Newsletter Nr. 83 May 2022

In this issue:

  • Letter from Francois
  • The Storm is over-Mabalane’s story
  • Soaking in His Presence
  • Moz titbits
  • Upcoming Trips
  • Thank You for sowing

LETTER FROM FRANCOIS

Joh 14:6 ”I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
What a Majestic and Awesome God we serve! There is so much comfort in our Saviour, Jesus Christ!
His Words can Encourage, Inspire, Uplift, give Hope, bring Joy and that is not even the tiniest of our Great, Big Reward that He has promised when He said, In my Father’s house are many mansions: …. I go to prepare a place for you. (Joh 14:2)
In the times that we are in, there is No Greater Hope than the Hope we have as Children of the Most High God! That is why our people are working tirelessly in Mozambique, not only to share the Gospel, but to ensure that our students have a depth of understanding of the Word of God, so that they should build their houses on the Rock of All Ages!
While the world is in turmoil, the Child of God can look up (Mat 24) and inside your quiet place, find the Peace that passes all understanding! (Phil 4 v 6-7).
When we are in difficult times, we need to remind ourselves, “Wait patiently, Pray, Endure!” for the revelation of our Lord is now closer than ever!
I trust you are doing well?
I was blessed to be with our Mozambique team in March where we had a staff conference, meetings and just a time of soaking in the Presence of the Lord! Glorious! More about this elsewhere in this newsletter.
May God Bless You!
Francois

1. THE STORM IS OVER – TEACHING STUDENTS IN MABALANE THE BIBLICAL WAY TO STAND AGAINST ATTACKS

By Br. Baloi

There is a green light once again in Mabalane after a thunderous and terrible battle against the storm of COVID-19. There is a sunshine of hope again and the birds are singing once again the music of peace announcement “If God is on our side, who can be against us”. The battle is won, and the Rivoni Ministries students are on the winning side. Things are now back to normal, and the few Rivoni Ministries remnant students attend their classes meetings regularly.

However, COVID has done its assignment. COVID has made both spiritual and physical fatal wounds in the Churches and the Community at large. Half of Rivoni Ministries students at Mabalane were swept away from classes with COVID restrictions and they could not be recovered. Only a few remnants survived the storm, and the youth became targets for daily demonic attacks.
The same apply to the Churches. Half of the sheep followed the direction of the storm and they could not be recovered. The remnant students and sheep are full of scars of discouragement and disappointment on their faces. The tracks and footprints of COVID are visible all-over the community at large. The pre-mature marriages and pregnancies, and divorces are some of the visible marks left behind by the COVID. The teachers are gripped with shock because the classrooms are looking like maternity rooms and the toilets are becoming shebeens and brokerage areas of marijuana and all sorts of drugs.
I have assembled the picks, spirit levels, fishlines, bricks and all sorts of constructions equipment as a way forward to lay a new foundation in the Rivoni Ministries at Mabalane. In the process of laying a new foundation and walls, I lay one brick at a time by teaching the youth the biblical way of prayer (Acts 4v12}, how they can use and apply the Name of Jesus in their lives, individually and how they can pray for one another as a group. I teach them specifically how to defend themselves using the Word of God, and how to expel and cast out demons using the name of Jesus.
It was midnight when I woke up recently from a telephone ringing and on my arrival at the scene, a poor young girl was a victim of a boss territorial demonic kind of evil spirit for more than two hours. The colleagues were fed up and dismayed for failing to expel and casting out that devilish kind of a demon after their best efforts. They were all voiceless, for their voices were hoarse from shouting and commanding this demon to leave. “I heard about you, but to me you are nothing at all “exclaimed the furious demon, staring sharply at me before I could even open my mouth. “In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ” I commanded, “come out of her, out of this body, leave her alone, go o ….” In less than 30 minutes the battle was won, and the demon went out of her. Each week I am reaping the harvest, most youth have been rescued and set free after an ambush of demonic assault. All the Glory to our Almighty God!

3rd Year Examination – Chipsane

2. SOAKING IN HIS PRESENCE

By Francois

There is nothing that lifts our burdens and heal the sick that compares to a time of soaking in the Presence of our Lord. It seems that the whole Covid thing is rewiring us to isolate ourselves from others. Without even noticing it, we are becoming distant. As we are now for more than 2 years in a mode of “staying away”, masking and isolating, I sensed that even in our small, close-knit community of missionaries this was becoming a problem and decided that we needed to draw closer to each other under the Banner of the Lord.
On Wednesday 23 March we started with an all-day conference using 1 Peter as our source. The main message we took from Peter was where he was stressing in Chapter 1, that we need to wait patiently and endure until the coming of the Lord Jesus

(“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1Pe 1:13)).
That evening we gathered for praise and worship and with our very talented brothers leading the worship, soon were drawn into the atmosphere of the Love and Peace of the Lord surrounding us. All too soon, the evening ended as the ladies had prepared some food and everyone still had to go and eat.

We continued and closed our conference on Thursday morning before we headed into our AGM meeting, and I felt personally blessed by what the Lord had done for us.

3. OUR MOZ AGM

By Francois

On the 24th of March we had our Rivoni Mozambique Annual General Meeting. All our district supervisors were present. 4 courses running weekly over a period of 1 year each are being taught. The Old Testament (OT) course is the 1 st year, the Gospel and book of Acts (GA) in the 2nd year, the Letters and book of Revelations (LR) in the 3rd year and topical studies are taught as 4th Year course.
85 classes with 1072 students attending, at latest count in February are being conducted, assisting 19 church denominations in an area that stretches more than 350km from Massangena in the north to Chibuto in the south and some 300km from Ndindiza in the east to Massingir in the west. This is an area of some 35,000km2 and it is still growing as the need for more classes are received from other areas. All monies were donated from Rivoni Ministries RSA, to do this enormous work.

4. MOZAMBIQUE TITBITS

FIRE AT GLORIA’S HOME

On Sunday 6th March a fire ravaged the house of Gloria’s daughter in law at the same premises where Gloria has her house at Manjange. They suspect that someone had deliberately started the fire in which they lost everything but a measly few item (see picture here) as well as money they needed to hand to someone the next day. By God’s Grace, nobody was injured in the fire.

Graduations

With the Covid restrictions in place we had to tone down our graduation ceremonies. In the past we invited community leaders, family, friends and church elders to the graduations. This was an opportunity for students to testify of what the course meant to them and invite possible new students to sign up for the next course.

Graduation 17 March 2022 of one of Gloria’s groups
Graduation at Mpungwini on 13 April 2022
A group of students from Machaila with district supervisor Adalberto Matusse on the left.
Students at the church in Machaila

5. UPCOMING TRIPS

We envisage at least two more trips to Mozambique in 2022 and would love for you to join us on a trip. The first trip took place in March 2022. The second is planned for July 2022 and a third trip in October-November 2022. Duration of trips vary. Please contact Francois if you are interested in joining us on a visit to our staff and students.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Thank you for what you give to this mission. To some anonymous contributors, may God who sees in the secret reward you in public. Myself and our staff are indebted to all of you who are giving so faithfully every month to continue this work.
God Bless You!
In the love of Christ,
FRANCOIS AND DORATHEA DU PLESSIS

News & Information:
NEWSLETTERS:
We aim to send the Rivoni Newsletters quarterly.
RIVONI FORUM:
We have created a WhatsApp group with the Name, Rivoni Forum, where some of our staff and other supporters of the mission can interact, and share news, photos or videos. We would love to welcome you there. Please contact me if you would like to join.
RIVONI BROADCAST MESSAGES:
For those who pray with us for events as they happen, we use WhatsApp to send the Rivoni Broadcast Messages. These messages appear as if sent to you in person on your WhatsApp App on your cellphone and all replies are to Francois in person and is not seen by any others to avoid message overload on the group.

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