God had granted this man. We also were able to see some Monet, and a lot of other great paintings by great painters (most of which I cannot pronounce let alone spell).

From London we connected through Kenya where I was able to experience the joy that is Nairobi Java House coffee. The bold, bitter, dark, yet surprisingly smooth taste was very refreshing, since sleep on cramped airplanes is virtually impossible for me.

Today in Maputo, Mozambique the team is splitting up into 4 groups and we are going to do a cultural scavenger hunt that includes all of our 5 senses. Yes even taste! This is a great place. I was talking with one of the co-leaders on the trip and made the comment, “it feels as if I have caught up with a bit of my heart.” Just by arriving on the African soil, I feel God is endearing Africa to my heart. Maybe when I fly to Mali August 24 - September 10, I can catch up with the rest of my heart.

Thank you for your prayers!

You Wouldn't Fit In

Sitting at Starbucks, enjoying the beauty that is a two pump caramel macchiato, I was reading on their outside patio. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a gentleman approach me in a kind of stagger. I looked up to match gazes with this scruffy looking man. Realizing he was caught staring, he asked me, "What are you reading?" I told him I was reading Connecting (a great book by the way) and showed him the cover to read further. Noticing that he was just staring at the not too appealing book cover without really reading it I said, "It is about mentoring relationships that everyone needs in their life for growth and maturity. I'm reading it for my work." Probing further he asked, "What do you do?" I told him that I am a missionary with WorldVenture and I disciple/ mentor students in the process of missions. In a disgruntled tone he leaned back and said, "Oh! You are one of those Christian people!" I paused to let his statement sink in and replied, "Yes. I am a Christ-follower." Which his quick reply was "I used to be one of those." Curious I asked him what changed. Noticing his need for a bathroom, he said "if you are out here when I come back out, I will tell you." He walked away and my mind and heart started racing in prayer for God to fill me with His truth and words to say and the ability to listen.

He came out refreshed with water and an empty bladder, sat down with the weight of a long hot day, and started in.

After high school his parents refused to support him any longer and therefore gave him an ultimatum to move out on his own. Working simple odd jobs for a high school grad, he quickly found himself without money and soon without work (I believe in listening to him, poor decisions on his behalf). With no where to go he ventured out on the streets for what would be an over 20 year stint. He moved around trying to find work and such, in and out of housing conditions, when a few Moody Bible Institute students found him on the streets of Chicago. These Moody students (an evangelism outreach to the homeless) began a conversation with him that would span several months of talking over Christ and the Bible. Finally, to the joy of the students, he gave his life to Christ and was baptized. He hungered for the Word and read it in his time on the streets and faithfully told his other homeless peers about this Jesus that he had received. In seeing the Moody students again, he asked what he should do next in his new found faith. The Moody students discussed it and said that he needed to get plugged into a local body of believers; a church. Not knowing a good church to go to, he asked the students if he could join them at their church. Their reply:

"Uh... You wouldn't... fit in where we go to church."

As this gentleman told me this, with a callous in his eyes that reflected his inner heart, my heart shattered. I almost started crying on the spot! I inwardly wept for this man and the way the "Church" had treated him. He finished his story, after describing more disappointments by the "Church," by saying, "And this next part was the final straw!" He then told me of a medical condition that he cannot get fixed because he has no money to see the doctor or to get the required medicines. This medical condition causes him to black out and go into seizures. Well, one day he woke up in the hospital with two black eyes, a broken nose, and a tooth missing (which was still gone by the way). Upon waking, he was presented with a bill for services rendered. He then proceeded to call 70 churches in the local area for assistance in this matter and the common response from almost every church was:

"Well... God will provide."

Again my heart sank in my chest. I couldn't believe that not one church would actually help this "brother" out, which no church did. After that experience he said he knew then that "God doesn't care and neither do the people that claim to follow Him!" I literally ached. What do you say to a man who has been so abused by the "Church" to make up for years of mistreatment? I wanted to scream at those churches, "God will provide?!" YEAH! HE PROVIDES THROUGH THE PEOPLE BEING CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST! He provides through us!! Dr. Alban, missions professor at Liberty University, says that, "Man is God's means to the world." I don't know how you will take this encounter and with what you will do with it, but I plea with you not to ignore this atrocity and make a resolution that you will act like Christ, that you will have compassion on those who need compassion.

Proverbs 28:27 - "Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but who hides his eyes will get many a curse."

Matthew 5:42 - "Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you." (For a great sermon on this verse please listen to Russ McKendry's sermon titled Getting Over Legalism - Dealing with Vengeance from 07.06.08 at http://www.l2today.com/mount.html )

To the Gentleman: I have left you nameless, but you know who you are if you ever read this. I praise God for our meeting! God does love you and He cares for you. He proved this by sacrificing His Son on a cross that you might be saved by having faith in Him. People are still people, but God never changes. That means that He loved you before you were created and He loves you even now. Seek God. Again I am sorry for how the "Church" treated you. Those people were the only Christ that you really saw and they screwed up. Whenever you start to feel that God doesn't love you anymore, you remember our meeting. I love you and so does God. As I told you before we parted, May God shine His face on you and keep you!

Welcome!

I personally would like to welcome you to my blog. My most recent and up-to-date news can be read and subscribed to here. To get started, here is my bio, which can also be viewed on my personal profile page through WorldVenture :

Bear Yarbrough anticipates serving as a church planter in Mali, Africa. He plans to work among the Senoufo, an unreached people group of 2.7 million in the 10/40 Window (the 10/40 Window is 10 degrees latitude to 40 degrees latitude above the equator where the highest concentration of unreached people remain in the world).

Bear’s ultimate goal is to plant a church of Christ-followers who are self-sufficient, self-governing and self-propagating. He will assist in translating the Bible into a local unwritten dialect, teach the Bible chronologically (teaching through the Bible from creation to Christ for a clear gospel to be presented) and engage in community development.

Bear, who was raised in a loving Christian home, recognized at a very young age that he needed to receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. As he grew in his faith, Bear served the church wherever he could. During 7th grade, he began to sense God leading him into full-time Christian service. By 9th grade, he fully dedicated himself to following God unconditionally in His service.

Throughout high school, Bear was involved in various ministries. He helped establish a Christian club on his high school campus. He joined a ministry named Students With A Testimony (S.W.A.T.) that traveled all over the southeast leading small group discipleship weekends. Bear started preaching in local churches to youth groups, and he led the 8th grade boys Sunday school class at his church. He also became involved in a community children’s outreach by volunteering at the local downtown mission and working for the YMCA.

While attending Liberty University, Bear heard a statistic that 99 percent of the world’s youth pastors are in America. Baffled by this gap and chasm in global ministry to youth, Bear prayed seeking God’s will. After a summer of prayer, God gave him a vision for planting churches among unreached tribal groups.

Bear's global view started by working in the slums of Guatemala City, Guatemala; learning the culture of Bogota, Colombia; backpacking in the Himalayas of Asia to pass out Bibles and radios so the mountain people could hear the Gospel in their dialect; and serving as a youth intern for two summers at Ipswich Baptist Church in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Bear has also served as a youth pastor for a church plant; the summer youth pastor at Amissville Baptist Church Amissville, VA; and currently serving as a youth director of Grace Church in Roanoke, VA and interning with WorldVenture in their Coaching Department.

Bear's heart and passion for missions has been recognized by the Church as well as Liberty University. Bear has received the World Impact Award and the David Aurthur DeMoss Award, the highest award given by Liberty University to the student that exemplifies a passion for foriegn missions and motivates others in that direction.

Bear is looking forward to seeing the unreached reached with the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ.