Welcome to 2011

Welcome 2011!! And with a boom it has started. We are looking forward to this year with much expectation.

We spent the new years quietly at home. Just after the clock struck 12, we decided to head for bed….but Felito just chuckled and ran inside the house. When he came out, Paulina's eye's just about popped out of her head. He had brought some firecrackers…much to our delight we let them off and had a blast until the early hours of the morning.

Christmas day was busy and long. It was our turn to host the entire Utuie clan and a few extras. After much debate we got ladies to arrive later at 10am to help start with the cooking and then the men and children to follow after once the preparations were done. I did the cakes and cooked four cakes and Christmas muffins, then we had five different salads, eight grilled chickens, half pig and half goat grilled on the coal bbq and also five crates of glass bottles filled with fizzy, 10kg of potato chips and 10kg of rice. It was feast to be remembered! (more photos on my facebook page)

Recently I went up to Dondo to visit a close friend of mine (Julie) serving with Iris Ministries. I was so looking forward to spending time with her and also to help her open the newly built Escholina (preschool). The trip was not what I had envisioned. It was a rough week, with Julie being ill with malaria and also Issachar with an infection.

Dondo is a very small rural town and about an hour away from the capital Beria, of the province of Sofala in central Mozambique. Issachar and I travelled by plane and then by car to get to the Iris Base. It was a fight to get there, even just buying the tickets and then getting to the airport…But God is faithful and opened all the doors.

While I was up in Dondo, God told me he was my Jehovah-Magen which means the Lord is my shield. Then the next day, all the drama unfolded.

Julie had been feeling unwell and she went to the local clinic and got a malaria test – it came back positive….same day, in the afternoon Issachar started vomiting and couldn't keep anything down. By the next day, both Issachar and Julie worsened. I was very concerned about Issachar and just started to cry and pray to God. The next day was Sunday, Issachar hadn't improved….I was almost panicking, then I found out we had family up in Beria and he travelled all the way to Dondo to take us to private clinic in Beria. After a few hours it was found Issachar had a serious infection and needed antibiotics which the pharmacy had in stock (a miracle). A few days passed and Issachar was on the way to recovery and so was Julie.

As Julie was in bed with malaria she needed help with the opening day and ceremony of the escholina. All the other missionaries and myself rallied together and we were able to welcome all the important council members and government people and cut the ribbon to formally open this small but ever grown escholina. It was a wonderful morning.

I learnt a lot while in Dondo. That God is faithful, that he is my protector but also, that even though I felt so alone, He was with me. (More photos on my facebook page)

A lot has happened with the Houses of Hope since we had teams visiting in August last year and I would like to share what has happened and what we are aiming for in 2011. Please keep us close in your hearts and prayers as we build, as open our hearts to the children coming and that we find favor with the local council and chiefs as the other projects start.

Would like to take this time to share about what has been happening in Chibuto with the Houses of Hope in 2010:

• We took full legal possession of the land on August 1 2010
  
• We had our first Church service on Sunday August 29 2010
  
• Also in August and September we had teams from New Zealand and USA ministering with us in Chibuto and going into the surrounding villages on outreaches. We saw many healed and many more salvations.
  
• By September we had our first hand dug well which is functional with good clean water
  
• By end of September the roads quartering off the property for layout was completed (a huge miracle)
  
• By October we had a storage house which was completed and fortified for tools and supplies for the builders.
  
• By November a building team from the USA was committed to begin in March 2011.
  

What is happening in Chibuto with Houses of Hope in 2011:

• Ground cleared for the first major building projects
  
• Caniço buildings for the visiting builders (five marital sleeping and five double sleeping quarters)
  
• Caniço house for the Mozambican builders
  
• Basic bathroom facilities for the visitors
  
• Have two functioning wells and water towers
  
• Have two Houses of Hope built and occupied by the end of the year
  
• One school building
  
• One house for the director
  
• To have reliable transport for the materials and for outreaches
  
• To obtain a large generator for complete centre service
  
• To have our website www.africaonfire.com updated and online
  

Things have been moving very fast in certain areas for Chibuto. That is unusual, even for Africa.

The Mozambican building team arrived in second week of January in Chibuto to start to the build the caniço (similar to bamboo) structure for the visitors this year. We are excited about this progress!

After many trips and lots of explaining, we received a letter from the religious department, to say we are finally allowed to go ahead and register Africa on Fire Ministries in Mozambique. We had to wait for permission and also to see if the name of the ministry was available.

Also, more great news! We have finally got the building permits, we just need to pay for them!! A huge miracle. We are just excited to start building and getting the kids into their new homes. We ask that you keep the builders and their materials close in your prayers this year. We are believing and wanting to start new homes for these children, a safe and loving place for them to grow, learn and walk in the destiny that God has for them.

Once again, thank you all very much for your prayers and support and emails. Without you we wouldn't be able to love and serve the people here in Mozambique.

God Bless you all so very much.

The Utuie Family - Felito, Anna, Issachar and Paulina

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Health –that we would be supernaturally protected from malaria and other infections.

Resources – that we can find a trusted and good mechanic to fix the cars and obtain all the building materials needed for the when the building teams come in March.

Visas – we are planning a trip to the USA(via a stop in Europe) at the end of March and ask for favor as we apply for visas and airline tickets.

House – while we are in USA we need a reliable and honest person to come and house-sit and feed the animals

Outreaches – that God will continue to open the doors in the surrounding villages in Chibuto for us to go and do outreaches and that God will continue to pour out his spirit so that the sick be healed and more people receive Jesus as their savior.