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Twenty kilometers from the closest town, beyond the fields of sorghum and desolate places where the savanna grass looks down on a man treading the path, a small group of Christians in the village of Amambo (Maromeo Region, Mozambique) were on their own, abandoned five years earlier by the priest who had been serving them. Without pastoral care, their congregation remained isolated and alone, slowly dwindling as members fell away.
Meanwhile, eighty kilometers away, in Villa de Sena along the banks of the Zambezi River, the Igreja Luterana da Concórdia em Moçambique - ILCM (Lutheran Church of Concord in Mozambique) celebrated their first ordinations, ordaining eight pastors in a ceremony attended by 1,000 joy-filled members. The ten congregations of the Lutheran Church came to town by the truckload for the ordination service in June 2015. What he saw and heard at the ordination service so impressed one of those truck drivers that he talked about it for days and weeks afterwards. A woman traveling in his truck to Amambo heard the story from that truck driver which she then conveyed into the village when she arrived.
At the story she told, the Christians in Amambo felt a renewal of hope and decided to send two representatives to try and locate someone from this Lutheran Church to learn more first-hand. Benjamin Vinti (on the left in the photo) and Luis Gombegombe set out on their bicycles and rode twenty kilometers to town where they could safely overnight and then take a truck to Villa de Sena. The only possible route by vehicle took them through a park known for lions pulling people right off the back of trucks as they slowly make their way along the rough road. It took Benjamin and Luis two full days to get reach Sena, arriving on a Saturday night and asking around town for the Lutheran Church until they were directed to Rev. Mateus Sifa who welcomed them and directed them to the house of the President of the ILCM, Pastor Jambo, who hosted them in his home. After a night of conversation, they accompanied Pastor Jambo and Pastor Mateus to church on Sunday and returned home the next week to an eager assembly that immediately confirmed the request of Benjamin and Luis to have a pastor from the Lutheran Church visit them and begin a course of instruction.
Within a few weeks those newly ordained pastors from the Lutheran Church did, indeed, visit. On September 6th, 2015, members, pastors, and visitors dedicated the Lutheran Church of Amambo. Three weeks later they dedicated another congregation some 50km away in Maviga as the Christians in Amambo shared the clear Gospel message they were now receiving.
Nine months later (June 7, 2016) we traveled by truck from Villa de Sena to visit Amambo Lutheran Church to encourage them, pray with them, and share a message from Scripture. 110 members from Amambo welcomed us. In addition, Maviga Lutheran Church sent representatives to be with us for our brief visit since their congregation was too far for us to reach that day. While by truck we had traveled just 3 hours to reach Amambo from Sena, Manuel Tangwe and his wife Maria led 19 representative members from Maviga through a 14 hour journey by foot to welcome us and hear a message from the Word. Local church members hosted the visiting congregation for the two nights they were in town.
The woman who relayed the testimony of the truck driver never joined the church and the truck driver who told her about the ordinations is unknown. Nevertheless, through these two agents, the Gospel has gone forth into Marromeo and God’s people rejoice in response.
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