Mozambique (MNN) — Just five months after Cyclone Idai cut a swath through Mozambique and killed hundreds of people, the South African nation is still struggling to recover. Not long after Cyclone Idai, Mozambique was hit again by Cyclone Kenneth.
Between the twin storms, the nation’s farming and food supplies are staggering.
According to UNICEF, October is the start of Mozambique’s lean season and two million people will face food insecurity. Over 66,000 people are still displaced and need humanitarian aid in cyclone-affected regions.
Beira following Cyclone Idai. (Photo courtesy of UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs)
Naomi Frizzell, executive director with Audio Scripture Ministries recently visited Mozambique and says the land still bears scars. “As I was flying into Beira, I had an opportunity to view the landscape and noticed some differences in water patterns, but also a lot of routes are still missing.
“Even as we were talking to some of the folks, they were still reeling from how ferocious the storm was.”
Just in time for the lean season, ASM is about to ship a container to Mozambique filled with aid during the first week of September. The ministry received so many donations that they had to double the size of the container!
“We’ve moved from a 20-foot container to 40-foot container because of the generosity of people in West Michigan and around the United States — donations-in-kind as well as cash donations, donations of medical supplies, [and] donations of agricultural equipment.
ASM volunteer Lee repairing a donated farming implement that will go in the 40-foot container for the Farming With God program at New Harvest Farm in Mozambique. (Photo courtesy of Audio Scripture Ministries)
“We are just truly humbled by the generosity of God’s people. They have seen the need and they have responded.”
ASM is also providing support to the people of Mozambique through New Harvest Farm. The farm is run by ASM in partnership with local farmers who learn about improved agricultural techniques and the Creator God.
“I think that’s what’s important about the New Harvest Farm,” Frizzell says. “It gives us an opportunity to work with the people in Mozambique to help them have new hope — new hope in new procedures, new hope in things that they’re going to be able to learn and then to apply in the way that they interact with their fields, but also new hope in Jesus Christ.”
On this latest trip, Frizzell joined the first community meeting for New Harvest Farm led by ASM’s Africa director Chad Vanden Bosch. Approximately 50 other people were at the gathering. They looked at new ways to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people in their region, especially in light of recent devastation.
“One man said, ‘If we are able to have access to this technology for our own fields, it could transform our farms.’
“But then the community leader…piped up and he said, ‘This could transform our entire community.’”
An ASM shipment of audio Bibles in Mozambique. (Photo courtesy of Audio Scripture Ministries)
Alongside aid and agricultural programs, ASM distributes audio Bibles to people in need. The holistic transformation that comes from physical and spiritual encouragement is what the ministry is all about.
As Frizzell puts it, “It’s offering us [an] opportunity to really seek out ways to meet physical needs. And as we know, people who have their physical needs met become much more open to hearing about a God that loves them and cares for every aspect of their lives.”
It’s not too late to donate towards ASM’s Mozambique aid container. Click here to give!
Also, please keep praying for the people of Mozambique. “Prayer is essential as we lift up our brothers and sisters in Mozambique who have gone through a very, very difficult time.”
Frizzell says, “What’s exciting is that the people of Mozambique are resilient. They are committed to ministering to one another, to lifting up one another, [and] to helping family, friends, and their neighbors. So we need to continue to pray for them, that the resources will become available for them to continue to not just rebuild, but to build into the future.”
Header photo courtesy of Audio Scripture Ministries.
