Iris Dondo, Sofala Province, Central Mozambique
Our 4 acre base packs in 5 homes for missionary families, plus more rooms for singles, visitors, and dorms for visiting teams or pastors during seminars and schools. We have a preschool, classrooms, a church, outside kitchen, large multi-purpose room, 5 covered patios, and a mango grove in the back. Our team is currently comprised of 8 missionaries and 16 Mozambican staff.

Our mission is to see the Gospel bring total transformation to the lives of our friends, pastors, and churches. Through teaching, prayer, worship, walking with our pastors through everyday life, and reliance on the Holy Spirit, we are privileged to see Truth run His course. The mysteries of our God run deep. We delight to share what small tastes we have received of this sweetness and watch our Jesus take it to the next level. To see fruit in the lives of those we minister to brings us to our knees in gratefulness and wonder at our very alive, present, and active Savior.

Evangelism:
We do not want to become so inward focused with discipling our churches and pastors as to become stagnant. We press forward with Jesus films both at our established churches as well as new villages. When we do a film at an established church, the members come along for house visits preceding the film to pray for the sick and spread the word. Eric has a heart to establish, grow, and disciple the churches through evangelism training seminars. He has written evangelism training booklets and travels throughout the provinces to teach and follow up with churches, and is currently envisioning larger crusades. Evangelism is so much more than a once-a-year church event, but a lifestyle that can influence those we come into daily contact with.

Discipleship:
The main vision of this base is to disciple the many Iris churches of central Mozambique. We partner with Transforming Lives Ministry, running seminars throughout the 3 central provinces of the country. (Thousands of churches sprang up quickly through Heidi and Roland Baker’s ministry, and now much work remains to deepen and grow the pastors’ understanding of the most basic doctrines.) We have trained Mozambican pastors who travel and teach on the foundations of Christianity, Bible basics, and Christian marriage. (For more information on Transforming Lives Ministry, visit their website at transforminglivesministry.net).

Here in the bush, learning and growing is not as easy as taking a free course through iTunesU or looking up a sermon on YouTube. We do classes, evangelism seminars, women’s conferences, youth conferences, bible schools for pastors, and smaller discipleship groups with pastors and church leaders in the bush. We distribute solar powered audio bibles, printed bibles, and micro SD cards loaded with worship, sermons, bible stories, and an audio bible, that people can insert into their phones to listen to.

Discipleship and continued teaching is something that accompanies all other practical ministries we do. We do not just want to see physical needs met, but desire that lives would be transformed through the working of the Holy Spirit. “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20)

Pre-School:
Knowledge is power, and you have to start somewhere! Our center provides pre-schooling for 4 and 5-year-olds, reserved for the most vulnerable within our local community. We have a wonderful group of staff including teachers, helpers, and a cook who prepares breakfast for the children every morning. The staff not only instructs the students during school hours, but also visit those who have missed subsequent days to make sure they are in good health, all their needs are met, and encourage them to return to school. The teachers have invested their own time and resources to help the children with clothing, medicine, and whatever other needs they catch wind of.

Mercy Ministries:
We are privileged to serve the ~116 widows and disabled men and women who are a part of our ‘Mercy Ministry. There is a monthly distribution of money and some living essentials, with special gifts (like grass mats and blankets) thrown in throughout the year. Each year we provide school uniforms for the orphans who live with those on our distribution list. Help is also given to fix houses or rebuild roofs when needed—the heavy rains melt their houses of mud and sticks, so they never last long. We visit and pray for those who are sick, take them to the hospital when needed, and cover costs for medicine. 

Clinic:
When the doctors are in town, free medical care is provided. Doctors Roberto and Laura have also trained a team to continue a nutrition program in their absence for malnourished babies, providing nutrition packed foods and education to the mamas.

Famine Relief:
Seed and food are distributed to our churches and their surrounding communities in times of famine and flood.

Community Development:
At times, we build churches or help by putting a roof on once the church builds the rest of the building. We also help the widows in our program with their housing needs. 

Hospital:
We love to bring the hope and healing of Jesus into the local hospital. Visiting the sick and new mothers in the maternity ward can be anything from a kind word and a few bananas, to prayer, encouragement, and supernatural healing. The local hospital is a bleak place, and if the whole visit is spent bringing the light of Jesus to one mama, we consider it worth it.

Prison:
“We are not ashamed to proclaim the Good News (to the hardest of criminals) because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). We are privileged to show prisoners the unconditional love of God by pointing them to the grace of the cross. The perfect Lamb of God died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). We want them to encounter the “kindness of God that leads us to repentance” (Rom. 2:4), and many lives are being transformed. 

Our desire is to show the prisoners love and support in order that they may be empowered to believe in their own God given value and therefore live changed and productive lives. Our heart is to teach them to gain a sense of self-respect, respect for others, and the law. We encourage them with the hope of a new life in God by teaching them how to live victoriously through biblical education. 

House Visits:
For as broad as our ministry focus is, we never want to forget to love on those around us. Going house-to-house, we visit our neighbors in the village, heal the sick, and show the love of Jesus in what ways we can.

School of Kingdom Advancement:
Twice a year we hold a month-long School of Kingdom Advancement. It is a more intimate bible school where we take a small group of pastors so we can pour into them more individually. We teach our discipleship booklets on the foundations of Christianity, the bible, Christian marriage, and evangelism, followed by hands-on activation. We take the students to Jesus film events, house-to-house evangelisms, the hospital, and prison to give them the opportunity to share what they have learned.

Central Church:
We have a Mozambican led church on our base that meets every Sunday morning—all are welcome! They are active in worship, have a thriving youth ministry, children’s ministry, and extended prayer nights.

The church also serves as a central church for the greater Iris church community.  We also host larger services and celebrations, inviting those from surrounding Iris churches for a meal at Christmas, baptisms at Easter, and other special gatherings.