Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Prayer Focus - Mozambique Territory
It is a glorious day! There are thousands of incredible things happening all around you. Because people are already at their jobs, you have news for the day, the traffic is flowing, electricity was on at your house and where you work, water flowed, the store shelves are stocked and there were countless places ready to sell you coffee in whatever form you want it. On and on it will go as we expect it to. Perhaps it is time to stop and thank God for the ordinary which for so many people in the world would be extraordinary. This really is a great wonder. Take notice of what is happening around you.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I admit that I expect every button to respond when I push it and every service person to immediately answer when I am ready to place my order. My car is supposed to start right away, the traffic should move faster when I am in it, the lights turn green when I am approaching. That’s how I feel most of the time. And I find myself getting irritated when my computer does something weird or something slows me down, even if it’s my own fault when I’m running behind. I can be pretty self-centered. As I think about it, I realize I act that way toward You with my prayers. I can end up pleading more earnestly for a parking spot than for a sick friend or for you to give me something that I want than for the salvation of my neighbor. Please show me when I am being self-centered so I can face it and seek You and find Your way. Save me from being a shallow and selfish person. I can’t do this without You. Please forgive me. Remind me of the unselfishness of Your Son, who I claim as my Savior and in whose name I offer this prayer. Amen.
This short video gives a glimpse of Women’s Ministries in the Mozambique Territory.
Background of the
Mozambique Territory
A Portuguese colony for 470 years, Mozambique gained its independence in 1975 a long war only to become a Marxist state. Almost immediately, the Renamo resistance movement opposed it leading to a long and brutal civil war that, with natural disasters, left nearly a million dead until the government renounced Marxism in 1988. A multiparty democracy and market economy emerged when a peace accord was signed in 1992.
When the Marxists were in charge, attempts were made to totally suppress Christianity that included the martyrdom of believers. Since 1994, however, religious freedom has been fully allowed. With that, Christianity has grown rapidly, especially among evangelicals. Because of the nation’s poverty, the church has been dependent on outside sources of funding, perhaps too much so.
The war along with natural disasters of drought and flooding, had left Mozambique in a horrible state. But since the peace accord, the country has made encouraging progress. Still, 80% of the population relies on subsistence farming. It is plagued with persistent health problems including AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and malnutrition contributing to a life expectancy of only 51 years, although this is trending upward. Literacy rates are low at 60% but again, this is trending upward from the 40% at the time of the peace accord. The politicians are working hard to improve their country, and for that they are to be commended, but much remains to be done.
The Salvation Army: The work was pioneered in 1916 by Mozambiquan converts returning home from neighboring South Africa. The Salvation Army work was recognized by the government in 1986 and officially registered in 2005. Originally part of the Southern Africa Territory, Mozambique became a separate command on March 1, 2008. It was elevated to a territory on March 1, 2011.
Facts, Stats and Leadership of the Mozambique Territory
- Total population to fish and disciple: 34,532,862
- 52 officers, 10 cadets, 19 employees
- 6 retired officers
- 60 corps, 35 outposts
- 8,520 senior soldiers
- 186 adherents
- 1,345 junior soldiers
Leadership
Territorial Commander – Colonel Jubulani Khoza
Chief Secretary – Lt. Colonel Mário Nhacumba
Territorial President of Women’s Ministries – Colonel Fikele Khoza
Prayer Requests for the
Mozambique Territory
We thank God for:
- All the blessings of the past year – including the welcome of cadets and new territorial Leaders.
- A new year full of hope.
Please pray for:
- The territory to be able to implement its strategic plan.
- Unity and cooperation of all soldiers and officers for the growth of the territory
- Finances of the territory
- Self-sustainability of the territory
USA Southern Territory
Prayer Requests
- The family of Major Goldie Long, who was recently Promoted to Glory
- The family of Phyllis Burchett who was recently Promoted to Glory, mother of Major Martha Higdon and Sergeant Melissa White
- Major Mee Sook Chang, Assistant to the Territorial Director of Officer Resources & Records, Personnel
- Legal Department
- Durell Robertson, Senior Operations Technical Analyst, CRD Interchange
- Ayman Hammond, Chief Auditor, Audit Department
- Sam Ellis, Insurance Billing Administrator, Risk Management
- Major Syung Young Lee, Assistant Principal for Training/Director of Business Administration, EBC
- Cadet Michelle Cook
- Captain Jonathan Needham, Divisional Candidates’ Counselor, Kentucky/Tennessee Division
- Lt. Colonel Stephen Ellis, National Treasurer and National Secretary for Business Administration, NHQ
- Majors Tom & Julie Louden, officers, soldiers, employees, and volunteers of the Kentucky/Tennessee Division
- Men’s Ministry
- Texas wildfires
- Trouble spots in the world: Israel & Palestine, Haiti, Ukraine & Russia, Burkina Faso
- Anonymous request from one who requests that God would restore health and faith
Something to Consider
We glory in our independence, in our individuality, in our self-determination. We tell our children, “You can be anything you want to be.” Of course, it’s not true but we want to build confidence in them, so we tell them the lie we were told. We cling tenaciously to this idea that we have a choice to make, and that it is ours to make solely for ourselves. Period. Free will is, in our opinion, a divine right.
But free will is both one of the greatest gifts of God and the greatest curse. With free will there are of necessity consequences as sure as throwing a stone in a pond causes ripples. And as our stone cannot control the ripples, neither can you or I control what happens when a choice is made. While you may be able to retrieve the stone, the ripples cannot be stopped until they run their course.
To choose foolishly, to sin, leads to ripples that touch others, to create circumstances, to wreak havoc way beyond the initial act. In a similar way, to choose God’s way leads to blessings we could not have imagined, to people we unknowingly bless, and who in turn bless us, reaping a harvest of righteousness that makes no sense when looking at the tiny seed we have sown.
Established by God to work just as surely as He created gravity to keep you from spinning off into space, free will is programmed to perform unerringly according to God’s dictates. So, free will has no free will. But I digress.
How often I have wished that I could go to the altar and confess the sins of another person, to seek God’s forgiveness and to be born again through the Spirit. But I cannot do that. Your free will says that you must do that for yourself. Your free will says that your sin is solely your possession, that you can resist God Himself if you so desire. But only for so long.
In keeping with the stone in the pond, we find as we go along that other people are throwing their stones, too. And their ripples start colliding with ours. We are blindsided at times, unexpectedly blessed at others. All this free will is like watching cars zoom on a superhighway.
Free will has its limits. It is not eternal. Our ability to choose will end.
Imagine tossing your little stone into the path of a tsunami, as senseless as it is dangerous. Someday, like a tsunami, comes the judgment of God. Standing defiantly to declare your right to choose on that day will be as effective as tossing your stone into the oncoming, irresistible wave of God’s unalterable judgment.
Throw yourself on God’s mercy. Toss your stone, if you will, in the boundless ocean of God’s salvation. Then see what happens.
Benediction
May the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, guide, protect and keep you this day. Amen.
This is a joyful song by Phil Wickham – “House of the Lord”